HopStop.com Now Featuring Cleveland

HopStop is a quick and easy way to map your route from place to place using public transportation within a city, and it now features Cleveland! Riding the Rapid is probably the most fun, and Cleveland also features an extensive bus system, so you can explore the town without needing a car. Just put your starting and ending addresses in the fields on HopStop, and you'll get handy, detailed directions you can read, print, or email.


When you get to the HopStop homepage, click the icon for Cleveland to get started.

Cleveland's West Side Market - Photo Essay

The first in a series of Cleveland photo essays by Sarah Sloboda, this features some details of the beautifully restored West Side Market.

West Side Market
1979 West 25th Street
Cleveland, OH 44113-3455
(216) 579-6800

Open Mon,Wed 7am-4pm; Fri-Sat 7am-6pm

The market boasts a wonderful selection of fresh meats, sausages, perogis, baked goods, fine spices, fresh seafood, and just about every culinary delight you can think of. It's been restored to its original splendor, and stepping inside takes you back to a time when every city centered around such a marketplace. Even New York City doesn't have a market this authentic!

New York to Cleveland!

Check out this fantastic article from today's New York Times' travel section on a fun getaway weekend to Cleveland!

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/travel/20hours.html?hp

(Contrary to what the article says, I frequently fly from New York's LaGuardia airport to Cleveland Hopkins for $180.00 or less. I recommend Continental Airlines!)

(Pictured above, Cleveland's "Tremont" neighborhood. Photo by Sarah Sloboda.)

Portrait Mini-Sessions with Sarah Sloboda

On Saturday, July 11th, 2009, Cleveland native Sarah Sloboda returns home for a special one-day only children’s portrait event. Mini portrait sessions will take place at a beautiful location in Columbia Station, and include an online proofing gallery, and three 5x7 prints, for $125.00 per child. This is an inclusive package, in that the online photo gallery, and several prints, come with the package price of the sitting fee.
The event is sponsored in part by Honey Hut ice cream, and participants will receive a special frozen treat, courtesy of the Honey Hut team.
Sloboda photographs children with an artistic approach to capture their natural spirit – carefree, fun, and spontaneous. Her main goal is to allow children to be themselves, and to have the portraits reflect the child’s individuality. A sample online proofing gallery is available at http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/sloboda.

Rain date is scheduled for Sunday, July 12th, 2009.

RSVP required – please email sarah[at]sarahsloboda.com to request a timeslot and driving directions.

Sarah Sloboda is a premier children’s photographer, based in New York City, and is famous for her work in Wondertime magazine. She was awarded second place by the Prix de la Photographie, Paris, for her series, “Happiest Day in a Girl’s Life.” Her commercial portfolio may be viewed online at http://www.sarahsloboda.com. Sloboda was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.













Photos copyright: Sarah Sloboda
(Click on the photos for a larger view.)

Still got an Appetite?

In our last post about Appetite, we mentioned the special Sunday brunch. Well, it calls for another mention. Check the website or give ‘em a call to check that it’s on -- and when it is, it’s really on. Start with a made-to-order omelet -- veggies, meats, cheeses...add everything you want. While it’s cooking, move down the counter and pick up some French toast, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit...and the bakery. They’re kind enough to set out small slices of various quiche, bagels and pastries, so you can sample a bunch, but many of the whole pastries in the display are up for grabs with the brunch special as well. I’d recommend the chocolate croissant, but every single one of them is delicious (and believe me, I’ve tried them all.) Seriously, bring your Appetite.

Appetite
5143 Mayfield Road
Lyndhurst, OH 44124

phone: 440.461.8000
www.appetitedeliandbakery.com

by: Cathleen Dalton

Edgewater Park

Just west of downtown, Edgewater Park has it’s own exit off the Shoreway. With good reason: there’s walking paths, a beach, a pier, a concession stand, and a stone wall to walk along the water. For the adventurous, there’s even a “path” of boulders along the stone wall that offers a more challenging route. (Careful, just because one of your dogs acts like a billy goat, that doesn’t mean your puppy won’t stumble and fall into a crevice between rocks -- you don’t want to find out how hard it is to get him out, especially when you’re laughing about how silly he looks trying to claw his way up. Believe me.) One of the defining characteristics of Edgewater Park is the fishermen...they’re always there, waiting to see what Lake Erie’s willing to give up, along the stone wall or on the pier. The pier also has benches that offer a place to relax and look at Edgewater Park’s other defining characteristic: the Cleveland skyline.

by: Cathleen Dalton

Steel Plant

Here is a view of one of the steel plants near downtown Cleveland:


You can see the plant from the nearby shopping center, and up the hill on your way to Tremont. There are several steel plants close together in this area, and most of them are no longer major steel manufacturers, but I believe at least one of them still operates on some level.

This is a symbol of one of the things that brought our ancestors to this country at the turn of the 20th century - a relic of the industrialization of the United States.

by: Sarah Sloboda
photo: Sarah Sloboda