Miscellaneous Monday - Hometown Throwdown
Happy Monday Morning, hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are at least through your first cup of coffee!
In this week's edition of Miscellaneous Monday, I want to talk about your favorite hometown attractions, restaurants, quirks, and quaint qualities. (hooray for alliteration)
Are you from West Philadelphia, born and raised? Show me the playground where you spent most of your days: chillin out maxin and relaxin all cool.
Are you from Barcelona and close your eyes, pretending you're dancing in the street?
When you're representing the west coast in San Francisco, do you remember to wear flowers in your hair?
Here are a few of my favorite spots in Sacramento, California :)
Tower Bridge in Downtown Sacramento - The population of Sacramento more than doubled between 1910 and 1935, so Sacramento had to replace the older M street bridge which could not handle a large volume of traffic. This bridge was constructed in 1934 and is now considered a historic place.
Rick's Dessert Diner in Midtown Sacramento - This 50's-themed restaurant has been open in downtown Sacramento for over 30 years! They've introduced over 285 desserts over the years, and it's a great place to grab a milkshake, or a slice of cake, and maybe have a little champagne.
The California State Railroad Museum in Historic Old Town Sacramento - 225,000 square feet of railroad exhibits, restored railcars from as far back as 1862, and an extensive educational program for elementary students. During the spring through fall, they host a 'river train excursion' where select trains are available for small day trips up and down the Sacramento river.
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I grew up in Boothwyn, PA, but went to K-12 in Wilmington, Dela-where. If you're from Delaware, you know how obsessed everyone is with the damn Brandywine River. We even had history classes in school about it. Seriously, it's all anyone could ever talk about. And now it's one of my favorite places...
The only other thing that I really love about Delaware is that it's where Dead Poets Society was filmed!
I've been to Rick's in Sacramento a couple times coming back from Tahoe! It's so rich and tasty.
I grew up in the largest city in the US to be fully below sea level! It's a farm town in south eastern California and this view is at the end of my street. The tip of the mountain is in Mexico, which you can see from my childhood bedroom, so I joke that I lived so close to Mexico I could see it from my house!
I've lived my entire life in and around Cleveland, Ohio, here's what you probably know already:
- We used to have a really good basketball team, until Lebron left (again)
- We have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I've never been.)
- We have a pretty good baseball team, I'm looking forward to the posts season again this year.
- The only think I'll say about our (American) football team is that I went to the Perfect Season parade last winter. It was cold.
With all of that, Cleveland gets a really bad reputation. But what you don't know is that:
- The food is really good. And I mean REALLY good...Iron Chef Michael Simon has a few restaurants here
- The Cleveland Clinic is consistently among the 5 best hospitals in the world.
- Our skyline may need more tall buildings, but the ones we do have are stunning.
- There are some beautiful status in and around the city
- Before Trans-Atlantic shipping became safer with steam power, Cleveland was the busiest port in the country and larger than New York.
- All that shipping brought people from all over the world, but mostly from Eastern European nations. They formed neighborhoods that still bear their names like Slavic Village and Little Italy. They also built stunning churches like St. Stanislaus that was visited by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in 1969 (later known as Saint Pope John Paul II.)
- And...speaking of New York, Cleveland has the best theater district east of the Mississippi, outside of New York
- The shoreline could use some attention, but Lake Erie is a gem. (It's much better since the Cuyahoga River caught on fire 40+ years ago, which, by the way, prompted Congress to pass the Environmental Protection Act and form the EPA.)
- If you're looking for green space, Cleveland is home to one of the most visited parks in the country, the Cuyahoga National Park with miles and miles of trains, lakes, waterfalls, it's own rail line, and more.
- The Cleveland Orchestra is world renown
- If you're looking for more lively entertainment there are comedy clubs, several concert venues, etc. Or, you can always find a live band playing somewhere; there are several good small venues (with adult beverages.)
So....don't pay attention to what you hear from others. Cleveland is a great city, with great people. When you visit ask a local to help you get away from the canned touristy stuff and really see the city. You won't be disappointed.
