Friday Funday

Another half day Friday for me--and Bryan is off work. As you can tell we totally take advantage of these days because there are only 2 left this summer. Last summer we had fewer of these days together because Bryan's work schedule was different. We had no plans today but, we HAD to do SOMETHING! We decided visit two new places as all we had was . . . time.

First stop was Cheeseburger in Paradise, which is in Canton. It's another one of those Jimmy Buffet themed restaurants similiar to Margaritaville. Although I liked Margaritaville in Key West and Vegas, I have no desire to visit one again. It's one of those places where you only need to go once. Similar to Rainforest Cafe, Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood (Pranet Horrywood, as Bryan likes to say) . . . you get my point. I would like to return to Cheeseburger in Paradise (sorry Bryan) because I love their mini-cheeseburgers! Is it me, or does it seem like these mini cheeseburgers are becoming the in thing? We just had them earlier in the week at the Barley House for "Mini- Wednesday Night " (Which is very cool because mini burgers & mini "stubby" 7 oz. beers are all a dollar each). Anyway, the last time (and the first time) we saw mini type burgers were at the Fix Restaurant when we stayed at Bellagio in Vegas a few yeas back.

Second stop was the Simply Smuckers retail store in Orrville, Ohio. I dragged Bryan here because I actually thought it was more than just a small store which sells Smucker products and such. We had thought the headquarters was located there also. (It's a few miles north of that location). It's not worth an hour-or-so trip to visit, but if you are in the area, then stop. It was a nice drive in the country, although it was slightly overcast and poopy smelling (I'm such a city girl).

Stop three was unplanned and all Bryan's idea . . . Portage Lakes. Again, another place we wanted to visit. We somehow found the Upperdeck, but it appeared to be a run down bar with no customers. It seemed a bit trashy too. We continued to drive near the lakes and found "Hook, Line and Drinkers" (that's right, drinkers). By the way, you should see these houses on the lake . . . can you say . . . "money"? We sat outside on the deck of Hook, Line and Drinkers enjoying the lake and some brews. The conch (conk!) fritters we ordered were not bad. We love this new find . . . we will be back for sure! Oh . . . my blog would not be complete if I didn't mention the annoying kids, or should I say the annoying parents who sat next to us. The kids were adorable and they were being kids-playing around our table, jumping on the rocks , etc. What was annoying is the parents ignored all 3 kids as if they were in a world all by themselves. People . . . if you don't intend to watch your kids when you are in public and have no regard for others . . . you shouldn't have kids. That is exactly why Bryan and I don't! We are the first to admit that. I am sure if I had kids I would understand the parents side . . . but I don't have kids and therefore I don't understand.

Stop four . . . unplanned again as it was Bryan's idea. We saw fireworks over the ballfield as we cut thru downtown Akron to get home. Funny to say, but these were the first fireworks I saw all summer! We went to the Lime Spider which is a small music venue/bar. We tried going there Wednesday (it was closed) as we heard they have the best DJs there - and bands which are very close to being signed. We went to the rooftop deck to listen to the DJ instead of staying downstairs to hear the band. We were being cheap and decided $2 cover was better than $5 cover and we really just wanted to chill and talk. It started raining but we remained dry as part of the roof terrace is covered. They have a grill set up and you can order burgers and stuff. The DJ was playing some interesting "mixed" music (Bryan called it "House"). We ended the night pretty early . . . as we had an eventful day. Not bad for a day of unplanned events (with nothing to do).