A Day in Cleveland with Janie (part 2)

 

A Day in Cleveland 8-20-22

Divine Intervention

Sunrise 6:45am - Pier W is truly a one of a kind place for a beautiful sunrise. It's been a landmark restaurant since 1965 and its architecture is designed to resemble the hull of a ship. Set within a cliff overlooking Lake Erie, with a panoramic view of Cleveland. (The photo my brother Dan captured of Janie and me is a kind of magical documentation of what I later claimed as Divine Intervention. (Janie’s border line agnostic text response - Divine Intervention: Sometimes that works.) 

Breakfast - The Dinerbar on Clifton serves tasty, high quality American fare with health conscious options for breakfast in a sleek & stylish retro diner. I wanted coffee. She wanted Tea. We lingered over breakfast for over 2 hours. OMG it’s 11:00 already.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - A highlight of our visit was An immersive complement to Peter Jackson's docuseries, “The Beatles: Get Back.” We are fans experiencing The Beatles on film, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon and even Billy Preston on keyboards. The film takes us to the rooftop of Apple Studio in January of 1969. 

The Cleveland Museum of Art – I am delighted to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art with Janie. She has agreed to be a student and I cannot resist being a docent. This is the place where as a youngster I was introduced to Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period La Vie, George Wesley Bellows Stag at Sharkey’s and of course Rodin’s Thinker. Janie smiles as she continues to struggle for appreciation of the abstract expressionism of Mark Rothko. Dan embraces his “side hustle” as a part time museum guard in addition to his ongoing career as an extraordinary photographer.

Solstice Steps at Lakewood Park - The perfect day included a finale sunset at Lakewood Park’s Solstice Steps. We stopped to reflect at Coach Angelo Privetera’s lovely tribute to his wife Karen at the Pavilion between Foster Pool and a baseball diamond. Clouds and a light rain caused us to cut it short but we agreed to get a bite to eat before calling it a day.

Immigrant Son Brewery - Janie suggested we visit this place at 18120 Sloane Avenue. Years ago this was a common hangout where the McDonald’s restaurant nearby attracted students from Lakewood High School. On this night it was busy and so we elected to sit at the bar. Perfect! We found ourselves adjacent to a social media couple just getting to know each other. (He was divorced and she was a widow.) They were a kind of proof positive that people deserve happiness. It is beautiful when people find each other and extra special if you are fortunate enough to rediscover one another. "How long have you two been together?" she asks. Well, we first dated about 48 years ago. (Ha) Again we lingered effortlessly (until after 10 pm).   

Back at the Winton Place we said goodbye in the darkness of the parking lot. I had an early flight back to Saint Louis the following morning. Divine Intervention? Yeah, I think sometimes that works.