I woke up at 5:40 AM, twenty minutes before my alarm was scheduled to sound. My brain turned on and I couldn't turn it off, so the precious twenty minutes of sleep I needed wasn't going to happen. My CST body said it was 4:40 AM. I had set the alarm early today because it was going to be a very long day and I could use extra time. I didn't realize that I was going to wake up on my own even earlier than planned.
The hotel mattress wasn't too bad, but the pillows were terrible. They were way too soft, yet once your head settled in them they turned into rocks. I'm not sure how a pillow can be both too soft and too hard, but these pillows were just that. NASA should study this phenomenon.
To be fair, I've become a bit of a pillow snob. When the Tundra Girl and I had our mattress built for us two years ago at a local custom mattress company, they had a display showing all the benefits of their custom pillows they made right there behind the big glass window. They wanted $120 for a single pillow, which seemed a little steep. For whatever reason, I felt compelled to splurge and spend a lot of money on a fancy pillow. My wife at first thought I was crazy, but after some thought decided to get one for herself as well.
After using them at home, did I feel the snooty pillows were actually worth $120 each? Absolutely.
Did they set the bar so high that every other pillow found in hotels is now a disappointment to my head? Absolutely.
My pillow was the one thing I had to leave behind that I truly wish I could have found room to pack. At home I threw out all my other pillows and I only use my "Omni Pillow''(which is what the company calls these things.) I seriously look forward to putting my head on my pillow every night. After hearing my wife and I rave about them, my brother and sister-in-law went out and bought themselves snooty Omni Pillows as well.
Anyway, enough pillow talk…
As I was getting ready I noticed something behind the entertainment center sounded like it was ticking. I looked but couldn't figure out what was causing the noise. Not knowing the source of ticking, I resolved myself to hope I would check out before the bomb goes off.
I went down to the breakfast area for my morning gorge session. It was a very good buffet. In addition to everything else, I had pancakes. I hadn't had pancakes in a long time. I love pancakes.
I decided that because I was up early and it was going to be a long day, I could treat myself to a couple cups of real coffee. I don't consume much caffeine these days, so hopefully I wouldn't regret it later. Sometimes after not having coffee for many months it can make me anxious, on the edge of paranoid. It's like it feels like something is drastically wrong in my life and I can't put a finger on it, so I'm just left with a lingering sense of doom.
I filled up my water bottles at the buffet water dispenser, then went out to the motorcycle to put them in the saddlebags. I noticed that once again it had rained during the night and it looked like it was going to rain some more. Because of this I didn't bother cleaning the bike, as it looked like it would be a fruitless endeavor in a few minutes. As a bonus, I could use the extra time to put some miles behind me.
I finished packing, checked out, loaded the bike and hit the road. As mentioned, the skies were overcast. The temperature was in the low 60s. Surprisingly, I wasn't uncomfortable as I rode in the cool temps. When I first walked out the motorcycle I thought the morning ride might get a little chilly, but it really wasn't bad at all.
Shortly after I departed from the hotel I came across a "Welcome to Newell" sign. I didn't see one the previous evening, or maybe I was just distracted by the rain. I snapped a picture for no other reason than "because."
A few miles down the road I entered the state of Pennsylvania. Once again the state welcome sign was in an area with traffic and no shoulder, so I let it pass by. I didn't get a single picture of any of the "new to me" state welcome signs on this trip.
The Garmin GPS started acting funny again, but in a new way. This morning it decided to not give me turn-by-turn directions. It wouldn't announce upcoming turns, but in the top left corner where it displays the next turn it would show one from further down the route. I missed a turn because it didn't tell me to turn, and I hadn't noticed the blue line branched off in a different direction. I figured it out about a half mile down the wrong road, then had to turn around.
I passed the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant in Shippingport, PA. I am really happy with the way this picture turned out.
Google said it would take about 45 minutes to get to Evans City Cemetery. Once I started watching the blue line more carefully and following its instructions, I started going down all sorts of slow moving back roads and residential streets. At the time it sure didn't seem like it was the most direct route.
