Community outting!

My last post was about work so now I'm back to talking about the non-work details of life in community in Cleveland. The thought of living on a set stipend can be intimidating, but that is no barrier to having tons of fun! Especially in Cleveland.

This weekend Tina and Sam were off having Thanksgiving adventures with their family. So, JP and I (whose families live a considerable distance away) decided to have an adventure of our own. Saturday was the annual Winterfest Celebration aka the Public Square tree lighting! The whole day is full of Christmas tours, concerts, and carriage rides and many of the towns greatest food trucks came together to serve the masses. If you've met me for more than five minutes you know I like shiny things and food so this was the place to be.

Here's JP and the Zydeco Bistro Cajun food truck. Check out those menu options! Four buck for a large 6 inch Po-Boy filled with fried shrimp! Another two bucks got us the best hush puppies I've ever had. Sooo amazing. We ate on the side walk watching throngs of people go by. Afterwards, we took a wander down fourth street to hear the musicians playing jazz renditions of Christmas songs and grab a hot cocoa from the owner of one of Cleveland's newest hot spots "Noodle Cat." They were offering cocoa and cider straight from the pot. (Yummy!)

After that the obvious place to go was the ARCADE! This landmark is currently for sale and I dread the possibility of it becoming another abandoned building on the landscape, but by the looks of this that won't be any time soon. Pretty!

Then to the Soldiers and Sailors monument. It's really easy for this amazing work of art to just become a part of the background during your daily commute, but if you take the time to get up close it's really fabulous. Check out the beautiful colored glass sunrise at the entrance! Jp and I waited for quite a while to get in.... then we realized we were in the line to see Santa. Oops.

What Christmas adventure would be complete without Gingerbread houses! The Ritz Carlton attached to Tower City was showing off this baby! Look at the cute little winter scenes!

And finally the tree lighting. We had to sit through 30 minutes of public officials rambling, but hearing a sea of people make happy sounds at the exact same time is worth the wait. (On a separate note, you can't really see it, but Occupy Cleveland's permit has been renewed and they were broadcasting on the building behind the old stone church. Scrooge=1%, Tiny Tim=99%)

We waited after the lighting to see Santa and fireworks, but it seems that Frank Jackson some how misplaced Jolly Old Saint Nick and they brought on a choir to kill time while they went in search of him. With no hope of fireworks any time soon, JP and I decided to beat the crowd and head for the Rapid.

1 fab room mate, 5 hours of fun, and $6 for some of the most amazing cajun you'll be lucky to find in the midwest. Happy Christmas Everyone!