I’m lucky enough to be working downtown these days, so today at lunch I took a walk down to the casino to see if I could see what all the fuss was about.  This was the first time that I’ve been down there that there WASN’T a line to get in so I was thrilled to be able to take a stroll through.

I have to say, I’m THRILLED to have this sort of attraction in Cleveland.  I love this town and to see this kind of thing tells me that hopefully we’re on the right track in terms of re-building our downtown area.  I had no intention of playing on my lunch hour, so I was really able to just kind of mosey through and take in the sights and sounds of the Horseshoe.

Observations:

• This is REAL.  This may sound kind of silly, but it struck me that this is the real deal.  With the Nautica Charity Poker tent that we’ve been subjected to for the last couple of years it was nice to see pros doing what they do.  This is truly something that Cleveland can be proud of.
• The limits were pretty high.  I didn’t walk the entire casino floor, but the cheapest craps table I saw was $50.  Blackjack was $15 and I saw a few $10 three card poker tables.  That said, the tables were relatively fully especially for a Tuesday afternoon.
• There were a whole SLEW of people walking around carrying oxygen.  This probably isn’t specific to Cleveland (especially on a Tuesday afternoon) but it was prevalent enough that I noticed.
• Games.  There was a great variety of table games and a TON of slots.  I’m not a big slot player but there seemed to be quite a good selection and enough room between machines so folks aren’t going to be standing and sitting on top of one another.
• Signage wasn’t great.  I had a hard time finding the poker room (which is on the third floor).  The signage has arrows pointing to different areas of the casino, but especially for the poker room it wasn’t clear that I needed to go UP a floor.  This may have been just me.
• Speaking of poker… THIS is poker.  From a quick 2 or 3 minutes on the rail, I could immediately tell that the caliber of poker player was far and above that which was found at Nautica.
• High Limit Room – this was very nice.  Not a ton of action going on when I was in there, but a nice quiet area for big time players.
• Parking – I wasn’t parking near the casino, but I noticed quite a few garages marked as “full” which I suppose is a good thing and shows that folks are here to play.  I also noticed that the prices on those garages is quite a bit higher than it was in days past.

I’ll have to write up another post once I actually make a bet or two, but my overall impression was that I’m jazzed to have the casino here in Cleveland.  I’m #Cleveland through and through and anything that can put the “Mistake On The Lake” back on the map in a GOOD way (screw you LeBron) then I’m all for it.

In closing, I have to say that Cleveland has done an outstanding job building around the Horseshoe.  Restaurants, billboards, radio and print advertising have all been touting the fact that the casino was coming (and is now here).  Whether you agreed with having a casino here in Cleveland or not it’s here and here to stay.  Horseshoe has taken a Cleveland landmark (the Higbee Building of A Christmas Story fame) and reshaped it into a true attraction.  One that quite frankly Cleveland really needed.

Have you visited the Horseshoe Casino yet?  What did you think?

Once again, the Tribe managed to lose the opener, but this year they did it in stunning fashion by giving up a 3 run lead in the 9th inning and then stringing the fans on until the 16th when they finally gave up 3 runs of their own.  Couple that longest opening day in history with the fact that it was cold as hell (after all it IS April in Cleveland) and as you can imagine the bars were a bit crowded.

We managed to stick it out at the game until about the 13th inning, but we finally gave in and headed over to Panini’s to watch the rest of the game.  Apparently I’ve got the look of someone who likes to drink shots, cause I had 2 random dudes (yeah… dudes no less…. this player’s got GAME!!!) who wanted me to do a shot.  But I digress.

So we’re in the bottom of the 15th and some drunk Canadian dude (the Indians were playing Toronto) rolls up and starts chatting me up about how awesome of a game it is, how much he likes Cleveland and how the last time he was in town he spent $200 at Christie’s Cabaret (which let’s face it… is money well spent).  And then… it happened.

I got caught in his “drunk loop”.  You know, when you hear the same story every 12 minutes?  Yeah.  Over the next inning and a half, I heard the same story about how he went into Christie’s, ordered two beers and ended up spending $200 four or five times.  I’m a pretty social guy and I’ve got my share of experience dealing with drunks so I didn’t really mind, but eventually it was time to put an end to the drunk loop.  And there’s only one way to do it.

I told him his own story.

