OH Day 7 - Fartin' Around Cleveland
I felt like I didn't quite get to see enough of Cleveland on my last visit there, so I wanted to make sure I gave it more of a fair chance on my last day in Ohio.
I got a pretty early start to the day, because I couldn't find any toilet paper in the Air BnB I was staying at which is basically my nightmare scenario. I found a coffee shop ASAP and did my morning writing (and other important morning business) there. I went to Phoenix Coffee, which is a local chain and frequently ranked as the best coffee shop in Cleveland. It was really good coffee. I got something called a toddie, which I think is just a nitro cold brew, but there could be more too it. It comes out of a tap like a stout and was so light and creamy naturally that I had it black and enjoyed it which is very uncommon for me. I also ordered a rosemary salt bagel, which was very strange in a very delicious way. I thought the staff was really fun and friendly, and the space was a great place to work in. They had a record payer and what seemed to be the manager's personal record collection playing. It was a good mix too, I think they went from Elvis Costello to the Beatles to Dolly Parton while I was there.
From there I went to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Like Toledo and Cincinnati, admission was free except for parking and special exhibits. The museum has a cool set up in that the current museum includes three modern wings build around the original 1916 Cleveland Museum of Art. The old building itself is really cool to look at, and it mostly contains works from antiquity, medieval and renaissance paintings, and some early American paintings. There was also a Faberge egg, which was pretty fancy. I particularly liked whenever medieval paintings made it seem oddly like biblical figures were saying "Ta da!":
There were also some massive renaissance paintings that were absolutely stunning. My favorites were one of Cupid looking like a cocky little bastard, and another of the first woman known to have danced the Thriller.
The first wing of the modern museum I went to was everything from Impressionism up to Contemporary works. They had some monumental works by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet. Sometimes when you see a lot of works by artists with distinctive styles it's easy for them to blend together even when they're great. That's how I'd started to feel about Monet, but then in Cleveland they had one of the largest of his water lily paintings I'd ever seen and it blew me away.
As things got more modern, there were some works by Dali, Ernst, and Miro so I was pretty happy. I also liked a lot of the contemporary stuff, which is always a bit of a grab bag. I particularly liked this large mural called Assembling an Octopus, and this weir multi-part painting called the Last Judgement which had a beatutiful seascape but then corners of the paintings intentionally rolled up to reveal more sinsiter paintings under neath.
The second modern wing had works from famous textile and wallpaper artist and entrepreneur, William Morris, as well as works from southeast Asian and African antiquity.
The last modern wing was of Chinese and Japanese art, mostly ancient but with a few modern pieces. One thing I did not know was that late career Roy Lichtenstein became very inspired by Japanese art, and there was a cool little exhibit comparing his Japanese inspired art to the real thing.
Because of time and monetary costs, I didn't go to the main special exhibit on Jazz Age furniture and consumer art, though I'm sure I would have liked it. There were two free smaller special exhibits. One was on the use of virtual reality games to teach art education, which was very cool technologically but geared for a younger demographic. The other one I really liked though, which was on a Korean art tradition called Chaekkori, and was I think initially a way of categorizing possessions before it became more inherently aesthetic. I feel like when most Western museums focus on Eastern art it tends to be either from China or Japan, so I was really excited to learn about and see traditional art (with some modern interpretations as well) from a country that I'd never seen before.
After the museum, I went to Cleveland's Little Italy where I experienced some culinary art. I went to Trattoria on the Hill, which was a very literal restaurant on name. I ordered their gnocchi with shrimp. It was basically a perfect meal.The sauce was so creamy and flavorful with just the hint of a kick from some peppers; the little potato dumplings were just the right texture, a balance of light airiness to cushion and absorb the sauce and more carb-y substantialness; and the shrimp were... shrimp (I don't really know how to compliment shrimp because, the sauce not withstanding, all shrimp kinda taste the same to me, but they were good). I was so totally thrilled by this meal, and it was much cheaper than a similar dish would be in Boston's North End as much as that is usually my go to for great Italian food.
To combat my impending food coma, I got some more coffee at Rising Star Coffee Roasters. They're usually ranked second to Phoenix, and I'd agree with that assessment because everything there was very good, but it was just a bit more expensive than Phoenix which is why I'd give them edge.
