Day 86: Middlesex, Vermont to Buffalo, New York. Day 87: Buffalo to Cincinnati, Ohio. Day 88-89: Cincinnati.

Unsurprisingly, our NFL road trip schedule does not fit neatly around major holidays -- the holidays need to fit around it. So, the Scoppettone family Thanksgiving celebration -- pandemic edition -- involved a time-shifted meal and virtual visiting. The Vermont contingent, Greg and I, along with Anna and her boyfriend, Adam, cooked and ate a lovely traditional meal (complete with two pies, apple and pumpkin) on Wednesday. After dinner, we packed leftovers for friends and neighbors who weren't able to cook or travel. Anna got to play Thanksgiving Santa Claus on the actual holiday, driving around to deliver food while Greg and I were driving to Buffalo, NY, our designated stay-over spot in the journey to Cincinnati.

 Thanksgiving leftovers in our hotel.

The next day we were up and out early. Near Erie, Pennsylvania we passed this dramatic roadside sign yet again. Below is a bit of context from Wikipedia.

Cattaraugus Reservation is an Indian reservation located partly in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 1,833 at the 2010 census.^[2]

The largest part of the reservation is in Erie County; smaller portions are located in Cattaraugus County and Chautauqua County. This is one of the reservations of the federally recognized Seneca Nation of Indians. The Seneca maintain most of their administrative and public service facilities for the Cattaraugus Reservation in the Erie County portion.

When Nadia was in 4th grade she made the Ohio State candy,  Buckeyes, for a class project. They are incredibly delicious.  Even though they are rather time-consuming to make, they became sort of a family tradition. So, when I discovered these giant-sized replicas at a rest stop near Cincinnati -- well, I just had to take a picture.

We pulled in to our Cincinnati hotel in the late afternoon. It was literally an art museum -- part of the 21c Museum Hotel group. The lobby was stunning. Here are pictures of some of the art.  They don't do it justice. Click on the images to see them better. The one below took up a good-sized wall. It is hard to see it here, but this is a textile piece -- it's quilted!

 

   

The view from the window in our room.

The view from inside our room, including an interesting light fixture (below, right).

  

Inspired by the art. Here's my attempt at a still life.

We passed this on the way home. Despite the special offer, we didn't stop.

On the field: NFL Week 12, 11/29/10: New York Giants @ Cincinnati Bengals. The battle of the backup quarterbacks. Injuries were a factor in this mess of a game. New York eked out a victory. Final score: Giants 19, Bengals 17. Giants are now 4 wins and 7 losses and somehow in first place in the division.

On the map: distance from last week's game at Charlotte to home to Cincinnati: 1,761 miles.