Ah, summer in Cleveland - doesn't get much better for me; although a lottery ticket might be nice so I can spend all day taking pics and taking in the good weather.

 

A random shot I've had laying around but c'mon - it's Guns N' Roses!

 

Shuffled over to the intersection of East Ninth and Euclid ... there are days I still can't believe not just one but all of these buildings are being fixed up.

 

 

 

 

After loading up on redevelopment, let's load up at Sokolowski's University Inn in Tremont - home to d@mn good Polish cooking.

 

Pfft... take your "lite" cuisine and shove it!

 

A plate full of buttery pockets of heaven:

 

After rolling out of the place (we were too full to actually walk, helLO), it's off to downtown for an Indians game.

 

 

 

Did I mention this was the same day Lebron James announced his "Reconsideration"? :-)

 

 

 

 

My first job in downtown Cleveland was in the Caxton Building on Huron - I know there's an ugly parking lot and I'd love to see it developed but I have a soft spot for this view of the "Big 3". Back then, to get anywhere you had to walk through this area and something about the angle of them was kind of cool.

 

 

 

 

View from our seats - again... so many years of seeing the Cleveland Trust Tower unused, threatened with demolition, and now soon to be residential/mixed use. Who'da thunk :-)

 

Getting the field prepped:

 

A little light early on, but the stands filled up a little more:

 

 

As with most games, there are various charities/events involved - this time was The Christmas Story House, and Fisher House, located at military medical facilities and VA hospitals, where military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment. To our veterans and their families and loved ones, a heartfelt *thank you* for your service:

 

Time to play ball:

 

 

The game was a little sluggish at the beginning so I decided to take in the views *from* the stadium:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright, the Indians got their act together, so let's take it back to the ballfield:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not surprisingly, the crowd went nuts when this showed up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm personally a mustard guy - a little bitter, but ah well - ketchup won this round:

 

Terminal Tower, lit up in the Cavaliers' wine and gold:

 

 

Terminal Tower, showing off and maybe prepping for the Gay Games?

 

Woohoo (not Wahoo - can't say I'm a fan), the Tribe won!

 

It's summer, it's a Tribe game, they won... and fireworks? Yay!

 

 

 

 

If it weren't for some chain-link fence, jersey barriers, concrete silos, etc., this could be one of my favorite skyline views. Ah well.

 

 

 

 

Time to hop out of the car and views *in* downtown:

 

I'm not a "yeah, I'm da best photographer" type but I did like how this turned out. Gotta love an odd low-humidity day in the summer when the light's hitting from further north than usual:

 

Love seeing the contrast between new and old - wouldn't mind if this view was blocked by a nice mixed-use project.

 

Not my favorite building downtown but it has its moments:

 

Federal Building reclad... sigh.... do fritted pattern windows have to look like they have condensation issues?

 

In a year or so, this will be Cleveland's *second* tallest hotel:

 

Speaking of, here's the progress on the Convention Center Hilton:

 

 

And in case you thought East Ninth/Euclid had the monopoly on mixed-use redevelopment:

 

All this time downtown has me feeling edgy so let's head over to Edgewater Park - holy cow, has it been improved since the Metroparks took over!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have a taste for something - hey, how about Taste of Tremont? This year's attendance - I've heard it was many as 40,000 people which doesn't surprise me. We walked and have never seen it this backed up on West 14th. So glad we're in walking to/stumbling from distance:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice thing about this festival - churches and Veterans posts you can duck into for relief from the heat. This is St. John Cantius:

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice warm day, but when there wasn't a breeze, it got toasty - so we made our way to the southern end of Professor and over to St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral. If you're familiar with the movie 'The Deer Hunter' *this* is the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright back out to the secular world, a nearby party house had a DJ (who was spinning some great music, btw)

 

Lounge Kitty - imagine a sassy drag queen except for the "gender illusionist" part - she's all woman, absolutely hysterical and has a great set of pipes singing schmaltzy versions of your favorites.

 

6pm and the crowds are still going strong:

 

 

 

 

We on the other hand, were ready to call it a day - hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait?  Lounge Kitty is a real woman?

Was that a wedding in the church?

Fantastic! Just a wonderfully wide variety of subjects and, as always, expertly photographed.

Great job as usual.  I particularly liked the shot of AT&T, IMNHO an underrated building.

Great pics, MayDay!

 

Terminal Tower, showing off and maybe prepping for the Gay Games?

 

I love it whenever the Terminal does the color swirl effect. It seems to happen at completely random intervals, too. My mom works at the downtown main post office and she saw the Tower do this at 6 in the morning while she was driving to work.

 

I know it was lit in the "Pride Flag" color scheme last year during a media visit related to the Gay Games. I wonder if it will be lit the same way during the events?

Equillibrius[/member] if you are on Twitter make sure you follow @TowerLightsCLE.  Whoever controls that account also controls the lights.  Every once in a while they will take requests and they will change the lighting on command.

 

MayDay[/member] awesome shots!  I particularly enjoyed the first Lorain Carnegie Bridge, the Terminal Tower silhouette, the Terminal Tower shot that you were reluctant to brag about but SHOULD be bragging about, and the mixed use project not on Euclid shot.

Excellent set--thanks!

 

Beautiful Set! Unfortunately I will be able not make the trip for the GG9. There is an S FL contingent attending; I'm sure Cleveland will make me proud!

Thanks for sharing MayDay!

Really enjoyed these photos! Thanks for sharing.