The West Side Market

We all went down to the West Side Market today, where we met Mike and Darlene and Jan. The Market is a Cleveland landmark, a bustling emporium filled with cheeses and bakery items and meats and prepared food and a large open air produce section with rows on rows of glistening fruits and vegetables.

The experience is enough to overwhelm the senses! We went across the street to Penzey's Spices, where a vast array of every kind of seasoning was laid out. One interesting feature is that each spice display includes a small open container so you can smell and even taste the wares.

Afterward we went to lunch nearby. We had hoped to eat at the Flying Fig, but it is closed on Mondays, so we ended up at the Boaz Cafe instead, where we had truly delicious Mediterranean meals. Then we walked to Mitchell's Ice Cream Ohio City Kitchen & Shop, where we enjoyed more deliciousness. We also had a chance to walk to the "kitchen" area, where the ice cream is indeed being hand made in small batches by very cheerful, friendly employees. This was quite a contrast with our tours of the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Brenham, TX, and the Ben and Jerry's Factory in Burlington, VT. Both of those are large scale, factory operations. Both offer great ice cream, but Mitchell's was something special.

Next we drove to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where we planned to see the Planetarium show, Dark Universe, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Unfortunately when we arrived, we discovered that the only show today was sold out (note to self: buy tickets in advance next time!). Mike and Darlene and Jan went on back to Peggy's house, and the rest of us headed back to Kathy's, with a stop on the way to see a bit of Cleveland revitalized: Playhouse Square.

Playhouse Square--note the huge chandelier hanging over the square. Kathy says it's really something to see lit up at night.