bigmacbear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bigmacbear) wrote2023-10-28 11:59 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2023-10-28 11:59 pm
Ohio Halloween trip, 2 of 9
SATURDAY
Set alarm for 7:45, turned off and went back to sleep. Rose about an hour later, showered and dressed before waking Gary about 20 after nine. About quarter to ten we went to breakfast at the hotel buffet. I had a very full meal of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, potatoes, a waffle, and bacon; Gary had a lighter breakfast of cold cereal and fresh fruit.
After breakfast we chilled in the room for a few minutes, then drove to DXL to see if they had lighter jackets for rain. We were directed by a not-unattractive dude in an Ohio State T-shirt to a small display of Columbia windbreakers identical to the one I'd left at home. We decided to skip the jackets and rely on the heavier leather coats we were already wearing.
From DXL we plotted a course for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) along the west bank of the Scioto opposite downtown. Google Maps was unaware of some road closures so we ended up circling the block to reach the underground parking garage. We emerged in a neat park filled with brilliant fall foliage and made our way to the entrance. A sign directed us to purchase admission with the COSI app, but I was unable to do so because the app froze before I could pay for the tickets. So we entered the building and I showed the frozen app to the nice young dude at the front desk, and we were able to purchase the tickets in the normal way. He also stamped our parking ticket for a flat rate of $10 instead of an hourly rate. We began our tour on the second floor with Gadgets, followed by Progress and Life. As I was showing Gary the anechoic chamber, two small boys ran from the room and one of them collided with me at just the wrong height. ☹️ We then descended to the mezzanine level and played with the hot air balloons, watched a young dude riding the skywire unicycle, and checked out the planetarium. As we approached the latter, I noticed a bearded dude wearing a T-shirt bearing an American flag with an assault rifle superimposed on it. Oy. We noticed a show would begin in 20 minutes, so we decided to return to the first floor and check out some more exhibits while we waited. A few minutes before the appointed start of the show, "Reef Encounter", we took seats in the planetarium and watched the tail end of the previous showing. Between shows, there was a slide show asking science questions like "What natural metals are not silver in color?" and "What is the largest planet in the solar system?" (The answers are "gold and copper" and "Jupiter".) The show itself was quite impressive. Afterwards, as it was 3 PM, we decided to skip most of the first-floor exhibits, and retrieved our jackets, checked out the Foucault Pendulum, and returned to the car.
We drove to the Marconi Garage where I'd purchased a prepaid parking reservation for the hockey game, and walked toward the arena in search of a place to eat a late lunch or an early dinner. We chose the latter, at Ted's Montana Grill. We each had bison burgers of various descriptions with fries and Arnold Palmers.
After dinner we had some time on our hands, so we walked around McFerson Commons. We spotted a tall blond dude standing at the top of the stairs I wanted to use. At first Gary thought he was up to no good, but I soon spotted his white Westie dog who was sniffing the plants nearby without a leash. Nevertheless, we detoured to the end of the park and discovered two historical markers. We sat for a few minutes, then made our way to the Tim Horton's café attached to the west end of the arena. As we had coffee and Timbits, we heard a commotion in the street and I went outside to take pictures. It turned out to be a march for free Palestine, with a crowd of at least 200 people and about a dozen vehicles. They passed us headed west on Nationwide Boulevard, then after we'd finished our coffee and left the café, returned eastbound.
We walked to the park east of the arena entrance just ahead of the marchers, and took a seat on a bench to wait for the arena doors to open at six. As the crowd began to line up to enter the arena, Gary was a bit frustrated with something we've long since forgotten, and I suggested he concentrate on the hot white-haired, long-bearded, cigar-smoking daddy bear walking by at the moment, who reminded me of Ed from Auburn (of Ed and Keith) writ large. We both observed too many daddy bears - meaning literally fathers with wives and children - walking by or waiting in line.
Once the doors opened, the line moved quickly and we were soon ascending the escalator to our seating level. We found our seats, and I proceeded to use the bathroom and purchase a large Mountain Dew in a souvenir cup. At the end of the pregame festivities, the goal-celly cannon was fired which we weren't expecting; it was LOUD. At the same time, the display clock (which had been counting down to face-off time) froze with about a minute left, then when it was reset to the start of the game, it ticked off one second and froze again. They decided to play on, with the PA announcer calling the time every 30 seconds or so until the clock was corrected about 10 minutes into the first period. A very nice-looking bear and his presumed wife were seated directly in front of us. Toward the end of the first period, the Islanders scored the first of two goals. During the first intermission, two teams of Future Jackets (grade-school-age players) competed between the blue lines with miniature goal nets on either side of the rink. There was no scoring in the second period. I did notice both goalies were quite aggressive in defense of the crease, forcefully shoving any opposing player who lingered there after play moved to the other zone. The second intermission featured a Halloween costume contest: the winners were Mr. Puck Head for the children's division, Bob Ross for the adult division, and the Muppets for the group competition. I left after that and purchased a T-shirt and a commemorative puck for this evening from the mini team store on our level. The music featured a lot of spooky tunes like "Monster Mash", "Monsters" by All Time Low and blackbear, "Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter, the theme from "The Exorcist" (Tubular Bells part 2 by Mike Oldfield), and, oddly enough, "I'll Be There For You" from Friends; the latter, we soon discovered, was in tribute to Matthew Perry whose death was announced on social media during the game. The Islanders scored a second goal late in the third period, just before the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie. It didn't help, though, and the final score was 2-0 in the Islanders' favor.
We returned to the garage and retrieved the car. We had some difficulty with Google Maps because many streets around the arena were closed and Gary's phone had been silenced. However, we made it back to the hotel in one piece, and watched sports (Ohio State beat Wisconsin 24-10) and news until it was time for bed.
