Travel – Eat On Edgecliff

Las Vegas, March 2021

Wednesday, March 10th 2021

Courtney, Claire, Corey and I spent a long weekend in Las Vegas visiting Grace and having a real vacation. We took off from our house bright and early as our flight was at 0700. Flight was no problem – kind of a pain to wear a mask for the entire time – the flight was 99% full also – but we made it with no troubles. We rented a really nice car at the airport and immediately took off for the Grand Canyon. We’ve never been to the Grand Canyon and its always been on our bucket list so we were excited to finally be going. We stopped at a Target to stock up on some road trip supplies and after a few stops for pregnancy related emergencies we were on our way. It was about a 4 hour drive from the airport and after taking in two different time changes it was about 4:00PM when we got there. We went to the south rim of the canyon and stayed at one of the lodges there – Bright Angel Lodge which was a 1940’s era lodge smack on the edge of the canyon. Courtney and I had a little cottage that you literally walked out the front door and you were at the edge of the canyon. It was really nice. After quickly unpacking we went on a short hike around the rim trail. It truly is an amazing sight. Picture don’t do it justice. We had a dinner reservation at El Tovar which was a fancier hotel just a short walk way. It was a very nice place with great canyon views. It was nice to sit, relax, have a cocktail and have a really nice dinner. We were very tired after dinner after a long day of travel so were happy to go right to bed.

We flew on Spirt which was super cheap – and just fine.

We stopped in Kingman, Arizona on Route 66 on the way to the Grand Canyon for lunch. We had a nice lunch at one of the local bars.

This was the cute little cabin we stayed in for the night at the Grand Canyon. You walked down this path…

…and you were right at the edge of the canyon. It was really cool.

Thursday March 11, 2021

We woke up early as we were still on eastern time but we planned on going to one of the lookouts to watch the sun rise so we were happy to be up early. We were surprised to see snow on the ground when we woke up. We met Claire and Corey and then took the shuttle bus that was right around the corner farther down the trail and got there in perfect time to see the sun come up over the canyon. Although it was cold out – it was beautiful out and a blessing as there was pretty much no one around – we had the whole place to ourselves. We walked for an hour or two down the trail taking in all the beautiful views. We shuttled back to the lodge, grabbed some coffee and pastries from the diner there and had breakfast in our cottage. We walked around some of the buildings and studios in the village, packed up, checked out and then drove to the main visitor area where we walked around a bit and then took the shuttle to another area a few miles down the road. We hiked again for about an hour back to where we were parked and then it was time to start the trek back to Vegas. I wish we had a bit more time to explore – but it was worth it to make the trip. We hit the road back to Vegas about noon and stopped on Rt 66 again for lunch at a mom and pop place that turned out to be really good – taking home some banana cream pie and carrot cake that looked too good to resist. We stopped at the Hoover Dam on the way back – driving over the Dam to the Arizona side, parking the car and then walking across the dam. I was there a few years ago so I have seen it before but it is quite an amazing thing to see. We then drove the last 45 minutes back to Vegas. Courtney and I stayed at the Mandalay Bay which was nice and we had a really nice room. After settling in we drove to Grace’s place which was just a 15 minute drive. It was good to see Grace and her new apartment. We went to dinner at Pinches Tacos which was right around the corner and had a good dinner of tacos and margaritas. Claire and Corey were staying at Grace’s and we took off back to our hotel room and stayed up and gambled all night…. ha ha… went back to our hotel room and promptly fell dead asleep.

the huge bridge on the other side of the dam

scary bathroom break place… the actually didn’t go in as it was too sketchy

view from our hotel room looking down the strip…. where’s the sun??

Friday, March 12th, 2021

We slept well and didn’t get up too too early on Pacific time. I went downstairs to the casino in search of coffee and found the Starbucks with about 30 people in line. I found another bakery kind of place with a shorter line and grabbed coffee, fruit and pastries and we had breakfast in our room. The weather looked like it was finally starting to clear a bit so we took off mid-morning to hike down the strip. Mandalay Bay is at the very southern end of the strip so we walked north going through all the casinos – always interesting people watching and seeing how the casinos are trying to reel you in. There were not a lot of people out and about which was nice – but it was still early. All the casinos were open but it looked like about 50% of the food places were closed and all the shows due due the pandemic. We stopped at the Eataly in Park MGM for some more coffee and pastries. Note to self: stay at Park MGM next time as there is no smoking there. We continued down the strip as the sun came out and it thankfully got warmer and warmer. We met up with the kids at Fashion Show and did a bit of shopping and then looked for a place to lunch. We ended up at Virgil’s, a BBQ place in the LINQ promenade. We got a table outside and had beers and BBQ and watched the increasing larger crowds walk by. We took off walking back towards Mandalay Bay and the kids went to explore some more. We took a nice rest and then got ready for a night on the town. We drove down to Old Las Vegas around 5:00, got a beer on Fremont street, walked around a bit and then met everyone at Circa – the new casino on Fremont street that just opened this year. We had a reservation at The Legacy Club, their bougie bar way up on the 60th floor. We met Grace’s boyfriend Thomas and had a nice cocktail hour checking out the view and enjoying our pricy cocktails. We had dinner at 8 East, a pan-asian place that was also in the Circa. We had a great meal in our own little room sharing dumplings, pork belly bao, brisket fried rice and other things. Everything was great. We joined the growing crowds on Fremont street and made our way to El Cortez where we played black jack for awhile. No more $5 tables… just $10. I came ahead $40 playing just for 1/2 hour which is all I gambled the whole trip. We left the kids there – still going at it – and we made our way back to Mandalay Bay where we hung out in one of their bars for one more beer and then hit the hay after a long, fun day.

starting our journey down the strip inside The Luxor.

an excellent croissant and a teeny tiny lemon tart at Eataly

wow my hair was long… shaved it all off a week later

Saturday, March 13th, 2021

We drove to Grace’s in the morning and had bagels and donuts for breakfast and then drove to Red Rock Canyon park which was just a short drive away. Red Rock is a beautiful place – we did the loop around stopping at several spots but didn’t go on any lengthy walks as it was still pretty chilly and we weren’t dressed very appropriately. I don’t remember what we did for lunch…. mmmhhhmm? The ladies went out in the afternoon to get their nails done and Corey and I went to the grocery store and to search for bean bags. We spent cocktail hour playing bean bags and soaking in the sun. We grilled steaks and vegetables for dinner at Grace’s nice set up and enjoyed a quiet evening relaxing.

