Media Event: Night out in Cleveland & Road trip back home

After a great conference and closing session, I headed out to downtown Cleveland with the family for dinner. After cruising around taking in the sights of downtown Cleveland, we headed to the House of Blues restaurant. This restaurant is located in the East 4th Street entertainment district. The place was bustling with a lot of young people enjoying the Friday night scene in downtown Cleveland! We got a table outside, tucked away in a cozy corner. Some of the other restaurants in that street were Pickwick & Frolick restaurant, Saigon, Lola and a few others I cannot seem to remember now. We ordered the fish special they had that night. It was an almond crusted Sole with rice and fresh veggies. The dish was just OK, nothing over the top delicious. After dinner, we headed back to our room. Our hotel was taken over by a large group of little league football players from Illinois. I am glad we checked out bright & early Saturday!

We headed to the West Side Market for breakfast. It is apparently one of the oldest & publicly owned markets in Cleveland, Ohio. They have vendors selling everything from fresh fruits to exotic spices to fresh fish & meat! It was an amazing experience! I had the most delicious Greek meat pie for $2.00 and huge apple fritter for another couple dollars !!! It just made me wish we had something similar here in Milwaukee! After the market trip, we decided to check out the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Cleveland, OH. It was just less than 30 minutes away. I was disappointed because once we got there, the park was not as impressive as it was made out to be. If you had a bike or were a hiker, perhaps you might have enjoyed it better. It is not a park if you are just driving through it. After spending about an hour, we headed back home to Milwaukee. It was just pouring since the time we got on the freeway until we got off the Ohio Turnpike. Then, we had sunny skies all the way into Milwaukee, Wisconsin! The total drive time was approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. Overall, it was a great trip attending the MWLUG Conference 2010, great learning experience, amazing city! I would definitely want to go back there if I had an opportunity.