Loaded up the truck this past week and drove to Fort Collins, Colorado with Court to visit her sister and to see the sights and drink the craft beers that Colorado has to offer.  Below is how it went down:

SUNDAY

• Left Cleveland early, made it well over half way by nightfall.  With a 2 hour time gain, we shacked up at a Travelodge somewhere in Nebraska.

MONDAY

• Finished the drive through the Pawnee National Grassland (skipped Cheyenne) on the drive from Nebraska to Fort Collins.
• Checked in at the Hilton on E. Harmony, room #113.
• Visited with Erin on the CSU campus, met Shadow, and then headed to Stuft for lunch.
• Did some shopping at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse and a couple bookstores.
  • Replenished my stock with the latest two Boneshakers.
• Finished the night drinking some craft brews at Coopersmith’s Pub and sipping New Belgium at The Sports Exchange.
  • Courtney claims there was a Taco Bell visit.

TUESDAY

• An absolutely amazing breakfast at Lucile’s.
• Drove out to the beautiful Front Range and hiked to the falls in Horsetooth Mountain.
• Shower and drive to the great city of Boulder.
• Stopped in Longmont at Left Hand Brewing (yes, their public site is a Blogspot site.)
• Super tasty Mexican lunch at Illegal Petes.
• Shopping in Boulder at American Apparel, Patagonia, Into the Wild, others, multiple bookstores and coffee shops.
  • Boulder is an awesome place to visit (and it seems, to live).  Very cool atmosphere.  The touristy places are covered with street performers, folk singers, and transients.
• Swung by the Google Office in Boulder.
• Drove to Avery Brewing, sipped some White Rascal.
• Drove to Oskar Blues in Lyons – one of the coolest parts of the trip.  Not only were there great brews, good food, Tron and Donkey Kong machines; but there was a 30+ string player bluegrass jam going on upstairs.
  • All local, free admission.  This was Colorado.
• Drove back late to Fort Collins, next to a pretty mountain sunset.

WEDNESDAY

• Awoke early and drove to the scenic Roosevelt National Forest.
  • Was a beautiful morning, 8,000 ft above sea level, cool and comforting.
• Rode my first horse ever at Sombrero Ranch.  Was pleasant, did about an hour up through the mountains.
• Lunch at Mad Greens.  Tasty!
• Did the tour at New Belgium!  Sampled great beers, learned a little, bought some swag, loved all the cool New Belgium bikes.
• Shopping at Wagz and Jax, others.
• Local simple pizza from Pulcinellas.

THURSDAY

• Quiet Morning.
• Checked out the Colorado State campus and bookstore.
• Drove to Denver.
• Shopping, walking around.  Chatted with a guy from Westlake.
• Had some of the best sushi ever at Sushi Sasa.  A friend’s brother manages here and we got the hook up!
• Headed to Coors Field and watched the Rockies put a hurtin’ on the Giants.

FRIDAY

• Literally drove 22 hours back to Cleveland.
• We stopped to get gas somewhere near Gary, IN.  I tried to check in on FourSquare and found that Micheal Jackson’s childhood was some 2,000 feet away.  We went there.  It was both scary and sad.
• Was pulled over in Indiana at 4am, got a warning (a true miracle, considering my speeding history.)

THOUGHTS

Colorado is a great state, with much to offer.  The cities we visited (mainly Fort Collins) were modern, clean and friendly.  The climate is much hotter than that of NE Ohio, but with less humidity so it’s far more pleasant.

There are countless bike shops and the streets are crowded with bikers and bike racks.  The town has a liberal sense of feel, plenty of progressive book stores, coffee shops, stores, and more – surrounding CSU.  Much of Boulder has free city wide WiFi.  The concentration of craft breweries has to be some of the best in the country.  The region is also scattered with promising businesses including AMD, Intel,  and Google to name a few.  The altitude difference didn’t bother me too much – but I could definatly tell in certain instances.

VIDEO

Some clips I shot:

PICTURES

See all at: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnmariani/ColoradoVacation#

There’s an awesome mobile restaurant  popping up all over in Cleveland.  The Dim And Den Sum Truck was created by two chefs (one from NY’s Spotted Pig and one from Doug Katz’s Fire Food and Drink) as a way to bring healthy, locally sourced, gourmet food to anywhere in town.

