Cleve-land

Cleveland: (n) a port in NE Ohio, on Lake Erie

By noon on Friday I was clocking the first of what is sure to be thousands of miles in the eastern United States. To avoid Grand Rapids traffic, I elected to take the back roads to the highway. As the car idled in a line of vehicles behind a man in a hard hat holding a STOP sign, I came to regret my decision. With a flick of his wrist STOP became SLOW and the line of traffic moved through the construction zone like a centipede. 100 miles later another parade of orange cones slowed this first leg of my very long journey. After adding nearly an hour to my driving time Ann Arbor was finally in sight. The pains of street parking and the cocktail of aromas on State Street brought me back to senior year. Diane and I rendezvoused on the upper floor of Bivoac while I practiced my decision making skills on the abundant selection of sleeping pads. Purchase in hand we walked together toward Kerry Town to visit the Tea Haus. The hours passed far too quickly as we gabbed over tea and once again I hit the road.

My preconceived notions of Cleveland were not the greatest. For one, it is in Ohio. Need I say more? After hours of driving under bright sunny skies, the moment the Cleveland skyline came into view drops of rain began falling onto my windshield. Of course. My host shared just as much enthusiasm for this city as I did but was determined to make the visit worth my time. Scott, his girlfriend Dede, their neighbors Jack and Kim, friend "Climber" and I spent our evening at the Great Lakes Brewing Company in downtown Cleveland. Already my opinions of the city were changing. The Brewing Co. is housed in a beautiful 19th century brick building, carefully restored. We enjoyed a few pitchers of Oktoberfest in the "speakeasy" style basement before taking a brewery tour on which I sampled the Eliot Ness Amber Lager and the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.

Which leads me to this question: According to the lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot, how much weight was the Edmund Fitzgerald carrying when it sank in 1975?

Saturday morning the fun from the night before had caught up to a few people in our group. While they relaxed away the hangover, I met up with Philip to explore some more of Cleveland. We began with breakfast at house converted to restaurant/bakery for what may have been the largest omelet I've ever attempted to eat. Philip, an architect, was sure to point out every significant building and house along the way to Cleveland's famous West Side Market. The bustling indoor food market was a beautiful contrast to the slum-like markets in Central America I had grown accustom to. If only I had a grocery list. We picked up some delicious chocolate covered espresso beans and moved outdoors. The rest of the sunny afternoon was spent along the shore of Lake Erie climbing up and down the jagged concrete seawall at Edgewater Park. Saturday night was the first night game in The Big House. The University of Michigan Wolverines kicked off against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in Ann Arbor while Scott and I, dressed in our maize and blue, cheered them on from the suburbs of Cleveland. If you missed the game, shame on you. Truth be told, Michigan played terrible football for the entire first half, but the entire game really came down to the last, very exciting, 2 minutes. In the end, Michigan took away the victory 35-31. The overabundance of adrenaline surging through our veins fueled us into a marathon of house games until 3:30 a.m.

Sunday morning Scott was in a similar state as the day before, so Dede and I spent the morning together running through the park. Kayaking was on the agenda for the afternoon and the skies were clear when we returned. So we packed for a day on the water and stopped for breakfast along the way, during which the skies turned a mean shade of dark and erupted with thunder and lightning. Alternative suggestions were made, but never decided upon, as we cruised around town. Borders' going out of business sale was the first thing we agreed upon. Finally Dede insisted on black-light mini-golf which was a surprisingly legitimate putting course. We concluded the weekend with burgers at the B-Spot and cheers to new friends.

I had an amazing time in the most unexpected of cities and am looking forward to a short reunion on my return trip home.