Grace has a built in bean bag court with cement boards outside her door

Found some nice bean bags… Happy Birthday Grace!

Sunday March 14th, 2021

We were taking the red eye home tonight at 11:00 so we relaxed in our room in the morning, packed things up, checked out of the hotel and met the kids for brunch at ARIA. We went to a french bistro called Bardot Brasserie and it was fabulous – best meal of the week. We all had bloody marys, mimosas and Corey had a morning manhattan. Everyones food was first rate but the french toast I had was truly a work of art. After brunch we walked around the strip enjoying, finally, some warm sunny weather. We stopped at Momofuku milk bar in the Cosmopolitan for some treats, walked through the spring exhibits at the Bellagio and people watched at the growing crowds of Vegas humanity. We made our way back to Grace’s where we chilled, sat by the pool, and played some more bean bags. Thomas came over later and we got burgers and fries from In & Out. We packed up around 8ish, not looking forward to the flight home. We made it the airport, turned in the car with no problems and all survived the red eye back to CLE.

Courtney and I walked around for awhile before meeting for brunch – enjoying the blue skies and interesting angles

My french toast was half a loaf of brioche bread, almond brittle, some kind of buttery creamy goodness and almond syrup… one of the best things ever.

Las Vegas, 2019

Travel

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

I went on a long weekend solo trip to visit Grace in Las Vegas. I left work at 3:00PM, took the rapid to the airport arriving in plenty of time and had an easy direct flight arriving 8:00PM Vegas time. Grace picked me up at the airport and we drove home to her apartment where I was staying with her.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

I dropped Grace off at work after stopping for coffee and then hit the road for Red Rocks Canyon Park which was just a quick 30 minute drive. I drove down a road towards Calico Basin which was actually a residential neighborhood with just a few amazing houses in the desert. I parked the car at the end of the street and walked toward the hills taking in the amazing scenery. Blue skies, no one else around and beautiful scenery. I hit the road, paid the fee to get in the park, drove around the scenic loop soaking in the scenery and stopping at two or three spots to explore on foot. I stopped at “Ice Box Canyon” and started on the trail that goes up to the mountain and through canyons but ran out of time and didn’t get to the end… next time. I drove back to LV to pick Grace up as she was only working a half day. We went to lunch at Esther’s Kitchen in the art’s district. It’s a popular place and was perfect for lunch. We each had pasta, bread and wine – all excellent. We drove back to Grace’s place so she could change out of her working clothes and then hit the road for more hiking. We drove about an hour and a half north to Valley of Fire State Park. The park was amazing – like walking on the moon. Truly breath taking. We drove around the loop, stopping at different places, taking lots of photographs and going on short hikes. We drove back to Grace’s place and took a rest for awhile and then drove to the strip. We had dinner at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesar’s Palace. We both had margaritas. I had ancho rubbed pork tenderloin and sweet potato tamale and Grace had whatever the fish special was. Everything was very good. After dinner we walked the strip – checking out the Christmas displays at Bellagio and getting dessert at the Momofuku window in the Cosmopolitan. Their cereal milk soft serve, that we had in NYC in the spring was our goal and it did not let down. So good.

prayer circle

the visitor center in the park was actually very nice — The visitor center in the park was actually very nice. Modern, outside and I was literally the only one there which was pretty cool.

and I was literally the only one there which was really nice

start of Ice Box Canyon trail — the path leading to Ice Box Canyon

lunch at Esther's Kitchen — lunch at Esther’s Kitchen

Inside the Bellaggio which was all decked out for Christmas

Friday, December 13, 2019

I dropped off Grace at work in the morning and then worked for two hours at a coffee shop downtown called Mothership Coffee. It was a cool little place in a set of new shops that someone converted from an old motor motel. That section of Las Vegas, just beyond Freemont Street, is quickly turning into a great spot. I decided to drive to Hoover Dam to check it out as I never have been there. It was just about an hour drive. I took the tour that brought you into the powerhouse and then to some interesting viewing areas. Amazing to say the least. Pictures don’t do it justice. I liked all the art deco details and the hugeness of everything. I tried to find a hiking trail in the area but wasn’t able to find it so I decided to head back to Grace’s neighborhood to explore. I had lunch at a place called Honey Salt in Summerlin. I sat at the bar and had an Anchor Steam and avocado toast. I browsed a bit at some stores and then went back to Grace’s place, took a nap and waited for her to get home from her holiday party. We went to Fremont Street for the night. We grabbed some drinks and walked around enjoying the craziness. We stopped and played some $5 blackjack but had really bad luck and only lasted around 20 minutes – my only gambling of the trip. We had a really good dinner at a popular Thai place on Fremont Street called Le Thai. It had a great atmosphere and the food was excellent. After dinner we walked around some more and stopped at a club for one last cocktail. Fun night.