As I was losing faith in the Garmin, I pulled over and entered the address into my phone and used that to navigate the last few miles. It wound up taking me an hour and a half to get to Evans City. That made an already tight day's schedule even tighter.
Well, I was later than intended but I finally found the Evans City Cemetery. Why was I looking for this cemetery you ask? Back in 1968 a young George Romero used Evans City, and particularly this cemetery, as a filming location for the classic horror movie "Night Of The Living Dead." I first saw this film when I was in high school, during a period when some friends of mine and I went through a phase where we were really into zombie movies.
To be fair, in "Night Of The Living Dead" they technically weren't zombies, but were referred to as "ghouls." That's a little piece of trivia that nerds like me enjoy.
NOTLD is not my most favorite movie. It may not even be in my top 10. However, it certainly was a good film and is a memorable one. It also reminds me of a period of my life where things were simpler and easier. At the time they probably didn't feel simpler and easier, but now that I have the benefit of hindsight I can see that they were. I really hope in the future I don't look back on the current period of my life and think, "I didn't realize how good I had it back in 2023. I wish things were simple and easy like that again."
Anyway, NOTLD was a groundbreaking film. It was one of the first films to feature a black man in the lead role, and playing a character that was intelligent and authoritative to boot. It was the most financially successful independent horror film ever made. At the time of its release it was considered quite gory, however by today's relaxed standards it is easily PG. Filmed in black and white for budget reasons, that actually made the movie more terrifying. It also doesn't feature a Hollywood happy ending, but I won't completely spoil it for you if you've never seen it.
There were two main filming locations in the movie. The movie starts at the Evans City Cemetery, then the rest of the movie was filmed in a house just northeast of Evans City. Trying to find the house wasn't in my plan for the day (if it even still exists.)
The cemetery is up on top of a large hill. The entrance from the road up to the cemetery was pretty steep, although not as steep as the hill I traversed the previous day in Mingo Junction, OH. However the driveway was in poor shape making the hill difficult to navigate.
Through the use of the internet and GPS technology (my phone, not the Garmin,) I rode to the part of the cemetery featured in the film and parked my motorcycle. A groundskeeper drove by, probably knowing why I was here. I waved and he waved back, then he continued on towards whatever task he was doing.
I was here only because of the legacy of the film. However, I didn't want to be completely gauche. I understood that this was an active cemetery; despite its fame, real people were buried here. Families who suffered loss come here to honor their memory.
Remembering this fact, I spent a couple minutes in reverent silence, praying for those families who have loved ones buried here. For the entirety of the visit I tried to conduct myself in a respectful manner. In fact, during the whole ride from the hotel to the cemetery it didn't feel right to have the stereo playing, so I rode in silence. When it was time to leave I didn't turn the music back on until I was a few miles away.
I heard it said that we all die twice. The first time is the physical death that happens at the end of our earthly life. The second time is when the last living person who remembers us passes away. This was a pretty old cemetery. I looked at the dates on many of the graves and realized that most of the people buried here probably have reached their second death. That thought saddened me a bit.
I googled some images from the movie and found a distinguishing gravestone. This confirmed I was in the right place. I quietly snapped a couple of photos, then quietly and respectfully left the cemetery.
Coming down the hill from the cemetery was, as expected, more challenging than going up. I find it a lot easier to ride uphill than downhill. I think it's because the motorcycle's natural tendency is to scrub speed when going uphill, whereas the natural tendency is to accelerate when going downhill. In any event, I managed to avoid all the broken pavement and stop before I rode out in front of traffic where the drive met the highway.
I decided to give the Garmin GPS another chance, and restarted the route. It seemed to be doing better. (For a little while, anyway. More on that to come…) I followed it through western Pennsylvania and across the Ohio border. A couple times it told me to turn on some roads that didn't seem right, but later turned out to be the correct route.
