An eventful weekend

Anyone who says there isn’t anything to do in Cleveland hasn’t dug deeply enough. Dan & I had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Dan and I planned to go to the Cleveland Aquarium Saturday, but we discovered parking in the Flats was packed due to the annual Rib Fest. Reasoning that the Aquarium could wait for another day, we headed down to Tremont for a delicious lunch at Fat Cats. Tremont reminds me of some parts of Boston, and I like the close knit, slightly gritty quality of the place – which is at once urban and relaxed. Tremont is highly walkable, which is something communities must strive to be if they are to be successful in the future. If Dan and I didn’t work in the Eastern suburbs, we would call a place like Tremont home. 

From there, we headed to A Christmas Story House and Museum. I was only marginally aware of The Christmas Story until about ten years ago – I knew the movie was about Christmas and that part of it had been filmed in Cleveland. Although only the exteriors of the house were filmed in Tremont, the interior has been decorated to look similar to the film, with period furnishings and appliances. Two items that caught my attention were the wall phone with the number on the nameplate (incorrectly formatted as 216-298-4919, when back in the day it would not have included the area code and the number would read as CYpress8-4919), and the mixer in the kitchen. During the blackout of 2003, I had an old phone like this and it was the only way to make a call when the cell phone stations failed and cordless phones didn’t run without power. As for the mixer, I have one of a similar vintage which still works fine. They truly built things to last in those days, although my 70 year old electric metronome is definitely on its’ last legs.

Sunday, we went to see The Dictator. While not as screamingly funny as Borat, the humor was topical and the film engaging. I am reminded of W. C. Field’s axiom: We are here not only to entertain but to illuminate.

Monday was South Euclid’s Memorial Day Parade. Mason and I walked with several friends from FIDO. A particularly muggy morning, Mason really felt the heat. It was the first time I’d ever seen him walk with his tail down – I’m unsure whether it was because of the heat or the Brush High School band playing at full volume behind us – but he soldiered on like a champion and took a long nap that afternoon.