Road Trippin' for Aloha

I knew when we got back from Hawaii the best thing we could do is find a way to capture that aloha that we'd be missing after being back to 'real life.'  Thankfully for us, I did some digging a few months ahead of time and found one of our favorite Hawaiian artists, Jake Shimabukuro was doing a rare mainland tour this summer.  (If you don't know who he is, check out his version of Bohemian Rhapsody all the way through.  It's amazing and it won it's fair share of people over.)   I found the town "closest" to us and decided to make a road trip out of it and surprise the Mr for our anniversary.  This weekend was the weekend to go road trippin' for aloha to Cleveland, Ohio to see this ukulele (pronounced oo-koo-leh-leh not yook-uh-lay-lee!) virtuoso.

I apologize for the collage laden mess below but I took a ton of pics so just click to make 'em bigger.  First off was a stop at Brown Bag Burger which we'd heard nothing but good things about and it was duly touted.  (That rarely happens!)  Good, flavorful burger and yummy fries.  I got the junior size and we split the fries after the guy said "you want a regular fry too?" when I ordered.  We asked if they were big and he said yes so we decided to split.  When we got them it was like it wasn't that big but we must've looked like we weren't two fatties comin' in that could polish off a regular each so that was encouraging.

Next was off to pay our respects to a great singer lost too soon.  Patty Donahue from The Waitresses.  (affiliate link)  I loved her sassy, indifferent tone in I Know What Boys Like and I still can't get through the song "Christmas Wrapping" without crying when I hear the line "you mean you forgot cranberries too?!"  I know...nerd.  If you want to visit when you're in the area, she's at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, Ohio.  Go in and turn left.  You'll see the St. Benedict building up front.  Park there on the right.  You'll see the tree view like in pic 2, she's just behind the first pine tree on the left.

Then it was off to this really cool candy store we read about called B A Sweetie.  It has EVERY candy you can imagine, many from childhood so we stopped by to grab a few little pieces.  I was surprised the restraint we showed given how batshit I could've gone in there.  I think eating lunch beforehand was a good move!  Then it was off to vintage toy store, Big Fun where the Mr lamented the passing of his youth in front of the Star Wars figures and me in front of the Strawberry Shortcake.

No trip to the area is complete without swinging by Ralphie's house from A Christmas Story.  We didn't go in because we'd been there before and our time was running low but we got a pic of the house, the leg lamp and it looks like the Bumpus' are having some work done next door.

You know me...I see the international sign for cupcake and I'm there dude.  Everything looked great from the selection to the funky tables out front.  We decided on 3 cupcakes to split (salted caramel, M&M something or other and PB Crunch).  The salted caramel looked impressive and the cupcake portion was good and then we got to the frosting...

whipped!!!  BLECK!!!!  And with that we threw the rest away.  What a disappointment.  I want something that is going to induce diabetes, not a can of RediWhip on top.  The Mr is the same and one of the reasons I love him.

Then it was time to check in to a fancy pants hotel downtown.  It all looks innocent enough doesn't it?  Have I told you we've been watching Hotel Impossible?  Well the brown thingy came right off and into the corner since they are rarely washed.  We did our bedbug inspection, clear.  Sat on the bed and knew while it felt fine for sitting on, it was going to make for an uncomfortable night's sleep.  (I was right)  Then the Mr took off the pillow cases when he saw something through the thin as rice paper pillowcases.  Check out the bottom 2 pics...

Yes, that would be a murder scene on the pillow on the left.  Mine?  Well mine had some loverly short hairs all over them.  Oh hells no!!  We called downstairs at 3:20pm.  We had to leave at 5pm.  Nothing.  We gave them time because we thought with the big wedding going on (that we knew would have drunken slobs and a-holes keeping us up all night and we were right.  Worst night's sleep ever) that maybe they were backed up.  We return 7 hours later and nothing.  It took the Mr going down to the lobby with other customers standing there and waving the bloody pillow on the left in front of them saying "I'm not being picky, would YOU sleep on this???"  She yanked it away to keep it from the other customers and said they'd be right up.  An hour later they showed up with the "new" pillow on the right.  That would be more blood stains and a HUGE urine and/or sweat stain in the middle.  We decided to flip the pillowcases inside out and finally go to bed...completely aware that this would be our first and last stay at this fancy pants wanna be hotel and confirming why, if we can help it, we'll never sleep in a hotel again.  We usually rent homes.  This was AWFUL.  Meh.

But before the concert we wanted to go to Little Italy for dinner.  We went to Nido Italia and got the ricotta stuffed rigatoni.  SO good!  Then we headed across the street afterward to Presti's Bakery and got this chocolate mousse thingy...divine!    See the creamy middle in the bottom left.  Worth every calorie.  Then we walked around town to walk off the feeling of yakitude from over-indulgence.

Then it was off to Cain Park to see Jake.  When that lil nugget took the stage, I know more than half of the people there had no idea what they were in for and left lifelong fans.  He is so amazing, energetic, funny and passionate about his playing.  My cheeks hurt from smiling and my eyes stung from crying, sometimes bawling through his lighter tunes like Blue Roses Falling which he explained was inspired by a friends grandma who was in the hospital and she began hallucinating that there were blue roses growing on the ceiling and at night the rose petals would fall on her.  He wrote it after she passed and I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face.  When there is a story like that tied to a song, I'm a quivering heap o' flesh.  Good Lord, I'm crying now just writing about it and listening to it play.  I cannot begin to tell you what a beautiful experience this was for the Mr and I and even more so when he invited people to come say hello afterward.  Now I've met some famous people in my time and we're even friends with a few so it's not a big deal to me but I froze up like the biggest dork just so in awe of him and what his music has meant to our lives.  He signed our shirts and my ticket.  I know the Mr could not stop smiling and it was the perfect late anniversary present for him.  I was able to tell him what his music means and he was so gracious and sweet and he even accepted gifts and took pics with everyone.  The line for that must've been over 100 people long (we were toward the front thankfully) but I know he likely stayed for every person because that's the aloha spirit that he exudes.  It's not a hokey marketing line, it is something living, breathing and known to all who live or visit there.  I cannot thank Jake enough for doing a mainland tour and I will drive any distance to see him again.

We were hoping to get his new CD Peace Love Ukulele (affiliate link) but we didn't have enough cash after buying the shirts.  So it goes on the wish list for our birthdays.  We're very happy he's working on a new album with Alan Parsons and great studio musicians.  He gave us a sneak peek of a song or two and they're amazing.

Sunday was back to reality and we got on the road early and back late but still got a good workout in.  I want more weekends like that and I've got a few planned.

What did you do this weekend?

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