MayDay

Let's see... for starters :-) After that, I can't possibly begin to narrow it down. Here are some categories (with good Cleveland-area restaurants): Bar Food South Side in Tremont; Rocky River Brewing Company BBQ Duck Pizza @ South Side Sausage Sample @ Great Lakes Brewing Company Wings Chinese Steamed Dumplings War Sue Gai Dessert (Corbos in Little Italy): Naga truffles (chocolate with curry) from Vosges Chocolates Chocolate covered macaroons from Godiva Chocolate bombe from Halite in Ohio City Indian (Cafe Tandoor - multiple locations; Indies in the Colonial Marketplace in downtown) Spinach pakora Mulagtani soup Chicken Makhni Chicken Tikka Masala Mint Chutney Tamarind chutney Italian Battuto in Little Italy, Johnny's Downtown Gnocchi Lasagna Japanese/Sushi (Pacific East in Cleveland Heights, Sushi 86 and Ginza in downtown Cleveland) Edamame Eel rolls Soft-shell crab rolls Tamago rolls Sasa mochi Lebanese (Middle East on Prospect at East 9th) Faytoush Grape leaves Kafta Kibbee Mexican: (Luchitas - West 117th in Cleveland, Lopez in Cleveland Heights, Nuevo Acapulco in North Olmsted): Pollo con mole Empanadas Guacamole Thai (Pad Thai in Hudson, Lemon Grass in Cleveland Heights, Siam Cafe in Chinatown) Basil Chicken Chicken Coconut Soup (with lots of curry and ganlanga) Green or Yellow Curried Chicken Pad Thai Thai Iced Coffee Turkish (Cafe Anatolia in South Euclid) Hummus Any of the adana dishes with yogurt Turkish F#cking COFFEE :-D Vietnamese (Minh Ahn in Detroit-Shoreway, Tay Do in Parma, #1 Pho and Superior Pho in Chinatown): Pho Spring rolls All this food talk...

^Is that building IN the city limits?

Remember that National City also recently bought their headquarters (as opposed to leasing their HQ like KeyBank). I seriously doubt we'd see any new construction from National City. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see something bigger and better than Key ;-) but I don't think that's realistic.

I think #1 is St. Kim's Korean Catholic Church on West 14th in Tremont.

And good morning to you too! :-D

"I hope you didn't PAY to go up the Hancock! There is a bar called the Signature Room where it's essentially free (though it's courtesy to pay for a drink; still cheaper than the observation deck)." I'm well aware of the Signature Room - however, after two nights in a row of partying like rockstars (remember, I found Burning River - my favorite beer in the universe - all bets were off after that), the last thing our livers needed was another drink (even a mimosa). Oh, and especially at 10:30 in the morning! :-)

When we returned from our trip down to the river, I noticed the weather had improved. So being exhausted, I did what any forum geek would do and went up to the 25th floor conference rooms to see the views: But I wanted to go to at least one of the observation decks, and Hancock was the closest: I've heard the Cheesecake Factory's location at the Hancock Tower described as "a wart on the ankle of a giant". I have to agree - they had their puffy copper mushroom crap all over the base of the tower: But the views made up for it ;) We had a few more shopping stops to make - the first was Filenes' Basement which was on the 5th floor (go figure). I didn't find anything to buy, but I did get a nice glimpse down Michigan Avenue: Back outside we realized we needed to head back to the hotel. Love this building which was on the way to the Red Line station: And this beauty was at the Lake/State station on the Orange Line: The next pics are taken from the Orange Line - sorry about the reflections: A gem in need of a little polishing: We get to Midway and board the plane - a nice sunset sends us on our way. I was hoping that I picked the best side of the plane to see the skyline one last time. As I looked across the aisle, I saw downtown and thought I was going to miss it - and then the plane turned :) Thanks Chicago - I'll be back soon :)

All I saw were the first four words of the subject "Big Strong Men Will...". Needless to say, the thread turned out to be quite a letdown ;-)

Good lord, get your headdresses right - Oompa ain't wearing the feathers! :roll:

"I don't know, I'm starting to get into corn fields, rusty sheds and wind mills." I grew up in an area that was about a 10-minute drive from all that and "fresh country air" (aka cow patties) - it ain't all it's cracked up to be!

