Alister and I both need a recovery day. I’ll admit I have been cocky lately. Doing extra miles to sight see and ranging further to go get food. Since the start I have wanted to include Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of this trip. It’s out of the way so I waited until til Columbus to decide if I would keep it on the schedule. Well it made the cut.
Alister’s brakes have been squishy and given it has been 2000 miles since I had the pads changed I decided to zero in Canton, drop off Alister to get fixed up, and Uber to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame is a museum that walks you through the history of pro football. I learned lots about how the NFL became the juggernaut that it is today. There is less memorabilia than I expected. Most of the exhibits are interpretive signs with a few helmets and uniforms from the time period being discussed. They also have short movies and a few interactive items. You can compare your legs and hands to hall of famers. Spoiler, my calves are bigger than a receiver but smaller than a linebacker. The best interactive display was the instant replay. You go under the hood and have to make a ruling in the 60 seconds the refs get. You get to pick camera angles and run it back and forth. It is harder than you think. I did get most of them right.
The best part of the place is obviously the hall of busts. I was struck with the realization that there just aren’t that many members compared to how many insanely talented people have played the game, or coached, or owned a team. Gold jackets are not given out like participation trophies in grade school. I also think the busts are fantastic. They are very life like, except Emmitt Smith his is goofy looking, it also leaves all the members timeless. No polyester suits, no 80s neon and pastels. The members from the 2000s look just as classic as those from the 60s.
I think it is over priced at $45 but for a once in a life time visit it was tolerable.
Alister got his brake pistons over hauled and new pads. I got lots of food and laid in bed for the remainder of the day resting up.
This day of rest and playing tourist was just what I needed before rounding onto the home stretch. The next week has lots on the agenda. I want to savor every bit of it.