There are four travel plazas on the I-90 in Indiana, and seven in Ohio. The architecture is identical: a court with bathrooms and travel information, a convenience store, a travel souvenir store, and three fast-food restaurants, where you may be able to get a salad.
They are all bright and airy, rather pleasant except for having no trees or grass, and since everyone stops there, they are perfect for physique watching. Nobody takes their shirts off, but there are plenty of handsome faces, hard pecs and shoulders, and bulges on display.
Here are the top 10 physiques I found on my last crosscountry trip:
1. A muscle dad texting by the soda machines, his preteen daughters in tow.
2. It's hard to tell in a small photo, but this guy sipping a soda outside the Starbucks was breathtaking.
3. Blond wearing pink sunglasses and a tight black t-shirt, strutting around, aware that he's making everyone's jaw drop.
4. Cute nerd dad with an unshaven face eating burgers with his wife and toddlers.
5. This guy with his hands covering his crotch was applying for a job. He was asked "Why do you want to work here?" and replied "It would be interesting to meet people from all over the world." More likely it's the only job available in a small town in Indiana?
6. A very friendly high school senior from a suburb of Chicago, eating at Burger King with his father and little brother.
7. This guy isn't quite old enough to be of beefcake interest, but what's with the chicken hat?
8. He was at a table with three older, fatter guys. When he stood up, I was blinded by the bulge.
9. An employee of the Ohio Toll Road Authority, chatting up one of the clerks at the convenience store. A female clerk, unfortunately.
10. A suspicious guy in a cut-off t-shirt, with his male friend and two girls. They must be locals hanging out.
I only had a conversation with one of these guys; the others came and went quickly. But that's the fun part: a glimpse of beauty that you will never see again.