Friday, the 13th
"I like your car!" The driver of a white passing Chevi-Pickpus screams at us loudly on the motorway with the windscreen down. "Where are you heading to?" A little overwhelmed with this rather unconventional way of greeting I just answer "West...we're heading west." - "I couldn't understand you!" - I, what the throat gives: "Cleveland, and after..." with an immediate "OK, follow me!" I am interrupted.
What now? He wants us to follow him? Where's he going? "Maybe he wants to show us something interesting in the city," says Mathias enthusiastically and immediately joins the ranks of the unknown. "As long as we stay in the vehicle, nothing can happen to us!" We are skilfully guided by the rush hour traffic of Cleveland, always focused on not losing sight of the golden spoiled cross. He's got a hell of a tempo!
Past the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, which we actually wanted to visit, we drive through downtown until we reach Ohio City, a suburb of Cleveland. The driver, an approx. 40-year-old in craftsman's clothing, baseball cap and Hang-Loose bracelet gets out and greets us. "Hi, im Toby...if you don't know where to sleep, this is your place for tonight" and shows into the backyard of the little white house we are standing in front of, which has definitely seen better days. It is slightly sloping in the landscape and the white colour peels off everywhere, but the garden looks quite nice.
I'm skeptical. We don't even know him! On the other hand, we don't really have a place to sleep at night yet and the offer is admittedly very tempting. Without waiting for our decision, Toby opens the garden gate. "Just drive back in", and a few seconds later our car stands in a strange backyard...invisible to others...in a huge city.
We can use his bikes, if we want to go into town tonight, Toby continues, of course we can also spend the night in his apartment and shower and immediately presses a key into our hands. In short, we should just feel at home with him. He himself has travelled a lot and has always appreciated the hospitality of others, so that he always wants to pass on this virtue whenever possible. Ok, sounds nice, but at that moment it still goes a little fast and I assure him that our car is completely OK for sleeping. Thank you, we take the bikes and go to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.
On the way there we are still pretty amazed at the invitation and wonder if we can really trust him. I'm not superstitious, but today is Friday, the 13th.
The Rock Hall closes early today. The last guests are just leaving as we arrive. Shit! We thought we'd take our time in town, go back to Toby late, go straight to bed and say goodbye the next morning.
A little perplexed about what we should do now, we stop in the next pub and have a beer. Suddenly my world looks much more relaxed and we decide to go back and ask Toby if he wants to have a drink with us.
When we arrive, he is just finished mowing the lawn, thinks he would have liked to make the garden a little nicer for us.
What happens afterwards is simply unbelievable. We're still going out with Toby. He shows us his favourite places in town, the beach and the coolest bars. We play a few rounds of pinball, come back shortly before midnight, have a nightcap at his house and have exciting conversations. And... he just pays EVERYTHING for us that night.
The next morning he has to get up early to work. We make another attempt to visit the Rock Hall. It is now open and we spend the whole morning in this huge exhibition of artifacts of many music legends.
Around noon we return and say goodbye to Toby, who is back home in the meantime. As a souvenir, he's giving us a $2 note. Have you ever seen a $2 bill? - Neither do we! In return we leave him some chocolate knives, which he is very happy about.
We are overwhelmed by so much hospitality and still can't believe what happened! Toby, if you read this: Thank you so much!!!!
Fridays, the thirteenths are our lucky days from now on.