"Where you from? Australia! What are you doing in Cleveland?!?!" That was the phrase I heard the most during my time in the largest city in the state of Ohio. Cleveland has had it rough lately. Once a booming and prosperous industrial city Cleveland fell on hard times when the American manufacturing sector started to crumble. Cleveland is the butt of alot of jokes (Chicago Bulls big man Joakim Noah at a press conference during a Bulls/Cavaliers playoff series once famously remarked: "Cleveland sucks. When have you ever heard anyone say I'm going on a vacation to Cleveland?"), it's known as the most tortured sports city in America and even people back in Australia were somewhat bemused by my decision to visit Cleveland. As my Cleveland born and bred friend Kim put it "Cleveland people are surprised when somebody from Florida comes here, let alone Australia". Well let me state this here for the world to see:
I loved Cleveland.
That's right, I said it! And I say it without irony or sarcasm, I loved Cleveland. Cleveland to me is what America is all about. Friendly, polite, helpful people. The type of America you hear about but don't necessarily see in the bigger cities or the tourist hot spots. The people of Cleveland were extremely warm and welcoming, proud to tell visitors to the area about the city and give advice on places to see and things to do and always up for a chat. The city itself isn't all broken down industrial sites, indeed the downtown area is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance and when the Cavs are playing at the Quicken Loans Arena or the Cleveland Indians are at home at the next door Progressive Field (Still called Jacobs Field by the locals), downtown is a thriving hub of activity. The Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame is located in Cleveland, while the NFL Hall Of Fame is found in nearby Canton. During football season the cities beloved Cleveland Browns play at the Browns Stadium which sits on Lake Erie. If sports aren't your thing, check out the West Side Market, University Circle, the Old Arcade or the USS Cod Memorial.
My time in Cleveland however was for the most part spent around the southern suburbs. One of the main reasons for my visit to Cleveland was to see my long distance friend Kimberly Price. Kim had previously informed me that due to car issues she couldn't pick us up from the airport, but to get a good nights sleep and be ready for tomorrow. I took her advice and kicked back to watch the LA Lakers host the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on tv. It wasn't a pretty game to watch and I was hopeful that reason number two for visiting Cleveland, my first live NBA game, would be a better spectacle.
I was very excited to finally see Kim in the flesh. We'd spoken plenty over facebook and had skype'd a few times, but seeing someone in person is always a little different. Kim seemed equally as excited as I was to finally have a face to face and when the diminutive redhead with the piercing green eyes finally appeared at the door I was overjoyed. Kim seemed a little amused and bemused at some of our Australian idiosyncrasies, things that were the everyday to her were new and exciting to us. We stopped to see one of Kim's friends and grab a burger at Wendy's. I think we stopped production there all together. The staff appeared amazed and excited that some Australians were in the store and were delighted when they heard our accents. They were also shocked to hear that Wendy's in Australia is an ice cream chain, as opposed to a burger joint.
Our next stop was a place that is an absolute must for any sweet tooth heading to the States, a gigantic warehouse called B.A. Sweeties which featured the largest collection of lollies/sweets/candy in the USA. I struck gold when I came across the Dr. Pepper flavoured jelly beans. The staff at Sweeties were equally as excited/curious about the Australians in their store, so we answered their questions and gave them info on our home country. For the record, Cleveland is where I had the strangest question I received during the whole trip "Do you guys have movies in Australia?" I replied that yes in fact we do and we sometimes even get them before they screen in the US. The people in Ohio were all generally interested in Australia and all said that they wanted to come for a holiday (when they could afford it). That night, Em and I headed downtown to catch the NBA live at the Q (for my recap of the game, click here). I had played basketball since I was a kid and the chance to see a live NBA game was something I had dreamed of since I began following basketball at the age of six.
Day two was a shorter day, we had a plane to catch to Las Vegas that evening, but I was glad to spend more time with Kim, chilling at Caribou Coffee, eating a massive Chipotle burrito and just generally have a nice chill day ahead of the madness we thought may be awaiting us in Nevada. It was also the day that some beautiful snow blanketed the city. We must have looked crazy to the locals, standing around in the snow with big grins on our faces, but this was a real novelty for us. It was one of the biggest things we wanted to experience while in North America and it happened in Cleveland.
I was sad to say goodbye to Kim later that day and also kind of sad to be leaving Ohio.
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