Hi every...two of you. I'm back from a bit of a mental vacation. I don't have much of a focus at this point in my life and even less time to keep myself entertained so I took some time to... well...lay around and watch TV. I mean that's not all of it but it's what I spent my blogging time doing. It happens. The problem is though that this city never gives you a chance to take a vacation until the middle of a brutal late January winter grey-out. So in short, here's what I've been up to:
We're house hunting. Unsuccessfully up to this point but it's been quite an experience to say the least. One positive that has come out of it so far is that we get to explore beautiful Cleveland. Sometimes it's the more boring safe areas of the city where there's really no reason to go to because there's nothing to do because it's a residential neighborhood. Sometimes it's a questionable section of town that's got some stuff but is on the fence when it comes to emerging or going down the tubes. Other times it's discovering a secret little neighborhood that is quietly tucked away from everything. It's been a unique exploring experiences
One of the places we looked at was over off East 185th Street up by the lake in North Collinwood. From everyone we talked to, it was better to be North of Lakeshore Blvd than south...unfortunately there's not much north of the boulevard. I have a hard time believing that all of Cleveland's lakefront doesn't look like Bratenhal. I'm not sure who designed all that but they really needed to abandon the "there needs to be a house on every square inch of open space for the boys coming home from WWII" mentality and go just a bit more suburban...or Gold Coast-ian with some high priced lakefront high rises! Unfortunately it doesn't look like anyone who can make a difference cares at all about this area. At the very least it could be the West 117th of the east side with some big box stores but I think Gina and I counted over 15 hair care product shops from 90 to the shore. It's a shame too because this house was dynamite. There's no RTA rapid line to get quickly downtown. There's that wonderful rush hour drive on 90 though which I've heard makes priests want to murder bags full of kittens with bags full of babies while listening to Black Sabbath. Unless you're a salon or barber shop, there's not much to do along that strip. We begged our Realtor to talk us into the neighborhood because we really weren't seeing it.
She recommended that we stop over at Bistro 185 for some dinner. It's a great little place right there on 185th with a smokey bar look and feel and an amazing retro blade sign out front. They are definitely one of a few hands holding up the fine dining and small business torch for the street but they do it very well. The food choices on the menu were unique and everything looked appetizing. The wait staff were very attentive and genuinely concerned with whether we were happy or not. When you are the ambassadors for the whole area and your survival depends on happy experiences, you really go out of your way to make everything as pleasant as possible. This place really understands how important they are to the neighborhood. Overall it was a great experience and the food was really really good! I'm not sure if the place needed a bit more polish or if that was part of the experience as a whole but it certainly was a welcomed 1st meal in that part of the neighborhood and we will be back.
I went to the Ohio City Street Festival with Gina, her cousin Ryan, his wife Natalie, and their daughter Evelyn who is easily in the top 10 cutest little girls ever in the history of the world. The festival was fun and well attended. a newly paved W 25th Street was closed and lined with booths. The restaurants and the West Side Market were open. Ohio City Farm was open for tours with a kids booth outside the entrance. There was a stage in the city lot with bands playing. Every bar had the Browns game on. It was a hopping place...not as hopping as Taste of Tremont but it was a good time.
| We stopped at Nano Brew for some lunchie-munchies because we saw an open seat and I personally wanted to sit on their awesome new back patio which resembles a multi-leveled metal tree house with a bar. This thing is epic and I bet was really fun to chill on this summer and watch sun sets or time pass or whatever. The food and drinks were great but the wait was a tad longer than normal because of the festival I'm sure. I had a burger with Peanut butter and some sort of vegetable jelly on it. I now officially love PB on cooked meat with 2 examples, here and of course Happy Dog. |
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Gina and I went to Mapleside Farms one night to enjoy fall for a bit and forget about the stresses in life. Much to our surprise 1) there was a festival going on so the place was swarming with families and kids. It gave it a nice atmosphere because frankly it wasn't really swarming. Something that open would take a lot of rug rats to be swarming. 2) There's a new barn for weddings and receptions in the back. When I say new, I mean new to us. What a great place to have a fun, non-traditional wedding and or reception. The views and the pictures are stunning I bet. 3) The restaurant that used to be there is now only for special events. How sad is that?!? The best waldorf salad, gone forever. Welp, hopefully someone is nice enough to get married and/or have their reception there and invite me and put the waldorf salad on the menu...or just do it buffet style so I can have a full plate of it and some free scotch from the bar. PS. Also have scotch at the bar.
To make up for the dinner we didn't get there, we bought apple everything from the bakery/gift shop. Their apple cider is epic so we got some of that. A Caramel Apple because Gina loves...well...dessert. Some apple strudel. A bear claw. Apple toilet paper. A hat made of apples... you get the idea. Apples!
We ended up getting dinner at the Brew Kettle on the way home. It was good. Not as good as anything in Cleveland but it was good.
 | We hoped to meet Betts and Kari at St Paul and the Broken Bones at the House of Blues but he forgot so Gina went with me for a bit before she had to go to work and I stayed the whole time because I just can't get enough of this band. They're so damn entertaining! I've literally seen the same show by them 3 times now and I walk out like one of those scream Beetles women from Ed Sullivan. If you've never seen them live, please YouTube them especially if it's a late night appearance. They are super good! I also got this awesome t-shirt and a vinyl copy of their 1st album. Score! Plus Frank Turner has a new album out! Buy it buy it buy it being shipped as we speak and it's vinyl! |
I missed Hingetown Hoedown :( I just couldn't get the energy or the drive to go out in to the cold rain and face the world that day. I was not feeling my best and couldn't bare to leave the couch let alone go have what I could only assume to be a great time. Sorry Hoedown people. I wish the circumstances were different. I definitely love the idea and hope to make it to next year's.
Well Walnut Wednesday's are over but since I blogged about it, I made it to all the rest. I even managed to drag Gina to one and another time I ate in the rain. When I'm downtown for work on days not named Wednesday, I like to explore new places like PizzaFire which is about a block away. You order a personal pizza, add the toppings Chipotle style, and then wait for it to cook... um... regular style? Anyways, if you can build your own "something" lord knows there a place for it and this one is pretty good. After I grab a bite I go wandering around looking at stuff and taking pictures and whatnot before heading back. It makes me happy and I will never get sick doing it. No matter what, this time is a pure blessing in my life for all the other $hit that goes on and I recognize it completely.
I got 4 tickets to Indians home closer for my Dad's birthday thinking that this would be the "win and you're in game" for the Tribe to get into the playoffs... well the Tribe was eliminated about a week before and no one came up for it but my Dad. So him and I went to the casino for a few hours before the game! I'm still writing this blog and not rolling around nude in a bed full of supermodels and coke so needless to say we didn't hit the jackpot but we had fun. (Call you tell I rewatched Wolf of Wall Street last night?!?) The game was great too. The tickets were the best I had all season and the weather wasn't anything insane in either direction. Very comfortable. Oh and the Indians won! A Cleveland victory is inherently a moral victory since more than likely it doesn't mean winning a championship but will always make us feel better about next year. Happy Birthday Pop on 10/19.
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