I Ate at the Nauti Mermaid

This morning we headed to Cleveland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's beautiful, a glass pyramid on the shore of Lake Erie. It's somewhat pricey (counting parking, though my ancient student I.D. got me $2 off admission). It's intense in there. Music, movies, voices, displays come at you constantly. We saw outfits from David Bowie, Christina Aguilera, Prince, and more. We took our time through the special exhibit--two floors devoted to the life and work of Bob Dylan. I'm not much of a music person, but it was interesting to learn facts about him many people don't know. Like that he was born in Duluth, MN, and that he left MN to go to New York City to find his idol, Woody Guthrie. That's where it all began.
After the museum, which got to be a bit much, we walked a few blocks to find the World's Largest Rubber Stamp. First of all, it's not really rubber. It's made out of aluminum. Second, I thought it would be about as tall as me, not forty feet high. We were strangely impressed by this corporate art-like monstrosity. The stamp says "FREE". Hmm.
One thing we have learned about mid-sized mid-Western cities--they shut down on Sundays. Joe really wanted to go to a few nice, well-known restaurants, but every one of them was either closed or didn't open until 5 pm. We landed at one of the few open places we even saw, "The Nauti Mermaid." A nautical-themed (duh) restaurant/bar, they had good crabcakes and decent sandwiches. We were getting hungry and cranky enough to eat anything.
Then we drove south to Columbus (stopping at a truck-stop so shady it was funny) and then west to Indianapolis, IN. Here we had a destination. Mug N Buns, a drive-in burger joint on the edge of town. We got majorly lost, which ended up not being a problem, since the streets were EMPTY. We just drove around until we found the right street. In the process, we got to see downtown and the rundown part of town under the El Train.
Mug N Buns was glorious, the kind of place we dream of. Their rootbeer is homemade and their onion rings are hand-battered; both were stunning. We got a cheeseburger, which was fine, and a tenderloin, which is a CD-sized disc of pork breaded and deep-fried and put on a bun. I was good, though I don't know if I would eat it too often! We finished off with a chocolate malt and are now crashing at our decently priced, adequate hotel just a mile away from the restaurant.
A shaky start of a day with a great finish. Tomorrow: Kansas City, MO