TheFranciscos.Net

Cleveland is just a couple of hours away from Pittsburgh. Probably around 150 miles between the two cities. Aileen was there for a convention for med-school students and their group was promoting the residency program at UPMC McKessport. Since she was going to be away for the weekend, Zoe and I decided to tag along. Here’s some of the fun stuff we did:

– We got to stay at the Renaissance Hotel in the historic Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland, which is probably one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. For $250 a night, it better be good. It’s an old, rustic hotel which kinda reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans. It was very antique-looking, from the chandeliers, to the furniture, to the paintings displayed on every floor – the hotel had a very old-fashioned feel to it. And the best thing about it was staying there for free, as Aileen’s hospital picked up the tab for that.

– One of the more popular attractions in the city is of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Being a music freak, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check it out and I dragged Aileen and Zoe along for the ride. It was pretty interesting to see all the memorabilia they’ve collected over the years. They’ve got stuff like Steven Tyler’s clothes from the 70s, the outfit that Britney Spears wore at the 2001 MTV awards (you know, the skin-colored one), TLC’s dance gear with the lights positioned at strategic places, and lots of old records, magazines, fan club buttons, etc. They even had James Taylor’s 5th grade report card. The one thing I have to complain about though are the steep prices. Although the hall of fame is very interesting (and at least worth checking out at least once) – $17 is just a little too much for what you get.

– On Saturday Night, we just had to go out for a drink, but our dilemma was where we could go get some beer and cocktails and still bring along Zoe. The solution? We went to a bar/restaurant called Cooperstown which is owned by rock legend Alice Cooper. Think the Hard Rock Cafe turned sports bar, and you’ve got the atmosphere there at that place. The food wasn’t that great (Aileen particularly didn’t like their buffalo wings), but I had some of the local beer and Aileen had a strawberry daiquiri all while watching the second game of the World Series. A really nice night, and I got to go drinking with my two favorite girls in the world.

– On Sunday, we ate brunch at the Watermark restaurant at the Flats (which is the equivalent of the Strip District in Pittsburgh and South Street in Philly in terms of it being the place for great bars, clubs & restaurants – in other words, my kind of place ). We were told that the Watermark is one of the best seafood places in town and they had Sunday brunch. We were expecting something like the spectacular buffet at Capt George in Virginia. To our disappointment, the only thing close to seafood was an omelette that had fake crab meat. Things weren’t all bad though as the roast beef and paella more than made up for it. I swear that they served some of the most juicy, succulent roast beef I have ever had. I heartily recommend anybody who goes to Cleveland to visit this restaurant just to try the roast beef out (just don’t expect seafood if you’re eating brunch).

All in all, out trip was a lot of fun. Cleveland is a very nice city to visit. Clean and spacious, it reminds me of Chicago, but in a smaller sort of way. It’s definitely worth another visit.

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