Last Saturday was one of those perfect days. I didn't have anywhere to be or any set agenda, plus the weather was beautiful! The sun was shining and it was over 40 degrees...in Cleveland that's a pretty big deal in February! This also meant that my boyfriend, Mike, would not be called into work (doing snow removal). So after sleeping in, we decided to walk up to one of our local spots for breakfast. This got me thinking... there are times when you don't have a lot of extra spending money or time time to travel but long to experience new things. A great way of doing this is to explore your local community, city, or state. So I thought I would provide my example of how you can turn your own neighborhood into "travel"...
So as I said at around 10:30am we headed from our neighborhood (Little Italy) up the hill into Cleveland Heights to The Inn on Coventry (http://theinnoncoventry.com) for a hearty and delicious breakfast. This is one of those places that I absolutely love, love, love! Its full of local flavor...always packed, full of all types of people, with wonderfully sweet women that serve you coffee and bring your eggs and bacon with a smile. I've lived in Cleveland for almost 7 years and had no idea this place existed...as Mike reminds me, he'll never steer me wrong when it comes to food.
So after breakfast we decided to take a walk through Lake View Cemetery (http://lakeviewcemetery.com) on our way home. We then spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking through the cemetery and enjoying the beautiful day. This cemetery is the final resting place for some notable Ohioans (President Garfield, John D. Rockefeller, Eliot Ness) and houses the Garfield Monument and Wade Memorial Chapel. We wandered up and down the hills enjoying the chilly but sunny day. Other than falling and skinning my knee pretty badly it was nice...side note, I blame the skinned knee on the fact that I was mocking one of the grave stones and either the dead man's ghost or karma caused me to bite it. My most favorite part of the cemetery are the beautiful mausoleums...talk about going out in style...
I also snapped this photo of a tree stump in the cemetery that was in the shape of a heart... I love the things you discover when you're not really looking for anything...
So then what do you do after a long walk??? Nap?....well yes, eventually. But first we opted to head to Maxi's for a Bloody Mary. Maxi's (http://maxisinlittleitaly.com) is our favorite neighborhood restaurant...its very much a "everybody knows your name" kind of place. Mike has been going there for years so I'm happy to reap the benefit of being his girlfriend and accompany him anytime he wants. The Bloody Mary was fabulous and was the perfect ending to a wonderful afternoon.
So this my friends, is how you travel without leaving the comforts of your own community.
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