Cleveland is the Reason

So it's been warm the past few days in Cleveland. Finally. Which was welcome for about 15 minutes and now it's way too warm for me. But that's a Midwesterner for ya, never gonna stop bitching about the weather. But because it was warm I decided to head downtown early before work one day and take a walk through the city and down by the lake. I have a major thing for large bodies of water, they both fascinate me and terrify me. So in the spirit of this adventure I'm gonna share some pictures from my walk and dedicate this post to all my favorite things in Cleveland! It really is one of the best cities on the planet, but it gets so much crap. Yes, it's an old steel town. Yes, there's a lot of poverty. Yes, the weather sucks. However, it's also a huge hub for music and art and food and beer! I consider all these things good things and there are so many up and coming neighborhoods. It's very easy for me to find new things to do and new places to go because there are so many!

The Cleveland skyline is one of my favorites in the country. It's so beautiful to drive down highway 2 late at night with the city lit up to your left and the dark expanse of lake to your right. It's truly fantastic. 

Lake Erie may not have crystal blue waters or even be clean, but it's still really nice to sit by the shore or on a pier and feel the breeze and look out into the emptiness. 

Rare shot of sunshine over the city. Big ol' fluffy clouds. Love it. 

And now I guess it's time for me to espouse my favorite places in Cleveland! I think I'll start with...

Bars

My friend Marija and me at ABC Tavern Uptown

(let me preface this by saying I love divey bars)

ABC Tavern (both Uptown and Ohio City)

B-Side Liquor Lounge and Arcade

5 O'Clock Lounge

Now That's Class

Happy Dog

Tremont Taphouse

I love all these bars, they're all super chill and have great prices on drinks. ABC and Taphouse have extensive beer selections, even though I always end up with a Pabst haha. Great atmosphere, and most of these places have great food too (especially ABC).

Concert Venues

Good buddy Dave in front of the Grog Shop

The Grog Shop

Beachland Ballroom and Tavern

Mahall's 20 Lanes

House of Blues

Now That's Class

Like I said earlier I like divey spaces so Grog Shop comes out on top of this list. It's a nice small venue and the stage is pretty low so it's a very intimate concert experience and the people who work there are awesome. And Mahall's has bowling and good food (my friend never shuts up about their fried chicken). The Beachland is a Cleveland staple venue, but it's a little far out of my way and their shows are either really great or I don't care but when they throw a show they do it right!

Restaurants

Me about to chow down on the Melt sandwich of the month

Los Habaneros

Barrio

Ohio City Burrito

B-Spot

Melt

Luchita's

Chinato

As you can see, I love Mexican food. Every time a new Mexican place opens up I am the first in line. I'm also big into sandwiches. Melt is a cleveland staple, they have a bunch of locations around the city and have recently opened up a spot in Columbus as well. B-Spot is a Michael Symon restaurant that does burgers, which are great, but i'm waaay more into their milkshakes (which you can add alcohol too which is really why they're so awesome). Chinato is the swanky place on this list and is pretty pricey but it's a Zack Bruell restaurant so you can expect good things. 

Bands

Thaddeus Anna Greene playing during Brite Winter Fest this year

Thaddeus Anna Greene

Bad Noids

The Suede Brothers

Blaka Watra

Cruelster

These bands play regularly all over the city and are always great. Always. Thaddeus and Suede Brothers play blues-based hard rock (Thaddeus tops this list as my favorite band in the city, I have never been disappointed). Bad Noids and Cruelster play very different but equally awesome legit punk music. No bullshit, nothing fancy. Blaka Watra are very much like a heavier version of Warpaint, kinda shoegazey. Keep in mind these are just my favorite currently active local bands, there a bunch more that are either no longer making music or have gotten too big to just be local. 

Well, that's a lot of stuff to check out, so I guess it's time to plan your weekend trip to Cleveland now! There's tons of stuff to do that's not on this list, this is just a great place to start to have a very rock n' roll weekend out on the town. There are plenty of more upscale places in the city to hang out and have fun, but as a broke young person these are my top picks. Happy Cleveland-ing!

*All these photos are mine except the photo of me at ABC which is my friend Marija's