Having had the chance to rest and work a full day at work, I have taken the liberty to think and reflect on my memorable vacation. Twins Day Festival 2019 was an unforgettable experience for me. But don’t just take my word for it. Instead, gaze upon the 5,937 word account and all the words and pictures that really made this convention a memorable one. I will do more than just describe everything to you. Instead, I am taking you back to the event, and you are going to relive all of my memorable moments with me again. Sound good? Then follow me, as I take you through the recap of Twins Days Festival 2019.
5:37 a.m. Friday morning. I spring out of bed and turn on the coffee. I wake up without my alarm’s help, more than 20 minutes early. With my shower taken the night before and my devotional and audio already done last night, all I needed to do was record my dream and go through my daily posting on a video game message board site. I get this done and check the fridge for coffee creamer. There wasn’t any in there. I had to drink it black that morning. My favorite weekend Starbucks mocha coffee with a Truvia packet. I eat my Quest bar and I brush my teeth. I then begin to pack everything. My brother comes back from the store with more Coffeemate.
My mug was already drunk, and everything needed to get into the car – fast. We get everything in there just in time for my mom to capture the perfect Kodak moment. Me and my brother stood there in matching red shirts, shorts, socks, and red shoes, both ready to drive down to Twinsburg, Ohio for the Twins Days Festival.
After the pictures were taken, we were off at around 8:02 in the morning. Before we even turned onto M-30, the pictures were sent to us. I got onto US-10 and we were Twinsburg bound, jamming to Weird Al Yankovic.
After Auburn, I merged onto I-75 South, towards Flint. After that, I took the right fork onto US-23 South, towards Ann Arbor. After Ann Arbor, we passed Dundee, and then Temperance.
Finally, we crossed the Ohio border.
Ohio’s slogan was “Find it Here”. What I found was the speed limit going down to 65 miles per hour. We went through I-475 South, I-75 North, and then found myself on the I-80/I-90 Ohio Turnpike.
The Turnpike was an enjoyable ride. With the speed limit at 70 miles per hour, I felt right at home. I cruised down it, listening to John Reuben.
And then at 9:50, we stopped at a Service Plaza. Time for the first rest stop. After some Instagramming, it was time to resume the trip.
After exiting the Turnpike, I paid $6.25 for it. Following that was the first wrong turn of the trip. We ended up getting back on the Turnpike and getting back off it. It only cost $0.50 this time.
Finally, we were on I-480 East. We got off on the Great Northern Boulevard exit, because it was time for some lunch.
We entered North Olmstead and stopped at a Chick-Fil-A. I was so happy there that I took a selfie.
After that, it was time to order my food! The food you ask? It was a mouthwatering barbeque bacon grilled chicken sandwich, three chick-n strips, and a medium order of waffle fries. And why don’t we include every single kind of dipping sauce that they have? There we go!
Now Midland has committed a terrible sin in not including one of these wonderful restaurants there. I mean, we have plenty of burger places, but how many chicken places do we have? It’s true that just about every fast food place serves chicken, but not like this. I would consider this place Colonel Sanders’ cousin. But no buckets. No biscuits. No wedges. No mashed potatoes. Just the waffle fries will do. Plus we’re on our way to Twinsburg. We don’t have time to sit down for a home-cooked meal.
And what do we do with the trash? Let’s not forget to throw it away. In an automatic disposal? Yes please!
After we got our fill of Chick-Fil-A, we left North Olmstead, Ohio and got back on I-480 East.
Before long, we arrived at Twinsburg and got off on Aurora Road. We missed the Twin Hills Highway so we turned on Church Street. That took us to Ravenna Road. We turned left on Ravenna Road and then left on the Joshua T. Miktarian Memorial Parkway. We arrived at Twinsburg High School and entered for registration.
Before I even entered the high school, I was watching sets of twins walking through the parking lot towards the high school. With my twin, I did just that. We walked down the sidewalk and entered the high school.
Inside, the place was totally packed. Pre-registration was at full capacity as twins everywhere were all trying to register.
