Adventure #10 – Vacation!
June 13, 2012
Vacation Day! Another glorious day in June. My friend, a teacher, who has been set free for the summer from the bonds of slavery to The Standarized Test, has come into town to enjoy a couple vacation days with me.
She has been kind enough to follow my blog, so I have decided to show her some of the sites. After a long walk and some beautiful views of the lake from my favorite local park, we head down to Tremont for lunch. There is a restaurant there like I wanted to try out call South Side. It is located in a former firehouse.
Inside, the restaurant is long and narrow. It is clean, sleek, dark browns and blacks. To the right is the bar, a wavy, granite topped affair. Tall glass block windows lined with shelves sport the various bottles of liquor.
To the left is a row of tables. Beyond that, seen through glass windows is another lower level dining area sporting a fireplace that serves both the indoor dining area and the outdoor patio beyond. We head for the outdoor patio.
The patio is enclosed with wrought iron fencing and shrubs on two sides, a colorfully painted brick wall on another side, and the restaurant on one side. The menu is reasonably priced and has some interesting selections. Since this is my year for adventure, I choose what (for me) is an adventurous choice – Chicken and Waffles. The meal is perfect Belgian waffled, covered with maple syrup, powdered sugar, topped with chicken fried in maply cruchy something with a side of hot sauce. The maply chicken dipped in hot sauce is really a good combination. Really, really yummy. That’s my official food review
The patrons include several business types in their suits, a few tables of female friends lunching in the afternoon, and a table 6 priests.
Our waitress is exceptionally friendly. (Now, those native Clevelanders who might be reading my blog are probably saying in your “in your face” voice – “And you said Clevelanders are unfriendly!” Well, our waitress was Puerto Rican, soooooo……)
After lunch, we walked around Tremont. I am starting to feel like the unofficial Tremont tour guide. I also have a confession to make – as I continue on with my project to “re-discover Cleveland”, I am starting to like Tremont and I am starting to appreciate Cleveland more and more.
After the Tremont tour, we drove down 25th Street, down the hill to the West Bank of Flats (the area of lower elevation that runs along the mouth of the Cuyahoga River), crossed what I think is the Canal Street Bridge, over to the East Bank of the Flats (and I crossed the Cuyahoga without a passport – Hmph!) , up the hill to downtown, meandered around and found my way bank onto the Shoreway to head to home.
For our afternoon treat, we hit happy hour at The Wine Bar in Rocky River, a favorite of mine. It has a large, tree shaded outdoor patio. Continuing on with my adventure of food, we ordered Fried Rice Balls with our wine. Very tasty.
Tomorrow – the South Chagrin Reservation.
http://www.southsidecleveland.com/index.htm
© 2012 transplantjoy