This past New Years Ohio Homecoming threw a countdown party on Public Square and from the second I found out, I wanted to go! I had never been to a New Year's countdown and couldn't have been more happy that it was downtown. Gina and I took the Rapid in to Public Square and it was packed. I loved seeing everyone coming into the city to celebrate and have a great time.
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The first thing we noticed other than the near 0 degree temperatures was the metal gate that surrounding Public Square. Security I guess. So we followed the crowd of people... and followed... and followed. We noticed the line as we walked and knew that we were to gingerly walk to the end. What we didn't know was that it was all the way on the other side of the Higbee building. The walk was cold but very scenic. The casino had the traditional Higbee's window treatments and decorations. Christmas lights were everywhere. I had been to Public square a few week earlier to buy Christmas gift and was in awe. It was my first time being there for Christmas and I wasn't disappointed!
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Finally we settled into the line to get in. We were amazed to see the women in tiny prom like dresses and high heels gingerly walking through the slush and wind driven snow. They were like baby giraffes taking their first steps... up a glacier... in roller skates. We saw a lot of almost falls but no one biffed. Others were wrapped up and prepared for the weather but still had on fun glasses and hats. They looked just like the people from the Time Square New Years show I had watched every year for all my life... and that made me happy.
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Once we finally got to security at the entrace we were separated into the "deep probe" and "gently frisk" lines. Woman after woman was disappointed one after another at the fact that they either couldn't bring in their purses or had to dump them out for the whole city to see. Luckily I had read earlier that day that they weren't going to let people with purses or a wide variety of other items (mostly bizarre) into the party. It was a 10 minute wait before Gina got through the line and we were off hand in hand to the food trucks for some food.
The food was good but stayed warm only for the 45 second walk to the park structure we used as a wind block. After eating we went to a hot chocolate station to buy something that hopefully resembled chocolate lava to help keep us warm until we got to where we were going to stand to watch the festivities. Then I saw the beer garden. Then we stood in line at the beer garden. Our timing was perfect because we got in line just as the beer was running out. I think I got 2 regular beers, 1 strawberry, and 1 blueberry. They were literally the only ones left... but they stayed cold!
Krewella was playing on stage and even though I had never heard of them and rarely listened to techno dance music, they weren't too bad and provided great background music for the night and to one of the funniest things I've ever captured on video. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have seen this but it really deserves a 2nd or 50th viewing...
Yes, that's my beautiful Gina dancing like no one is watching. She's adorable! Truth be told we both bounced around to the beat trying to stave off hypothermia. |
Once 11:45 rolled around, the master of ceremonies and Cleveland native Drew Carey came on to the stage. He did some crowd work and rallied the crowd into a frenzy. It was a good frenzy though. More civic pride and less crazy, drunk, peeing in the street frenzy. I was actually proud of the people in attendance for keeping it fun and safe. Then the count down. It was a bit off and even though we possibly started the new year a few seconds later than we should have, it was loud and exciting and it was in Cleveland! Then the fireworks. Check it out from our vantage point:
It was everything I hoped it would be. Fun, safe, and appropriate for all ages. And even though it was snowy and cold... we live in CLEVELAND! That's the way it's gonna be here. After a trip to the porta-johns we got right on the Rapid and headed home. Plus the line in to the Casino was crazy so we decided to skip that and just get into a nice warm bed.
As I'm typing this, I'm excited for this year's and hope upon hope that Ohio Homecoming can get the Black Keys to play and maybe get Great Lakes to provide gallons and gallons of Christmas ale for the beer garden. Local, local, local. What would get you to come out to Cleveland Rocks New Year's Eve 2015? Leave your thoughts in the comments section. Gina and I will be there again so you can always hang with us. The more the merrier... and the higher the temperature as we huddle for body warmth.
Hope everyone is having a happy 2014! Love that smile :)
Check out some other events I've attended or places I've been by clicking on the links below:
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