I was able to grab their PBLT last weekend for $6 – a scrumptious sandwich layered with roasted pork shoulder, bacon, greens, and spicy sriracha mayo.

The truck features artwork from Tremont’s The Sign Guy. I spoke with one of the chefs last week and he said business is great and many new things are to come including a taco truck, noodle truck, cookbook, supper club and much more.

Follow Dim and Den Sum on Twitter to see their next stops.

The truck was also featured in this week’s Scene Magazine.

The following video was shot today at Jakprints – a great local printing company (I used them to print the Cleveland Critical Mass Flyers!)

TwitPic from last weekend:

We spent the past weekend in D.C., a terrific city.  I have been there a number of times (biking, protests, marches, inaugurations) but this was a low key trip done in part to get out of Cleveland for a bit, eat some great food, ride bikes, and see Hot Chip and The xx in concert at the 9:30 Club.

FRIDAY

I won’t go into too much detail, but seeing a city by bike is the ultimate way to go.  I’ve rode D.C. before, and much like Chicago, biking allows you and your travelling accomplices to get around fast, free and without strenuous/slow paced walking (dodging everybody else.)  Courtney and I departed Cleveland Thursday night (in typical fashion) spending the night somewhere near Breezewood; everyone’s favorite truck stop community.  Awoke early Friday to finish the last 2 hours of the drive and check into the brand new Marriott Hotel on Capitol Hill (great hotel and great rates!, perfect part of town, close to the Green Line.)  They let us check our stuff in – we aired up our tires and hit the road.

Biked 17 miles on Friday, stopping to see all the sites (Courtney’s first time!) and walking both the Natural History Smithsonian and the newly renovated American History Smithsonian.  We had lunch at the (recommended) Good Stuff Eatery, on Capitol Hill.  I had the Obama Burger.

FRIDAY NIGHT

We relaxed a bit before taking the Red Line to Dupont Circle for a late dinner at Nora’s.  I can’t say enough good things about this place; its the country’s first organic restaurant, great food and wine with a lovely setting in an old carriage house.  A bit pricey, the crowd was light but interesting, talking political work and of their boss, Tucker Carlson (hilarious, I know.)  Court and I had the 2007 Bourgogne Passetoutgrain pinot and a full 3-course, delicious.  We hung out at Kramerbooks in Dupont on the way home, the nation’s second coolest bookstore – being open 24hrs is an added bonus.

SATURDAY

Woke up and had a relaxing day shopping around Georgetown, hitting up a bunch of shops (liked Patagonia, Levi’s, Chingching Cha Tea, and Georgetown Tobacco.)  Had a great Italian brunch at Filomena Ristorante.  Headed back to The Mall to hit two more Smithsonians, Aviation and American Indian.

SATURDAY NIGHT

We headed to the Howard University campus for the show, stopping at a ghetto-ass store to scarf down some steak sandwiches (we somehow forgot to eat dinner.)  Food was cheap, but made better by a homeless guy talking about Funkadelic.  The concert was incredible.  Broadcast live on NPR national for the Saturday concert, The xx played a short and spot-on set.  Hot Chip came out and sounded great, played a good set with a lot of energy.

The 9:30 is a great place to watch a show – however it was (I feel) the loudest show I have ever been to.  Honestly, parts of it were painful – either I’m getting old, or things (decibels) are louder in our Nation’s Capitol.  The club is perfect beyond that; good beer selection, wasn’t too packed – they even tweeted the exact time each band was to go on – made planning easy.  Chatted with some great people, all gov’t professionals; The Red Cross, FTC, Wind Energy Cos.

CONCLUSION

People who know me know I love Cleveland dearly.  I’ve traveled these Midwestern-escape destinations (DC, CHI, NYC, Vegas) repeatedly, well into the double digits, only to find a humble return to my beloved Cleveland, tired, and immediately finding comfort in the dreary, desolate, brick-faced city I live and work in.

I love it here.  But the constant vibe in Cleveland is everyone is supposed to work to make it better – an uphill battle, something we’re always fighting for, a hope for the better, all soon-to-come, changes happening, casinos, clean technology hubs, transportation corridors, rock and roll hall of fames and their ceremonies held elsewhere.  It make’s it fun, I guess, knowing that we’re always down and out and it’s up to us to make it better (how?).  I like the grittiness of that, but I find it to be wearing out.

