Last night, about 11 PM, I finally crawled into my bed. Before drifting off to sleep in very short order, the only thing I could think was how happy I was that the weekend had finally ended.
Not that it wasn't good - it was a lot of fun. Just tiring. I ate too much, slept poorly, and came face-to-face with the realization that I am no longer a spry young man. Of course, no living soul that wasn't suffering from dementia would call me spry, not for the last dozen years or so, but still.
Friday I went over to Rocky River, where my friend Mike was being featured in an art exhibit at Mitchell Sotka. I'd not been to the neighborhood before, and while it was middle-aged riche as all get out, I did enjoy the Heinen's grocery store. It was also good to accidentally discover the location of Europtical, as I have an appointment there soon.
Saturday I went to lunch at Yours Truly in Shaker Square with my friend and her daughter, then endured (with hopefully good spirit) a trip to the toy store for the kid and Home Depot for the mom. All I have to say about that is that the restaurant makes a nice limeade, though it would have been better if served alongside an airplane bottle of rum. Though that might just be the lingering stress of watching a first-grader destroy a plate of Mickey Mouse pancakes (if Salvador Dali was back in the kitchen working the grill, as that shit looked nothing like a mouse).
Later, after the kid was dropped off with her father, mid-sugar rush, we stopped off near Coventry to get smoothies at Tommy's and a bunch of books from Mac's Backs. Then it was off for some outside reading, before heading off to the Shaker Lakes Nature Center. More on that later.
After dinner, we decided to head over to Edgewater Park, to burn off some calories jumping from rock to rock and catch the last few minutes of the sunset. We then followed that up beer stops at the Parkview and Stone Mad. Stone Mad deserves particular mention, as I've never been in any business where decor and design have received such exacting, precise attention. Kudos to the folks in charge of that. The bocce court and the glass work in the middle bar room are impressive, as are the stone table sets outside.
However, I don't think I'll be a frequent visitor. The place's vibe is too over-the-top upper crust for me. Call me a class warrior or just someone still hung up on their quite humble roots, but I don't like that kind of scene. I think that's why I'm pretty ambivalent about the surging Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, too. Most of the time, when urban areas go through the neo-bohemian cycle, neighborhoods go from destitute to underground art haven to cheap housing for culturally literate yet still professional entry-level folks to bougie enclaves with for-profit galleries and high-dollar eateries. Exhibit #1 in Cleveland: Tremont.
Detroit-Shoreway, or at the Gordon Square/W. 65th epicenter, seems to have skipped the middle steps, which are also the steps I find both the most charming and the most consistent with my own soci-econo-cultural preferences. Perhaps that's why the average age at Stone Mad seemed to be about 45.
But sociological observations aside, it really is a beautiful bar, worth of your dollars (even in this economy!) at least once.
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Re: Detroit Shoreway...
You think so? More so than Ohio City? My impression of Detroit Shoreway was that it was more mixed, income-wise. We just looked at a house there yesterday, and the neighborhood definitely seemed less gentrified than Ohio City (that's why we looked at it, in fact, b/c Ohio City is probably too upscale for our meagre little incomes). I think it probably does have more "older" people (i.e., 30s and 40s- I am one of those now!), but I'm not sure it's as upperclass as all that. Maybe I am mistaken....
You know, I do think you could say the same thing about Ohio City, at least insofar as class/wealth is concerned. The combination of the age and class differences in Detroit-Shoreway is what, I think, smacked me in the face so much. Nothing says bourgeois like an old guy with white hair, slacks, and a bulging wallet. In Ohio City, the folks moving in are still pretty young, and the balance of businesses trades off between inexpensive/ethnic and newer, more expensive and trendy places (like Bar Cento, Flying Fig, Bier Markt, even Dish). That being said, I'm feeling less culturally comfortable in Ohio City, too. If/when I move I'll probably abandon the entire inner west side, and either go to the Heights, Collinwood, or out to Lakewood.
As for the old thing, yeah, you are pretty old. At least for 6 more days. Then we both are "barely" thirtysomethings. :)
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