Goodbye, Cleveland

We finished up Cleveland this past Wednesday. We had our biggest collect day yet - 299 miles. It was great being home in the summer and seeing friends and family. There were also some festivals I attended while home. The Burning River Fest is held on an annual basis at Wendy Park which is on Whiskey Island. There is a great view of the city from the park and it's also on the Cuyahoga River. The fest is held to raise environmental awareness of the river and lake and is named so from the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969. There was live music, local food, and other various vendors. The next day, I was able to go to the Midwest Reggae Fest, which was held at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park. I hadn't been to the ledges since high school, but it was everything I'd remembered. The Quarry is absolutely gorgeous. The water is extremely clean and very deep. You can basically dive in from almost any spot along the Quarry edges because it gets so deep so fast. There's also a spot about 30 feet up that you can jump off of into the Quarry. Lots of fun to be had there! And, I can't forget about the MelonHead Gainer. I was also able to go to the first Browns pre-season game against the Chiefs. We won, so let's hope it's an indication of the rest of the season. Emily and I were also able to take the Mega-Bus to Chicago for a weekend. I was able to visit my very good friend, Meredith and Emily was able to visit some of her friends as well. I also got to see some of my neighbors from college, so that was fun. We had drinks on top of the Hancock Building and the view is absolutely amazing. The drinks may be expensive, but it's worth it for the view. It was actually really strange - it was raining down below, so we thought the view wouldn't be that great, but it was spectacular. You couldn't even tell it was raining from the 95th floor. So, basically, it's a great thing to do - rain or shine! I got to have one last night out with my girlies before we left for Pittsburgh (yes, we're back in Pittsburgh). We went to a Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of 31st and Superior called #1 Pho. It was delicious - huge portions, good beer, and good service for a reasonable price. Definitely recommended! So, we're back in Pittsburgh for just a few days. We're staying at a hotel in the South Side, which is a really cool area. It's basically 20 blocks of bars, restaurants, and odd shops. We went out last night for sushi and drinks on East Carson Street, which is the main strip of the South Side area. Tonight, we think we're going to hit up the Strip District which is an open-air market by day and a bar/club scene by night. So, we're here because we had to recollect 12 scenes from our previous collect here and then we go to court Monday to sue that lady who won't give us our money back. So, we are looking forward to a victory followed by Pamela's Pancakes. Then we're off to Toledo - we think we'll be there for about 2 weeks and then Cincinnati - we'll probably be there for about a month. So, I'm thinking Toledo for the end of August, beginning of September and Cincinnati for the end of September through mid-October - just in time for Oktoberfest! So, if anyone will be in those areas during those times, let me know! Cheers!

C-Town

Hi All! I've been in Cleveland for two weeks now. Things are going well. We've had a couple of rain days since we've been here (today included). We're hoping to be done by August 17 with Cleveland, but it's all depending on the rain right now. I've seen a lot of music since I've been here, starting with Xavier Rudd at the House of Blues - he is just amazing! I also went to the Tri-C jazz fest to hear some Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood. The Jazz fest was located on what's called The Mall downtown. It's right by Lakeside Ave. in between Ontario and East 6th. It was a great location for a concert and I really hope the city decides to play more music there. Last weekend I went to Matisyahu and 311 at Tower City Amphitheater (I will not call it Time Warner) and it was great. I've really wanted to see Matisyahu for a while, so I'm glad I was able to. Then, Emily and I went to Blonde Redhead at the House of Blues - they're a band she likes, but were also really good. We also went to see Hurricane on the Bayou at the Omnimax Theater at the Science Center and the Rockefeller Gardens in University Circle. Omnimax movies make you feel like you're actually in the movie and the footage was just amazing, so it was a good time. I didn't even know the Rockefeller Gardens existed - it's a small outdoor garden and indoor garden, but it's free and it was kept up really well. Other than that, I've just been hanging out with the fine folk up here in Cleveland. It's really nice to know people in the city we're working in. It's also really strange to see Cleveland how I'm currently seeing it. My outlook of the city were always definitely swayed living out in B-town. There's so much of this city that I have never seen and is quite sad. Almost the entire East Side of Cleveland is boarded up. You can see there things used to flourish, but everything moved out to the suburbs since the 1960's and 1970's. On the positive side of things, there is construction EVERYWHERE, so it looks like a lot of efforts are being put forth to turn this city back around. Pictures to come soon - everyone have a good week!