this site may be useful - http://www.roadsideamerica.com/
presumably you know this, but the interstates, while the fastest way, and with some notable exceptions, generally have nothing much to see. so if you want to see stuff, you'll usually have to detour and usually have to lose time doing so. my notes:
Indiana
presumably you'll take 90/94 South, which should take you through Gary, a very industrial place
I would semi-detour shortly thereafter to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, though I suppose this might not be the best season for it
Northern Indiana contains Amish country. notable sites include the visitor's center in Elkhart, just South of 80 and North of 20, where you can get a driving tour guide, Menno-Hof in Shipshewana (off 20) and Amish Acres in Nappanee (on 6). 20 will take you through more of it than other routes East, I think.
South of 6 in Northeastern Indiana are two sites near Auburn associated with early automotive history before the industry moved to Detroit - the Auburn Cord and Duesenberg Museum and the National Automotive and Truck Museum
Ohio
most of what's here is in the Eastern half or 2/3 of the State. from the West...
Clyde, OH, on 20, but not far off 80, was the inspiration for Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio
on 6, to the North of 80 is Sandusky, which I understand is a poster-child for middle America, but is most notable for the Cedar Point amusement park nearby, home to a national or international class roller coaster. wrong season for the islands to the North.
while 20 runs through liberal college town Oberlin (home to one of the better collegiate art museums in the country), 6 is the scenic route along Lake Erie into Cleveland, certainly the most notable place along the entire route. in addition to the rock & roll hall of fame, there's the west side market, cleveland arcade, and art museum. my lodging and eating picks include http://www.theflyingfig.com/, http://www.lolabistro.com/, http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/ and http://www.cliffordhouse.com/ in addition to the big downtown hotels (marriott seems perfectly good and pretty cheap). there's also the Glidden House on the campus of CWRU, which is home to Frank Gehry's building for the Weatherhead School of Management. and it may be interesting to drive around the old eastern suburbs. just beyond them, a short detour from I-90 would take you to Kirtland, OH, home to the Holden Arboretum, which at this time of year has hiking trails and Amish stuff, and the Kirtland Temple, near Mentor, OH, an early Mormon church from the area's Western Reserve days.
80 passes South of Cleveland through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which while not one of the most beautiful, is probably worthwhile even at this time of year. just past it and just to the South of 80 is Hudson Village, a New England-ish old Western Reserve town. if you're really interested/knowledgeable in American football, the hall of fame is a longish detour to the South in Canton.
on its way East, 80 passes through Youngstown, another very industrial place
Pennsylvania
not much to see here. towards the Eastern border, 80 goes through the Poconos, and passes http://www.poconoraceway.com/drivepocono/. 6 is the scenic but slower and more mountainous route. you could get there by taking 90 from Cleveland to 6N in Northwestern PA.
or New York?
an alternate route would take you from Cleveland Northeast on 90 into PA where you could hook up with 86 across Southern New York. that would take you through the Chautauqua area, Wellsville, and Corning (home to the glass museum), and allow a detour to Watkins Glen and Ithaca (Cornell) before bringing you down along the edge of the Catskills towards the lower Hudson, which you could follow into NYC.
― gabbneb, Thursday, 20 December 2007 12:37 (eighteen years ago)