None of this is a shot at Cleveland, it’s just more and more I ask myself what it’s like in other places where people just live, love where they live, feel safe, and have to invest minimal, if any, effort to make their city a real city.  I’m not giving up.   I’m ready to do what it takes to make CLE better, but I know I’m not the first to have that idea.  This endless and blind hope has been in motion for  along time.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

FULL PHOTO GALLERY OF THIS TRIP.

Come June, Clevelanders will be able to grab a pint at a new brewery on 25th St. just North of The West Side Market.  After 5 years, Andy Tveekrem will be leaving Maryland’s Dogfish Head as the Brewmaster and will be joining the owner of Cleveland gems The Bier Market and Bar Cento to create a new brewery in one of Cleveland’s finest bar districts.

Looking forward to some more quality, Cleveland-brewed IPAs!

Read the full article here.

Chalk this up with the other play-by-play road trip posts I’ve wrote.  Not sure what they’re worth, short of my own personal record and the blind hope that someday, like Jack Kerouac, I will be discovered and my writings published as a pioneering American author — fat chance.

THURSDAY

Finished work late and came home to hurry up a load of laundry and start packing.  Picked up Courtney around 8pm, and were headed West on I-80 to an unknown Midwest destination for the night, hopefully closer to Chicago than Cleveland.  We had two nights lined up at The Congress Hotel, a historic hotel on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, so this was an attempt to lessen the drive Friday morning so we could have more time in the city.  Pulled in to the “Travel Inn” around 12:30 craving some shuteye.  The lobby was dark and I had to ring a bell to wake up what seemed to be the hotel manager / resident who charged $49 for a night.  A true steal, and the bed even came with a cherry stem left behind by a previous traveler – how weird/creepy is that?

FRIDAY

Woke up early, checked out, and hit the road with the benefit of a 1 hour time difference awaiting us in Chicago.  Checked-in to the Congress around 2pm, I guess, changed, and hit the road on our bikes in mostly gray skies and cold rain.  First, we checked out The Buckingham Fountain (been to CHI 4 times and never saw this before).  We rode to Grant Park, and Shedd Aquarium taking some great pictures along the way.  We were hungry for lunch, so we biked to the original Pizzeria Uno (since 1943).  Every time I’m in Chicago, I usually get Gino’s Pizza East – so decided to change it up here, turns out for the better.  Enjoyed a local 312 seasonal brew (Harvest-something) here, also.

After lunch, went and checked out the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop which required us to be buzzed in and to store our bookbags in the closet.  This place was absolutely awesome, basically a small shop FILLED with books on Lincoln (there are a lot more than you think) dating back to the 19th century.  Real leather bound books, showing their age, behind locked cases.  Also here were other Abe items, including a wanted poster for his assassin priced at $45,000 (the reward on the poster was $50,000).  The place was quiet and empty, short of two older researchers/author types with a stack of Abe books – they were pretty deep.

Left here and rode to Kozy’s Cyclery where I needed to buy a bike a bike helmet in fear of getting hit by a Chicago motorist.  Checked out some other shopping, only buying a scarf to keep warm while biking the windy city.  We heard the grim news of Chicago loosing the bid for the 2016 Olympics but this didn’t silence the bright advertising campaign that still draped the city’s billboards, bus stops, and El stations.

Unwound and warmed up at one of the many Starbucks.  While paging through a print copy of The Onion, I was alarmed to read that the one and only David Cross was in town the following day, signing his new book at the N Clark St. Borders – we cleared some plans for Saturday in hope of meeting the legend himself.  Friday night we went to Borders to buy Cross’ new book and reserved our spot by receiving two wristbands to the event.  The cab from our hotel to Wrigleyville was a steep $16 one way — we would ride The El for the rest of the weekend @ 2.25/trip.

We headed North from Wrigleyville to Green Mill Cocktail Lounge.  I can’t begin to describe how incredible this place was.  We decided to go here after reading it was one of Al Capone’s favorite hangouts.  We were greeted at the door by a strange-rude-biker-type-doorman who took a $12 cover and gave instructions to silence our cell phones and remain as quiet as possible.  The bar was dark with curved leather booths and a gypsy-style jazz band, Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan, played AMAZING music as everyone watched quietly erupting in applause at each song break – just like the old days.  Swing Gitan had an accordion, violinist, 2 acoustics guitars, and an upright bass.  They were absolutely incredible.  Drank a Stella here, and confirmed the Green Mill to be the coolest place to see one of  the coolest bands in my live music spectator history.