cappuccino and ham and cheese croissant at Mothership

the underground powerhouse at Hoover Dam

Lake Mead side of the damn – at historic low

Saturday, December 14, 2019

We slept in a bit. I drove around the corner to get some coffee from Starbucks and stopped at a fancy donut place and brought them back. We eventually got ourselves going and went out shopping. Grace needed some side tables and lamps for her living room so I told her I would get them for her. We went to Target which didn’t have much of anything so we then went to IKEA which of course had everything and then some. We stopped and In and Out for burgers for lunch. I’ve never been to one so that was a nice treat. Burgers were good but fries were only so so. We then went shopping for a couple of hours at a nearby outdoor shopping place that had lots of good stores. We bought some Xmas presents as well as some things for the upcoming wedding. We went back to Grace’s and put together the IKEA items and rearranged her living room just a bit and it looks great. After taking a good afternoon nap, I packed up my stuff as I was flying home at 11:00PM and we hit the road. We decided to go to Chinatown. First stop was the Golden Tiki. An over the top tiki bar with all the trimmings. We sat at the bar, each had a good tropical drink and listened to the cheesy bar playing in the corner. The bathrooms are worth the trip. We then went a few blocks down to a small pho place that Grace heard was good. There were only about 8 tables that were all full and about 12 people waiting for one so we decided to go somewhere else – next time as it looks like a good spot. So we ended up going to Sapporo Revolving Sushi which ended up being super fun. After waiting for about 30 minutes at the bar, drinking a beer and sampling some sake from the very nice bartender we got to our table. A revolving track of little plates of sushi went around and you picked what you wanted, piling up your plates on the table so they knew how much to charge. You could also order from an ipad thing and a little robot rolls out with your order. So cool. We ate lots of sushi and ordered some pho and then match creme brulee. Everything was great… and relatively cheap. It was time to get to the airport after dinner so Grace dropped me off and was off to another party. My red eye flight was on time and I actually slept for most of it… a first. The flight was even thirty minutes early getting to CLE. Courtney picked me up at the ungodly hour and we went right back to bed when we got home.

Christmas shopping in sunny 60 degree weather is the way to go

the wall of the men’s room had cages full of skulls…. bizarre

Chicago, Wisconsin and Michigan – August 6-13, 2019

Travel

Courtney and I drove to Chicago on our way to Wisconsin. Jack was flying to London the next day from O’Hare so he hitched a drive with us.

We spent the afternoon in downtown CHI. We parked under Millenium park and directly headed to find some CHI pizza.

..and its beautiful tiffany domed interiors.

The streets were full of overflowing late summer flowers.

We spent a few hours in the Art Institute where we saw this photo. — We spent a few hours in the Art Institute where we admired this photo…

We had lunch at a cool place in Wasau, WI the next day. We picked Craig up at a hospital there where he was discharged after knee surgery. We spent the previous night outside Milwaukee after a quick visit with George, Carrie and their kiddos.

We made it to Jute late later in the afternoon.

We stayed at Jute lake for four nights while Courtney helped her Dad and we enjoyed the peace and quiet.

the very nice community garden in one of the little towns

Aqualand had bands playing on Saturday night

the bands were good and it was nice to hang out there for a couple of hours

on Sunday we said our goodbyes as Craig was doing fine and hit the road heading north. We stopped at Bond Falls - always a great spot. — on Sunday we said our goodbyes as Craig was doing fine and hit the road heading north. We stopped at Bond Falls – always a great spot.

another beautiful day – we spent a good hour exploring the trails

we stopped for lunch at a kind of creepy U.P. town called Houghton

We went all the way up to Copper Harbor which we have never been to before. We stayed at a ’50s motel on the water with a nice view.

We drove up the coast a bit with our bikes on the car and then followed a bike path to a remote beach

We had dinner at a place caller Harbor Haus which turned out to be great. We stopped for a beer at a teeny nice little brewery in town and then headed back to our motel

The next day we hit the road on our way to White Fish point at the other end of the peninsula

We stopped at this beautiful beach on the way and admired the crystal clear water and beautiful sand.

We had lunch in Munising, got lost trying to get to Pictured Rocks via detour so just headed to White Fish Point.

We spent the night at the lighthouse at the end of the point. We were here once several years ago and thought it would be cool to stay here. We lucked out and got the one open room the whole week.

The old coast guard station is now the hotel which had around six rooms in it

On the way there we stopped and got some provisions for a picnic dinner that we ended up having on the deserted beach

The next morning we got up pretty early for the long drive home. I walked down the beach to catch the sunrise.

Colorado, July 2019

Travel

Saturday, July 6th, 2019

Courtney and I were up at 4:00AM to catch our 6:00AM flight to Denver. We freaked out a bit when we saw the security line snaking through the airport with just over an hour to go before boarding but the line moved very quickly and we had no problems with the direct flight that got us to Denver at 7:00AM Mountain Time. We rented a car and took off for the mountains. We drove about 1 1/2 hours to Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped for breakfast at Estes Park – the last town before going up into the park and had a good hearty breakfast at a local diner kind of place called Mountain Home Cafe. We then hit the road going up up up stopping briefly at the welcome center, stopping at various look out points and gawking at the amazing scenery. We followed Trail Ridge Road – listed on the national register of historic places for being the highest paved road in continental US – up to as high as you can go. It was very difficult to hike at all due to the elevation and given that we just got there and weren’t used to it so we mostly just took it all in. I did manage to walk up some grueling stairs to get up to over 12,000 feet. We took the same way down through the park and then cut over to Boulder where we were staying. We got to our AirBnB around 3ish, unpacked and relaxed for awhile. We met my cousin Julia and her family at Bohemian Biergarten in downtown Boulder off Pearl Street. It was great to see Julia and Hampton and especially Anna who was just learning how to walk. Hampton was off to see the Dead and Co who was playing a show in Boulder but we were able to spend a few hours with Julia and Anna catching up and playing. After bidding our adieu we had dinner at The Kitchen which turned out to be just around the corner from the bar. We sat at a table on the street, watched the people walk by and had a great bottle of rose, oysters, fish tacos and a crab cake. Perfect. We walked up and down Pearl Street after dinner and went back to our place as we were tired from a long day. After a nice moonlit hot tub we were quick to fall asleep.

excited to see the snow capped mountains

breakfast spot with a view

up in the mountains – pictures don’t do justice

snow on one side and wildflowers on the other

our airbnb had a private patio with our own hot tub. Nice.