I proceeded to repeat back to him his exact story.  I told him how I went to Christie’s, ordered two beers and by the end of the night ended up spending $200.  (NOTE: In case my wife is reading this… Just so we’re clear… I did NOT go to Christie’s and spend $200)  I’d heard the story enough by this point that I was able to nail every detail.  As I was telling his story I started to notice that he was really trying to process what was going on.  And finally, toward the end of the story, I got the reaction that told me the loop had been broken.

He gave me the “doggie head tilt”.  It was simply priceless to the point where I literally started laughing.  Naturally, drunk Canadian had no idea that I was laughing AT him rather than with him, and he proceeded to buy us a shot.

Gotta love Opening Day in Cleveland!

After the Indians made the announcement that he had been signed and that he’d be in the starting lineup on Friday evening they sold 8,500 additional tickets for the game.  In my mind that just goes to show how much Jim Thome means to the city of Cleveland.  I’ve heard many people talk bad about Thome for leaving Cleveland the way he did back in 2002 and even though he’s my all time fav I can’t fault a guy for taking an EXTRA 27 million dollars to do his job.  I also recently heard from someone that would know that he was pressured by the union to take the deal and that he really didn’t want to leave Cleveland.  But I digress…  

I hadn’t planned on going to the game, but as the opening pitch grew nearer I just couldn’t stand that thought of not seeing him come back. I called the wife and we decided last minute to go to the game.  We got about the worst seats in the park (section 507, two rows from the top) but we were THERE!

Huge props to the Indians for pulling all this together in 12 hours! Signs, audio, video packages, etc. Well done guys!

My favorite fans cheering for my favorite player!

A Beautiful Night In Cleveland

Even though Jimmy didn’t get a hit on his first night back (0-4) it was absolutely awesome for this Thome fan to have Jim back “home”.  Not sure how the Tribe is going to do for the rest of the season but I’m super happy to say that they’re going to make the stretch run with future hall of famer Thome in the lineup!  Welcome home Jimmy!

Beer Shots #2 - Der Braumeister (Cleveland, Ohio)

Der Braumeister is a German restaurant, market and “biergarten” located on the west side of Cleveland.  You can find their website here: http://derbraumeister.com/

Opening Day 2011

Opening Day in Cleveland is nothing short of a city holiday.  For a city that’s been dragged through the mud for years it always brings a smile to my face to see fans come out and support their teams.  Play ball!

A Day Game From The Upper Deck

This particular day a co-worker and I went down and bought walk up seats.  Tickets were $15 but were “loaded” with $10 worth of food/drink credits.  $5 to watch my Tribe?  No brainer!

Cleveland Skyline From Inside The Park

I’m no photographer, but that’s a damn fine photo if I do say so myself.  Love me some Cleveland!

The View From The Indians Social Suite

My beloved Cleveland Indians are leading the way in MLB when it comes to social media.  In fact, they have the major’s only “Social Suite“.  The wife and I were lucky enough to be invited to watch a game there.  Absolutely incredible!

The Wife & I In The Social Suite

I’m going to a game next week (taking Gramps to see his first ever game at The Jake… er… Progressive Field).  Baseball (and now t-ball)… it’s what summer in Cleveland is all about.

I was working on Friday and Al had the day off, so he was nice enough to give Pip a ride downtown.  After work, I rode the RTA into town to meet up with the boys.  Needless to say, I felt like a sardine riding the RTA to the stadium.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one with that brilliant idea.  We met up at Cadillac Ranch for some awesome pre-game grub.

Opening Day in Cleveland is essentially a holiday… second only to St. Patrick’s Day.  That said, there were a TON of people who were WAY ahead of us in the drinking department – including this guy who was busting a move to Footloose.  I can’t be hyper critical though… Pip and I did the same thing at his wedding.

We made our way to Jacob’s Field which was beautiful as always.  Yes… I know it’s called Progressive Field these days.  I don’t care… it’ll always be “The Jake” to me.  The Indians did a great job during the pregame and honored recently deceased Bob Feller with a very touching video.

After the game, we headed out to celebrate my buddy Brad’s birthday for a while.  Through many protests, we called it a night before going “next door” and headed home.  In retrospect a very good decision.

Saturday we hung out with the boys during the day and then met up with one of Pip’s high school classmates and her husband for dinner and some drinks.  SUPER cool people that I’m so happy to have met.  After meeting up with them, Pip had to make his annual trek to the Annex.  Even if its for one beer (which this year it was) it’s nice to be back “home”.  We continued our rounds of local bars with a stop at Legends to check out some of the scenery… and a very talented band.  Knowing that Sunday was going to be a big day we headed home rather early.