Headed back to the hotel, exhausted and happy.

SATURDAY

We rode the El to Wrigleyville in the morning, looking for some food before the David Cross book signing.  Checked out some shops (lots of headshops on Clark St.) and sipped some green tea before making our way to Borders.  Hung out with some strangers from Cleveland and Shaker, killing time.  Cross showed up, read a section from his book, confirmed the Arrested Development movie, and took some questions.  We were second in line for the signing and headed back to the hotel afterwards for some chilltime.

We walked to the original Billy Goat Tavern (the one made famous by John Belushi in the 70s) for dinner.  Had some burgers, and watched some football before grabbing the Red Line North to Metro for the sold out Fever Ray concert.

The Northside concert hall was packed with every hipster in Chicago, probably tipped off by Chicago’s own Pitchfork Media’s rave review of Fever Ray’s NYC show earlier in the week.  I’m a huge fan of The Knife and was ecstatic to finally see 50% of The Knife (Karin Dreijer Andersson) perform.  The show was loud and epic – plenty of bass, lasers, and so much smoke the band members appeared mostly as silhouettes.  There was an awesome tribal-pagan-ritual theme, facepaint, cool costumes, and great drums.  Plenty more to talk about here, but clearly I am incapable of accruatly describing such events.

SUNDAY

We woke up super early (also fighting the hour-loss time change) and began our trek back to Ohio, making Dan & Emily’s babyshower in perfect timing; celebrated, mingled, and watched the Browns almost win but continue their shitty season to 0-4.  Good to be back in the CLE.

What a fantastic weekend in Tremont!  On Saturday, spent a few hours in Lincoln Park for the Inaugural Tremont Ale Fest.  Great turn out, great food and great beer!  We scored promotional tickets for $15 a piece (thanks Edison’s).  Sampled a number of great brews – both local and national (Magic Hat, Ohio Brewing Company from Akron, Indigo, Delirium, Sierra Nevada, and a few more).  It was a beautiful day and a decent turnout.  I hope this festival only grows in the coming years.

Today was the 7th Annual Taste of Tremont.  The streets were packed with people all day (and it’s still going on).  We made it to the fest twice and sampled a number of great dishes from Fat Cats, Lolita, and Grumpy’s.  I met Mayor Jackson and got to watch  Michael Symon’s Corner dedication ceremony.  It was a big day for the area and Cleveland’s Iron Chef.

Full Gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnmariani/TasteOfTremontMichaelSymonDedication#

I made it to the Tribe game Friday night and was fortunate enough to have club seats (thanks, Dave Katie).  3 friends and I enjoyed some quick food and drinks at Forti’s before heading to Progressive Field.  I will briefly say that the Tribe’s current slump is the perfect time to make it to a game for cheap (or free) and witness something Cleveland is known for; supporting a team and enjoying the feeling of always being the underdog.  Pick up some cheap tickets and go enjoy yourselves – the fans, ballpark, food and fireworks are worth the price (probably cheaper than a movie).  The rain held off for the most part so we stayed for the full fireworks show.

Full gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnmariani

What follows is an account of what was my third visit to Sin City in my adult life.  I’m not sure why I decide to write these long posts about my travels, but someday they might be worth reading once I’ve forgotten the many details.

TUESDAY

Monday was Memorial Day and I decided to go into work Tuesday (verses 9 straight days off) until about 3pm to finish up some work before heading to Hopkins for our 5pm flight.  At check-in, Continental charged a $15 fee to check one bag – this was rather annoying since 1 checked bag per passenger used to be free (pre-recession).  It was a 4 hour flight, putting us in a cab from Las Vegas McCarren Airport at around 6pm, Vegas time.  My fellow traveler, Steve, forgot his cell phone in the cab but was luckily able to get it back a day or so later by paying a $40 cab fare off the strip.  The cab fare from the Airport to the North end of The Strip; about $35.  It should be noted that this wasn’t my first time in Vegas and for nostalgia purposes, we decided to stay in the “older”, what we thought may have been the Scorsese Casino-esque Vegas, at the North end of the strip.  Yes, we stayed at the fabulous Circus Circus Casino at just under $400/person for 5 nights + airfare.