When I got to registration, the one behind the registration table was a young woman that was a twin. She told me that she has been coming to the Twins Days Festival since she was two. She was also a fraternal twin, and her twin was nearby, also helping with registration. After I showed her my registration, she gave me a bag filled with things for the weekend: A program booklet, an honorary citizen proclamation, a wristband for the Festival Grounds tomorrow and Sunday, a nametag and lanyard, a small bag of M&M’s, and a ticket to get a free hot dog. Multiply that by two, since my twin got all of the same items, but they were put in the same bag.
After registration, I met my first set of twins: Taylor and Kirsten from New Hampshire.
After registration, I wanted to check out the information booth since I wanted to find out if there were any events for first-timers. While in line, I met Julie and Joe, fraternal twins from Detroit, Michigan.
Me and my twin brother then decided to go and check into our room. The battery on our cell phones were low, so they really needed recharging. With that, we drove to the Hilton Garden Inn at Twinsburg, Ohio, which was only a short distance away. I would say about 0.7 miles away.
Upon entering the Hilton Garden Inn, this is what i saw.
After checking in, we took the elevators to Room 202. Inside was a very nice room, as you can see here.
I loved this room. There were two queen beds, a sitting chair, and a desk for the computer. There was even a Keurig coffee machine. I unpacked everything and called mom. After checking in, I went for a walk with Ryan while our cellphones recharged. We walked around the hotel and checked out the pool and the business center.
After that, we walked up to Blue Canyon, an upscale restaurant that I had reservations for. The restaurant was situated on a bluff, which overlooked the hotel. We found the restaurant and then started walking towards Sheetz. When I saw how busy the overpass was, I decided not to cross it. There were cars merging uphill off the highway of I-480, so crossing onto the shoulder would be quite chancey.
Instead, we decided to cross Aurora Road near our hotel to getGo, a gas station that was much closer. Once at the gas station, I bought some Twix Bars. A Dark Chocolate Twix 4 to Go and a Triple Chocolate Twix 4 to Go. With the candy, I bought a liter of Aquafina. My brother bought some candy as well, with a Mountain Dew.
After crossing back over, we took Wilcox Road back to our hotel and checked our cellphones. They still had a little more to go. After my cellphone hit 80%, I left with my twin brother to return to Twinsburg High School.
Once there, I saw a lot more twins getting registered. I then met Allie and Becca from Rising Sun, Maryland.
After that, we got in line to get our free hot dogs. And my, was the line long!
And registration was still pretty busy as well.
I got my hot dog from Kimmy, a Twinsburg high school student (not a twin) that was volunteering for this event. I then got some chips and a bottled water and found a table with my twin. We then met three more older sets of twins. Bonnie and Connie (Michigan/Ohio). Sheilah & Lelah from Virginia. Sharon and Karen (Kentucky/Massachusetts).
After eating, I met Olivia and Mary, identical twins from Arkansas.
I then met Phil. His twin brother Chris couldn’t make it to the convention. One was from Sterling Heights, Michigan and the other one was from Kentucky.
Shortly after that, me and my brother met two more sets of twins in the hallway leading to the gym. Destinee and Savannah from Dayton, Ohio and Amy and Amber from Lansing, Michigan.
After that, I decided to check out the gym with my brother. We took a few more pictures of twins there. There was even a set of triplets!
After that, I met another set of older twins named Julie and Jackie. They were both from Sugar Grove, Ohio.
We then stuck around for the opening ceremony. The names of all of the royal court were given. After the event was over, we found some more sets of twins in the cafeteria. Daryll & David, originally from Cadillac, Michigan (they live in Orlando, Florida now) and Tiffany and Crystal, from Kyle, Texas (a suburb of Austin).
After that was Jay and Neil from Boston, Massachusetts and Ramee and Lucky from Houston, Texas.
I also met Jerryl and Jeremy from Washington DC. Jonathan and Jeremy from Millersburg, Ohio took the above picture.
Daryll then invited me and my brother out to the Bertram Inn. From what I heard from him, this is where most of the twins stay for the event, and they have an after party there. I told him that I would consider going if it didn’t get too late.
We then met three more sets of twins. We met Alyssa and Erin from Portland, Michigan, Luke and Michael from Atlanta, Georgia, and Linda and Brenda from Palmdale, California.
Before leaving the high school, I managed to get a few more pictures of twins.
