In the middle of October, my pal Eddie Pelle who I met thanks to my blog a few years ago got in contact with me. He wrote me a text message & he asked me if I wanted to go to Cincinnati with him to see the Jets play the Bengals. I told him no instantly since I had to get back to work that Monday morning. The game was starting at 4:05PM & he was going to rent a car for the weekend he said. He told me he would get me back to NYC so I could get to work. With being said, I decided to reconsider his idea.
I did some research & I noticed there were other games that we could make that Saturday in Ohio. We had a college football doubleheader as it turned out. The Ohio Bobcats were playing at home at 2PM in Athens, Ohio at Peden Stadium against the University of Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. That was followed by a prime time game in Columbus where the Ohio State Buckeyes were hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions at 8PM. Since I was planning to stay home that Friday night October 25th, I knew we could leave after I got home from work. I told Eddie about it. He said that would be fine.
I mentioned it to the King & he decided to join us. With that being said, I proceeded to book hotels for us. I reserved a Super 8 in Hancock, Maryland which was half way to Athens, Ohio. Eddie's only concern was that the road to Athens was a two line road that went through the mountains. He said he went there once to see a college basketball game. As a result, we needed to allow extra time to get there. In addition, he told me he may need help with the driving. I told him the King & I would be able to help him out.
As it turned out, he got stuck at work late so he didn't come to pick us up in Astoria until 9PM. While we waited I made the King & I dinner. We stopped off at an ATM machine so Eddie could get some money. He wound up renting a Jeep. After he drove to get the money, he asked me to take over for him since he was tired from an extra long day of work. I wound up driving us to Hancock, Maryland which was 287.5 miles away. We got there around 1:30AM. We checked in & we got some sleep. We also ate breakfast at the hotel in the morning before we continued on to Athens, Ohio. Eddie drove us there. We arrived shortly before kickoff. He bought tickets for us & he had to pick them up at the will call window. Once we got them, we went inside just in for the start of game one. The Redhawks came into the game at 0-7. When the game ended they were still winless as the Bobcats whipped them, 41-16. The game was competitive early on then the Bobcats capitalized on turnovers as they cruised to an easy victory. I was thinking of my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge because he went to school at the University of Ohio. Unfortunately, he couldn't join us. He was there in spirit.
After the game, we drove to Columbus to see game two at Ohio Stadium aka the Horseshoe as it's called. On the way, we stopped off at Arby's for dinner.
When we got in the vicinity of the Stadium, parking looked hard to come by. We drove closer & closer, Eddie then saw a garage that was supposed to be reserved for permits. He decided to roll down his window & he offered the young lady money to let us park there. She was kind enough to let us in for free. We lucked out big time. When we walked out of the garage, Eddie gave him some money for doing his a huge favor. We wound up being only a short walk to the Stadium. We had tickets already thanks to Eddie who secured them on Stub Hub for us ahead of time.
As for the game we saw, we expected it to be a decent one. It wound up being a wipe out as the Buckeyes demolished the Nittany Lions, 63-14.
After the game, we stayed at a Travelodge five miles from the Stadium which worked out well since we had a long day. As a result, we were able to get a real good night sleep before we drove to the Queen City of Cincinnati.
Sunday morning we got later since the football game was starting at 4:05PM as the Bengals were hosting the Jets. We wound up driving towards Cincinnati before we stopped to eat a late breakfast at Bob Evans in Wilmington, Ohio. Since we had extra time it worked out well. After we ate, Eddie drove us to downtown Cincinnati & we parked the car at 2:45PM. We then walked over to Paul Brown Stadium to see the game. Once again, we had tickets thanks to Eddie who wanted to sit on the lower level. He got us seats on the 35 yard line 11 rows from the field.
Before the game started I took a walk upstairs so I could see my pal & fellow Jet fan Lieberfarb aka Ira from Staten Island who was there as well. In fact, he's seen every Jet home & away game since 2006.
As for the game we saw, the Jets didn't show up. They got destroyed by the Bengals, 49-9.
After the game, we drove all the way back to NYC. We wound up driving 681 miles in ten hours. Eddie & I wound up splitting the driving. I started & closed it out for us. We stopped off for a fast dinner to go from Steak N Shake in Mansfield, Ohio shortly after 10PM. We also got gas there.
We finally arrived back in Astoria at 5:45AM. I barely slept in the car when Eddie took over for me. I decided to unpack. I took a shower & I ate breakfast then I proceeded to go to work.
Stay tuned as I try my best to play catch up on my whereabouts.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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