“The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the sixth Reich. . .” – Hunter S. Thompson, 1971

Our entrance into the lobby brought fear and loathing as I realized what we had done.  We were stuck in a hotel that was stuck in the 1960s, what with yellow CRT monitors, poor cable television, and unhappy employees.  They even charged a $5 required fee for potential phone calls that we swore not to make in our modern day of cell phones.  This was no MGM or Bellagio, but a hotel struggling to hold on to anything in a day of  constant Vegas sprawl Southwards down The Strip.  The sports book at the Circus Circus gave use two full beers with each one ordered, in typical casino fashion, “…but I only ordered one” – “Sorry, here’s two anyway” was a hilarious conversation had by 3 people in our group with different bartenders.  We made our way to a bar to catch the Cavs’ overtime loss in the game 4 to the Magic, cheering next to both Cleveland and Orlando fans and gamblers.

From a typical Cleveland loss, we then made our way down The Strip to meet up at The Mirage with our friend, Pete, who happened to be in town.  Had a few drinks there before leaving and going to have a few daiquiris at Treasure Island’s Kahunaville.  Caught the end of the Pirate show which is really a poorly choreographed dance show featuring babes in hot pants lip syncing (but, for some reason wearing headset mics, anyway) catered for the whole family.  Our Tuesday night ended late with a few drunken stops at the neighboring casinos before calling it a night, jet lagged and tired.  Picked up a 18pk of cold beer for a strip price of $19 and only two people on the walk to our room offered to sell us drugs.

WEDNESDAY

Our afternoon started with some gambling at Planet Hollywood before hitting The Miracle Mile for some walking around to kill time.  We rode the Monorail around for $5 one way and met a guy on the empty car who was from N. Olmsted, Ohio.  Generic talk included the Cavs’ road to The NBA Finals (which they ultimately failed on, the Browns, and Savannah’s Bar in Westlake, Ohio.  While on the Monorail, I was thumbing through one of the hundred free guides available to Vegas tourists and happened to see that a band I currently listen to a lot, Animal Collective, had a show slotted for Saturday at The House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.  I ordered tickets via Courtney via Ticketmaster via E-mail since no employee in our hotel had access to the Internet.  $20 face value tickets, ran for $34 a piece, thanks Ticketmaster.

Did some more sightseeing and was very impressed at the level of construction going on during our current economic climate.  A guy on the bus and two ladies on the flight home informed me that all construction on the work-in-process world class resorts, the City Center, Echelon and Fontainebleau , had been temporarily halted.  Vegas for decades has seen an insane amount of growth, but the City Center will be completely different – check it out.  It’ll be comprised of 8 high rises, once complete, and is designed so visitors and residents never have to leave.  This may hurt surrounding hotels like no other sprawl The Strip has seen in the past.

For dinner, we headed to the Top of the World 5-star restaurant atop the Stratosphere.  The prices were comical, the menu featuring a $170 per plate date night special.  That’s PER PLATE.  Food was delicious, I had the blackened tuna with some sides and a couple Fat Tires.  Top of the World offers a view of the strip like no other @ nearly twice the height of the Seattle Space Needle.  Dan, Emily, Pete, Steve and myself then headed to the real “old Vegas” for the Fremont Street Experience.  This was very cool, and we had a great time here with bright lights, short walks, and cheap drinks.  The street is covered an LED canopy that stretches 5 blocks, literally covering all the casinos from the 50s and 60s era.  Grabbed a cab on the way back avoiding a cabbie verse cabbie altercation in front of our eyes over “gypsy-cabs”; drivers who try to steal passengers from waiting cabs.

THURSDAY

We decided to relax and take it on Thursday, we hit the buffet for lunch and Stripburger for dinner (and to watch the first half of the Cavs game.)  Headed to the Venetian to watch them pull off the victory.  The Venetian is great and I would truly consider it for a future stay.  What was planned to be an easy day turned into a pseudo-bar-crawl of casinos from Harrahs to Caesars to some rooftop bar to the Extra Lounge in Planet Hollywood to a Subway for a 3am dinner at the Casino Royale.  I walked much of the strip with Pete before heading back to the room.  Hilarious.

