Ohio for the holidays

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We’re up in Ohio  for Christmas … brrr!

Last night we checked into the Marriott at the Tampa Airport using their “Park Here, Fly There” package (a one-night stay with up to 7 days of “free” valet parking). This way we didn’t have to use the remote long-term parking lot and not get up as early to make our 8am flight to Cleveland. Once we checked into our room, we went down into the airport proper to grab a drink at Starbucks and people-watch. It was weird being in the airport without any luggage and not having to go anywhere (yet). As advertised, the room was very well insulated so we didn’t hear any of the airport traffic outside. I just wish they had insulated the door as effectively, however, because there were some noisy people out in the hallway pretty late that woke us up.

We had no travel issues to speak of this morning, which was a pleasant surprise. The security line was long, as expected, but we didn’t have any problems or delays. Our flight was smooth and perfectly on-time. Stepping off the jetway in Cleveland we were met by an unpleasant, but not unexpected, blast of cold, northern Ohio winter air. It was mostly just cold, windy, rainy, and overcast … just like I remember Cleveland winters. The rest of the day was spent running errands: picking up the boxes we had shipped up earlier, checking into the hotel, going grocery shopping for Christmas dinner, etc.

For dinner we met some old college friends and their kids at The Pub in Rocky River. The last time I had been down that part of Detroit Road, I think the old movie theater that The Pub is now located in was still a  movie theater! The food was great, though, (I had the Ham and Swiss Pub Pretzel) and the spirits were better (my favorite was the Monty Python Holy Grail Ale, of course!).

The next few days are going to be busy …

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