Sunday, July 7th, 2019

After a great night’s sleep, an early hot tub and a nice breakfast chez airbnb we headed to Boulder’s flatiron mountains for a morning hike. It was just a 15 minute drive away and we hiked up up up for the first 30 minutes or so which was still tough for our Midwestern lungs, but once we made it up there were nice trails through the woods and beautiful scenery everywhere. We hiked down a different path that led to Boulder’s Chautauqua, a relative of the NY Chautauqua. We walked around the grounds checking out the early 20th century buildings, nice little cottages and great gardens. We headed into downtown Boulder and had a leisurely lunch at West Flanders Brewing Co. sitting outside again enjoying the passing crowds. We stopped at Whole Foods to get provisions for the evening festivities and headed back for a rest. Our real reason for coming to CO was to go to Red Rocks to see The Avett Brothers and Lake Street Dive who were playing this night. It was about a 45 minute drive and got there plenty early to tailgate for a bit, take our time wandering up to the venue and enjoying the pre-game festivities. Red Rocks was beautiful and the concert was great. We’ve seen both groups many times and think they were both at their best. The setting I’m sure brings out the best in everyone. Bucket-list item: checked off.

our abnb had these great outdoor courtyards – love the trellis behind the couch – hope to reproduce by our shed

Monday, July 8th, 2019

We slept in after getting home pretty late the night before. We decided to head up the mountains to the little town of Nederland. It was a scenic drive up the mountains marveling at every turn the rushing rivers, steep cliffs and mountain views. The road was under construction for most of the way so it made it extra treacherous avoiding all the equipment. Once we got up to Nederland we drove about 10 minutes out and hiked at an area called Mud Lake. We had a good hour and a half hike through the woods, lakes and mountain views. It was nice and not crowded. We then went down and walked around the little hippy town, had lunch and a beer and a great BBQ place and then headed back down to Boulder going a different way. We relaxed for a few hours and then hit another couple of Boulder Breweries. We went to Upslope which was just a mile or so from where we were staying. A little place in an industrial park. It had a great vibe and we had some great beer. We next went to Avery Brewing which was a humungous place that several people told us to go to. We put our name in for a table, got a beer from the bar, and did the self guided tour of the brewery. We didn’t wait long and had a nice dinner and more great beer.

The Carousel of Happiness (right next to dispensary)

Tuesday, July 9th, 2019

Our flight home was in the early afternoon so we enjoyed the hot tub one last time and packed up. We stopped for one more hiking excursion at Eldorado Canyon State Park. Once again – amazing scenery, trails and mountains. We spent an hour checking out the rushing water going through the canyon, the huge vertical cliffs and the completely crazy mountain climbers scaling straight up. We made it to the airport with no trouble. Returned the car and made it back to CLE with no troubles.

chilly in the morning. perfect hot tub weather.

Eldorado Canyon. Pictures don’t do it justice.

can you see the climbers on this mountain?

Oxford, OH

Travel

Friday, May 17th, 2019

We stopped in Columbus for lunch on our way to Miami University to celebrate Grace’s graduation. We stopped at Wolf’s Ridge which has become our go to place in Columbus . We had a great lunch as always.

We stayed at Hueston Woods State Park where we had three cabins. Two for us and 1 for the Meaney’s. We arrived late afternoon and quickly settled into our beautiful setting.

This has been the third time we have stayed in the cabins at Hueston Woods. We were really lucky that we got them for graduation weekend. Penny and I got on the phones over a year ago on the day they opened up and I lucked out and got through. They sell out in less than an hour.

We had 20+ for dinner; hamburgers, hot dogs, brats and lots of things people brought. Worked out great.

Saturday, May 18, 2019

We went to Grace’s house for brunch along with the families of her three roommates.

Grace had THE most amazing college house ever for Senior year.

The commencement ceremony was BRUTAL. Super HOT and sunny, awful speaker. Over half of the crowd and graduates were gone before it was over. Really bad.

our tree peony bloomed on the day we were leaving so we cut most of the blooms and brought them with us 🙂

The age 25+ crowd left the partiers behind and headed back to Hueston woods and quickly settled into another great campfire evening

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Courtney and I stuck around for Grace’s business school ceremony which was 1000 percent better than the commencement. Everyone else hit the road mid morning.

Savannah, May 2019

Travel

Friday, May 10th, 2019

Courtney and I wanted to go on a trip to celebrate our anniversary so we found a cheap direct flight to Savannah a few weeks ago and decided to spend a long weekend there as it’s always been somewhere we’ve wanted to visit. We both took the day off work and worked around the house as our flight was not until 5:00PM. Sophia drove us to the airport and we had no trouble with the flight, car rental or finding our AirBnB. We found a condo in the middle of the historic district which turned out to be nice and a perfect location. We settled in and hit the street around 9:00PM looking for a late night spot. We walked a couple blocks down to the Grey which we really wanted to check out and lucked out and found two seats open at the bar – we tried to get a reservation weeks ago but the whole weekend was booked. Grey is a rehabbed Greyhound station that is now a trendy new southern place. We recently watched an episode that focused on their young African American female chef on Netflix’s Chef’s table. The place was very cool and we had cocktails, oysters, pimento cheese and crackers and fried chicken with biscuits and gravy. All great. We walked downtown towards the river after dinner checking out the old warehouses, bars and restaurants everywhere and made it back around midnight.

Happy to be in a warm city walking around — Happy to be in warm weather at last

Saturday, May 11th, 2019

We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. We had breakfast at a place called J. Christopher’s a few blocks away. We sat outside enjoying the nice weather and had a big breakfast. We walked through the Colonial Park Cemetery which was beautiful with huge dripping trees and hundreds of year old gravestones and crypts. We started exploring the area goggling at the beautiful houses, gardens and squares that have all been well maintained. The live oaks with the hanging moss that are everywhere are amazing to behold. We walked down to Forsyth park, checked out the farmers market that was going on there, stopped and got some coffee and sat on a bench in the park people watching and soaking in the sun. We continued exploring the area, visiting each of the squares and went on a guided tour of the Mercer Williams House which is a 19th century mansion that was rehabbed in the 70’s by a wealthy art dealer – and part of the novel and movie Midnight in the Garden of Evil. We were checking out the impressive Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) store and somehow managed to join one of their school’s admissions tours that started in the store. Now we have been on dozens and dozens of college tours throughout the years and this one was quite amazing. It was like you were at Disney World with secret doors opening up, projections, special effects. It was crazy. The story of SCAD is pretty interesting though… started only in the late 70’s it is now the largest design school in the country and was a big part in the recent revitalization of Savannah. We were looking around for a spot for lunch and ended up in the City Market sitting on a patio in the sun, listening to a band, drinking beer and eating bar food. A nice way to spend the afternoon. After a nice rest we went to dinner at Husk which was just a block around the corner. The original Husk is in Charleston, but they recently opened places in Savannah and Atlanta. The restaurant was gorgeous in a beautifully restored mansion and we had a great table. We shared some fresh shrimp as an appetizer and I had pan fried catfish on spring vegetables and Courtney had pork loin over farro. All great.