FRIDAY

Friday was the true, and much needed, lazy day of the trip.  I was tired and a bit worn out from the fabulous Strip already.  We ate a late breakfast at some Casino Cafe, lost big in roulette, saw an Area 51 bound plane, before heading to a movie at the Showcase Theater (near MGM) to kill some time.  Did a full walk of The Strip back to our hotel, amazed at all the new construction, before dinner at the Garden Grille.

SATURDAY

Had a quick lunch before taking the doubledecker bus (best deal at $3 a ride) to Mandalay Bay.  Dan and Emily checked out the Shark Reef where I enjoyed some coffee and more time killing sprinkled with some gambling losses (unlucky trip, for sure).  The Mandalay Bar is another amazing hotel and with The Venetian is up for grabs for my next stay.  Saturday here brought hundreds of people to the casino floor and lobbies for multiple weddings – Vegas weddings can be surprisingly classy. We made our way to the sports book for what would be the Cavs’ end to their season (that’s all I’ll say about that) and then headed to the House of Blues inside the huge casino for Animal Collective’s show.  I won’t talk to much about this, but they played an amazing show.  Had row 2 balcony seats and was able to relax and listen to some great music while nursing a few $7 New Castles.  The HOB was pretty lame with a shit-ton of security guards, a camera ban (in a city of tourists!), and literally – an audible disclaimer played before the band went on stating if you were underage and were caught drinking, that yours parents would be notified.  I think a handful in the crowd didn’t know who Animal Collective were and just decided to check out a “blues” show while vacationing in Vegas.  A bus ride back to our hotel was packed with a few odd occurrences that will go unsaid.

We made it back to the hotel eagerly awaiting our flight home and departure from a worn out Las Vegas.

SUNDAY

Keep in mind that 6 days in Las Vegas is roughly about 3.5 too many.  We couldn’t wait to get back – we checked out of our hotel, sold whatever beer we could to folks checking in and got a $40 cab back to the Airport.  Here was our Sunday:

Flight was slotted to take off at 4:45pm, 4 hours flight + 3 time change = land in Cleveland @ ~Midnight.

Our plane docked at the gate on time, and let it’s passengers off.  What normally includes an inspection, refuel, clean, board, take off again was replaced with a 2 hour delay and test flight to test a cabin pressure problem.  Our plane returned 2 hours later, and the counter woman said the plane would not being flying us.  Options included either a free hotel stay, and flight home Monday afternoon or a total 6 hour delay and arrival back in Cleveland at 6am.  We chose the later and killed time for what seemed like forever waiting out the delay.

We watched the desert Sunset from an Airport window Sunday night, flew over the alive and bright Las Vegas Strip, and landed into a brisk Northeast Ohio sunrise.  I had  a few hours for sleep and relaxation before heading back to work on Tuesday.

Full Gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnmariani

• The Barley House, W 6th Street, Cleveland – April 30th, 2009
• Johnny Malloy’s, Detroit Road, Lakewood – March 22, 2008

The above locations & dates have a few things in common:

1. Both are places I’ve been to.
2. Both are to be considered decent and safe places to drink.
3. Both are related to deaths as a result of a scuffle between two men.

No one is really a fan of fighting in bars except total douche bags, but we’ve all witnessed fights on occasion.  You’re out with friends enjoying some drinks and having a good time at a place with other people doing the same.  You’ll suddenly see bouncers run in the same direction and separate two or more people usually yelling or punching one another.  The offenders are escorted out and people laugh and carry on their merry ways.  Be it in an urban or rural setting, or a dingy or classy environment  – bar fights happen everywhere.

I was shocked to hear the story of Lakewood’s Matthew Hockey, age 29.  He was involved in a fight with Derrick Dykas, 24, of Michigan outside Johnny Malloy’s last spring.  Punches were exchanged, the fight broken up.  Hockey went home and later died in his sleep.  It is unknown if Dykas’ punch or the collision of his head to the curb caused the injury (multiple witnesses state both occurrences.)

