I didn't take any pictures in Cleveland! Sorry!
Monday October 20
Back at the airport, heading home.
This little adventure hasn’t had a lot of downtime so it been hard to find time to write. But it’s been fun! It’s just if I wait too long I can’t remember everything interesting that happened.
We had two short flights yesterday morning to get to Cleveland. We flew Southwest; there just aren’t that many options between KC and Cleveland! We had one 40 minute flight to St Louis, a 40 minute wait, and then a 1 hour flight to Cleveland. Both flights were short enough that there wasn’t really time to do anything. My next crochet project is something called an Amish puzzle ball. It consists of a bunch of little stuffed wedges in different colors that fit together. I had time on each flight to do one part of two wedges and that’s all!
When we landed in CL it was gloomy and raining. Our Lyft driver was confused. We think he might have just started being a driver and his English was pretty marginal. He was having trouble driving and navigating at the same time! When we got to the hotel he stopped in the street across from the entrance and we had to show him where the driveway was so he could pull up.
It was only 11 AM and we felt very fortunate to be able to get an early checkin. We got settled and then went downstairs to get something to eat. Because of the rain we didn’t want to go out so we ate at the hotel and it wasn’t very good. We didn’t really care though.
Then we just went back to the room to rest and even sleep a little before it was time to get ready for the wedding. I put on my nifty black dress (from Nuuly of course), put on my jewelry and makeup, changed purses and put on the shoes and we were ready.
Downstairs in the lobby things were really hopping. There was a Browns football game about to end and people were starting to head home in their rain ponchos or partying in the lobby. It was very difficult to get a ride share! We finally got one, or so we thought, but the driver never not very close to the hotel. Finally Lee tried to call him. He answered, but hung up on Lee and then cancelled the ride! We were aghast! we had about 15 minutes to get to the wedding! It was too far to walk (and I wasn’t walking in those shoes). There was a taxi driver sitting in front of the hotel. We banged on his window and asked him to take us. He asked where it was (said he wasn’t going anywhere near the stadium) and agreed. Whew!
The wedding was in an old repurposed warehouse by the river. It was very cool with exposed brick walls. We were on time, but there wasn’t any time to spare! We found our seats, waved to Shirin, my cousin, and then it began.
It was a straight up Jewish wedding, very traditional. The bride’s family is Conservative (in-between Reform and Orthodox) so they did all the things. The bride and groom walked around each other 7 times, the bride wore a veil, there were traditional Hebrew prayers, songs and blessings. It was pretty great. I really don’t think I’ve ever been to a completely Jewish ceremony before, that I can remember. Almost all of my cousins (and us as well) married non-Jews so the weddings were a mixture of traditions and faiths. I enjoyed it and of course Lee cried.
After there were cocktails and snacks before dinner. I had a lavender gin fizz and Lee had a martini. I tried different snacks, they were all good!
We took our seats. We sat at the same table as David, Debbie, Shirin, and Robin. David and Debbie are the parents of the groom and Robin is David’s cousin on his dad’s side. That was pretty much everyone on the groom’s side of the family. Because of that I’m especially glad we went.
They did the first dance and the hora before dinner. People put a lot of energy into that hora, it got a little frenetic. They were hoisting the bride and groom in chairs and bouncing the chairs up and down. I’m glad they didn’t drop anyone!
Dinner was good, much better than the usual wedding fare. The shorts ribs were especially delicious. I ate some of Lee’s and I wish I had gotten it too, but I got the salmon.
After the toasts and a little dessert the band started to play. It was good but really loud and we opted to bow out at that point. We couldn’t hear and we were pretty tired.
Fortunately we got a ride back to the hotel without any trouble! I guess the football game was over and things were calming down.
I slept until almost 6 this morning. It wasn’t raining anymore but I opted not to work out. I was tired and ready to relax a little. Lee went downstairs and got us some coffee and me a sweet roll and we just hung out in the hotel room. We were going to a brunch at the bride’s parent’s house at 10 am.
Our driver to their house was a 80 year old grandma. She was a hoot, and a perfectly good driver too. We talked to her the entire ride, about grandkids, cremation, the odd things that happen when people die, you name it. It was a great ride.
We were the first ones from David’s side of the family to show up. I got myself some food and settled down, listening to conversations around me and enjoying the antics of a couple of babies and toddlers in attendance. Eventually we settled in a corner with Jon, the groom, and Barry Posen and his wife. Barry is David’s best friend since pre-school, so he seems like part of the family.
We talked about getting German citizenship and our feelings about that. I’ve got all the paperwork but I haven’t really gotten started yet. And we talked about the various stories we know about how my mother’s family left Germany. It’s funny how the basic facts we know are the same but some of the details are different. And when Shirin came we talked about the different pieces of what we knew about our mothers coming over from Germany, and different memories we have from growing up. It really made me feel like our parents were still around, and maybe they are, in a way.
At around one thirty we said our goodbyes and took another Uber back downtown to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That is such a great museum. I think we both really enjoyed it. There are so many short videos and almost every single one would suck me in. I would finally tear myself away, afraid that if I didn’t keep moving I would run out of time. But we were finished after about an hour and a half.
We walked downtown and went to a Vietnamese restaurant. We split a Pho and a Bahn Mi and they were both very good. Then we walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. And here we are. This has been a very nice vacation, but I’m tired. I’m ready to not go anywhere for a while, at least until Emi’s birthday!
