the drive up was pretty good. just missed a nice rollover accident on I-71 by a few minutes. other than the ton of cops out, the drive was a quick one. our first stop was A Christmas Story house in Cleveland. my sister loves this movie.
next we went to an Irish pub to watch the game between France and Germany. the fish and chips were excellent. as for the game, i was a little surprised that France won.
we walked around downtown a little, stumbling into the House of Blues. i got a cool shot glass from there. then it was time to go find the hotel.
my sister heard from a friend that the hotel we were staying at was really good. while we were there, she realized that her friend had never stayed at the hotel, he only saw it from the bar he was drinking in. it was a total hipster hotel. no drawers to put anything in, so we were basically living out of our suitcases. the beds sucked. the pillows sucked. the toilet was about as low to the ground as possible. how i didn't kill my back while taking a shit when i was on it is still amazing to me. but, the view from the hotel wasn't bad. we were in The Flats, so it was a noisy time, not only from the clubs but the damn train tracks.
the next day we had breakfast at a really good local deli and then made our way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. after we found some parking relatively close, we made our way in.
if you have followed this blog for any length of time, you know how much i absolutely LOVE music. so, you can imagine just how pissed i was when halfway through the museum my camera started to die. it's a cruel fucking world my friends. below are some of my favorite pictures. i took a ton of them.
the last photo i took was when we left, looking out to the water.
we went back to the hotel to cool down and get ready for the baseball game. we had a parking pass for the game, so that made things really easy. i do like the setup in Cleveland with the baseball stadium and basketball arena right next to each other. i'm not sure what kinds of pictures my sister got from the games or walking around the stadiums. the Yankees got torched on Friday night, losing 10-2. yikes. the fireworks after the game were good at least.
Saturday we got up sort of early and went to the market on the west side of the city. breakfast there was ok. i figured out i don't like that much paprika on potatoes. i think i tasted paprika for the rest of the day. the market itself was pretty cool but it was sensory overload for my brain. after my sister got her coffee, we went back to the hotel to get ready for an afternoon game.
my sister has used Uber in the past and had no problems with it. that was about to change. the driver couldn't find us for anything. and once he did, he was in this little sedan. i was immediately pissed as i knew i would be aching after this car ride. well, the Ron White look alike driving us had no clue where to drop us off near the stadium. once he figured that out after a couple u-turns, mom and i had a really fun time crawling out of the vehicle. thankfully, the game went much better than the car ride. the Yankees came from behind a few times to win 7-6 in 11 innings.
after the game, we decided to walk to the Hard Rock Cafe, which was a few blocks down from the stadium. the service there was atrocious. at least my burger was decent. i believe my sister is still waiting on her salad. while we were there, i noticed Rob Refsnyder of the Yankees came in. i don't bother famous people when i see them in public. i do understand why the Yankees GM has doubts about him. he's a slight man to say the least. but, he got the same burger i got, so he has decent taste.
the Uber ride after dinner was good. the driver had a SUV, so that made it much easier. by this time, the rain was getting closer, so my back was shot. now, at the hotel we were at, there is two clubs and a restaurant in the same building. nothing quite like bass thumping all the way up to the 5th floor to make you feel like you were back in your 20's again.
now, while in the hotel room, i think i wrote 13 poems. most of them were while i was looking out the window. i typed them up when we got home yesterday. i really think a couple of them are great.
the drive back to my sister's was mostly uneventful. we had to separate some of things we got as we basically packed up as quickly as we could to leave on Sunday. i do like the fact that we really didn't eat at any chains while we were up there. we tried to do "local" as best as possible. the drive from my sister's to the house was pretty easy. we got back in time to see the finals of Euro 2016.
Euro 2016 Update:
i was sort of bummed to see CR7 go off with an injury in the first half. sadly, so was France. their play really dipped like they just knew they had the game won already. whoops. Portugal scored in the 109th minute to win the game 1-0. easily, the biggest win for Portugal EVER. and quite frankly, they deserved it.
the Yankees won yesterday 11-7 to take 3 out of 4 from Cleveland. that gets the Yankees back at .500 at the All Star break. i do hope the Cleveland fans know they will have to be much better if a team like the Yankees can come in and whip them like they did. i really laughed at how many fuckers in that town think just because the Cavs won a title, now the Indians will. sorry people, but LeBron doesn't play baseball.
the Sunday night shows were good. Big Brother was pretty much what i thought would happen. i did get to see the Thursday live show while up in Cleveland, so the Sunday show was a little catch up for me.
Ray Donovan was really good. Roadies was pretty good as well. the winner of the night was The Night Of. i decided to get some sleep and watch that this afternoon. holy shit, it's great. i can't wait to see how this show turns out. the first episode had a little bit of everything. hopefully the rest of the episodes will as well.
mom and i went out to lunch this afternoon. first time i had ever been to Red Robin. where the fuck has this place been all my life. this one just went in about 2 months ago. first one in this area. i absolutely loved it. i'll be back, for sure.
i managed to catch up on all 362 emails that were waiting for me. i kept my promise of not getting online at all while i was away. told my mother i struck it rich today. made 80 cents on a pork survey. the big time is right around the corner.
enjoy some music:
and now some of this and that:
i will probably catch up on some more things on the DVR tonight after i watch Monday Night Raw.
i did listen to the latest podcast of Sam Roberts' Show. it is about the Dallas tragedy. you can find it by going here: http://notsam.com/srshow/2016/7/10/srshow-dallas-shooting-reaction
i will probably get some poems ready to send out later this week. i have a doctors appointment on Wednesday and i'll probably have to go with mom when she takes the car in on Friday.
the check engine light came on while we were driving back from Cleveland yesterday. it never started flashing, so i figured it was ok to drive. but, we had to have the windows down as i wasn't going to press our luck by running the air conditioner. i think i drove fast enough that we stayed somewhat cool.
that's all for me kids. i did enjoy my first vacation in over 13 years. a big thank you to my sister and my mother as this was my 40th birthday present. i probably have some more poems about the trip to write. those will trickle out for a few months probably.
i hope everyone had a wonderful time while i was away. of course, if you are a human and actually give a shit about humanity, the events of Baton Rouge, Minnesota and Dallas should still be on your mind. if you don't give a shit and enjoy fucking chaos, live it up while you can. as for the rest of us, it still fucking amazes me how much shit doesn't change in this world.
be well. be creative. be cool. be quick to send me CASH, panties, hate mail, love letters, broken promises and dirty pennies from heaven.
peace and chicken grease...
music:
Lucinda Williams - Change the Locks (Live)
Van Morrison - I Just Want to Make Love to You (Live)
Muddy Waters - Champagne & Reefer (Live)
The Black Crowes - Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye (Live)
"To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail." - Giorgio Armani
and your whatever the fuck i wanted you to see video of the day:
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