After we got to our room, it was time for dinner. And not just any dinner. A wonderful dinner at Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern. Since the kitchen was occupied, we were seated in the tavern, with plenty of tables. We were seated just before 9:30.
Crystal, our waitress, was very professional. I was just about to order the Pretzel Crusted Trout when she mentioned a few of the specials. One of them that caught my attention was Lobster Linguine. I ordered that with a bowl of BC Lobster, Crawfish Bisque. Me and my brother split an order of Polenta Crusted Calamari.
The appetizers came first, of course.
After that was the dish I was waiting for. The Lobster Linguine.
The Lobster Linguine was good. When it was gone, I shared dessert with my brother. The Bomb. A layered chocolate dessert with filling, cake and covered in chocolate. A round, delicious chocolatey ball of goodness.
After the food was done, and 20 minutes of waiting, the scary part came. The bill. But that’s nothing that my Dow Chemical VISA can’t handle, right?
When the bill was paid, I said goodbye to the restaurant. Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern, you fed us well tonight. You will be missed.
By the time that we left the restaurant, it was after 10:30. Having still remembered the invitation to the Bertram Inn, I decided to decline it, since it was getting too late. The big parade was tomorrow, and I wasn’t about to miss that.
Me and my twin brother went back to the Hilton Garden Inn nearby and went to Room 202. We brushed our teeth and got ready for bed. It was going to be a long and fun day for both of us tomorrow.
6:23 a.m. Saturday morning. I spring out of bed and cancel my 6:30 alarm. Having done most of my routine last night, all that remained was my daily posts on the video game message boards. I took care of that and drank my freshly brewed Keurig coffee. After waiting for the use of the bathroom, it finally became vacant and I brushed my teeth. I then quickly put on my clothes for the day. A kelly green Merry Christmas shirt, red denim jean shorts, candy cane socks, red shoes with light up soles and a Santa hat to top it off. And let’s not forget the lanyard or the bracelet.
All ready for the day, we hurried downstairs and ate the fastest breakfast buffet that we could. It wasn’t too fast, as I wouldn’t be able to get any of these pictures. Amy and Beth from Troy, Ohio are in this one, sporting the flag dresses.
After we paid for our food, we hurried outside. A shuttle was planned to pick up twins from our hotel and take us directly to the town square, where the parade lineup was. Still having time, Someone got a picture of me and my twin with Amy and Beth.
After we got on the bus, we met another set of twins. It was Lady Luck x 2! It was Julia and Marla from Hermosa Beach, California and Manhattan, New York.
Before the bus started, I had a interesting conversation with Marla. It turns out that she is actually the segment producer for four seasons of The Apprentice! She has also produced seasons of other popular reality shows as well. Sitting behind me was a woman named Josie from London in the UK. While she wasn’t a twin, she was there to do research on different events in the area.
The shuttle takes off and I eat my Quest bar. Minutes later, the shuttle dropped us off at the town square for the parade lineup. As we walked around, I met Tricia and Lucy, twins from Florida and New York.
We then found a young set of fraternal twins riding turkeys. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I got their names.
After that, someone took a picture of us, so that was awesome!
An old Japanese guy then wanted to get a selfie with me and my brother. He even had a selfie stick with his camera, too! I wish I had the picture, but it was on his phone.
After that, we encountered Taylor and Kirsten, the twins from New Hampshire that we met yesterday! This time, we got a picture with them.
After that, we met a few more twins. We met Sally and Sue from Detroit, Michigan. We met Meagan and Paige from Green Bay, Wisconsin. We also met Isabelle and Madeline from Ohio.
With only ten minutes left before the parade started, we got a picture with Kirsten and Kaitlin, identical twins from Columbus, Ohio.
With just seven minutes remaining, we met Stacy and Tracy from Hager Sound, Maryland. We also saw Olivia and Mary, the twins from Arkansas again! Someone took a picture of us with all of them.
The parade was now officially underway. I managed to get these shots as I walked down the parade route with my twin brother.
The parade started at 9:00 and lasted about an hour and a half. It was fun watching all the people on the street smile as we walked on by. We waved at all the onlookers. Towards the end of the route, I gave some young boys some high fives having seen another twin do it marching with us.