Back in Ohio, I came to the town of East Pallestine. Five months earlier this previously unassuming town had recently become infamous for a train derailment and hazardous chemical spill, which turned into a politicized event and conspiracy theorist fodder. Regardless of your views on where the blame lies for the incident and response, many residents in the area had their lives affected by the mandatory evacuations and exposure to toxic chemicals.
My route had me pass about a mile northeast of the accident site. I thought about making a detour to see the area, but decided that five months later there probably wasn't much to see.
As I passed along the north side of East Pallestine, I knew I had a left turn coming up. Suddenly the Garmin told me to take a left on highway 165. It seemed a little soon, but I didn't know the area and just assumed I had miscalculated in my head. I followed the GPS directions.
About a half mile south on 165 it told me to take a right turn. Except I didn't see anywhere to turn. I kept going straight, then the GPS then started telling me I had missed the turn, and instructed me to turn around. I followed like an obedient lemming. Then at the same place where it said I had missed a turn, it once again told me to go west. It even drew a line on the map showing me the route I should be following.
The only problem was, there wasn't a road. It was clearly someone's driveway that ended at a garage. It wasn't even a long driveway.
I was infuriated. I had paid good money for a supposedly top-of-the-line Garmin GPS unit, and it had delivered mostly quirkiness and frustration with almost every map I had ever loaded into it. I was done. I found a parking lot where I could safely pull over and got off the bike to fume.
I decided to allow myself one final meltdown in order to get it out of my system, and then purposefully choose to have a good day after that. I ranted and complained (to nobody in particular) about what a piece of garbage this Garmin was. I thrashed my arms around and stomped my feet. I then vowed to put it on Craigslist at a discount when I got home (a vow which I kept.) Then I turned off the Garmin unit and felt a wave of relief come over me.
Oddly enough my strategy worked. Once I had my little tantrum and powered down the unit, I no longer felt enslaved to this serenity-sucking device. My day got markedly better from this point on.
My Indian Roadmaster has a built-in GPS as part of the "Ride Command" system. I had opted to use the Garmin instead because it had some features the Indian GPS didn't have (real time traffic updates, weather overlays, etc.) and because reading online the Indian GPS had gotten a bad rap. When I bought the Indian I already owned the Garmin unit. As a result, I had never really used the Indian GPS to know how well it worked or didn't work. I decided to give it a try and punched in the address to the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH.
I will state for the record that other than being a little slow when trying to enter addresses, the Indian Ride Command GPS worked flawlessly for the remainder of my trip. My Ride Command system is from the last production year before they did a complete redesign, and I strongly suspect that most of the people with complaints have the newer version. It may have fewer bells and whistles than the Garmin, but it has yet to route me into someone's garage.
When I had left the cemetery, the Garmin GPS had told me I'd be at the Ohio State Reformatory by 11 AM. That sounded like an ideal time schedule-wise, but way too optimistic for reality. My brain guessed that it would be closer to 1 PM. The Indian's GPS now said I would arrive at 12:53 PM which aligned with what my brain calculated. I guess when you don't take shortcuts through people's yards it takes longer to get places.
The ride through the east side of Ohio wasn't bad from a scenery perspective. The roads weren't packed with curves, but also weren't arrow straight. There were hills, but not constant rollers. Trees were plentiful. I would have appreciated this section of the state more had I not been so uncomfortable. This being the fifth consecutive day in the uncomfortable stock Indian seat had my butt and legs aching severely. My old shoulder injury was also making itself known. I was pretty much a ball of pain.
There still was a fair amount of road construction happening.
When planning out the day's route, I thought Canton, OH would be a good place for a gas stop. I made it all the way to East Canton, OH and happened to ride by a gas station, so I decided to pull over. I decided East Canton was close enough to regular Canton.
Because I wanted to get to the Ohio State Reformatory with enough time to enjoy an unrushed tour, I didn't linger too long. I just filled up the tank and used the restroom. My total stop time was 10 minutes. My body wanted more time off the motorcycle, but my brain overruled it.
