Reason #3 for Moving to Cleveland - I'm like an old man at the home

Since moving up north I haven't had a lot of visitors. It's mostly my fault since I'm not much of a party planner. Plus in my last tiny apartment I frequently had to go outside in order to change my mind (A paraphrasing of a Papa Joe joke). So if I did have visitors, I'd have to talk to them through a window while they stood outside. I've had girlfriends tell me that my house was "awful and that they just didn't like coming over". That one might have been an excuse to spend less time with me and more time cheating on me but it was a quote I've heard. Needless to say, I've racked up a lot of mileage on my cars heading back to Stark county for one reason or another. I can basically do the trip in my sleep and on some occasions I've done it at brain dead hours of the night and during white out snow storms. I'm not saying most of those times weren't for good reasons but it truly is a pain in the ass to do it once or twice a week. It's an hour and a half both ways and with gas at $3.60-$4.00 a gallon, the pennies I've had to dig out of my center console have been many. So I'm cheap and whiny. Sure, I won't dispute that and neither would anyone reading this.

The times when people do come up, other than helping me with remodeling (shout out to my parents!... and John), have been mostly for big ticket events. Sports, concerts, things like that. They're fun but the reasons don't necessarily revolve around coming to see me. I've just kinda been invited or in the vicinity. Basically an after thought. I get that I'm kinda shy and if I'd just invite people, they may come but I want it to be more than just a dentist-like visit. I want to show people a great time and for them to have fun because I've left places before saying "That was not worth the effort". It only makes the drive that much worse and it doesn't need any help in that department.

So using my logical brain that has been trained in the IT arts for over a decade, I've drawn this conclusion... there's got to be more of a reason than just me to bring people I know up to the great north coast for a visit. Now to use this hypothesis to help me solve my problem. Be in close proximity to things that are going on. Obviously Lakewood is still too far away from the arts, sports, restaurants, gambling, and fun that exists downtown even though it stands on its own as a great place with great things going on. With that being said, I figure the closer I get to those entertaining things, the more enticing my location will be for visitors. I will soon be able to say more than just "Hey, want to come up and visit?" I can say, "Hey, want to come up for dinner at a four star restaurant and a Tribe game?" or  "Hey, let's get some drinks and head to the casino?" People love sports, food, and gambling. Win-win right? Plus I'm doing the city a solid by showing off the fun parts and maybe breaking some negative Cleveland stereotypes like 'if I don't park my car in the building, I'm going to get murdered on the way to said building'.

It's hard when you're in your mid-30's to get other people your age to get out to have some fun let alone getting them to drive more than 15 minutes anywhere without giving them ample time to get a babysitter. I get that and I also get I'm embarking on a quest that I should have taken in my 20's. I totally would have been way more successful at it if not everyone was married with families. This is what makes the endeavor so promising though. The big event-filled idea is within the realm of possibility for people my age. This can be the 1 time a year they get to leave their responsibilities behind and remember what life is all about. Give them a reason to come and show them a reason to come back.

I was at a party on Saturday night with Gina's family and when we told her aunt where we were moving to, she got this look on her face like we were moving to the greatest place on Earth and it made me smile. I'm smiling right now typing it. It's great to talk to people who get how awesome Tremont and Cleveland really are. I told her that we weren't moving there not to have visitors and told her she has an open invite to stop up for the shopping, art galleries, and restaurants anytime. And so do all of you. Come to Cleveland and stop by our place even if it's just to say a quick "Hello". There are a million things to do up here and I love doing them with people. Check out my summer list of Cleveland events and plan a day to come up and have fun. Gina and I will be there and we can all enjoy it together.

Check out http://www.thisiscleveland.com/ and plan your own trip up here. I promise you it's closer than New York and Chicago and more fun than Bud's Corner. That last sentence may lose me some readers.


Check out my other reasons by clicking on the links below:

• Reason #1
• Reason #2
• Reason #3
• Reason #4