When the parade was over, we marched into the Festival Grounds. Since I didn’t have my car with me, I took a shuttle back with my brother to get it. I managed to get this picture of another set of twins while on the shuttle.
The shuttle only took us back to the town square, so we had to walk nearly a mile back to the hotel. From Church street, we had to turn onto Aurora Road and walk on the sidewalk. When it got to the overpass that went over I-480, we had to be very careful. We carefully crossed the on ramp and hugged the shoulder near the guardrail. As we crossed, we got a few honks of approval from the cars going by. We even got a loud cheer from a younger crowd of passengers that zoomed by. Finally, we had to cross the off ramp on the other side. When it was safe, we crossed the lane. It was smooth sailing after this, as all we had to do was walk on grass past a Cracker Barrel and turn onto Wilcox Drive to the Hilton Garden Inn.
After getting back, we took a breather. Between the parade and getting back, we walked more than two miles.
At around a quarter to noon, we got back to Twinsburg High School paying a $3 parking fee to a flagger. We got out and a transport vehicle took us back through the Joshua T. Miktarian Memorial Parkway to the midway of the carnival and the Twins Days Festival grounds.
Once we got off, it was time to meet some more twins. We met Sheila and Rita from Columbus, Ohio. We then met Jasmine and Amber from New Jersey. Paige and Bailey, another set, were from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Katherine and Kelsey were from Knoxville, Tennessee. After that, we met Sharon and Karen, twins from Clearwater, Florida. Another set, Bonnie and Marcie live in different states. Bonnie lives in Florida and Marcie lives in Tennessee.
At around noon, we came across Caroline and Claire, young twins (10 years old) both from West Virginia. Here is a picture of my twin with those twins.
We then entered Twins Days and I got a few more pictures.
After that, I decided to wait in line to get my souvenir pin with my brother. While I was waiting in line, I got some pictures with some other twins. I met Phil and Mark, twins from Georgia and North Dakota. I even met some Canadian twins from Windsor, Ontario. Their names are Tanya and Tiffany.
The line moved very slowly and it was getting close to 1:00, the time that we had to be at the Ampitheater at bleacher 13 if we want to be in the contest. A few sets of twins, finding this out from us let us cut them in line. We paid for our buttons, got the picture, and bolted for the Ampitheater. We made it just in time. Standing in line were two lady liberties. Ashley and Amber from Pennsylvania.
Standing with them are Jenni and Mandy. I don’t know where they’re from so I’m not going to include them in my list at the end.
There were also a few other themed costumes as well. Judging on everyone in this group, the competition was going to be fierce.
After waiting a little longer, we were asked to enter the stage and sit in the bleacher. The judge then asked each set of twins if they made their costume or not. After asking everyone, she pointed at three or four sets of twins and asked them to stay. For all the other sets of twins, she told them to go. I was one of them. I got a medal for participating and left the auditorium with my brother.
Since we were done with the contest, we went and got our pins. It was now time to help ourselves to some twin pops. We both got a green twin pop and split an orange one.
After the twin pops, we went and got some fried Oreos. If you’ve never had a fried Oreo, I’m sorry. You are totally missing out.
After the fried oreos, we tried to go on a carnival ride, but our Twins Days Festival Bracelet wouldn’t cut it. We needed a $20 bracelet from McGinnis Amusements. We bought our bracelets and got back in line. We rode a few rides. We rode the Hurricane, the Loop-o-Plane, and the Scrambler.
After we rode on the Scrambler, it was time to go to the field to take the group picture. The picture would be taken at exactly 3:30, so we wouldn’t want to be late for it. Here is a picture that I took before I went over there.
We got there early and found a good spot to sit for the large group picture. It was actually done with two cherry pickers. Here is a shot I got of them, 18 seconds before the picture got taken.
After the picture, we went and bought some souvenirs. All I bought was a pair of sunglasses. Ryan also bought a pair so that we would match. We then went back to the rides and rode the Ferris wheel. When that was over, we went all the way back to the Ampitheater to watch a contest given to twins that traveled the furthest, triplets, quadruplets, and twinless twins. After the contest, I left with my brother.