view from our window in the early morning

Sunday, May 12th, 2019

Unfortunately I got sick overnight with flu like symptoms and didn’t get much sleep. Thankfully it didn’t last too long and I was feeling better enough by late morning to hit the rode. We drove to an old plantation about 30 miles out of Savannah. Wormsloe plantation is know mostly for it’s amazing mile long allee of live oak trees. The trees did not disappoint. A spectacular sight. We walked around the ruins of the 18th century plantation that was set on the river enjoying the views, the tropical vegetation and the quietness. After spending a few hours there we headed to a recommended restaurant called The Wyld Dock Bar which was a super chill place in the middle of nowhere on a dock. We waited for about a half hour having a beer and playing bean bags and then had lunch at a perfect table on the dock looking over the river. The food and drinks were A+ too. Great find. We headed back to Savannah and had a rest. We walked around some more in the evening admiring the gardens, squares and the trees, not really too hungry, but ended up eating at a diner place late night.

the grounds of the plantation were pretty remote and tropical-like

not much left of the colonial era buildings

view looking out on the river and rice fields

Monday, May 13th, 2019

We had leisurely breakfast at a coffee shop down the street and then checked out of the airbnb. Our flight was not until mid-afternoon so we had some time to explore. We drove to Bonaventure cemetery about 30 miles outside of town and walked around for an hour admiring the crumbling graves and crypts and the old trees. We then drove another 30 miles to the coast to Tybee Beach and said hello to the ocean and went for a nice long walk. We had one last beer at a little place on the beach and then hit the road to the airport and made it back to CLE in no time flat. Fun trip.

New York City, March 2019

Travel

Monday, March 25th, 2019

Grace and I went on a spring break trip to NYC. I haven’t been to NYC in 15 or so years and Grace has never been so we were excited for an adventure. I woke up at 4:00AM for our 6:30 AM flight, showered, got ready and then saw message that our flight was delayed an hour and a half. We went back to sleep for an hour and then Courtney drove us to the airport and had no troubles on our quick flight to Laguardia. We bought our subway cards at the airport and then took a shuttle bus to the nearest subway stop and then took the subway into Manhattan. It only took about a half hour and only cost $2.75. We were staying at Pod51 on East 51st and 2nd Ave in midtown – just a block and a half from subway stop. We were able to check in early to our tiny little room, dropped our stuff off and hit the pavement by 11:00AM. Our first stop was Essa bagel, just down the street where we waited in line for about 1/2 hour. I had an everything bagel with sun-dried tomato cream cheese bacon and onions. Best bagel ever. We walked downtown on Lexington happy to be exploring. We went into Grand Central, explored, gawked and then caught the train to Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards is a new development that just opened up a few weeks ago. We climbed the Vessel – an M.C. Escher-ist sculpture? photo op? stair master?… whatever it is its pretty cool and has amazing views. The new buildings surrounding the plaza are all impressive and the soon to open shed looks amazing. Billions and billions of dollars. We walked through the mall with lots of glitzy stores, bought a few things at the Japanese store MUJI and then hit the high line which started next door. Walked the high line enjoying the architecture, art and people; walked through the Chelsea Market half way through; bopped into the Diane Von Furstenberg boutique where there was an exhibit by Ashley Longshore that Grace was excited to see. Walked the rest of high line and checked out the Whitney museum, walked around the meatpacking district for a bit and hopped back on the train back to the hotel for a much needed rest. After sleeping for an hour an a half we hit the happy hour trail – took the subway down to the East Village and went to Upstate that was on our list of $1 happy hour oyster spots. I had a half dozen oysters and a glass of champagne, Grace had a beer and then had clam linguine and I had some crab cakes. The food and atmosphere were great. We walked around the neighborhood for a bit and then stopped at a little place called Maiden Lane and had another drink and people watched and then went to Rue B which was our original destination as they were advertising jazz with no cover. We had one drink but weren’t feeling it – especially when they told us we had to pay a cover – so took off on the subway to walk through Times Square and then walked back to our hotel. Total miles walked: 12.2

Our hotel room was two bunk beds and a sink. It was actually pretty nice and super cheap.

beautiful. Still didn’t make it to they oyster bar there though 😦

the start of the high line — start of the High Line

amazing buildings popping up all around the high line

checking out the humongous Restoration Hardware in meatpacking district

Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

Our little hotel offered free walking tours every morning so we decided to go on the one this morning that was going to the lower East side and Chinatown. After a quick breakfast at a coffee shop around the corner it was a long subway ride downtown as there were traffic problems in the city. The tour was good – we went to places we never would have gone to, learned a lot about graffiti and the history of Chinatown. On our tour guides suggestion we went to Xi’An Famous Foods in Chinatown for lunch. We had bowls of noodles that were fresh, spicy and delicious. We hit the pavement again and walked south walking back through Chinatown, exploring the area around City Hall and then doing what was #1 on my NYC list: walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was of course beautiful, full of people and the views were great on a bright sunny day. We walked all the way across into Brooklyn and took the subway back to Manhattan to the World Trade Center area. We walked through the Oculus – amazingly huge and modern – like you are in a Star Wars movie. We got lost in there trying to find the way out but eventually made it out to ground zero to check out the memorial fountains and the plaza. Serene and powerful. The sky was bright blue just like that fateful day. Hard to imagine. We walked further down to Wall Street, checking out the famous buildings and banks, found the graveyard where Alexander Hamilton and Eliza were buried and wandered over to the 1/2 price ticket booth that was down there and bought some show tickets for that evening. Took the train back to our hotel for a quick rest and then walked to Broadway. We saw The Band’s Visit. Never heard of it before but it sounded interesting and we got pretty good seats for a good price (NYC prices that is). It was great. Very different kind of musical. Relaxed, cerebral, great music and great story. It’s coming to CLE next year and I for sure would go see it again. After the show we walked through Times Square a little bit and then went back to our midtown neighborhood and had a late night dinner at Cornerstone tavern – a sports bar on 2nd Ave around the corner from our hotel. We stopped for cookies at Insomnia Cookies and then crashed. Total miles walked: 10.8

