Cookie and Husband have been exploring the East side, and the West side of Cleveland, but not the South side of Cleveland. Cleveland doesn't have a south side. Oh, there is a south side, but the parts that are east of Cuyahoga are the East and the parts that are west of the river are west.
To help the husband acclimate to what is where, Cookie has made sure he knows which main roads lead to, and what they don't do. And he has passed driving tests, where I tell him where we going and he has to navigate the route.
He has learned that Mayfield Road is a east/west arterial, that Warrensville Center Road will take him to Shaker, and that Warrensville Center Road is fucked up as they replace the bridge over the Rapid at Shaker Boulevard. And that's not all.
He's been the entire length of Superior Avenue, which alas is mostly not Superior to anything, and that Prospect Road doesn't lead to any prospects unless it's hookers yer' after.
He has learned that effectively that one can get to Culver's in Eastlake just as fast as S.O.M. Center Road will take you, and that the nearest Menard's is in Mondo Parma.
The great surprise is that the "Opportunity Corridor" (a stupid name for a road through the burned-out neighborhoods of the eastside), which is an extension of 105th Street will get you to I-71 faster than if one had taken Lee Road across to 480.
Together we have learned that the huge modern building that looks like a tribal casino from the Opportunity Corridor is in fact the new youth courts building and detention center.
He also has learned, as have I, that the Giant Eagle at Legacy Village is the place to shop, not the Giant Eagle on Chagrin, which is just gross. That Heinen's, a grocery chain from my childhood, really does have finer foods, in more locations, and that Dave's Market is great as well.
And we have discovered that Spectrum Cable sucks - I mean, Jesus it is lousy - when it works.
He has also learned that the dysfunctional city of East Cleveland (sister city to East Saint Louis, Illinois) is to be avoided, always. No reason to go there, no reason for it to be its own city. May it be ripe for redevelopment in our lifetimes, or annexation by the City of Cleveland.
Finally, we have discovered how much we hate steam heat and that the ker-chunking of the heat pipes as water and steam vapor duke it out. I tell you the first night we heard that racket we both sat upright in bed thinking that some depraved soul had taken a pick axe to the house.
Two weekends ago, I took him to the West side of Cleveland, another land, far away.
So yeah, it's good to be home.
How exciting for you both. Exploring a new city... always fun. Please let us know what (and who) you find!
ReplyDeleteThis is all a mystery to me - a land far, far away I will never visit - but I do know what it's like to be somewhere completely new, and to find one's way around. A learning curve... Jx
ReplyDeleteCleveland has an amazing art museum, on par with Met in New York. And a top rated symphony, either one or two.
Delete...and it's the birthplace of Joel Grey, Halle Berry, Henry Mancini, Bobby Womack, Kaye Ballard, Jesse Owens, Eric Carmen, Jim Backus, Debra Winger, Dorothy Dandridge, Burgess Meredith, Tracy Chapman, Teri Garr, "Daisy Duke" - and Paul Newman was from your own neighbourhood of Shaker Heights! Jx
DeleteHello Jon, There are so many famous people that I discover are from Cleveland when I look them up, but one that you forgot that is coming into my mind at 3AM as I write this is Virginia Leith, the 'head' actor from The Brain that Wouldn't Die. --Jim
DeleteA somewhat obscure lady to come to mind at 3am... Jx
DeletePaul grew up on Brighton Road, about four houses north of South Woodland. Jim Backus owned a house in Shaker that he would escape back to when he tired of Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. And of course Shaker has somehow attracted Geraldo Rivera who camps out at an estate on toney North Park Blvd. But he's at least 200 feet off the road, so I should never see him (tOo BaD)
DeleteIt sounds like your husband has been in more Cleveland places than I have. And he has only just started! Perhaps it should be clarified the the burned-out neighborhoods of Opportunity Corridor are on the east side of Cleveland itself, but not part of the eastern suburbs such as the various Heights. I have heard that sometimes there are ways of quieting steam heating systems--it is worth checking with a company or two.
ReplyDelete--Jim
One thing that Opportunity Corridor as exposed is the remains of Sidaway Bridge, the only suspension bridge in Cleveland. A pedestrian bridge, its wooden deck torn out in 1966 by white residents on the south side who wanted to do with the north side, and its never been replaced. The tower and cables are just rusting away. But now you can see it plain as day.
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