In today’s Plain Dealer, I read about Mentor’s Michael Corrado, age 22.  He too was involved in a fight, this one outside W. 6th’s hip Barley House on April 20th, 2009.  He was punched by 27 year old Walter Triplett Jr. of Cleveland.  Corrado fell to ground hitting his head on the curb, later dying at MetroHealth Medical Center.

Walter Triplett Jr. faces up to 2 years in prison and a fine of $15,000 if convicted.  (Really?  $15,000?  That’s less than what I paid for my first car.  2 years in prison?  That’s half of the total time I spent in College.)

I don’t really know what the point of this post is.  I guess if I am ever in this type of situation, I will go out of my way to avoid a physical altercation as much as possible.  Bar fights are rarely the choreographed humorous events that are portrayed in so many movies.  I guess go out of your way to be cool to everyone, Cleveland.  And if you want to fight over something stupid after drinking a crapton of alcohol, try not the kill the other guy.

Stoker & motorcycle from New York – These guys still exist and I’m glad they do.

My third time to The Big Easy, left work early last Wednesday around 3:30, rendezvoused with Courtney and hit the road by about 4:45.  Drove half the full distance of 1,050+ miles and stayed the night in Bowling Green, KY.  Finished the drive down Thursday morning and made a dinner stop at the Abita Brewpub in Abita Springs, LA (the 17th largest craft brewer in the states).  Enjoyed an average brewery dinner; burgers and a few beers exclusive to an on-site visit.  After finishing the 23 mile drive on the longest over-water bridge in the world we checked into Hotel New Orleans (Convention Center Blvd.) by about 8PM Central time and were walking the French Quarter by about 8:30.  Had some cafe au lait and beignets at the historic Cafe Du Monde before heading to Frenchman Street.  We then circled back around stopping at Coco’s on Bourbon Street after hearing the blaring sound of Bryan Lee and the Blues Power Band‘s lead and slide guitars.  The completely blind Bryan Lee can really jam and is fun to watch rip up some blues.  We stayed here for about an hour before walking back and calling it a night.  The next day we split a muffaletta from Central Grocery on the banks of the Mississippi, enjoyed an afternoon cigar from The Cigar Factory and then hopped on the St. Charles Streetcar and took  a ride through the historic Garden District.  Enjoyed a Ferdie Po’ Boy at Mothers on Canal for dinner before heading back out.  It is here my recollection of events becomes cloudy as we walked Bourbon.  Saturday morning hit the new Audubon Zoo’s Insectarium (which sucked) and then drove to the Jazz Fest.

Admission was $50 at the gate.  Next time we’ll take the shuttle since parking was a fiasco – there were private residents parking cars for $25+  near the race track where the fest is held.  We paid a young kid $30 to park.  The parking spot was on a public street; he moved his car which acted as a placeholder and we pulled in behind him.  Part of me thinks I could have gotten away with telling him to screw off and parked on the street for free.  The Jazz Fest was great – similar to Bonnaroo, but more family-friendly, with better food, less drugs, equal alcohol consumption, less shade and placed in a venue about 100x smaller.  The crowd easily filled up the interior and exterior of the horse track and by about 3 in the afternoon – there was even grid locked foot traffic while trying to walk about.  The food was absolutely amazing, I had a crawfish puff and later some crawfish bread, both for $5.  Caught a few acts before we left rather early in the day, walking past the hundreds in line just then showing up to see Bon Jovi.  Perhaps next time we’ll hit the fest the first day opposed to walking the hot streets of NOLA for hours the days before.  We were physically spent by the 3rd day to say the least.  We headed back to the room, watched the Bulls suck against the Celtics and then headed back out for a quiet dinner at Gordon Biersch (a chain brewery similar to Cleveland’s Rock Bottom).  Woke up early Sunday morning, and drove the complete distance back before falling asleep at home in Cleveland.  That and fell in love with XM’s Grateful Dead & CNN stations.  Oddly enough, while driving through central Alabama – CNN had a news break about tornadic activity near Birmingham.  Kind of cool we were in the middle of a storm that received national coverage and coincidentally heard the report.  The rain made whiteout conditions at times and we tuned to local radio & our atlas to find the storm was a few miles away.

Hitting Waffle Houses and truck stops along the way, I was taken back to the road trips I used to take years ago and found much serenity and adventure in burning up the road.  Nothing beats a good road trip, and The Crescent City is always a tremendous destination.