wone wild weekend

Friday
Sharon & Rich
Our friends Sharon and Rich joined us for a trip aboard the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Wine Tasting train, to kick off a phat weekend Phriday night. We had a wonderful time, and it was nice to catch up with some good conversation. Oh . . . I neglected to mention that we picked up some chicks while we were out. It just so happened that Sharon's colleague Jeannie** (and 3 of her girly-friends - well 2 were her sisters) was (were) aboard the same train, and we managed to score them seats across the aisle from us (by giving some old people our first-born). Following the ride on the train, we all escaped to The Barley House for a drink or 3.

**Oh - welcome home to the ROCKSTAR.

Tiring Saturday
West Side Market, Bier
Following our guests' overnight stay and departure, we ventured out into OUR big city - Cleveland. Our primary goal was to score some good vegan goods from the vendors at the West Side Market - which we did. After an exhausting challenge of dickering a $0.55 bunch of curly parsley for $0.50, we went across the street to our alma-mater, the Great Lakes Brewing Co., where we each enjoyed a plethora of craft beers.

Whiskey
Subsequently, we navigated about to find a fabled "Whiskey Island". Along the way, we enjoyed snapping a few pictures of various areas of Cleveland - this finished off the already low camera battery. One upon Whiskey Island (located in Wendy Park) we showed ourselves around the Cleveland Coast Guard station, once considered to be one of the most beautiful in the nation, but now neglected.

Whiskey Island, I thought, was something to be highly desired--going by name only. Alas, a singular bar at the marina. A short-lasted visit there (I had to help Sharon finish her 16 oz. Coors Light can).

Hamburg
By this time, assumedly exhausted, we went to home - Sharon in slumber on the ride. The "plan" was to go to the Akron National Hamburger Festival, and head to our friend Jennifer & John's to celebrate his 25th birthday. Once we arrived home from Cleveland and unloaded our loot, we nearly decided to call off the rest of the night. If it weren't for our highly anticipated appearance to Jennifer's, we might have. We did end up at the festival, however, where we ate something like 2.5 Cheeseburgers and a bag of nuggets from Chic-Fil-A (what the hell were they doing there anyway??). And it was off to Jennifer's.

zOMG you're only 25
I'll be crucified if I don't make this a separate paragraph. Jennifer and John so graciously sprung for a KEG of Yuengling beer from the Keystone State. Yay, nectar of the Gods! I must have had about 8-9 Solo cups full, while Sharon enjoyed Diet Pepsi (she's such a good little designated driver when whe's not drinking). We exchanged stories of all kinds o' stuff . . . a fun night, IMO. I had the GREAT pleaseur of stealing Jennifer's thunder when I wished John a happy birthday only moments after midnight. We exited shortly therafter. Happy Birthday, John. Andrew, Francis, Jennifer, Robert . . . AWESOME hanging out with you all.

*whew*

Sunday
Dim Sum at Li Wah
Sunday brought yet more adventure . . . our good friend Francis joined us at a well-known Chinese restaurant in Asia Plaza in Cleveland called Li Wah. This was to be Sharon's first experience with Dim Sum. When Francis arrived, he made no bones about getting down to business, ordering all of the best dishes. Hey - the man's got the experience - so we were glad to have a seasoned guide. Among the [roughly 10-12] dishes were pork dumplings, sticky rice (bundled in Lotus or Banana leaf), fried sesame buns, steamed shrimp dumplings, steamed vegetable dumplings, and ... chicken feet. I refused the latter, but Sharon happily obliged. Not surprisingly, Sharon enjoyed every second of this culinary experience. "That is the coolest thing evar", says she.

Groceries?
Following, Francis showed us a local Asian food store . . . where we saw all kinds of things. Words can't begin to describe, so I probably shouldn't attempt. Definitely a cool cultural experience. I was tempted to bring durian fruit home so I could share with the durian-worshippers at work.

Tremont
We toured more of Cleveland, en route to Tremont to check out the "Taste of Tremont" festival. Our bellies were still full of dim sum, so the "Taste" part of the festival was nil, and the rest of the festival was *meh*. We always enjoy a quick look at the Banyan Tree, though.

At home now, and tired. Good healthy raw food has been lovingly prepared by Sharon so that we don't suffer the proverbial, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" part of dieting.

Pictures coming soon, so revisit this if you're reading it sans pictures.