For dessert I went to Sweet Moses largely because of the name. The place is very cool though, and tries to replicate the experience and aesthetic of a classic 1950's soda fountain. They have ice cream, homemade chocolates, pastries, and fountain beverages. I didn't realize that these soda fountains were so frequently a part of pharmacies which is really odd, but also explains why they used more chemical based things like syrups and phosphates to make drinks as opposed to the richer more ice cream based modern milkshake. I ordered something called a malted milk bracer, which had orange syrup a dollop of ice cream, milk and bitters. It was really tasty, like a fizzy creamsicle (which might not sound as appealing as I think it does).
From there I went to Willoughby Brewing Co., but over the drive there it started raining really hard so I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to actually drink much so instead I got a little crowler of their Peanut Butter Cup Porter. I got around to drinking it eventually, and it was rich and flavorful, though a bit on the sweet side.
I then went to the Kent State campus, originally to go to an open mic, but I didn't stay too long because the rain and the darkness made me think it wouldn't be good to make the over four hour drive to West Virginia after the open mic. So I up and left. I'm a little bummed I didn't get a feel for any of the Ohio Comedy Scenes outside of Columbus, but that scene was so strong I don't feel too beaten up about it.
The drive to West Virginia was long wet, and winding, and I think a combination of sad songs and sleep deprivation made me feel kinda loopy. At one point though my mom called me and chatted with for a while which was nice, and pretty funny because she was on her third glass of wine (her limit is usually one thimble-full) so she was able to match my loopiness. I did eventually make it to the Mountain State safe and sound in case you were worried this was currently being written by a ghost. WOooOOOOooo
Favorite Random Sightings: Super Plumber!; A wood recycling company whose ad just said, "Got Wood?"; Dave's Cosmic Subs; A license plate that said "B1tco1n"
Regional Observations: I've been told about thunderstorms in the midwest, but actually getting to see one was pretty captivating. The lack of light pollution really lets you see the lighting snake across the sky. I'm sure it'll be even cooler once I get further out west into the Big Sky country.
Albums Listened To: The Hands that Thieve by Streetlight Manifesto: Handwritten by the Gaslight Anthem; Hang Ups by Goldfinger (Just Superman); A Hangover You Don't Deserve by Bowling for Soup (just 1985); Happy Wags by Happy Wags (a children's album by the front man of the Aggrolites); A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles; Hardcore Jollies by Funkadelic (I was impressed by the more hard rock than funk vibe on a lot of those songs); The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff (just the title track, but I think the rest of the album is on my iPod somewhere probably as a greatest hits of Jimmy Cliff. It's really incredible); Harry by Harry Nilsson; Harvest by Neil Young; Haunted Cities by Transplants )Just Gangsters and Thugs); Have a Ball by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes; He Got Game by Public Enemy (just the title track, but it was the first song where I realized that rap could actually be very good so it holds a special place in my heart); Heads are Gonna Roll by the Hippos; The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits
People's Favorite Jokes:
What's green and smells like pork? Kermit the Frog's fingers. (this ones' pretty gross but kinda funny and the other barista's shocked and apologetic reaction was much much funnier)
Knock knock/ Who's there?/ Cargo/ Cargo who?/ Car go beep beep
Ohio Superlatives:
Favorite Coffee: In Columbus- Fox in the Snow; Outside of Columbus- Coffee Emporium in Cincinnati
Favorite Restaurant: Trattoria on the Hill in Cleveland
Favorite Burger: Bareburger in Columbus
Favorite Value: Skyline Chili in Cincinatti
Favorite Open Mic: Tree Bar in Columbus
Favorite Bar: 16 Bit Bar in Columbus
Favorite Beer: Barrel Aged Imperial Smoked Porter from Great Lakes Brewing
Favorite Attraction: Toledo Museum of Art and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum and Library
General Impression of the Comedy Scene: Columbus has one of the fines scenes I've encountered so far. Very supportive and welcoming, and also really funny. Things tended to be more story driven, but there was also a healthy amount of absurdism and one liners thrown in the mix.
Songs of the day: One upbeat and one downbeat
