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| - THE CLEVELAND EXPERIENCE!
If you build it they will come! This city is absolutely phenomenal! First of all, it is a REAL city! It feel vibrant and safe. I can't imagine it disappearing at night and I imagine that there is life at 6 am. You can stay in the heart of downtown, (The Hyatt) and experience everything from there. Everything we wanted to see seemed to be located within one huge walkable circle.
This city has incredible buildings with great history and landmarks. I mean they are breath-taking! I really could not experience it the way I wanted to because of time constraints. I would want to visit very early in the morning before it becomes too populated with commuters so that I can quietly take it all in.
One of the coolest aspects of the city is "the man on the street" dynamic which is the random person on the street providing a service, (food, music). I like to engage people on the street and just have random conversations. It is a nice way to connect and I never have a problem engaging strangers. If someone peaks my curiosity, I will begin a conversation. For example, we were headed back to our van when I saw this musician packing up and I said "Oh, I know you are not packing up". As he started to unpack, he said that he was going to go and get a snack. When we saw him grab his guitar from a zippered bag, we vehemently protested because we did not want him to go through the trouble and had no idea that he had actually packed up his instrument. As he is setting things up, we learn that he was born in my home state and has lived in Georgia. He proceeds to play some old school R&B and other tunes like Highway to Heaven. He's good. Although my husband tipped him when we approached, I tipped him as well and you would have thought that I had given him a new car. He was very appreciative. As we continue to our car, he is really on my mind. I tell my husband that I want to give him a bigger tip, he says okay and we decide to drive by again.
Now this is where divine intervention comes in because the timing has to be perfect. He has to be on the corner and I will have to get his attention, have him put the guitar down and approach the car while I am hopefully at a red light. Otherwise it won't happen. We drive by his spot and it is apparent that he has taken a break. We travel on to the next block and just as we stop at the red light, he exits the building. I yell, "Hey music man, come here, hurry up", (because I am paranoid about the light changing). He rushes over and I hand him an additional tip. He is elated and thanks me for "showing him love".
Here are my thoughts: most people probably pass this guy on a regular basis so they become complacent and tend to just ignore him. He becomes nothing more than just a bump on a log instead of a human being with feelings. The fact that we not only stopped and listened but also gave a thumbs up by tipping, just gave him as sense of validation. He was literally beaming from ear to ear and could not stop thanking me for such a simple gesture. That simple exchange probably did more for me than it did for him because it really made MY day. Maybe instead of buying that second beer you could actually use the money to bless someone. Just think about it!
If you ever have a question about where you are going or a particular location, just find a safety ambassador. They will be riding bikes and wearing ID and can definitely point you in the right direction.
The one thing I did notice is that city bus drivers are very aggressive with other drivers and pedestrians so be very careful and aware. They like to blow their horns at crosswalks and if a half second passes before the driver in front of them moves forward after the light changes, there's a problem.
We had a good day in the city but it just wasn't enough, so we will be back again to finish our tour.
It's true, CLEVELAND ROCKS!
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