As I was filling the tank a guy walked up to me. He said he had been driving behind me earlier and saw me sticking my feet out into the air and rotating them. I explained that my butt had fallen asleep and I was trying to get blood back into the area without having to stop.
I got back on the motorcycle and made my way through town onto highway 30 heading west.
Canton, OH is the home of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Early in my trip planning I toyed with the idea of stopping to see it. Two things put a kibosh on that idea. First, I figured I didn't have time in my schedule to fit the visit in. Second, the Tundra Girl informed me I wasn't allowed to visit it without her.
I then thought about just riding by and taking a picture of the building. I looked on the map, and it wasn't located very close to highway 30 where I was traveling. There was road construction in the area so it didn't look like a "quick on and off" situation. I decided that just taking a picture of the outside of the building wasn't worth the extra half hour it would have taken. If I wanted to just see the building I could do an internet search. So here you go:
The next 100 miles to Mansfield, OH was mostly a four lane expressway. I was OK with this, as it got me to Mansfield quicker, and I noticed that west of Canton the terrain got flatter, the trees got sparser and the road got straighter.
At 12:51 PM (almost exactly the time the Indian GPS told me I would arrive) I pulled up at the Ohio State Reformatory. It was built in 1886 and was in operation until 1990, when it was closed due to a lawsuit involving overcrowding and inhumane conditions. However, what made it famous was its use in movies, particularly The Shawshank Redemption which filmed a majority of the movie inside the prison.
When discussing the greatest movies ever made, The Shawshank Redemption is one of the films on the list. It is a masterpiece. Everything about it from the casting, to the acting, to the cinematography, to the lighting, to the music, etc. is as close to perfect as a film can get.
The overall theme of the movie is a story about friendship and hope in the unlikeliest of places: prison.
Now, if you've never seen the Shawshank Redemption movie for yourself, the next part of this page will contain spoilers. Believe me, you don't want this movie to be spoiled, so go watch it. Now. I'll wait…
I first saw the movie in 1995, about a year after it was released. I wished I had seen it in the theater. The film affected me profoundly and quickly became my favorite movie of all time. It's one of those movies that when it ended, I was sad that it was over. I wish I could watch it again for the first time.
When I realized my planned route went (literally) a few hundred yards from the old prison, it was a no-brainer that I would stop and see the prison. Then when I learned that it was also open for tours, I made sure I scheduled my trip so that I had time to go inside and look around.
Pulling up in front of the prison, there was no mistaking the gothic architecture. It is a very distinctive looking structure.
I found a spot in the east lot and parked. Because I would be walking around for a while, I put on a belt. I didn't wear one while riding because it can be uncomfortable after hours of sitting in the saddle, but I didn't want to constantly have to hold my pants up while I was touring the site.
Walking in, one has to purchase tickets. There are several options, including some guided tours and even a "haunted prison" option for those who are into that sort of thing. While a guided tour would have been cool, the next scheduled tour didn't start for another hour and a half. I opted for the "self guided tour" for $25.
I did spring an extra $5 for the "digital audio guide". Throughout the tour there would be numbers hanging on the wall. That number could be entered into the device and then you hold it up to your ear and listen to a 1-2 minute explanation of what you were looking at. It was worth the $5 extra.
I began walking around and taking lots of pictures.
The tour was split, with about 70% of the tour talking about the history of the prison itself, and another 30% talking about the filming of the Shawshank Redemption.
The tour started in the administration building. There were lots of displays and information about the history of the Ohio State Reformatory. They had the state electric chair on display that had been relocated to the OSR. This chair had been used more than 300 times before it was retired.
There was an interesting display about the OSR prison band.
This is the cornerstone of the building where a time capsule had been buried.
They had a display of various shanks and weapons confiscated from inmates over the years.
