If I were to choose the destination for a birthday trip, I probably wouldn’t choose Cleveland. However, that’s what Inna wanted. At least it’s easily accessible from home. Here’s a quick trip report.
The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: I wouldn’t call it disappointing, but it was spotty. A third of the building was closed and under construction. The layout was chaotic and confusing, so we probably missed some of the exhibits, but we saw nothing from numerous major acts like the Who, Michael Jackson, Kiss, the Bee Gees, Abba, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran... While entire walls were devoted to some acts, superstars like Elton John and Madonna were represented by one item each. But then what would you expect from an institution that is only now getting around to inducting Joan Baez, ELO, Journey, and Yes? Overall I give it a C+.
Spent a lot of time around Market Square. Ice cream at
Mitchell’s was awesome. Killed time playing
Codename Pictures and
Forbidden Island at the
Tabletop Board Game Cafe. Had a good dinner at the
Great Lakes Brewpub, where Inna ordered and mostly stared at their flight/sampler of twelve five-ounce beers. Salivated a lot while browsing the huge
West Side Market meat and produce stalls, where Inna (after some tribulation) eventually fulfilled her quest for a slab of
strawberry cassatta from
Cake Royale.
Returned downtown and checked into our hotel before the main event: a punk concert at the
House of Blues by Inna’s adolescent idols, the
Damned. They seemed tighter than previous performances, and overall it was a good show despite an iffy mixing job. Not so good was the rain-soaked walk back to the hotel afterward, nor the 3am fire alarm and building evacuation later that night.
After a decent hotel breakfast, we stopped by a mall in Mayfield Heights to hit the
World Market (an internationally-focused grocery store) with an unplanned bonus bra shopping expedition.
Other than Inna’s desire to see the Damned, nothing about Cleveland was a must-see by any stretch of the imagination; however, we enjoyed the trip, got a nice break from our regular daily routine, and had fun together.
Then, after a night’s sleep, we got up and hit Pittsburgh’s amateur
Art All Night exhibit, which we both found engaging, then enjoyed a damned savory lunch at Salem Halal on the Strip and a lovely walk around the
Highland Park reservoir.
Nice weekend with the little woman.