Sunday, September 19, 2010

Restaurant Review: Happy Dog

Cleveland has been working at revitalizing/rebranding some neighborhoods and the Gordan Square Arts District is one of them.  I hadn't spent much time in the area, but am now working relatively close to there! 


This past Thursday I went with my coworker Mr. D to the Happy Dog in the Gordon Square Arts District.  I'd heard a lot about this bar but had not been there yet.  They serve nice beefy hot dogs and provide a laundry list of toppings that you can put on them including the standard relish, cheese, mustard, chili and unique and crazy items such a peanut butter, eggs, etc.  I was unadventurous and just got ketchup and mustard for my dog and fries.  I HATED the ketchup- they make their own and I'm a Heinz girl through and through, but the dog itself was reallllly delicious.  Mr. D got so much on his hot dog I doubt he tasted the dog, but he loved it.  He ordered the tator tots instead of fries- and they were pretty amazing.  I thought the decor and atmosphere was pretty neat too and I'd go back again anytime.


What are your favorite Cleveland hot spots?

Happy Dog on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Bikes and the Cleveland Metroparks

Cleveland has a great parks system, the Cleveland Metroparks.  I love that no matter where you are in the Greater Cleveland area you can get to a great park within, let's say, 20 minutes.  Today I went on a bike trip at one of the reservations.  Most of the parks have great paved paths for walking, running, biking and or roller blading.  Here is my traumatic tale of the day:

Apparently I am not a biker.  Actually, I already knew I am not a biker.  Today we went biking with the kids at school.  Everything was going fine, a coworker, Mr. M was explaining how to shift gears on my awesome Huffy, and I wasn't getting out of breath.  We were on an out and back path and when we turned around to come back things started to go downhill- literally and figuratively.

Mr. M and I were in the lead with some of the boys so we stopped at a fork in the path to wait for the rest of our crew to ensure we all took the same path. When we stopped I felt a little dizzy so I sat down for a minute.  When everyone else showed up I hopped back on my bike and away I went- no harm, no foul.  Then we again came to a fork in the road and we stopped again.  I commented to Mr. M that I felt lightheaded and dizzy so he offered me some of his warm, unsweetened ice team (yum).  I remember lifting the bottle to my mouth and realizing that I couldn't really see and then the next thing I remember is Mr. M saying, "Are you ok?" and me replying, "Yes, I'm fine." Then him saying, "No, you're not," and me saying "You're right, I'm not."  Before I knew it he was grabbing my arm and helping me off of my bike and then I regained some balance and made it about 20 feet to some shade.

How embarrassing.  Apparently right after I took my sip of tea my arm dropped so that the tea was spilling and Mr. M noticed I was just staring straight ahead and my pupils were dilated- prompting him to ask me if I was ok.  I got myself together and Mr. M walked his bike while I walked mine, (he did offer to take both) back up to the parking lot- luckily we were close.  Mrs. W took the kids up ahead of us.

Back at our school the other teachers were already a buzz about how I'd passed out and Mr. M had caught me... A bit of an exaggeration.  Eventually I felt a bit better, but I ended up with a big headache.  Still now, hours and hours later I have a migraine.  Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be on the computer when I have a migraine.

Goodnight!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Labor Day in Cleveland- Boats

I love Labor Day in Cleveland because of the Cleveland Air Show!

My parents own a 28 foot sailboat.  I kind of hate it.  It smells funky (at least to me) and has spiders all over it!  Me+Spiders+Not Much Room+Water= NOT GOOD! But the one time I really do love having it is Labor Day weekend when the Cleveland Air Show is going on.

As far back as I can remember we have spent Labor Day weekend hosting people out on the boat to watch either the Blue Angels or The Thunderbirds fly overhead doing aerial stunts.  Sometimes the stealth bomber is there, and there's always lots of fun stuff to see.

My coworkers Mr. D, and Mrs. W, both got in touch with my last night to say that they'd love to come with my family and I today to see the planes.  I'm very excited about this!  Mrs. W is bringing her husband and daughter with her which is great.  What is not turning out so great is the weather.... it sucks.  It's supposed to be in the mid 60s today and windy.  So it's looking like we will probably end up staying at the dock- we'll still see the planes plenty well, but we won't have as many direct flyovers which are SO COOL!  (These planes turn me into a 5 year old boy- I swear)

What are your favorite activities to do in Cleveland?