However, fate threw an interesting turn when Cherie needed to stop and the next exit was Elmira, New York.
I couldn't seem to find any place to stop in Elmira.
No fast food stops, no convenience stores, no gas stations- Nothing.
However, as I toured Elmira, I saw a sign that read Ernie Davis Statue.
I instantly became intrigued as Ernie Davis was the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner from Syracuse, was the top pick in the 1962 draft by Washington before being traded to Cleveland for future Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell but would never play a game for the Browns as he would die of Leukemia in 1963.
Davis was also the subject of the 2008 film "The Express". which starred Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid.
Cherie wasn't totally familiar with Davis but I had to keep looking for a place for her and finally found her a Mcdonalds', which bought me some time to Google "Ernie Davis Statue".
Back on the road, armed with what I thought was the address, I traveled to the statue's presumed location and found what looked like a business located in a former school.
And no Ernie Davis statue.
So, I begin retracing my steps to try to remember where I saw the sign.
And after about ten long minutes, I saw the sign and wondered why there weren't any other signs.
Answer?
The statue was in front of the Ernie Davis Academy that we had passed earlier but in the rush to find Cherie a place to stop, it didn't register that the statue was in front of the school!
So I felt like an idiot as I exited the car to snap a few pictures and it truly is a wonderful tribute to Davis with several granite blocks around the statue, two of them listing Davis's achievements and the rest each giving a portion of Davis's character to a block.
It's extremely well done and while I didn't know it existed until a chance encounter, I'm really glad that that was the exit that we needed to stop.
And that led us to Scranton and our planned lunch at Cooper's Seafood House.
Fans of "The Office" know how authentic the show is about its connections to the city used as its TV home with its various items, mentions, and visits to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Cooper's Seafood House is often mentioned on the program and on occasion, characters have eaten there (on the show, not the actual restaurant), and when I looked up Cooper's on the web, they have a very extensive gift shop of items from "The Office", which made it a natural stop for us as huge fans of the show.
The wind was cutting through the air sharply and it kept us moving quickly inside Cooper's!
The building has a wide base and it stretches out quite far from the dining room to the bar and the gift shop.
I loved the decor with lots of news clippings from the area, board games from the 70s and 80s hanging from the wall, and lots of items from The Office and Gilligan's Island!
I'm really not sure what the Gilligan's Island connection is but there was a small model of display for the show and its characters and plenty of pictures of Tina Louise and Dawn Wells.
After we checked the gift shop out to have an idea of what we would purchase after our meal, we walked to the other end of the restaurant to actually order.
The place was pretty busy but our food came out quickly under the circumstances with my order of a lobster roll sandwich and Cherie's crab version of the same proving to be quite good.
It wasn't the biggest sandwich that I have ever seen and it sure wasn't the cheapest but it was very good in its own right.
Cherie and I split a piece of Key Lime pie, which was quite large and the slice was more than enough for each of us to share.
I wouldn't rate it as good as the gold standard at Cootie Brown's but worth the order in any case.
We then returned to the gift shop, buying several gifts for others and each other for Christmas before heading down the road to return home.
Scranton is roughly three hours from home, so the drive was uneventful to finish the trip and I had a great time all told.
I'd definitely make this trip again, maybe a little earlier in the year to take better advantage of Antique World but I certainly would return.
A very enjoyable few days away from home and some nice items found for the collection made this trip a memorable one
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