Coming home to CBC & Big Frank

I woke two times during the night, the first time not realizing where the hell I was, and then second time feeling like crap, no doubt fallout from  drinking 5 beers and a Jack & Coke. When I was 25 that would've been just the warm-up act. The hotel room was totally dark due to the drapes being drawn tightly closed. I had no idea the time when I crawled out bed and drug my gym bag into the bathroom so I could change into running attire. Thankfully, after peeing, brushing my teeth, and splashing some cool water on my face I felt pretty good. I am sure it didn't hurt that I took 3 or 4 Advil before we hopped in bed, either.

I checked my phone just before heading out. It was 803am. I cracked the drapes just enough to see that it was sunny. I heard thunder rumbling through the night. I half expected to wake to a storm. And given recent history, by no means would that have been far fetched. I let Mindy know that I was heading out. She uttered few words.

I waited what seemed like an eternity for the elevator to arrive. And when it finally did, it was chalked full of anxious guest as eager as I to get to the hotel lobby. Even still, the elevator stopped on every floor (I was on floor nine) where more people got on board. We were packed in like sardines. On floor 6 a fella asked if I could move. Sure, but where? I was already up against the button panel. And if that wasn't enough to tip the scale, our next stop surely was. When we stopped on the fifth floor some extra anxious hotel guests said they were gettin' on regardless of the crowd. I boldly replied no you're not. There were like 4 of them. They reiterated that they were indeed gettin' on. As they pushed the masses back to squeeze in, I begged out for the stairs. I wasn't going to be party to that nonsense.

The stairs seemed a far better alternative. I was in the lobby a minute or two later. I ran into some of the elevator patrons as  I made my way through the thicket of people. I was gracious and greeted them appropriately.

 I headed outside to embark on my downtown Cleveland run. I was pleased with the temperature. I expected it to be hot & muggy, but it really wasn't. It was warm but pleasant. I ran about a mile west on Lakeside Ave then down to the west side of the football stadium and back east past the science museum and the rock n' roll hall of fame. I stopped a couple times to check out the lake view and then a colorful sculpture dedicated to the Cleveland fireman who have lost their lives in service. That was very cool.

I eventually made my way back to the Double Tree but then decided to keep going east until I got to an area that seemed unsavory. I made a quick u-turn and ran back towards the hotel. Before heading inside, I checked out yet another landmark, this one dedicated to the #3 water crib. Interesting.

Back up to the ninth floor, the hustle and bustle of the early morning was already a thing of the past. The ride up smooth. Mindy was still sound asleep, now about 9am. I woke Mindy to let her know that I was taking a shower. She said she didn't feel that great. Really?

A shower felt terrific. Mindy got up for hers as soon as I was out. We planned to have breakfast then head for home. I watched some TV while waiting on Mindy. There was very little packing to do. We took our gear to the Honda before heading to the restaurant to redeem our breakfast vouchers. The restaurant was sparsely populated. We both ordered coffee before heading to the buffet style breakfast bar. There was a gentleman preparing fresh omelets with our choice of fresh contents. I was gonna have one but opted instead for plain scrambled eggs. Mindy went with a fresh omelet. The ingredients looked especially good. I filled my plate with sausage and bacon, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and french toast. I had a pesky tickle in my throat that hit me out of nowhere the day before. At the time I attributed it to inhaling saw dust from the treated lumber.

Aside from the lingering effects of the prior night's beers, I didn't feel bad, or like a I had a cold. We overhead the omelet chef talking about the many hurdles they had to overcome that morning, including the dishwasher and AC unit being out. We ate our breakfast in a relative hurry then headed for the Honda. We both hit the john before hand, and then I checked us out of our room. The entire trip: hotel, parking, hall of fame tickets, drinks and appetizers, and breakfast cost us $250. Not bad.

We missed our first opportunity to get on the freeway, and ended up going about 3 or 4 miles out of our way before we got turned around and on the right track and eventually on I-71S. The drive home went relatively fast. I couldn't shake that pesky dry cough. It bothered me for the entire drive. I was getting really sleepy too. Mindy napped for part of the way. I put the XM radio on a comedy station to help keep me awake . Mindy and I both enjoyed the humor of Ron White and Kathy Madigan.

I'm thinking we arrived home around 1p. All totaled our round trip was 310 miles. Mindy headed straight upstairs for a nap and invited me to do the same. After a few minutes I joined her in bed, but I've never been good about sleeping in bed during the middle of the day. I'll bet I didn't last but 20-30 minutes before upping and heading back downstairs.

Downstairs I did some reading and eventually even a little napping. It always works best when sleep isn't the primary objective. Before I knew it, it was 5p. And that's about the time that Mindy woke up. She said she felt 10 times better. We walked down to the neighbors to see if they were home so we could get our pug. They weren't. While there, I quickly scoped out Kenny's deck benches comparing his to mine. I'm thinking I'll follow his blueprint for our new ones.

Back at home I laid down on the sofa still battling that pesky cough. Sometime during the afternoon I took a dose of Delsym cough suppressant. It helped only marginally. I headed out to water all the flowers around 545p. At roughly the same time, Mindy again walked down to the neighbors, only this time Chrissy was home.

Mindy and I had already made a pact that we were gonna spend every night this week in a brew pub. Our plan for Thursday was CBC. With that in mind, we freshened up and left for CBC at roughly 630p

Parking was at a premium and seating at the bar equally hard to come by. But our friend Jamie was working the bar and tipped Mindy off as to who might be closest to heading out. She nailed it. We ended up sitting next to Jeff, the long haired IPA hound who's there every time we visit anymore. Even before getting our seats, Jamie served me their latest Hop Odyssey entrant, Big Frank, a Belgian IPA. I dubbed it good! Jamie eyed Mindy for wanting a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter in a bottle. Funny, we were just there!

After I finished my beer we ordered food. Mindy ordered calamari and a burger. I ordered their Cuban burrito, which came with fried plantains. I wasn't so sure about the fried plantains but wanted to give it a try after seeing others enjoy it before. I had a second Big Frank during dinner, too. The burrito was as good as I hoped it would be. The fried plantains were just OK. It had to be around 9pm when we left for home. The sun was still above the horizon. I snapped several photos while Mindy drove.

At home we tossed our leftovers in the fridge, walked Eiknarf, then headed for bed. Once again, we allowed Eiknarf to bed with us. Good night Cleveland.