Boston to Chicago

[mighty bantam]

A group of us from UK are driving from Boston to Chicago for the Ryder Cup in late September. We are aiming to make three overnight stops.

Our outline plan at the minute is as follows:
Day 1 Boston to Syracuse, Ithaca (or somewhere)
Day 2 there to Columbus, Cincinnati (or somewhere) via rock'n'roll hall of fame in Cleveland.
Day 3 to Chicago.

Has any one any suggestions for places to stay on the nights of Day1 and Day 2? As our time in each will be pretty limited, key things are probably decent bars and restaurants!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Both Cornell University (Ithaca) and the Ohio State University (Columbus) have schools of hotel management. I know that in Ithaca, that includes running a hotel/restaurant/bar on campus where the ambience is collegial, the servers are actually getting graded on their work, and prices are semi-reasonable. Given your request and criteria, you might want to consider those two sites for your overnights..

AZBuck

[Midwest Michael]

Rather than Columbus or Cincinnati, I'd really think about staying right in Cleveland. The Rock and Roll hall of fame is right on the Lake/Downtown, so simply staying put could give you more time to enjoy yourselves. Both Columbus and Cinci are a fair bit out of the way, and while you could go there with the time you have, I don't know that it would add that much to your experience.

If you decide to go via I-90 and Syracuse, you could take a quick detour to Niagara Falls or stop at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo to try the "original" buffalo wing (the wings are good, but not the best I've had, but its still a worthwhile stop).