Elise's Adventures in the Midwest: Episode 3

Subject: Episode 3: Elise in Anytown USA
Date: 04/22/2002 10:44 AM

So my most recent stop was Springfield, Ohio, where I stayed at my
crappiest hotel, the Fairfield Inn, to date. I miss my Hampton Inn so
much. Down with Marriott! The hotel here is just past the Mad River
and sandwiched between Applebee's and Red Lobster. My view is of
Target and Tumbleweed Southwest Grille. As a food snob, I couldn't be
happier. But enough whining...

I had a lovely drive across Ohio a few days ago. As I was admiring
the amazingly green fields (so green!) and enjoying the smell of
manure, a black Corvette zoomed by me. Get this, his license plate
said NTMIDTR. How funny is that? The drive really was beautiful. The
sun was shining and I had the windows rolled down. It's a good thing
that I traded in for a car with a CD player because almost every
station here plays either country or Christian contemporary.

Now, back to Springfield. Springfield is the home of my third site,
Wittenberg University. The frat boys were super nice (much better
than the guys at Michigan State) and I got everyone to participate in
the interview. Woohoo! 100% participation. After complaining to
them about my Applebee's/ Red Lobster problems, the guys
suggested I go to this nearby "hippie town" called Yellow Springs.

I headed out to Yellow Springs after my first day of interviewing and it
is the most adorable town. I don't know if I would call it a hippie town
but it was charming and artsy and eclectic. It turns out that Antioch
University is somewhere nearby. There were only a few blocks of
stores and restaurants so I got to walk around the whole thing. I
went to the local tavern, Ye Olde (something) Tavern, and had myself
a Great Lakes beer and some spaghetti, the house specialty, on the
deck. It was a lovely day. I'm glad I took advantage since the
last few days have been cold and gross.

For my birthday, I had a quiet evening and a wonderful dinner. More
spaghetti, I must have been Italian in my last life, and a yummy
chocolate angel food cake. Thank you to all who called/ wrote. That
was very sweet of you.

My next, and last, stop is Portsmouth, Ohio. I've spoken to two guys
from the school so far and they both have country accents. They seem
very nice and have already warned me that they're going to invite me
out to the bar on Thursday night. For all those who are worried about
me going out with a bunch of frat boys alone, I probably won't go
because I have to leave early Friday morning to catch my plane.

That's it for the third installment of Elise's Midwest adventure.
Look for the final chapter later this week.

~Elise