Since the contest at 1:00, I met seven more sets of twins. I met Stacey and Jennifer from Massachusetts, Monica and Stephanie from Washington, Hannah and Haley from Buffalo, New York, Trevor and Tanner from Pennsylvania (8 years old), Chasney and Cylee from Illinois, Abigail and Rebecca from Ohio, and Jaclyn and Kaitlyn from Cincinnati, Ohio.
I then met Meredith and Olivia from Columbus, Ohio and got a picture with them.
After that, I took a picture of the Twinsburg Police car, which got forfeited because of a Felony O.V.I.
After that, I was starting to get hungry, so we left the grounds and were taken back to our car at the high school. We went to Sheetz gas station and I ordered a monster burrito with some tater tots and a frozen hot chocolate. I also bought a liter of water.
After eating the burrito and tots, I went upstairs to my room and prepared some things for tomorrow.
I then left with Ryan again to go to the fireworks. When we got back to the high school, there were some open spaces. However, I had to walk the whole half mile parkway, since there were no transport vehicles to take us to the midway. After getting back to the midway, I saw that the convention was winding down.
We went to the food court and bought some Brownie Batter Dippin’ Dots. We took it back to the one stage that was still playing music and killed some time until 9:00.
At around 9:15, a lantern ceremony was taken place. Twinless twins were given a lantern that represented the twin that they lost. One by one, we watched them light the lanterns and watched them rise into the air.
Right before the firework show started, I took a picture of the Twins Days Holiday Tree at night.
After that, the firework show started. It was put on by Meijer and the show was spectacular.
When the show was over, I walked the parkway back to the high school. It wasn’t too late so I decided to check out what I didn’t bother to on Friday night. The Bertram Inn. With all this talk circulating about this place, I couldn’t go back to my hotel without checking it out.
So with the help of Google guiding us, we got to the Bertram Inn in Aurora, Ohio. We were five miles from Twinsburg.
Before I reached the banquet hall of the hotel, I saw two Aurora police cars parked right outside. The local authorities were there to make sure that the party that was going on inside was not going too far.
We entered the banquet hall and everyone there was in high spirits. There were twins everywhere, all smiling and laughing in the grand hallway. All the other twins were inside, dancing on the dance floor. Cake was there, and large rectangular boxes of pizza. And there were some twins standing around.
I saw Darryl and Dave, the ones that I saw earlier at the midway and yesterday at the high school. They were excited that we were able to make it. I also met Rich and Dave from New Jersey and Kate and Kari from Ohio.
Then I met Ruby and Veronica. They were identical twins from Maine. And when I finally got my brother’s attention, we went and got a picture with them.
After that, it was time to go. As much fun as these twins were having, this was their hotel. We still had to get back to the Hilton Garden Inn. Also, good young men go to bed on Saturday nights, so that they can get up Sunday morning to go to church. We left and turned out of the Bertram Inn.
There was one problem after we left. The navigation on my brother’s phone didn’t want to work, so we drove through Aurora and started to approach Hudson. Finally, the navigation worked, and it had us getting back onto I-480. We had to go west four miles to get back into Twinsburg. We took the Aurora Road exit and we were back near our hotel again.
After that, I took a shower and got ready for bed. The last day awaited us. Just a short morning there and the convention would be done…
6:47 a.m. Sunday morning. I spring out of bed, waking up two minutes late. Fortunately, everything was done the night before. Except for my daily posts on the message board and the dream that I needed to record. I drank my Keurig Coffee and ate my Quest Bar. I packed everything up and took it out to the car. Once my brother was ready, we checked out.
After the front desk printed off my receipt, I said goodbye to the hotel. We left the hotel and went down Aurora Road. We then went through the Twin Parkway that we were so familiar with. If I could freeze time, I would freeze it with this vacation. Imagine being a twin in a land of twins where you never had to leave. This was my fantasy, but alas. I had no pause button to freeze that moment.
We turn onto Ravenna Road again, inching our way towards the Joshua T. Miktarian Memorial Parkway. We turned onto it and paid a $3 parking fee to a flagger. We then parked at Twinsburg High School one last time. We got out, where a transport vehicle was there, ready to transport us down the Joshua T. Miktarian Memorial Parkway to the midway half a mile down.