The second floor of the admin building was of particular interest (to me), as this is where a large portion of the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. On this floor they built the sets for the administrative room, the library and Warden Norton's office. The stairway in the building is seen in the scene where Andy asks Warden Norton for funding to expand the library.
At the top of the stairs they had some of the original movie posters on display.
The windowed wall separating the hall from the outer administration office was built specifically for the movie.
After filming was done, many of the sets and props they built and used were left behind, which is now on display. It was pretty darn cool. Here's where they created the renovated Brooks Hatlen Memorial Library in the film.
Several cardboard cutouts of the characters from the movie were on display.
Here is the administration desk used in the movie.
One of the rooms on this floor was full of displays talking about the creation of the movie. There also was a TV displaying an interview with Bob Gunton (Warden Norton) speaking about his memories from filming.
Warden Samuel Norton's desk was still sitting in the same office. I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but I sat in his chair.
Of course, one of the features of the office was the wall safe hiding behind the needlepoint picture Norton's wife made in church group.
This is the door that Andy locked when he was playing Mozart over the prison PA system.
I'm not sure where the actual mess hall scenes were filmed, but here is one of the tables they used. Doing some research, I have determined that the mess hall scenes were filmed somewhere in the OSR, however I did not find that particular area on my tour. Many of the external buildings at the prison have been torn down since filming, so it was quite possible that the mess hall scenes were filmed in one of those. If I return I will probably try to take the guided tour and ask the guide questions like these.
On a related note, I also have not been able to find any information on where the prison movie theater scenes were filmed. I am unsure if the set was built somewhere in the OSR, or if they used a different Mansfield area location.
This is the record and player used in the film, and what got Andy thrown in solitary confinement for two weeks. The record is Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" - Le Nozze de Figaro. Symbolically, "The Marriage of Figaro" was about a valet/servant Figaro who outwitted his master Count Almaviva. Much like Andy Dusfrene outwits Warden Norton.
Speaking of solitary confinement, this is the cell door they used for those scenes.
Here is one of the food trays used in the movie.
Also on display was the compass that Red purchased at the pawn shop. The actual pawn shop (well, the window) is now a jewelry store in downtown Mansfield. I intended to make a stop there to get a photo before I left town.
This is a replica of the carving that Brooks and Red made in the beam of the Brewer hotel. Unbeknownst to me when I took this photo, in a few minutes I would be seeing the actual beam and carvings.
After seeing everything on the 2nd floor of the administration building, I ventured up to the 3rd floor.
The 3rd floor was in the middle of renovation. There were workers actively remodeling rooms as I walked through. I was kind of surprised they allowed people to walk through the construction areas. Later on I would be surprised they allowed people to walk through the crumbling rubble of other areas of the prison.
I found the room that I'm fairly certain they used as the first generation library when filming.
Much to my surprise, I went around a corner and suddenly found myself facing the set of the halfway house room in the Brewer hotel. The exterior shots of the Brewer building were filmed in downtown Mansfield (the building at the time was actually called The Brewer.) For the inside shots of the brewer, they built a set using a room on the 3rd floor of the OSR administration building. This was pretty darn cool to see.
On the wall was a plaque containing the text of the letter that Brooks wrote to the guys in prison.
Here is the actual beam and carving that Brooks and Red made before leaving the Brewer.
At this point the "tour" moved me out of the administration building and into the building connecting the two prison cell wings. The next section of the tour had very little Shawshank content, and mostly talked about the OSR itself. I went through the old prison chapel.
At the back of the chapel was a cage. I'm not sure what this was used for.
I walked to the front of the chapel and went up on the stage to take a picture of the chapel from that direction.
The "yard" portion of the prison along with the support buildings were demolished after Shawshank filming was finished, so unfortunately those were not available to tour. A new prison has been built in the area that comprised the old OSR yard. In fact the new prison is close enough that looking out the chapel windows one can see down into the new prison yard. Throughout the prison, next to all of the north facing windows side of the building there are warnings not to take any photos of the new prison, with threats of camera confiscation.
