Toledo

Commodore Perry is apparently the namesake of the city in northern Ohio where I've spent the past week. No, not the one who opened Japan. That was my first thought, too. Instead it's the War of 1812 hero from the naval battles on nearby Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry. He was the older brother of the one who opened Japan though. I have an ancestor, Jesse Fortune, who fought in the Virginia militia in the War of 1812. I don't know if he was conscripted, or volunteered, or really much more than the fact that he was there.

While here I've made several crossings of the Maumee River. I've eaten chili cheese dogs at Tony Packo's, which was apparently once featured on MASH. The one I went to had a giant photo of Vice President Mondale eating one. Somehow I feel like that really epitomizes the region. The Mudhens aren't playing yet though, so sadly I couldn't go to one of the minor leagues' most famous teams.