Just returned from a five-day trip to Ohio for my daughter’s horseback riding competition, and I wanted to share a few observations we made along the way:

• Why is it that inexpensive hotels like the Holiday Inn Express and the Comfort Inn that we stayed in can provide free WiFi and free breakfast included in the very reasonable nightly rate, and more expensive hotels/resorts charge ridiculous fees for these services?
• Why would anyone pay to rent a GPS from the car rental company when it’s so easy (and convenient) to bring your own from home? We pre-loaded it with the addresses of the hotels where we’d be staying, the arena where she was competing, etc. and we were all set!
• Speaking of the GPS, how did we all survive without them?
• Having some extra time to kill in northeastern Ohio (not exactly a tourist mecca) reminded me that there are interesting sights and attractions in just about any neck of the woods — if you just look for them. In addition to more mainstream sightseeing, we visited a candy factory, went to a “cheese tasting”, and took a scenic drive through the Amish Country.
• If you are above the age of 20, you need to visit the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It was totally lost on my 12- and 14-year-old kids, but everyone else LOVED it. They have interactive exhibits where you can trace the musical influences of your favorite artists, an amazing collection of memorabilia (letters from Madonna when she was in college, Jim Morrison’s Cub Scout uniform), stations where you could spend hours just listening to music, and movies that delve deeper into the background and history of rock and roll (want to know where the lyrics to Blue Suede Shoes came from?).
• Finally, if you’re a football fan, and you find yourself anywhere near Canton, Ohio, you owe it to yourself to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. My son and my husband (both die-hard Patriots fans) absolutely loved it. As for me, well, the best thing I can say is that it was just a few exits away from the candy factory 🙂