Frankly, after I left the entrance where I bought my ticket, I didn't see anyone except for other tourists. I'm not sure who would know if I took a picture, and who would actually confiscate my camera. Nevertheless, it would put me in a huge bind if I were to lose my phone on this trip, so I was obedient.
Once the chapel was reached and throughout the remainder of the tour, most of the areas were unrestored and frankly, in serious disrepair. In fact many times I found myself wondering, "why are they letting us wander around like this?" Lots of places were filled with rubble and had holes in the walls and floor. It surprised me that their insurance company would allow people to walk around unguided. I mean, I'm glad I was able to freely walk through the building, but in this litigious society I'm surprised it was permitted.
From the chapel I went into the east cellblock wing. This is where the reality that you were touring a prison really hit. The east cellblock remains the largest free-standing steel cell block in the world at six tiers high. Each side of the cellblock had about 50 cells per tier, for a total of 600 cells per wing, or a total of about 1,200 cells total.
Most of the tiers were blocked off so you couldn't walk down them, but there were a couple of the lower tiers open.
Some of the cells were open so I could look inside.
The cells were about six feet wide by nine feet deep. Originally they were designed to house one inmate, but by the time the OSR was closed they crammed two (or more) inmates into each cell. This led to serious overcrowding conditions which, along with the deteriorating condition of the prison in general, led to the closing of the facility. Prior to closing the OSR held over 2,200 inmates in 1,200 cells.
The cellblocks were not air conditioned. In the summer the cellblock wings grew unbearably hot, especially on the south sides with windows facing the sun. The "lucky" prisoners had cells on the lower tiers. As heat rises, the temperature in the upper tiers would frequently surpass 100°F. A very brief shower only happened once per week, so one can only imagine how the cellblocks smelled when they were at capacity.
A cell contained two bunks, a small sink, a toilet and a tiny desk and chair. Not much room for two people. Between the conditions and the tight quarters, tensions would frequently run high.
A few cells had the doors open to allow you to go inside and get a feel for the small size. There were signs warning people not to close the cell door behind them as they had no keys to open the doors if they locked. Once again, I was really surprised that insurance would allow this.
On the northeast side of the east cellblock was another wing. The upper floor of this wing used to be the old prison infirmary. This area was in a particularly bad state of repair. I could have sworn I got pictures of the old infirmary, but upon review I couldn't find them on my phone. Bummer.
The middle floor of this wing was the original OSR library.
On the bottom floor of this wing, I found myself in the OSR shower room. There were no individual stalls. Instead, inmates would take off their clothes and stand in a line as they paraded through the spray heads. The total length time as they passed through the water was typically less than 30 seconds, but this was the only way that 1,500 inmates could all receive a shower.
This shower room was used for the shower scene in the Shawshank Redemption. An interesting fact was that when making the movie, the retired OSR building no longer had running water. In order to make water come out of the showerheads, they hooked a fire tanker truck up to the water line. This water was unheated. To create the illusion of hot water steam, dry ice was placed in the floor grates.
Because of the frigid temps of the water, the actors wanted to minimize the amount of time spent filming the scene. They rehearsed thoroughly without water so that when it was time to do the actual filming, they were able to do it in one take. The fact that the actors were able to force themselves to stand in the ice cold water without wincing or shivering is a testimony to their dedication.
Although The Shawshank Redemption was the most famous movie to be filmed at the OSR, other movies had also used it as a set. The movie Tango And Cash had scenes filmed here. This film was actually made while the OSR was still in operation.
In the late 90s, a scene from the movie Air Force One was also filmed here. The part of the film depicting the Russian prison was actually the OSR. Several music videos also used the OSR as its setting.
On the east side of the east cell block was a small area that was transformed into the laundry storage set of the Shawshank Redemption. It was the part of the movie where Boggs first rapes Andy. The film demonstrates creative use of camera angles as one wouldn't recognize that this is where this scene was filmed.
