Weekend in Cleveland

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend with my friend in Cleveland. Since she was living in a small apartment, we decided to stay in the downtown hotel, the Radisson, just like tourists.

 

Before we could check in to the hotel, we went over to the new Horseshoe Casino, located in the Highbee Company Department Store. The Casino had renovated the interior of the building and instead of what used to be a major department store was now home to numerous slot machines and table games. The place was packed with those machines and with people.

 

Oddly, my friend’s brother was a big time gambler and so was my father. My Dad actually lost the deed to our first house in a card game. But, I forced my friend to try the cheap penny and nickel slot machines. It was obvious that we weren’t your typical high rollers. We played a few dollars. I won $9.75, and promptly cashed out.

 

Leaving the Casino, we walked through the retail shops, next door in Tower City. This used to be the old train station. Now, the basement level still is still a train station to the major Rapid Transit System, as well as a few trains. The other two floors are filled with retail shops. Unfortunately, the Casino hasn’t brought many pedestrian shoppers to these shops. The merchants have found their sales down by 60%.

 

After, we walked through the downtown area, past buildings that brought back old memories to us like The Highbee’s Department store window that was used at Christmas time in the movie, A Christmas Story; past the Public Hall, where my Dad was the Convention Manager; the Library, and other places.

 

We were headed to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, where there was a special Grateful Dead Exhibit. The building was surrounded by a number of giant guitars decorated and on display, adding to the atmosphere of the building. The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame is a unique glass and metal building shaped like an old fashioned record player. Nothing disappointed me in the building, except that we needed a lot more time to see everything. We left 15 minutes before closing, and walked back to our car. We had just enough time to check into our hotel room, and freshen up for the Comedy Mystery Play and Dinner that evening.

 

The day went by too quickly. After breakfast the next day, we drove to the Italian Cultural Gardens, and stopped to view it and a few of the other nationality gardens. We also stopped at the Western Reserve Historical Society, to take in their special exhibit of Wedding Gowns throughout the centuries.

 

On our way back to my friend’s apartment, we ate lunch in Cleveland’s Little Italy at La Dolce Vita.

 

In the end, the whole trip was a little bit like – La Dolce Vita.