Museums

Yesterday, I went to the Great Lakes Science Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were both free for MLK day. I was by myself as Bob was resting.

I started off my trip by having lunch at Quizno's in The Galleria. (http://www.galleriaaterieview.com) The Galleria is a former upscale shopping mall that now has some art galleries, and some offices that don't excite me. I had a small Classic Club sub on Wheat Bread and Pepsi. I paid the "retail" price because I failed to print coupons from my e-mail that I had saved. I also had samples from Taco Amigo and Sakkio Japan. It was tasty.

After lunch, I cashed in a Powerball ticket at the Erieview Newsstand in the Galleria because I had the Powerball and one other number ($4) in last Saturday's drawing. The store received all the money back because I bought Ohio Classic Lotto and MegaMillions Tickets with the proceeds. More wins will be nice.

After I finished my Galleria exploration, I had a reasonable walk to the Great Lakes Science Center. Once I made it into the revolving door, (Some kids goofing off briefly delayed my entry.)I was able to look at the exhibits. It was so crowded that I didn't get to appreciate the exhibits. I did attend some demonstrations. One involved soap bubbles and density. It was a simple demonstration, so I didn't have to linger. Another demonstration involved Forces and inertia. Despite the noise from the nearby dining area, I was able to hear the instructor Allan clearly most of the time. He was enjoying himself. This demonstration was a little more involved, so I stayed for the whole event. It was less than half an hour. I was actually at the museum less than an hour. The NASA Glenn Visitor Center has some displays down there now, but it was too crowded to really enjoy them and the rest of the interactive displays. In addition, this was my fourth time at the museum. It is mostly geared to children. However, my first visit, (also a solo trip) a number of years ago, turned into a four hour trip, including lunch (A Hot Dog, Potato Chips, and a Soda (Either Coke or Pepsi) was what I enjoyed because the McDonald's that was there at the time was the expected price gouger. Pizza Hut may have had a limited service outlet then. They definitely still provide food to this day.). People who know me may be shocked at the time commitment. If you have kids, you may appreciate it more.

After the Science Museum, I walked to the Rock Hall next door. It was 1:16 P.M. when I reached the line to get into the museum. Despite being right by Lake Erie, it was not too unpleasantly cold for the fifteen minutes that I waited to enjoy the museum. In addition to the crowds and my approximately twentieth visit to the Rock Hall, they are renovating the museum. Maybe next year, things will be better. I looked at some items, but I didn't really appreciate the displays like I should have. The interactive kiosks were mostly in use, so I didn't enjoy them this year. (The Les Paul kiosks were not popular. I went through that exhibit many times due to the construction making the escalators an exercise in patience.) The Bruce Springsteen exhibit is still there, but it is leaving next month. I had also seen it before, and the crowds in a tight space on the upper floors (5 and 6) made it difficult to enjoy. They also had some loud live music that commemorated the Black Experience for MLK Day. As a result of all the circumstances that I mentioned, I was there a little over an hour.

I then headed towards home. Originally, I was heading up East Ninth Street to Superior Avenue to catch the #35 bus home. However, I saw the trolley bus that I have taken to get close to the Rock Hall in past years on Lakeside Avenue. I took it to the RTA office on West Ninth Street, where I transferred to another trolley that took me to Tower City. Since I had time to kill, I went to get some new schedules that had recently come out. Unfortunately, they only had two of the six schedules that would have been most useful to me. They also needed a major restocking of a lot of the other schedules. Fortunately, I can look up the information at the RTA web site (http://www.riderta.com) for coordination going on a trip. Coming back requires a schedule that is likely not available on the bus. Fortunately, I do get my schedules eventually.

I then caught the bus towards home, but I stopped off at Save a Lot to buy some orange juice. I also bought some biscuits that can be made in the oven. Don't worry, although I have never made biscuits in the oven, I do not foresee any problems due to my inexperience. The potatoes from Christmas came out fine. The cookie sheet where the Baked Beans from Christmas rested was left in the oven by someone else. I didn't think to investigate that day, but I learned my lesson. I then took the bus home. My cheap bag broke on the way home. It had a hole from a recent shopping trip suffered on its first use. I do have other bags from Save-a-Lot though. Once I came home, I then checked my e-mail.

There will be more details about MLK Day in the future, but I have been writing this post for over ninety minutes now. This will also be the first post where the actual Post time reflects when I published it through a manual time change. It's about "time."