Set alarm for 7:45, turned off and went back to sleep. Rose about an hour later, showered and dressed before waking Gary about 20 after nine. About quarter to ten we went to breakfast at the hotel buffet. I had a very full meal of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, potatoes, a waffle, and bacon; Gary had a lighter breakfast of cold cereal and fresh fruit.
After breakfast we chilled in the room for a few minutes, then drove to DXL to see if they had lighter jackets for rain. We were directed by a not-unattractive dude in an Ohio State T-shirt to a small display of Columbia windbreakers identical to the one I'd left at home. We decided to skip the jackets and rely on the heavier leather coats we were already wearing.
From DXL we plotted a course for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) along the west bank of the Scioto opposite downtown. Google Maps was unaware of some road closures so we ended up circling the block to reach the underground parking garage. We emerged in a neat park filled with brilliant fall foliage and made our way to the entrance. A sign directed us to purchase admission with the COSI app, but I was unable to do so because the app froze before I could pay for the tickets. So we entered the building and I showed the frozen app to the nice young dude at the front desk, and we were able to purchase the tickets in the normal way. He also stamped our parking ticket for a flat rate of $10 instead of an hourly rate. We began our tour on the second floor with Gadgets, followed by Progress and Life. As I was showing Gary the anechoic chamber, two small boys ran from the room and one of them collided with me at just the wrong height. ☹️ We then descended to the mezzanine level and played with the hot air balloons, watched a young dude riding the skywire unicycle, and checked out the planetarium. As we approached the latter, I noticed a bearded dude wearing a T-shirt bearing an American flag with an assault rifle superimposed on it. Oy. We noticed a show would begin in 20 minutes, so we decided to return to the first floor and check out some more exhibits while we waited. A few minutes before the appointed start of the show, "Reef Encounter", we took seats in the planetarium and watched the tail end of the previous showing. Between shows, there was a slide show asking science questions like "What natural metals are not silver in color?" and "What is the largest planet in the solar system?" (The answers are "gold and copper" and "Jupiter".) The show itself was quite impressive. Afterwards, as it was 3 PM, we decided to skip most of the first-floor exhibits, and retrieved our jackets, checked out the Foucault Pendulum, and returned to the car.
We drove to the Marconi Garage where I'd purchased a prepaid parking reservation for the hockey game, and walked toward the arena in search of a place to eat a late lunch or an early dinner. We chose the latter, at Ted's Montana Grill. We each had bison burgers of various descriptions with fries and Arnold Palmers.
After dinner we had some time on our hands, so we walked around McFerson Commons. We spotted a tall blond dude standing at the top of the stairs I wanted to use. At first Gary thought he was up to no good, but I soon spotted his white Westie dog who was sniffing the plants nearby without a leash. Nevertheless, we detoured to the end of the park and discovered two historical markers. We sat for a few minutes, then made our way to the Tim Horton's café attached to the west end of the arena. As we had coffee and Timbits, we heard a commotion in the street and I went outside to take pictures. It turned out to be a march for free Palestine, with a crowd of at least 200 people and about a dozen vehicles. They passed us headed west on Nationwide Boulevard, then after we'd finished our coffee and left the café, returned eastbound.
We walked to the park east of the arena entrance just ahead of the marchers, and took a seat on a bench to wait for the arena doors to open at six. As the crowd began to line up to enter the arena, Gary was a bit frustrated with something we've long since forgotten, and I suggested he concentrate on the hot white-haired, long-bearded, cigar-smoking daddy bear walking by at the moment, who reminded me of Ed from Auburn (of Ed and Keith) writ large. We both observed too many daddy bears - meaning literally fathers with wives and children - walking by or waiting in line.
Once the doors opened, the line moved quickly and we were soon ascending the escalator to our seating level. We found our seats, and I proceeded to use the bathroom and purchase a large Mountain Dew in a souvenir cup. At the end of the pregame festivities, the goal-celly cannon was fired which we weren't expecting; it was LOUD. At the same time, the display clock (which had been counting down to face-off time) froze with about a minute left, then when it was reset to the start of the game, it ticked off one second and froze again. They decided to play on, with the PA announcer calling the time every 30 seconds or so until the clock was corrected about 10 minutes into the first period. A very nice-looking bear and his presumed wife were seated directly in front of us. Toward the end of the first period, the Islanders scored the first of two goals. During the first intermission, two teams of Future Jackets (grade-school-age players) competed between the blue lines with miniature goal nets on either side of the rink. There was no scoring in the second period. I did notice both goalies were quite aggressive in defense of the crease, forcefully shoving any opposing player who lingered there after play moved to the other zone. The second intermission featured a Halloween costume contest: the winners were Mr. Puck Head for the children's division, Bob Ross for the adult division, and the Muppets for the group competition. I left after that and purchased a T-shirt and a commemorative puck for this evening from the mini team store on our level. The music featured a lot of spooky tunes like "Monster Mash", "Monsters" by All Time Low and blackbear, "Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter, the theme from "The Exorcist" (Tubular Bells part 2 by Mike Oldfield), and, oddly enough, "I'll Be There For You" from Friends; the latter, we soon discovered, was in tribute to Matthew Perry whose death was announced on social media during the game. The Islanders scored a second goal late in the third period, just before the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie. It didn't help, though, and the final score was 2-0 in the Islanders' favor.
We returned to the garage and retrieved the car. We had some difficulty with Google Maps because many streets around the arena were closed and Gary's phone had been silenced. However, we made it back to the hotel in one piece, and watched sports (Ohio State beat Wisconsin 24-10) and news until it was time for bed.