The Day After...

There's been quite a bit said about the Northcoast bloggershoot, and with good reason - it was awesome! But there was more fun to be had the day after the shoot as well. I had decided to stay through Sunday and leave first thing Monday morning, which turned out to be a smart decision... Seeing as how I was poured into my hotel room at 2 in the morning on Sunday, leaving the next morning would have been a colossally bad idea...

We decided to meet for brunch at Burgers, Beer, and Breakfast, a local eatery fancied by Breda and Mike, at 10. T-bolt and MBtGE (who has a blog! Note to self: add on Friday!) picked me up (did I mention that we stayed at the same hotel???) and we met at the restaurant right around 10 - with Newbius arriving only a few minutes later, even though he was staying with Heath roughly an hour away! After digesting a truly decadent breakfast (and about 78 cups of coffee), we wandered around the sleepy little town for a little bit, taking in the sights.

Like the cannon pointed down Main Street:

Be sure of your target and what's beyond it

T-Bolt and MBtGE left first, as they had a pretty significant jaunt home. Breda, Mike, Newbius and I went to a coffee shop to seek out wifi and get some tea to calm Breda's grumbly tumbly, where I promptly stumbled upon this piece of noteworthy bulletin board pinup:

ZOMBIES

Newbius was the next to leave, and Mike (being the wonderful son-in-law that he is) was tasked with mowing MomFallacy's lawn before she returned from her vacation, so Breda was left as my tour guide. She had a dastardly plan: Bring JayG to Hippieville... She took me to Cleveland Heights, which apparently aspires to be Haight-Ashbury or a close replica thereof. They have peace sign benches:

Peace, man!

And a little hipster bookstore with a signed flyer from Cindy Sheehan:

Moonbats R Us

But it wasn't all bad. We stopped into a little shop filled with kitschy stuff and nostalgic toys, which had the most amazing array of bacon-related products. Naturally, I had to have Breda pose:

Bacon Girl!

After we left Hippietown, we went to see the tomb of President James Garfield, our 20th president who hailed from OH and was the second US President to be assassinated. The Garfield Memorial is quite impressive:

RIP, Mr. President

Breda marveled at the tile mosaic floors while I geeked out at the intricate stained glass windows. If you're ever in Cleveland, check it out, if for no reason other than this magnificent view:

Pretty skyline

After that, she took me to see Lake Erie, because it just seemed wrong that I could come out all that way, be so close, and not see one of the Great Lakes. She insisted on taking my picture - just to prove I was there:

Jay G, Tourista

We then caught up with Mike and went out to dinner at Aladdin's, a local middle eastern restaurant with the most delicious hummus I've ever had. We had a surreal moment before entering, though - apparently Aladdin's serves alcohol, meaning that CCW is not allowed, so Breda and Mike had to disarm before entering. It struck me that, as odd as it seemed, this was something I'd never had to do - even though I'm in MA. Anyways, we had a nice, relaxing dinner, then they dropped me off at my hotel on the early side so I could pack up for the ride home.

Thanks a million for showing me the sights, Breda!

That is all.