Leaving the east cellblock wing, the tour took me back into the bottom floor of the center building. There were many interesting things in this area. On display was a portion of the concrete pipe prop that emptied Andy out into the creek. As a piece of interesting trivia, before they filmed that scene the creek water was tested and found by a chemist to be toxic. They dumped a bunch of chlorine into the water to try and reduce the exposure danger to Tim Robbins.
This area was used in the movie to film the scene where Warden Norton addresses the newly arrived inmates. The yellow line was painted for filming and still remains on the floor.
Also on display was the tunnel prop. This was actually used twice. The first time it is seen as the escape tunnel out of Andy's cell.
The second time it was used it served as the inside of the sewer pipe through which Andy crawled. The prop was filled with water, chocolate syrup, and sawdust to give the illusion of being filled with excrement. They also cut a hole in the top for the scene where Andy looks down into the pipe before crawling in.
There were a couple wings off of the center building. One wing contained a museum within the museum for the old Westinghouse Electric factory that used to be located elsewhere in Mansfield, OH. I walked through it quickly, but didn't spend much time or take any picture. Frankly, it seemed kind of out of place that it was located in the OSR building, with no real explanation as to why.
The other wing off the center building was the original OSR solitary confinement cells. I took a quick walk through this wing. The cells were very small at probably 3 feet by 6 feet, and contained nothing in them except a bucket to use as a toilet. The doors were solid and once closed would prevent any light from entering the cell.
When doing my research for this article, I came across one account of a prison riot that caused 120 inmates to be sent to "the hole" at the same time. 120 inmates divided by 20 cells meant that six inmates were wedged for weeks into each of the tiny cells designed for one person. I can only imagine the horror that was caused by that situation. Truly that was an example of "cruel and inhumane" punishment.
Time was starting to run short, so I made a quick tour of the west cell block. More or less this was the same as the east cell block, with a few minor differences. Again, upon reviewing my photos I didn't find any pictures on my phone, even though I can distinctly remember taking a few.
The tour route finished by guiding me through the old warden's residence building. The last photo I took was of the dining room.
I wound up spending two hours touring the prison. I could easily have spent longer, but just didn't have time given my travel plans for the day. I also had originally planned to head to downtown Mansfield to see some of the other filming sites such as the outside of the Brewer halfway house, the pawn shop window where Red bought his compass, and the park bench where Brooks sat and fed the pigeons. Sadly, I wound up not having time for those stops either. I guess that gives me an excuse to come back again someday. My wife expressed an interest in seeing it for herself, so I would gladly return with her.
My plan for the evening was to eat supper at the South Side Soda Shop in Goshen, IN. This is a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I was starting to get really hungry, but wanted to save plenty of stomach room for my meal. I had been planning for weeks on what I was going to order. I decided to forgo eating anything and just hurry to Goshen.
It was now 3 PM. Looking online, it said the South Side Soda Shop closed at 8 PM. I was 200 miles and approximately four hours away from Goshen, IN. That meant if I left immediately I could be at the restaurant by 7 and have an hour to eat without feeling rushed. So I took off my belt, used the restroom and hit the road.
The remainder of the ride to Goshen was mostly uninteresting freeway. However there was lots of road construction slowing things down.
The Canadian wildfires this summer were particularly bad, causing many days to have a haze from the smoke. Often you could even smell the smoke even though the fires were thousands of miles away. On this day the smoke was particularly bad. Looking outside it appeared to be an overcast day with a light fog on the ground, but upon closer observation there weren't any clouds in the sky; it was all smoke.
At one point I got an alert on my phone that the air quality had dropped to the "unhealthy" level, and that people should avoid being outside. Well, there wasn't much I could do about that.
Earlier in the day when I was on the east side of Ohio, the temperature was cooler. Now that I was on the west end of the state the air temps were rising. The temperature finally topped out around 85°F, which was warm but not uncomfortably warm. I left my mesh jacket on the whole day.
