"How Said This?"

That's what my Yugoslavian boyfriend used to say when he wasn't sure how to express himself in English. His name was Darijo; he was tall, and his rockstar hair made him taller. I was in 11th grade and enamored of the idea of a foreign boyfriend, a characteristic that apparently followed me into adulthood. Besides, how could I not fall for a guy who asked "Will you go outside with me?" But I digress.

How said this, without offending Ohioans everywhere?

With the possible exception of Kansas, Ohio is the most mind-numbing state to drive across. There are pockets of interestingness here and there, but they don't happen with much frequency. Ohio is boring. Boooooorrrring.

Thing is, I don't dislike Ohio. I even lived there for six months and loved it. But — and please don't get mad at me, ô natives — driving through The Buckeye State kills my road trip buzz. Every time.   

Comments

[bhd]

Girlfriend, try Nebraska.

[Allan]

Maybe we should just fly up there in the future.

[madame l.]

i need to see a picture of darijo.

[samantha]

Apparently you haven't ever driven through Iowa or North Dakota!

[kklink]

"Will you go outside with me?" :) That's the best.

The best I ever got was "You have hair," although I later found out he meant to say, "You have NICE hair."

[Daisy]

How about "You know what they about girls who wear red shoes don't you?" as a chat-up line. But he had such a lovely smile and a hairy back...

[ally bean]

Oh yeah, don't I know all about the wastelands of Ohio. Ho hum.

When interviewing someone about NASA astronaunts, Steve Colbert mentioned that 22 astronaunts came from Ohio. And then he asked: "What is there about Ohio that causes people to want to flee the planet?"

You've found the answer!

[owld_skipper]

How said this? Evidently you have never driven across Manitoba and Saskachewan. Dead bloody boring, the endless prairie. People have been found wandering along the shoulder of the road mumbling unintelligbly, drool running down their chins....begging to be taken back to Toronto, or at least to Lake of the Woods.

No, wait, I exaggerate, don't I?

[Neil]

http://www.discoverohio.com/home.asp

This ridiculous comment sponsored by the Ohio Department of Development, Division of Travel and Tourism. Bob Taft, Governor.

[Meredith]

This explains why my mind is numb. Two years ago I flew into the Cincinnatti airport where my family picked me up to continue driving all the way across Ohio to near the eastern border with West Virginia for my youngest step-sister's wedding. Most of my family had already driven all the way across Iowa or Minnesota and Illinois or Wisconsin. Boy did they all have blank looks on their faces when they got as far as meeting me.
We did visit one cute little town, Galliopolis? famed for it's first french inhabitants.

[Thomas]

Try driving through Indiana on your way to Florida... Georgia isn't much of a "peach" either.

[ms. sizzle]

i think i may have driven through there but... it was so mind-numbingly boring i have blocked it out.

:) sizzle

[newwavegurly]

An area being interesting when one "drives through" it has so many factors. Driving through areas at night can make them more beautiful than they would ever look during the daylight hours. If you like cities, driving through a dense state would be your thing. If you like hills and mountains, driving through other states would be your thing (though you would NOT want to drive through Florida if this was the case).

For me, any long stretch of driving without stopping could kill my road trip buzz. I just make sure I've got the right tunes pumping through the car stereo which makes any road trip more fun.

[cmhl]

oklahoma pretty much saps my will to live, when I am driving cross country...

[Allan]

Driving cross-country...

I don't know if I could do that.

[Uranus]

Having lived in such exciting places, now I can explain why you like France!!!! Probably Crawford, Texas is a happening place to you too! :-P

[Pumpkin]

I lived in Ohio most of my life and it is boring as hell!

[anne]

next time detour through WV! If you make it through without roadsickness!