We got on and were at the midway about a couple of minutes later. The midway, which was so busy with twins yesterday was desolate. A sleeping festival grounds just waiting to awaken. We got new bracelets since we had to break our other ones to take them off. We entered the festival grounds with our new bracelets.
Once in, we went to the research tent and waited for the surveys to open. I met another set of twins while I was waiting. Their names are Jennifer and Karrie from New York. When they finally opened, we participated in two surveys. One of them gave us Sour Patch Kids and the other one gave us $30.
With the survey done, we were just in time for a Calvary Community Service led by Pastor Jim. It was held in the tent on the festival grounds. Before the service started, I met two more sets of twins. Lauren and Katy are identical twins from Newark, Delaware. Shelby and Shannon are fraternal twins, and school teachers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Shelby teaches first grade and Shannon teaches fourth grade.
We sang a few songs and then Jim delivered a brief sermon on the Prodigal Son. It was a powerful sermon and I got a lot out of it.
After the service ended, a lot of pictures were taken. Here’s a few with Lauren and Katy. One of them has Nicole and Tori, Fraternal twins from Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Shelby and Shannon, pictured behind Lauren and Katy.
After all the pictures were taken, it was time to go. The last set of twins that I met were Lorena and Katrina from Pennsylvania. To recap, I visited 51 twins this weekend. In case you want the full list again, here is that list:
Friday, August 2, 2019
- Taylor & Kirsten – NH
- Julie & Joe – Detroit, MI
- Allie & Becca – Rising Sun, MD
- Bonnie & Connie – MI/OH
- Shielah & Lelah – VA
- Sharon & Karen – KY/MA
- Olivia & Mary – AK
- Phil & (Chris, didn’t come) – KY/Sterling Heights, MI
- Destinee & Savannah – Dayton, OH
- Amy & Amber – Lansing, MI
- Julie & Jackie – Sugar Grove, OH
- Ramee & Lucky – Houston, TX
- Jay & Neil – Boston, MA
- Jonathan & Jeremy – Millersburg, OH
- Alyssa & Erin – Portland, MI
- Luke & Michael – Atlanta, GA
- Linda & Brenda – Palmdale, CA
- Amy & Beth – Troy, OH
Saturday, August 3, 2019
19. Julia & Marla – Hermosa Beach, CA/New York, NY
20. Tricia & Lucy – FL/NY
21. Sally & Sue – Detroit, MI
22. Meagan & Paige – Green Bay, WI
23. Isabelle & Madeline – Columbus, OH
24. Kirsten & Kaitlin – OH
25. Stacy & Tracy – Hager Sound, MD
26. Sheila & Rita – Columbus, OH
27. Jasmine & Amber – NJ
28. Paige & Bailey – Grand Rapids, MI
29. Katherine & Kelsey – Knoxville, TN
30. Sharon & Karen – Clearwater, FL
31. Bonnie & Marcie – FL/TN
32. Caroline & Claire – WV (10 years old)
33. Phil & Mark – GA/ND
34. Tanya & Tiffany – Windsor, Ontario, Canada
35. Ashley & Amber – PA
36. Stacey & Jennifer – MA
37. Monica & Stephanie – WA
38. Hannah & Haley – Buffalo, NY
39. Trevor & Tanner – PA (8 years old)
40. Chasney & Cylee – IL
41. Abagail & Rebecca – OH
42. Jaclyn & Kaitlin – Cincinnati, OH
43. Meredith & Olivia – Columbus, OH
44. Rich & Dave – NJ
45. Kate & Kari – OH
46. Ruby & Veronica – ME
Sunday, August 4, 2019
47. Jennifer & Karrie – NY
48. Lauren & Katy – Newark, DE
49. Shelby & Shannon – Lancaster, PA
50. Nicole & Tori – IN/PA
51. Lorena & Katrina – PA
After twin 51, I left the midway, saying my goodbyes. As I crossed the festival gate, I joyfully shouted that I would see them next year.
I took the transport back to my car and we left the high school. We would not see it again until hopefully next year. But there was still one thing left to do. It was time to say goodbye to Twinsburg.
