Saturday, July 30, 2011 Austinburg, OH 57 miles

Happy Birthday, Emma Grace!

Today’s ride out of Cleveland was bumpy - really rough! I think several gals had flats in the first hour. Then, we got onto Lakeshore Drive and rode for awhile past absolutely gorgeous estates with deep lawns and lakeside verandas (I imagined the latter). What a treat. Then it was back onto poorly maintained roads. We rode through several communities including Euclid and Willowick. The latter flew banners boasting “Welcome to Willowick - Family Faith, Friends.” I thought that was a nice touch. Mentor, Painesville, Madison, Perry, Unionville were also lovely, old communities. In Painesville, we were routed through the historic district and over cobblestones.  This town boasts a large and imposing courthouse, as well as city hall that had a large brass domed roof. We enjoyed lunch at a corner café off the square. Sitting outside, we enjoyed the antique cars that paraded by - Ford coups, Oldsmobiles, Corvettes.

Baptismal gathering

Joanne

Somewhere east of Willowick, we pulled into a lakeside park with the idea of putting our feet in Lake Erie. We walked out onto a deck that overlooked the lake and were witness to a baptism being held by a local COGIC (Church of God In Christ) church. Joanne was standing there watching, too, and told us it was members of her church. I’m guessing she didn’t go down to the water’s edged because she wasn’t dressed in white. She witnessed to us in a very sweet way manner.

The homes in the roadside communities along SR 84 were a mix of Victorian (painted ladies) and Italianate, similar to the Fleming home on 9^th St. in Columbus, MS.

Linda Baldwin is now our chef and prepared a delicious dinner tonight of Moroccan Stew, Spinach salad that included avocado, fresh peaches, walnuts, etc., and Couscous with green peas. Connie’s husband sent us the avocados, and Linda B. (not the chef) bought the peaches from a stand this afternoon. Susan’s aunt brought us smiley cookies from PA.

I walked over to an ice cream shop after supper with the SAG staff and sous chef to get a dip of Pierre’s ice cream, an Ohio specialty.