Quick hits, upon my return to the South Side from my trip:
--OK, it should be "Cleveland Rocks NOTHING." My overall impression? Eh. Not good, not bad...just eh. First off, the hotel's little tourist magazine SUCKED...very limited entries and limited descriptions. I walked around and found better stuff myself.
--The hotel, supposedly one of THE TOP hotels in the city, also was eh. The "indoor" pool looked like it used to be a fountain in a courtyard that they just put a steel girder roof on (about 14 floors up) and threw in some "tropical" decorations. There were outdoor windows to rooms all up and down the walls in the place. The elevators took FOREVER...and I've waited a long time for elevators before.
--The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was cool, except that, when I got there, the lady was like, "This is a 4-6 hour walk-through, so you better hurry (as I had about 2 hours before closing). Thus, I hurried through the first part, the historical stuff that I'd have liked to spend more time around, to find the rest rather blah in comparison...I did see the whole Hall though, but I'd have liked to take more time. Found out that Troyal's boy, Robert Johnson, actually wrote "Sweet Home Chicago" Did you know that, Troyal? Also, finally was reminded (b/c I forgot) that the Blues Brothers' entrance song is "I Can't Cut You Loose" by Otis Redding...that killed me b/c I blanked at Merle's a couple weeks ago when Troyal and I heard it.
--I had a good time Sunday at BW3's (which, by the way, was NOT listed ANYWHERE in any of the stuff that the hotel gave me--I had to ask some random person) watching the Browns nearly upset the Eagles. The Bears were on too, and I watched that...it was nice to have whatever game I wanted just a glance away. Plenty of Browns fans were there, and they all laughed their asses off at Terrell's sign-abusing antics, which surprised me a bit.
--Made some connections, learned some things about the business and generally enjoyed the workshop I was at. So that's good. I realized that I am one of a few young folks around the industry...at least that were at this thing. Most of the folks at this thing were older...but they were cool. Hell, a whole bunch of them went to dinner at a fine steakhouse Monday, invited me along and then covered the tab. The steak was good, but the "camaraderie" was better...good to get in with those guys.
--Better than the steak though was the Italian restaurant I went to last night for dinner. It's in the mall connected to the hotel I was in. It's called "Castaldi's," and it's pretty interesting. First off, the food was magnificent. The ambiance is great too...they have a pianist there from 6-10pm, and it's a smaller venue, so it's "intimate" or whatever. But then, the servers actually SING and "dance" around the room. And not some cheesy-ass crap sung off key or off time. They're actually good singers and performers. So that was cool. But the food alone and the pianist are reasons to go...unfortunately, there aren't many in the nation.
--All right, so now I have to unpack and get my life back "in order." Shouldn't take too long, I hope. :)