With the original plan to eat at the Fresh Start diner, I changed my mind when I saw that it was crowded. We needed to get on the road since we planned on meeting my aunt, uncle, and two cousins at the Cheesecake Factory in Novi. We looked for a postcard but was unsuccessful in finding one.
I took a picture of the Fresh Start Diner and one of the Town Square.
With that, I drove to Sheetz Gas Station for one last fill-up before we left Twinsburg for good. Hopefully, we will be back in 2020 for the next Twins Days Festival. I got my gas topped off and I watched my brother eat his breakfast as quick as possible. After he finished and washed his hands, we were on the road.
We left Twinsburg around 12:10. I took a slightly different way back. I went down I-480 and I-80 on the Turnpike. I paid $6.50 after leaving the turnpike to go on I-280 North. After driving into Michigan, the roads were bad and there was not even a Welcome to Michigan sign to great us. Just Monroe County with I-75 North in a total wreck. And to make matters worse, it was raining really hard. So, I hurried though the storm to get to the sunny weather.
Eventually, we passed through Wayne County and got onto I-696 West. We took a wrong turn and ended up in Southfield. We drove through Telegraph Road and through 11 Mile Road to get back onto 696 West, towards M-5. We took M-5 North and finally found the exit for 12 Mile Road. We then took the road onto Twelve Oaks Mall and eventually found a parking space. We got out and met our aunt, uncle, and two cousins at the Cheesecake Factory. What did I get? Well, after studying the only menu in the world that’s a novel, I found what I was looking for. I was hungry so I helped myself to some Tex Mex egg rolls and some Ahi Tuna.
While I waited for my food, I shared my Twins Days Festival stories with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, while my brother shared his pictures. All of them could not see all the pictures, so it worked to have both of our pictures ready to view.
After eating my appetizers, the waitress got the novels…I mean, menus back out. With 70 different cheesecakes, which two will I eat?
Fortunately, I already had in mind what I wanted. I decided on the Godiva Cheesecake and the Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecake. We talked some more about our trip while they prepared the cheesecakes. When they arrived, they were enormous. Just look at them!
Now this was a tough battle. Whenever you’re faced up against two slices of multi-layered cheesecake, the cheesecake is going to win every time. Now that Godiva Cheesecake was so rich that I could almost not finish it. I couldn’t even finish the cream on the Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecake! I had to wipe it off, so that it could get taken home. Now at The Cheesecake Factory, there is one thing that you should never do. And that’s underestimate their cheesecake. I underestimated their cheesecake, and now I’m taking a slice home with me.
After saying my goodbyes to my aunt, uncle, and two cousins, it was time to head home. But first, I had to make one more wrong direction. This one was okay, though. I was on I-96 West instead of I-96 North. Again, this didn’t matter, since heading west would take me right to Brighton, where US-23 North merges. With that, I merged onto Brighton and continued north, through Linden and Fenton. Before I hit Flint, there was another torrential downpour. I drove though that and I was fine.
There is not much more to say here, besides navigating familiar territory. Vienna Township, Birch Run, Buena Vista Township, Zilwaukee Bridge, Exit 162B to get onto US-10 West. Very straightforward.
And with that, I have given every memory that I could think of from one of the most memorable trips that I’ve been on. You’ve relived it with me and the trip is over. If you want to relive it again, go ahead. Scroll all the way up to the top and re-read this entire recap. It’s really one of those trips that’s worth reliving, and if I could do that, I would totally relive it. But the best that I can do is capture time, put it into words, and let the words create a wonderful picture. A picture of a wonderful land full of twins for just one weekend. A land where every twin gets to be an honorary Twinsburg citizen for the weekend. This land was truly special and totally unique and it’s something that I don’t ever want to forget. I’m glad that I shared it with you and I hope to share a different version of this picture with you next year, because it’s something that I will truly never forget.
With the recap over, it is time for bed. Good night everyone!
My Muse is currently 11 years and 4.75 months old today. She is 3’5.5″ tall and she weighs 33 pounds. The height and weight of a four-and-a-half-year old.
Today’s high is going to be 87 degrees and the silver lining is getting this recap done.
To those of you who like retelling stories about your trips, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: *yawn* That was fun…My twin had to go home. I’m going to miss her…
You must log in to post a comment.