Wednesday, March 27th, 2019

We woke up early and took a quick subway ride to the ABC studios on W66th as we had tickets to be in the audience for The View. We got there around 9:30AM, stood in line for awhile and after going through security they herded us into the cafeteria where they had a Starbucks so we had breakfast. We sat with a couple of NYC women who were hilarious. They were secretaries for HBO and one was a comedian and they were ripping on everyone. We made it into the studio and was part of the live broadcast which was fun. Stacey Abrams was the guest which was cool and we got a copy of her book too. After the show we walked to Central Park right next door. We met one of Grace’s friends from school who lives right there and we walked all around Central park with her on another beautiful early spring day. We walked through the Plaza, ate lunch in the bougie food hall underneath the plaza and then went to Grace’s friends family apartment which they just moved into and was very nice. We said goodbye and walked around the area some more, went into MOMA but decided to just walk around the grounds instead of going in the galleries and then walked back to our hotel for a rest. After our siesta I went to Crave Fish Bar, a bar a few blocks away and had some oysters and a beer. Grace met me there and then we went down to the East Village as we had tix to a comedy club later in the evening. We stopped and had dinner at a bar down there somewhere that I don’t remember the name of. The comedy club was fun. There were all different comedians each doing their schtick for about 20 minutes or so and then it kept going. We were right in the front row but just got picked on a little bit. We stayed for about an hour and a half enjoyed our minimum of two beverages. We wandered around the village for awhile, stopped at Momofuku milk bar and had the cereal milk ice cream and cake truffles. OMG. Hopped on the train back after a fun night.

our seats. It was fun to watch the whole process.

directory inside Trump Tower – it says it all.

Our front row seats at the New York Comedy Club

Total miles walker: 9.5

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

We packed our stuff up and checked our bags with the hotel and hit the streets for one last morning. We went to a place called Remi Flower and Coffee that Grace wanted to go to a few blocks away. It was a combined coffee shop and florist. It was pretty cool. Grace had a lavender latte that was beautiful. We walked and walked all morning. Walked to the NY Public library that unfortunately wasn’t open yet, walked through Bryant park that was very spring like, and then walked through the fashion district looking for Mood – which we couldn’t find. We walked through Macy’s which had a flower show going on and then down to Union Square and did a bit of shopping at a couple of places. We had an early lunch at Shake Shack in Madison Park and then walked all the way back to our hotel – another 20 blocks. Grace wasn’t too happy with me that I made her walk. We collected our bags, hopped on the subway and made it to LaGuardia in plenty of time and back to CLE with no troubles. Fun trip.

Total miles walked: 8.2

fancy coffee at the coffee / florist shop

Navarre, Ohio

Travel

Friday, September 21st, 2018

Courtney and I both took a needed day off for a long weekend adventure. We have been casually biking the Ohio and Erie towpath trail for the past two years. The only part we had left was the very southern end which is almost an hour and a half drive away. So we decided to make a weekend of it, find a nice place to stay and knock it all off at once. The furnace people showed up right at 8:00AM as scheduled for boiler maintenance and were gone by 9:00 and we hit the road. We stopped at the new Whole Foods that just opened up on Harvard/271 and stocked up with lots of goodies. Thank goodness it’s not closer or it would drive us to the poor house. We then kept driving south for a visit to Stan Hywett Hall in Akron – another item on our bucket list that we’ve always wanted to do but haven’t. Stan Hywett Hall was built in 1911 by F.A. Seiberling, founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. It was much bigger and nicer than we expected. It’s actually the 6th largest residence in the US. We went on a guided tour of the house that took about and hour and a half and then spent another hour wandering through the large well kept gardens. The house and grounds have been kept in great shape. Everything in the house is original to the family and the gardens are beautiful. We spent way more time than expected at Stan Hywett so we adjusted our plans on the fly, eating our Whole Foods sushi in the car instead of going out to lunch as planned. We wanted to get a loop in on the trail and a rain storm was forecasted to blow in around 5:00PM. We got to the trailhead in Clinton, OH where we previously left off and biked for about 20 miles. It was a hot and humid day – hopefully the last one – so we sweated like pigs but were happy to be on the towpath. We got to our Airbnb around 5:00PM in the middle of nowhere Navarre, OH and were very happy with our great little house. It was a teeny little stone house build in 1846 that has been beautifully restored. Original wood beams, great open floor plans. Really nice. Also just $80/night and 1 block from the towpath. Perfect. Check it out. We unpacked, took a shower, sat on the great front porch, drank (too much) wine, watched the storm roll in and watched the pick up trucks roll by. We were enjoying the house too much so again altered our well though out plans and blew off going out to dinner and ordered a pizza and played scrabble. Perfect night.

the gardens were beautiful and well tended

hitting the towpath – we had it pretty much to ourselves all afternoon

relaxing on the porch watching the storm roll in

Saturday, September 22nd, 2018

After morning chilling and a leisurely breakfast we were on the towpath by 9:30AM to knock out our largest stretch from Navarre to Bolivar to Zoar to the anticlimactic end of the trail on OH Route 800. 30 miles total – the longest we’ve biked in one stretch. It was way cooler out after the storm which made it much more pleasant. We stopped on the loop back at Bolivar for lunch at a place called Sublime Smoke Fine BBQ and Craft Brew. It turned out to be a great place. We each had a beer, Courtney had a brisket sandwich and I had the pulled pork sandwich and we split some collard greens and Mac and cheese. All very good. We hit the trail again and rode back with no troubles. After relaxing for awhile we drove up to Gervasi Vinyard for dinner. A 30 minute drive up to Canton. We had a nice dinner in their dining room reconfigured from an old barn. We had wine flights, had some more wine for dinner and then a nice meal. They had a great patio that would be nice in warm weather and beautiful grounds. We headed back to Navarre and fell asleep watching a movie.

beautiful day and beautiful scenery along the trail

trying to psyche up to hit the trail again

Sunday, September 23rd, 2018

We had about 20 miles left of biking to complete today. We did the first 10 from the house in the morning. We packed up, said goodbye to the house and then drove to the trailhead to finish off our last 10 miles. Hurray all done. We got a hold of Claire and Corey and met them for lunch at Mustard Seed Cafe in Akron. It was nice to catch up with them and had a nice meal listening to the duo that was playing good songs in the restaurant. We hit the road and made it home in the early afternoon.

