It's funny how you can live somewhere, in my case most of my life, and still forget what you have around you. Catherine is moving to Columbus this weekend because she's starting vet school at Ohio State. After being in the Cleveland area now for several years, she commented about how much stuff she hasn't seen.
So being a biologist, it seemed logical that we should start with Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I went there probably once a year as a child. It's cheaper than a movie in most cases. I went years without going there, then I returned with Stephanie and some of her floormates in college. Then I visited frequently again when she started volunteering and working with one of the curators when she was in school. The hall with the prehistoric stuff in particular seemed so big when I was a kid. The whole place seems small now, although I love the outdoor area with the critters.
I also realized while we were there that there was so much I had not seen. The art museum is in the midst of a huge renovation, and I've never been to the botanical gardens either. The Blue Angels were flying overhead for the air show.
We were hungry by this point, so Catherine told me I "had to" go to a place called Tommy's in the Coventry area, because they had "the best" milkshakes and french fries. Well she was damn near right about that. She used to live near there so her and her roommate spent a lot of time in the area. I got this turkey burger with marinara and cheese that was fucking amazing. Yummy.
Next we went to the Cedar Lee Theatre, which is a Cleveland institution for not showing movies that suck. They serve beer, show Rocky Horror all of the time, and tonight they're showing The Big Lebowski. Good stuff. We saw Little Miss Sunshine, which for reasons beyond me has not enjoyed very wide release despite being outstanding.
So we rolled around town and enjoyed stuff that's always around us. It's so weird how when you visit some other city you seek out all of the cool things to do, yet you overlook them where you live.