Cleveland, OH: Landmarks

One day, just before one of me and Neville’s routine morning walks, where I look like a scrub and he keeps an eye out for squirrels and rabbits, we met a neighbor. The pup and I weren’t even one house down when a dog ran up to us, obviously attempting to be a friendly neighbor and introduce himself; sniffing Neville’s rear end, then my own. The man behind the dog chased him down and apologized, but all parties involved were friendly and got along fine. After our walk I get things ready to head into town and do a little site seeing. I was excited to see the buzz around town since this was at the time of the big basketball game the Cavaliers were playing in. 

All packed up and ready to go, I leash the pup and lock up. Not two steps outside the Drag Queen’s door, we meet more neighbors. A large yellow dog runs across the street to/at us and two little girls are chasing him and yelling. All I want to know is if the dog is friendly, but he barely registered us. The dog stopped and took his time sniffing the tree in the front yard and one of the girls was able to grab his collar. She then started to freak out, yelling frantically about the dog bleeding. I asked her to  calm down, put Nev in the car, and go back to them. By this time another neighbor hears the commotion and comes outside. The girl points to a big sack on the side of the dogs neck that was apparently nicked by the tree bark and is bleeding. Not gushing blood, but it’s there. The neighbor and I try to calm the girl down and tell her it can be taken care of and suggested some things to do. She was not hearing it though. The second little girl was flat out hysterical and ran to get someone else from their house. They walk the dog, who seemed oblivious to everything, back home and I officially meet the other neighbor that had come out. Now it’s time to head into town. First stop was to drive by the house from the Christmas Story movie. I fondly remember watching this with my best friend across the street and three houses down when I was a child. I drive by and it kind of sucks because it’s under construction. Oh well. I didn’t even know it was in Cleveland until the night before, so it was just a bonus anyway.

 Next stop was Willard Park, home of the World’s Largest Rubber Stamp (stamp reads: Free)! Travel tip: When in a new city, head to the top floor of a parking garage and check out the city views... It was pretty decent where I parked. While walking the couple of blocks to the park, I notice how well Nev is walking on the leash. He is normally so spooked walking in the city with all of the crowds and cars driving by, but today he was great. Upon entering the park, live music is playing and there are food trucks parked along the road. I love food trucks! I didn’t try any of them though, because none of them struck my fancy.

After our fill of relaxing on the lawn and enjoying music, we headed to Little Italy. It is a strip consisting of a few blocks and I called ahead to Presti's to see if they were dog friendly and they said yes. Pup and I walk there and grab a seat outside. There are a few ladies sitting next to us that Neville made quick friends with before they leave. I noticed after a few minutes that the restaurant doesn’t care if dogs are outside, but they do not have table service outside. Bummer. It smelled good and I was starting to get hungry. I contemplated tying the dog up to the table and heading in, but there was quite a bit of foot traffic and semis making deliveries up and down the street. I can just see it now- Neville dragging a table to a restaurant window, looking for me. Not going to chance that today.

We walk around the block then drive to Lake View Cemetery, a historic burial ground and nationally recognized landmark. President James A. Garfield (and his family) is buried here. He was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Just four months after being sworn in as president, he left for a holiday with his family and was shot by a disappointed office seeker while walking through the train depot in DC. Two months later he died from an infection and internal hemorrhage, just two months shy of turning 50. He is the only American President that you are able to visit his birthplace, home, and final resting place in one day and he has the only Presidential casket on full display. Anyhow, while wandering around the cemetery looking for the President’s monument, I got a facetime call from Spain! Two of my friends (hi Nikki and Sara!) were about to leave on a cruise and were kind enough to think of me and show me around their temporary villa. Then I found it!

Garfield Monument

I was pretty hungry at this point and decided to go back to the house and regroup, thinking I would go back out. But once I was back and comfortable, I was thinking about the Cav’s game that night and what a pain (and expense) parking would be. Eh, the city will still be there tomorrow. Instead I enjoyed tacos and milkshakes with Kelly and Dave. Kelly was fabulous enough to help me figure out the electronics in my camper. Technology is definitely not my strong suit, and by ‘help me figure out’ I mean Kelly did all the work and showed me what went to what and how to get things running. I was amused because one of the few DVDs I have with me is ‘Superbad’ and if you’ve never seen the movie, it starts off with a pretty entertaining and raunchy conversation. She has not seen the movie, so while she was hooking things up, she could only hear the conversation without seeing the footage that goes with it. But it was a success! Thank you Kelly!