Las Vegas, July 2018

Travel

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018

Grace is doing a twelve week internship at Boyd Gaming in Las Vegas so Courtney and I went to visit her for a long weekend of fun and frivolity. We worked all day and caught the rapid to the airport to take an early evening flight. We got to Vegas with no problems and Grace picked us up and drove us to our hotel, the Mirage. We forced ourselves to stay up to 11:00PM Pacific time by walking around for a bit and having a drink in one of the many bars in the hotel.

starting our journey at the Rapid station in beautiful CLE.

a quick pint and burger in the airport before our flight

We had the first row with extra leg room. nice.

the view from our room at the Mirage was spectacular

We liked the Mirage a lot. Great location and just cheesy enough.

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

We slept pretty well and didn’t end up getting up too early. We hit the Mirage buffet around 8:00AM as it was included in the good deal we got for the weekend. We don’t have much experience with buffets but this one sure seems awfully nice. Everything we had was great – except the coffee,(No it was really bad-cbh) but I’m a snob. I had fruit, cinnamon rolls, banana Nutella pancakes, bacon, pork belly, tamales on and on. Just a little bit of each but it was a great meal. We then took to the strip for a nice morning stroll taking in the sites: north past Treasure Island and then walked around inside the Wynn. Went back to the hotel and were at the pool by 10:30. The pool was awesome with lots of palm trees, waterfalls and Pina coladas. We had a lunch reservation at a place we wanted to go to but bagged it as we were enjoying lazing by the pool. We opted for a mid day happy hour meal later on instead. After a short siesta we hit the pavement again walking through the humongous Caesar’s palace and then looped back to the Venetian where we were meeting Grace. We had drinks and really good food at Canonita where Grace and her friend Julie eventually met us. We took off for the Mirage afterwards as we had tickets for Cirque De Soleil’s LOVE. I have been wanting to go to this show for years and years and was so excited to finally be able to go. It was great. The staging, acrobatics, lighting, music and everything was amazing. After the show we grabbed a daiquiri for the road and joined the throngs on the strip. We walked through the Bellagio, watched the fountains a couple of times and ended up back at the Mirage having pancakes for a late night meal. We said goodbye to Grace who lyfted back to her place and quickly crashed after a long day.

view of the pool from our room in the early morning

loved the huge video screens they had everywhere

ran into Fergie on the way out of the Venetian

It was a beautiful hot evening every night

Friday, July 13th, 2018

We slept really well and were quickly getting acclimated to west coast time. We hit the buffet again for another breakfast feast and then walked some it off checking out other spots. We liked the Linq Promenade which was pretty new and found a nice store where we bought a few things. We ubered out to the Orleans – a casino off the strip- where Grace’s office was. Grace showed us around, introduced us to her colleagues and we had lunch at a place there with Grace and Julie. Grace was able to get the afternoon off so we went back to the UNLV dorm where she was living to get a few things and then headed back to the Mirage to spend the afternoon at the pool like good Las Vegas tourists. The pool was hopping but we managed to get a spot and had a good time cooling off in the pool, people watching and drinking too many pool drinks. We ubered over to Fremont street. We had tickets to see magician Mike Hammer at the Four Queens. It was fun. 50% magic and 50% comedian. He was really good though. Grace got pulled up to the stage for one of the tricks. After the show, we took in the crazy sights on Fremont street– people zip lining overhead, street performers, classy tourists… We checked out the Container Park, an area with repurposed containers turned into small shops, restaurants and bars. We sat outside at one of the bars. I had a very good Manhattan while we listened to a good Indigo Girls sort of band. We then went a couple blocks down town and had dinner at Carson Kitchen and a great late night meal. We sat on their roof top patio with the rest of the hipsters and split tempura green beans, gyro tacos, a butter burger and tater tots. We walked back down Fremont Street and each headed back to our separate places after a fun night.

another beautiful hot morning. minus 10 for the fake grass though.

striking workers at Margaritaville – don’t go there!

Grace was staying at a dorm at UNLV that was pretty nice

cocktails at Oak & Ivy at the Container Park

Saturday, July 14th, 2018

We slept in past 8:00AM Vegas time. We got our stuff packed up and then headed down to the breakfast buffet which turned out to be a brunch buffet since it was Saturday and ended up having even more food… shrimp, prime rib, Chinese food, good desserts… can get used to this life. We checked out around 10:30 and rented a car to go exploring. We picked up Grace and headed to Mount Charleston – state park about an hour drive west of Las Vegas. It was interesting to see how built out Las Vegas is getting and then it abruptly ends at the mountains. The mountains were beautiful. The elevation was pretty up there. We stopped at the welcome center in the park and soaked in the views and then went on about an hour hike up up up the mountain that was supposed to end at a waterfall but we never were able to find the waterfall. It was fun to see something different – and so different than Las Vegas. The elevation made the hike tougher than we expected. We drove back to Las Vegas and went to Town Square Park – an outdoor mall place – and had late lunch/early dinner at Yard House – a sports bar with lots of beer choices. It was nice to get out of the heat as it was super hot out.–it felt like we were standing in front of an open oven. We still had some time to kill before we had to get to the airport so we did the Vegas thing and went to the Hooter’s casino and played blackjack for an hour. The only gambling we did all weekend except for 15 minutes before the show on Friday. Grace and I started with $20 each playing the cheap blackjack table and ended with a total of $100. It was fun. We said goodbye to Grace dropping her off at the nail salon to spend our $60 winnings and then headed to the airport to drop the car off and head back home on the red eye. The red eye is as bad as it sounds, as usual, but we made it back to CLE at 4:00AM, ubered home and were happy to be home after a fun long weekend.