OompaLoompa, I say this in the non-threatening, non-harassing sense (duh) but wow! :-)

At the end of Part 1, my S.O. and I had returned from a long night of partying like rockstars at the Market Days festival. Being the geek that I am, I of course woke up early to go to the fitness center. NOT to work out, but to see the views and take some pics, of course! The day began appropriately overcast, so I apologize for the dreary look: But the call of the caffeine took over, so back to street level I went: And we headed south on Michigan Avenue: I decided to try out the zoom lense - the Carbide and Carbon Building: Close-up of the Tribune Tower: The Mather Tower: Entrance to Tribune Tower: The wonderful "knife edge" of the Wrigley Building: Towers along the river: Michigan Avenue bridge pylon: Looking back at the Tribune Tower: And the Wrigley Building (too bad it was under wraps): Further down Michigan Avenue, a whopping glimpse of 2 Prudential Plaza: A great streetscape: A handsome tower (don't know the name): Frank Gehry's contribution to Millennium Park: The "Adventures In Babysitting" building! The BEAN! (aka 'Cloud Gate' by Anish Kapoor): I love my boyfriend - he's as much of a smart-ass as I am. He's usually the subtle one, though ;-) An upclose of the Plensa fountains: Click this link for a Quicktime movie of the fountains in action: http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/chicago06/plensa.mov A wonderfully handsome building across from Millennium Park: Back up Michigan Avenue we go: Not sure of the name of this building, but I liked it! The mammoth Merchandise Mart: Layers: One of my favorite post-modern buildings, 333 Wacker: The El comes rumbling through: And one of my least favorite postmodern buildings (RR Donnelly) is in the reflection: One funky House of Blues! I had always wondered what this building looked like up close - now I know! Impressive foliage for the city! Nice staircase for the river walk: Probably my favorite neo-classic building in the Loop. However, I didn't get the best shot I wanted. I wanted to get a little more to the right which would have removed the wires and shown more of the building. What stopped me? This stopped me. He's a twit. I politely said "excuse me" and motioned that his spot was ideal for me to get the above building. He scowled at me, and sucked on his cancer stick. Maybe he's a nice person and just had a bad day but come on now! I don't want anyone to do anything mean, nasty or obnoxious but if you see him at Kenneth Cole, give him a glare for me ;-) That's right folks - deny me a great photo and you get shamed! :lol: So being traumatized, I had to flee to my favorite chocolate spot, Vosges - in the 520 Building (aka Nordstrom building, 2nd level): I suddenly felt MUCH better! And even better when the sun came out and I caught this pic from Nordstrom: Now this photo isn't to shame anyone, but more to illustrate a point. Not once was I approached by a panhandler. They were there, but every one of them was sitting off to the side, either holding a sign or a cup. It's sad that they're in that situation but I have to say it was an improvement over being spat at and yelled at in Cleveland: But after a long morning and afternoon it was back to the Allerton:

"Additionally, why would you consider the taxes to be unfair if they are approved by a majority of voters?" I know it's not quite the same thing, but I can personally think of an ISSUE - ONE that isn't fair even though it was approved by a majority of voters ;-)

^That wouldn't be such a bad idea - similar to the checkbox on the 1040 that asks if you'd like to donate a dollar to the presidential campaign fund (or whatever it says). Btw, welcome to the forum :)

