Father's Day in Cleveland: Part 2

On Father's Day, we had no idea what to do for brunch, we were debating whether to risk going downtown to a popular brunch spot or to just eat at IHOP. IHOP won. We go all out on Father's Day. It was actually for the best because we were pretty close to Chagrin Falls, a gorgeous little town that looks EXACTLY like the town of Shelburne Falls, MA, down to the architecture and waterfalls.

We parked and walked around the upper falls, which had a cute little seating area.

While I was busy taking my photos, Adam and my dad were already across the street, trying to get my attention and pointing at something. Turns out, Adam had sniffed out the only Jeni's Ice Cream shop East of Columbus, which happens to be in Chagrin Falls.

I leisurely walked over taking more photos along the way.

Inside the shop, I was excited to see so many flavors I haven't tried before. Back in December, Adam and I on a whim decided to buy Jeni's mango lassi flavored ice cream (I say on a whim, because it's $10 a pint at our local grocery store). We are now not proud to say we're ob-sessed. I decided to try two of their lighter selections, the cherry lambic sorbet (any ice cream that contains alcohol is a winner in my book) and the lemon and blueberries frozen yogurt. Adam got bananas + honey (a seasonal flavor) and salty caramel and my dad got whisky & pecans & double toasted coconut (another seasonal flavor). Yummmmm.

After we finished our ice cream, we walked down to the lower falls. There's an overlook and a really treacherous looking stair case that brings you down to the rocks at the base of the falls.

The rocks were a bit slippery and there were so many people there, so I just took my time walking around (slowly). At Shelburne Falls, you don't get to go down into the actual falls anymore (probably a good thing).

We didn't hang around long, it was getting late and we needed to get back to Pittsburgh. It was a great weekend with my dad and we're so glad we got to spend some time with him in Cleveland!

Adam's Birthday Take 2

This post has been a long time coming - I've been back in MA trying to finish up some things in lab this past month. I didn't have access to any of my photos, hence the delay in writing this post. I'm back now (for a little bit anyway), so I'm ready to start on my posting again. Get ready for some Disney and Pittsburgh scene.

Way back in April (how is it already June?), Adam's parents took a trip out to Pittsburgh to celebrate his birthday. It was the same weekend that I had to head down to DC on Sunday for the conference I went to, so we decided to celebrate on Sunday morning by heading downtown and having Brunch at Meat & Potatoes. Adam had chicken and waffles and I had the brisket flat bread. Delicious. At brunch they also have a Bloody Mary bar, where you get your choice of ingredients. It's a fun idea and Adam's family really loved it.

Backing up to before brunch though, we had a little time to spare before our reservation and Adam's dad and step-mom took a walk with us to see the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium. They'd never been to the city before, so we thought we should let them experience the yellow bridges!

We walked across the Roberto Clemente bridge (does anyone else think of Adam Sandler in Waterboy when they hear the name Roberto? no, ok, carry on) over to PNC park, which happened to be open to the public that day. We think there was a high school game happening.

We got our pictures with Roberto and walked down the side where all the restaurants would be if it were a real game happening. There's a great view of the city from there.

Fast forward to after brunch, we walked back to our cars through the Theater District, where you'll find these interesting benches. We also took them to Fraley's Robot Repair, an art installation in a shop front (which is sadly no longer).

During brunch, we were talking about what to do for a few hours before I left on my flight and I said we should check out Phipps. I figured it was something that his parents would enjoy doing and it wasn't too much time to walk through.

It was a really great time! We definitely love showing everyone around the 'Burgh and we're so excited when people come to visit us!

Pop Up Market Downtown & Point State Park

Last Friday afternoon, I read a few tweets from the local food trucks I follow that there was a pop up market happening downtown from 6-11 PM. I texted Adam to tell him we were going for dinner. We were looking for something quick, inexpensive, and delicious anyway.

I wasn't sure what to expect exactly and I was pleasantly surprised when we walked up to see about 20 vendors (about half of them were food, half were arts and crafts) in a small lot just a block from the Theater District parking garage. It was an amazing night, so there were tons of people out taking advantage of the market and the Gallery Crawl, which they run in conjunction with one another (we overheard someone say there was free beer at a few of the galleries, no wonder it was so popular).

Adam and I decided that we would be sharing our food (we didn't want to eat too much) and we got in line for the Meat and Potatoes tent, which had smoked pork tacos. We grabbed 2/$7. Not too shabby.

Another booth we visited was BRGR, which we've been wanting to try forever. We got an Average Joe burger to share. The bun was amazing and the burger was really good too.

I promised Adam we didn't have to stick around too long, so we grabbed a few goodies from Bluebird Kitchen to go. We decided on the banana dulce de leche bar and the campfire cupcake. OMG the banana bar was sooo yummy.

After the market, Adam and I decided to walk down to Point State Park, since we were in the area, neither one of us had been there and it was a gorgeous night (and sunset).

A lot of the park is closed for renovations and restoration of the fountain, which is supposed to be opening again this June after 2 years of work on it.

We didn't really stick around long, just walked down to the river and then headed back to the car. It was getting pretty late and we were tired. I can't wait to check it out again when all the fencing is gone and the fountain is working!