Pictures fail to give justice to the beautiful landscape

back home to a beautiful Sunday on the beach

Grayton Beach, March-April 2018

Travel

Thursday, March 29

Courtney, Sophia and myself left home at 6:30AM happy to be going back to the beach. We arrived at Decatur AL at 5:30PM. It rained the entire drive but wasn’t too bad. We stayed at the same Doubletree on the river as last year – in a nice big suite. We had dinner at Big Bob Gibson’s – our favorite north Alabama BBQ spot. I had Brunswick stew, pulled pork, greens and baked beans. Courtney and Sophie each had good platters and all was great. I had iced box lemon pie and Sophia had peanut butter pie and bought three bottle of their white BBQ sauce. I was asleep by 8:30PM.

41327303541_11f798e16d_z — great stuff at Big Bobs

41327308351_dd260e5452_z — lemon ice box pie

40613683464_7e66055454_z — chilly evening in Alabama

40431233435_f99e054ed8_z — signs of spring

Friday, March 30

We left the hotel at 7:30AM and arrived in Grayton Beach around 1:30PM. We headed directly to Red Bar as we had a couple of hours to kill, and the place was hopping. We had a few beers at the bar waiting for a table which is just fine! I had fish and chips for lunch, Courtney had some delicious smoked tuna salad and Sophia had a chicken sandwich. We stopped at house to drop off some stuff and then went to Publix to stock up for the week and checked into our house right at 4:00PM. They were very particular about check in time. We liked the house. Perfect. We moved stuff in and then I took of to pick up Claire and Corey at Panama City Beach Airport – 35 minute drive. Their flight was on time and made it back in no time and had late dinner of pan fried burgers, tater tots and key lime pie – of course.

40614224894_dc8b8df184_z — chillin at the red bar

26456093537_ec2a5ddbf5_z — first of many sunsets

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Claire, Corey and Courtney went to the bakery that we like around the corner as well as stopping at the grocery store again. We had cinnamon rolls, scones and some GF goodies for breakfast. We headed down to the beach where it was sunny and nice and started our daily routine: beach, lunch, beach. Tough life. Courtney and went to Goosefeathers during lunch break and got some nice looking grouper for dinner as well as shrimp and smoked tuna dip. The kids headed to Seaside for pickles pre-dinner which was super crowded and taken over by teenagers. It stayed that way unfortunately all week. Our house had a great patio looking over the state park land looking west so we got the late afternoon sun and sunset – excellent cocktail hour spot that we enjoyed all week. We had grilled grouper for dinner that was fabulous. We played dominoes after dinner to finish a great first day.

26539431477_815d773003_b — full moon in the early morning

39601424010_fdd1b119c5_z

Sunday, April 1st, 2018

We had chocolate and jelly beans for breakfast to celebrate Easter – and a few other things. Sophie and I biked into Seaside after breakfast. The bike path between Grayton and Blue Mountain was under construction which forced us onto the road in that section which was a pain. But it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. Amavida line was way too long so we just walked around enjoying the sunshine. The rest of the day was all beach on a beautiful Easter Sunday. We steamed shrimp and grilled chicken for dinner enjoying the patio in the evening and not eating until late. We caught the second half of Jesus Christ Superstar on TV that I thought was really well done.

Seaside redid the main walkway down to the beach

Monday, April 2nd, 2018

Courtney and I biked to Seaside early morning. Stopped at Amavida and walked around. We biked all around Watercolor. Claire and Corey biked later in the morning and went out to lunch at the Oyster bar. Otherwise it was another beautiful day on the beach. We went to the burger bar for dinner which was packed. We were waiting at the bar for a table and ended up just ordering food and ate at the bar which was fun.

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018

It was a foggy morning but cleared up pretty quickly and turned into another beautiful day. The previous days sand castle was still there so we added on for another good showing. Just another perfect beach day and stayed down until 6:00. We had tacos for dinner and tried to go out for ice cream but everywhere was too crowded.

Wednesday, April 4th, 2018

A strong storm blew through early morning and it rained pretty steady all morning. We decided to go to the Destin outlets around 10:00. So did everybody else. Big mistake. The traffic was horrendous and the outlets were packed. We tried to stop for lunch at Stinky’s and Perfect Pig but both were too crowded. We ended up at Black Bear, a new place in Grayton Beach which was very good. Courtney and I split carrot soup with shaved beets et un sandwich du jambon. Sophie’s friend from school whose family was staying a few miles down the road met us at lunch and spend the day and night with us. Miraculously it cleared up in the early afternoon and lo and behold it was a great afternoon on beach. We had a great dinner of grilled rib eyes, baked potatoes and more key lime pie.

Thursday, April 5th, 2018

It was a chilly morning. Courtney and I went for bike ride around Watercolor, through the back ending up at Publix and going back through a crazy busy Seaside. Way too crowded. We didn’t go down to beach until 11:30 or so. Another nice day. Super calm and hot even though it was in low 70s. We stayed down beach until 4 and then went to Seaside for shrimp, oysters and fried pickles. We had late night dinner of boboli pizzas and then played cards against humanity.

Friday, April 6th, 2018

Courtney and I went on an early walk on the beach. It was a beautiful morning once again. Clear water and blue sky. We spent the whole day down the beach with a quick break for lunch. We drove Claire and Corey to the airport around 4:00. We ended up going to dinner at a place called Boon Docks off the bridge by the airport just following a sign that was there. It turned out to be nice – on the harbor with nice view and lots of seafood. We had fried shrimp, oysters, grouper and more fried pickles. It was a good find. We got home and packed everything up as we were planning to leave at 3:00AM for the long drive home.