"Did you get a chance to go to the generator....the music is legendary!!!" Nope, but I'll put it on my list for next time! "Bloomie's on Mich. Ave sucks..." Okay, if by sucking you mean they had a pair of Kenneth Cole flat-front khakis that were marked down to $4.98 and had nothing wrong with them AND happened to fit so flatteringly well that my S.O. said "you will wear those the next time we go to lunch", AND if by sucking you mean they had a great herringbone tweed blazer that fit my S.O. like it had been tailored for him AND he will get plenty of mileage out of AND it was marked down from $700 to $100... well, okay - I suppose it DID suck. "I would have thought you would have preferred to shop at Marshall Fields on State" Thanks, but we'll have Macy's all over Cleveland soon enough ;-) "or the Bloomies furniture store (i love that building) it would have provided you with plenty of photo opps" Riiiight, I'll just stuff an ottoman into the overhead bin! :-P "or even Barney's down the street by the Westin." HelLO - first time to Chicago and it was during Market Days. Yeesh! "Did you get an opportunity to try the Original Pancake house?? I love that place." Carb central during Market Days? Are you crazy??? Like I'm gonna let myself go while some vile (yet attractive) civilians make lovey-eyes at MY S.O.?!? I don't think so, sister! :-D

"Reserve Square is in talks with Arabica about opening a shop there." Phoenix, yes. City Roast, absolutely. But Arabica? *groan* :roll: Now, if they could convince Cork and Beans to move from the Huntington Building :clap:

When I was about 5 years old, my parents took my brother and I to Youngstown to sort out some paperwork for my grandmother. The office was located on a high floor of the Stambaugh Building (a whopping 12 stories) - I spent the entire time gawking out at the downtown cityscape. That next year, we took a short roadtrip to Cleveland, and to a 6 year old from a small town of 11,000 people - downtown Cleveland from the Valley View bridge (I-480) looked like the Emerald City in 'The Wizard of Oz.' I've always been drawn to cities for as long as I can remember.

Well, wow. Just wow. As we all know, Chicago has a reputation as being one of the most vibrant cities in the States - it deserves that rep, imho. It has that big, huge, wow factor to it, but at the same time there's a tinge of that intangible sense of being manageable. Sure, the buildings are tall and multiplying like rabbits, and yeah there are crowds and bustling streets but it never overwhelms you in a bad way. Here is round 1 of the many photos I took - these are mostly in the Rivernorth (north of the Chicago River) and Boystown (the gayborhood around North Halsted Street): When this is your view from your hotel room... You just know... That it's going to be a great weekend :-) We walked north up Michigan Avenue and the Hancock Building was there to greet us: Being the curious geek that I am, the Presbyterian Church across the street was open - lovely interior, too bad I didn't have my tripod: Ho-hum, more huge skyscrapers ;-) This is the pedestrian tunnel/walkway from Michigan Avenue to the Oak Street Beach. My inner artist says this area needs a public art installation - it's a little foreboding given the walkway's purpose: Ok, this is the pedestrian/cyclist activity on a Saturday around 9:30am (and it kept increasing). It'd be nice to see HALF that at Edgewater! Towers, beach. Nice! However, I noticed some boarded up windows (granted they were on the penthouse level of an old grand apartment building) but it looked a little sketchy to me ;-) So we did what 'mos do whenever we feel threatened - we went shopping! The atrium of the 900 North Michigan building (Bloomingdales!) A few good bargains later, I come across the site of the Elysian - a condo tower slated to be 700' tall. Folks, they're shoehorning a Terminal Tower-sized building into this site! Not all the gems are the tall buildings, though: But it was time to head to the El and get to Market Days, a huge street festival in the gayborhood along North Halsted: We arrive, and punch served as our tour guide - he knows the good spots! Infrastructure acknowledging the gay community's contribution to the city: There are some times when my gay brethren exercise poor taste: Gay bar that loves high-rise architecture - I like it! A replica of the famous clock at Marshall Fields: Nice old building: See that red arrow? That's the entrance. See the crowds? They were that thick alllll the way to the entrance: The patio at X/O (no relation to Cleveland's) - a nice oasis from the hustle and bustle: As the sun began to set - this building started to really catch the rays as it happened to be a little taller. It took on a strange glow, and I simply had to set foot into the bar located there: As I looked around the club, I heard nice house music, saw a decent crowd, and there it was. I looked at the bar, saw a row of taps, and I sh!t you not - as the Halleleujah chorus crescendoed, I saw right dead center of all the taps was none other than my beloved Burning River Pale Ale - in Chicago. Not Dortmunder, not some obscure untried pale ale - Burning River. I was in tears of joy (and stayed that way until my S.O. suggested that I didn't need to kiss the tap - I disagreed but after three glasses of the nectar of the gods, I wasn't able to argue too much. I attempted to render what I saw but even I can't add divine rays to a beer tap. You get the idea. I was one HAPPY queen: As we headed out, I had a sobering moment. See this person's shoes? I used to wear a similar pair back in my clubkid days (and though I did have a feather boa, I never wore a corset!) - but that was over 10 years ago. Compare the freaks - Cleveland on the left, Chicago on the right: A few blocks away, Hydrate was playing seriously incredible house music (if you have iTunes, here is one tune they played: http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/lovesomeone.m4a )and the side street became the dance floor: But the revelry drew to a close and back to the El we went, catching a glimpse of Wrigley Field: The historic Water Tower was the beacon to our hotel (well a block away, but you get the idea):