Sunday – WrestleMania day.  Marko got in on this year’s action and came over at around 5:00 for the 7:00 show.  We got ourselves some food and we were ready for the evening’s festivities.  I’m certainly not a “foodie” by the traditional sense of the word, but I have to say we did a pretty damn good job in the food department.

I won’t go into the details of the show here but if you’re interested in my thoughts you can find them here.  The Beeramid as per usual was a tall challenge but I’m thrilled to report that we once again were up to the task.

If you want the blow by blow details of the Beeramid challenge you can find them here.  Suffice to say it was once again A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  Monday morning rolled around rather quickly and just like that the weekend was over.  Miraculously I was at the office right around normal time on Monday morning and Pip was out the door and on the road by 9:00 as well.  We don’t have a date yet for my trip to visit the Pips but it’s typically in the fall.  I absolutely can’t wait (though my liver does need a bit of a rest).  See you soon brother!

1. I’m part of the @clevelanddotcom Twitter Twenty! #CLE20
2. I live in Cleveland but I’m a Steeler fan. In my defense, I grew up in Pittsburgh.
3. I chewed tobacco for 17+ years. When I quit I started http://www.killthecan.org/ to help others quit.
4. I’m adopted. So is my brother but we’re not biological brothers. Still love him to death.
5. I once left a brand new grill in its box in my garage for over a month. @MikeHumphries was not happy about it.
6. I’m starting to think that doing this 100 facts list was a bad idea.  (Please note that I was only up to #6 before I started having second thoughts…)
7. Even though this list was a bad idea once I start something I’m uber stubborn. I will complete it.
8. Prime example of #7? The WrestleMania Project – http://wp.me/pj6R5-j7 First post in Sept 09 and still going.
9. I’m married to my high school sweetheart.
10. I’ve got two kids. I enjoy playing with their toys probably more than they do.
11. I have a blog at http://406northlane.com/ where I tend to act much younger than my age.
12. I have what some would consider “a potty mouth”. I freely admit it and don’t think it takes away from my character.
13. I blame @Ken_Diesel for giving me the crazy idea to do this list.
14. For some strange reason, I wasn’t even following @Ken_Diesel from this account. It’s been remedied.
15. All of these tweets will be compiled into a blog post. (You’re reading it now)
16. Sometimes I’m scared that I put too much of myself “out there”. Then I realize no one cares anyways.
17. I’m trying to be considerate and not flood people’s Twitter feeds. But its noon and I’m only 17/100. #GoTime
18. Robert B. Parker is my all time favorite author. I read his works over and over again. He passed away last year RIP
19. I wonder… does Twitter keep ALL of my tweets? Can I see every single one I’ve ever made?
20. I should pass 2,500 tweets during this exercise.
21. Megatron was my first Transformer. But I have to say Soundwave was probably my favorite.
22. I live in Ohio and I’m not a Buckeye fan. Sue me – I went to another Big Ten school. Don’t worry not Michigan.
23. I’m Polish. I enjoy Polish jokes. Anyone who gets bent out of shape over stuff like that is wound too tightly.
24. There are 2 topics I rarely talk about: religion and politics. It’s pointless. People have their minds made up.
25. I can no longer drink “regular” – diet all the way regardless of brand.
26. My family is the most important thing in the world to me. This should have been fact #1
27. I will be watching #WrestleMania 27 next Sunday evening. It will be awesome.
28. #WrestleMania 28 has already been announced to be in Miami, FL next year. I was hoping for #Cleveland
29. My all time favorite baseball player is Jim Thome. Got to meet him a couple weeks ago. Turned into a little girl.
30. I am fascinated by #tattoos but don’t have any… yet. I’ve got 3-4 designed in my head.
31. I just destroyed Taco Bell for lunch.
32. I will not tweet something that I won’t say to your face.
33. I’m convinced that there is a movie quote perfect for every situation.
34. Just bought this tremendous Voltron t-shirt: http://twitpic.com/4cu0ww
35. I’m pretty sure that this “Internet thing” is here to stay.
36. I truly do hope that I’m doing this slow enough to not spam up people’s feeds. I’d hate to piss people off.
37. Growing up I was a Leo. Not sure if that’s still the case or not.
38. I prefer Target to Walmart. It’s more “upscale” (though that’s not saying much).
39. I prefer Burger King to McDonalds. Their fries are FAR superior.
40. I was a competitive swimmer for 17 years. Amazing the difference between 8 miles/day and 8 beers/day #college
41. I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to fast food. Seriously.
42. IMHO there is only one “Trilogy”
43. I have some incredibly “pretty” Twitter followers.
44. Cleveland gets a bad wrap nationwide, but I will defend her to the death. It’s a GREAT place to live.
45. I love being a dad. Even though the kids are a pain sometimes, it’s totally worth it when they greet me at the door.
46. Though I’m being optimistic, I do not have high hopes for my beloved Cleveland Indians this year.
47. I stayed away from Twitter for a long time cause I thought it was silly. I still think it’s silly. #HereToStay
48. I’m starting to get worried that I’m going to get to #100 before the end of the day.
49. I promise to tweet less tomorrow. I recognize that this is ridiculous.
50. I am half way there. I am in fact, living on a prayer. #BonJovi