In Delphos, OH I stopped for gas. Once again I made it a very quick stop. I didn't even use the restroom. I got off the bike, filled the tank, then got back on and took off. My total stop time was six minutes. I was getting really, really hungry now and thought about getting a snack, but instead decided to hold out a little longer for the South Side Soda Shop. The stop was so quick I forgot to snap a photo, not that there was anything interesting to see at this gas station.
While filling the tank I noticed the lady at the pump next to me was wearing a Hocking Hills shirt. I have never been to Hocking Hills myself, but my wife talks about it frequently. It's a state park in Ohio that her family visited a few times when she was young.
Traffic got a little thick as I got to Fort Wayne, IN in the middle of rush hour. I rode the interstate bypass around the city and then had another hour to get to Goshen. I was really starting to get weary at this point. I had reached the point where riding was no longer much fun. The anticipation of the Soda Shop was giving me the motivation I needed to press on.
I arrived in Goshen shortly before 7 and pulled up to the South Side Soda Shop. Much to my dismay, there was a sign in the window that said "Closed." Nooooo! I'm not sure why they were closed. There wasn't anyone inside and all the lights were off. It looked like they had been closed all day.
Well, that really popped my balloon. I pulled over and mulled over my situation. Part of me wanted to give up and just ride to the hotel, but I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. As much as I wanted the South Side Soda Shop, there wasn't much I could do other than find somewhere else to eat. I did some internet searching and found a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. It's not what my heart was set on, but it would have to do. At least Mexican food is my favorite.
I rode to the restaurant and parked. Going inside, things were pretty quiet. I ordered the fajitas. They were tasty. And unlike many places that give you two or three tortillas with a giant plate of fajitas, this restaurant gave me about six.
After I ate I got back on the motorcycle and started to make my way towards the hotel. Near downtown I passed a gas station and decided to top off the tank rather than hoping there was a station closer to the hotel. As I filled the tank, an Amish family went by on a horse and buggy. I discreetly snapped a picture, as that's not something I see back in South Dakota. At the same time I didn't feel right about gawking and turning them into a spectacle. So I compromised and tried to be stealthy, and wound up with a less than ideal photo.
I didn't have the hotel address in the GPS, but I knew it was on the main highway on the southern side of Goshen. I figured it wouldn't be that hard to find. I rode along and pretty soon I found myself on the edge of town without seeing the hotel sign. Hmmm….
So I put the hotel address into the GPS and discovered I'd ridden right by it. I turned around and headed back. The hotel was back behind some other businesses, but the sign was right on the road. Somehow I didn't see it. I must be really tired.
Next to the hotel was a Wal-Mart. I was out of flavored water and was really thirsty, so I made a quick stop to buy some more. Then I rode over to the hotel and parked.
I went into the lobby and checked in, then found my room. Upon entering I immediately heard a weird buzzing noise. Normally I'm not one to complain about odd noises. Part of that is my nature, and part of it is my partial hearing loss from years of ear infections. However, within a minute this noise surpassed my tolerable level.
I thought about just going back to the front desk and asking for a different room, but then I did some investigation and realized the noise was coming from the mini-fridge. I unplugged the fridge and the room went delightfully silent. That was much better. I could easily put up with no fridge more than I could put up with that noise.
I called home. Back in Sioux Falls our neighborhood had a power outage. The Tundra Girl has little patience for power outages, so she wasn't happy. Thankfully we don't have them very often. In a weird coincidence, the last power outage happened the previous year, also while I was on my motorcycle trip.
I showered and then fully intended to call it a night and get some good sleep. Then I found myself staying up an hour later than planned for no good reason. That's what the internet will do to you.
When I did finally crawl in bed, I noticed two things. First, the pillows were the exact same physics-defying pillows as the previous night, that were simultaneously too hard and too soft. Second, the comforter was probably the heaviest one I've ever had laying on top of me. It felt like the lead blanket they put over you at the dentist. I actually kind of liked it, but then again I'm odd.
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This page last updated on 02/08/2024