From this past weekend in Chicago; sorry for squinting - it was really bright:

I literally took over 500 photos over the weekend, and it'll be some time before I get the super-duper threads together. But for now, here are five teasers... :-)

"Some of the big shows still go to the IX center." True, but the IX Center lacks: 1. Hotels within walking distance. 2. Entertainment/Amenities 3. Direct transit connection from the airport. 4. Downtown. :-)

"There is no space to build a new hotel at Tower City." That's incorrect. In both proposals that Tower City has floated (the first being the Warehouse District/Pesht site) they have clearly indicated areas designated for a new hotel. The first plan suggested a hotel be constructed (presumably "stilted" above the air rights) over the entrance to the underground parking garage, located on Superior just west of the Renaissance Ballroom and east of the State Office Building. The current plan suggests a hotel be constructed on the parking lot just east of the Federal Courthouse tower.

"I feel completely stupid asking this question, but what's wrong with the current Cleveland Convention Center? I haven't been there since I was probably 5 or 6, but why is there a need for a new one?" The current center (meaning the main exhibit area itself) is functionally obsolete. Although the floor space is a decent size, there are enormous support columns that 1. take away from that space, and 2. make it difficult for exhibitors who have large booths/displays to set up. Another big factor in the current center's obsolescence is loading docks. The industry standard for convention centers is to have approximately 20-30 loading docks so you don't have trucks idling on the street waiting to deliver show materials. Cleveland's convention center has two. That's TWO. Every minute that a driver idles waiting to deliver gets charged to the exhibitor, which results in a very expensive show. It also results in delays for your union people who set up your electric, cart your booth materials to your space, etc. and again the exhibitor has to absorb those costs as well. And of course, when you have dozens of trucks waiting in line that doesn't bode well for downtown traffic flow. It's a beautiful building but in its current state it IS functionally obsolete. *EDIT* I should clarify that with certain types of shows such as the upcoming Nurse Anesthetists Association, exhibitors tend to go with a simple 10' by 10' booth with what's called "pipe and drape" (a simple pipe structure with fabric draped over it and their sign hung from the structure). However, with shows that feature equipment or high-impact displays, as audidave pointed out - Cleveland doesn't even see the short list. Here are some visuals to show the kinds of displays that aren't physically possible in the current exhibit space. T From ExhibitGroup/Giltspur, one of the nation's best exhibit/display design firms: Note that this is for Hitachi's medical division:

Thanks for the feedback - and rest assured, my camera is ready and waiting! :-)

"And to all of those who slam the Cuyahoga River for always looking brown-ALL rivers "appear brown". It has nothing to do with how clean or dirty it may be. Get over it." If I had a dollar for every time I had to explain that the riverbed is mud (rather than sand/sediment) and THAT'S why it always looks brown...