At that point, I made the following tweet:

I’m making the executive decision that 50 #100factsaboutme is more than enough…

And just like that… I was done.

As I kept making my way toward the field, and as I said I just couldn’t believe just how foggy it was so I took a couple more shots as I went.  This one was particularly crazy.  For non-Clevelanders who may be reading, this is the famous wall in downtown where a former Cleveland icon was outstretched in his “Witness” pose.  *cough* Dick *cough*  (Not that I’m bitter).   In all seriousness, if you’re interested my take on the whole LeBron situation from a while back check these out:

• Seriously? A Prime Time Press Conference?!?!
• A Non-Sports Look At The LeBron Situation
• And Just Like That, King James Is No More
• My Final Sign Off On LeBron

When I finally made it to the Indians Team Shop I couldn’t help but stop and snap one more picture.  I sure hope we’ve got better weather (and more visibility) on Opening Day!

I had a bittersweet experience with actually buying my tickets.  It was completely awesome because I did in fact get tickets to Opening Day which regardless of the weather is going to rock.  I was a little bit surprised (and actually kind of proud) that Progressive Field was nearly sold out!  There will be three of us going and my only options for a block of 3 seats were in the $70 club level or section 509 – the nosebleeds.  Note that I chose the nosebleeds. I found out a couple of days later that I’m about the world’s worst big brother as I was supposed to get a 4th ticket for my brother and failed miserably.  FML.  Marko, I promise to make it up to you.  After all, WrestleMania 27 IS that Sunday!

And finally… the whole point of this post.  Opening Day baby!  Go Tribe!!!

This is simply a shot of my shirtsleeve.  I love this particular shirt, but the sleeves are just REALLY long.  Not really sure if it’s just made incorrectly or not cause the rest of the shirt fits just fine.

There’s an absolutely AMAZING restaurant in the Cleveland area called Melt Bar & Grilled.  They make grilled cheese.  That’s not quite fair… they make the best grilled cheese known to man.  The above pic is a shot of my sandwich from a recent trip with my wife, bro and sister in law: The Parmageddon.  The description from the menu: 2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions, sharp cheddar.  My description: INCREDIBLE.

My boys are getting to that age where their toys come with decals.  As they’re 4 (G) and 2 (C – until next month) guess who gets to do the decaling work… Super Dad.  This particular kit was a tough one as it took me longer to get the stickers on than it did to build it.  However all of my frustration was totally worth it when I saw how happy they were.

Even with my infinite childlike behavior, I think my wife would agree that I’m good for at least one thing: running errands.  Unfortunately, many times I even mess THAT up coming home with the wrong thing.  SO, on a recent trip for additional fettuccine I decided to take a photographic “wish list” of what I was to bring home.  I’m happy to say that with minimal issues, I did in fact return home with the correct item.

For many people, spring means birds, snow thawing, and finally seeing green grass after a long winter.  For me it means WRESTLEMANIA.  And with WrestleMania comes one thing: The Beeramid.  I sent this shot to Pip just the other day letting him know that the pre-Mania stockpiling had begun.

Both teams have incredible defenses and both teams have outstanding quarterbacks that can beat you in more ways than one.  Aaron Rogers is certainly a “prettier” passer, but Big Ben seems to get the job done when the chips are down (not to mention that he’s already got 2 Super Bowl rings).

Living in Cleveland and being a Steeler fan is a tough thing.  I swear it’s almost like there are three parts of the season for Browns fans:

1. Pre-season
2. Regular season
3. Root against the Steelers season

Obviously #3 above is the post-season but unfortunately the Browns never seem to even sniff it so it becomes “Let’s bitch about how much we hate the Steelers.”  Oh well… I guess I’d rather have a team to root FOR instead of just having someone to root against.