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Day 01 - Cancelled:
Sums up my first day. I turned up at Toronto Airport, checked in,
past customs and proceeded to get drunk at the bar. As I sat
there I started to get very annoyed that the wait staff were asking all
the girls and couples if they wanted anything to eat, but not me.
As the beer started to take affect I started to care less. Broke:
I wonder how people survive without cash? Especially when your
trapped at an airport hotel. For some strange reason there are
a breed of ATMs here that are found everywhere that won't recognise my
Visacard and will not give me any cash. So when I gave my last 20
bucks to the taxi driver yesterday I didn't think about what I would do
for food or transport for the next day. On the way back to the
Toronto airport on the airport shuttle this morning there it was staring
me in the face... the "Gratuities Accepted" sign. As I wonder
how I was going to tip my driver I found my left hand slipping down the
greasy bunk seat behind me hoping to find a stash of coins. I
found nothing... I suspect my little Mexican driver had been there
before me. Anyway, I arrived at the airport and apologised for
not having any cash to tip him with. I guess I could have
tipped him with an expensive laptop computer or some new Calvin Klein
undies. Day 02 - Touring Cleveland: On Friday Bill picked me up at the airport around lunchtime and took me on a tour around Cleveland. The first thing I noticed about Cleveland on landing is that the houses are all spread out on very large blocks of land and there are great big highways everywhere. We first stopped at Malley's chocolate factory to sample some of there goods and then headed downtown. Cleveland is quite a friendly place... but there are some areas that quickly slip into dangerous zones. There was one road in particular outside some glam apartments where black guys were cruising as prostitutes on the footpath. They looked really rough. We had lunch at a diner and then later drinks at the Union Station video bar. After we went over to David and Mark's place (Viz and Imajin from RGIN) which is a little out into the forest. Their place is beautiful and from the outside looks like the Brady Bunch house. I almost expected Alice to answer the door. They took me to the very glam Cheesecake Factory for dinner where I ate way too much meatloaf and potato. We got cheesecake's to take away for dessert. Day 03 - Did Someone Say Party? I love parties that take a direction that wasn't expected. It's Saturday night and Vizzy's TRL would broadcast from 10pm to midnight. During the day we went shopping for alcohol and party supplies. And the boys put on a FULL BAR service. They had every drink ingredient you could possibly want! It wasn't long before the 3 of us had our grass skirts and flower lays on and the guests started arriving. Everyone seemed to love the semi luau theme and wearing flowers around their necks. Some even stripped down to the wear a grass skirt... and later several stripped down to nothing. There were lap dances happening everywhere! Of course this was helped by the potent drinks that were flowing freely. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Even the show seemed to go pretty well. It was weird having up to 8 people at a time talking on mic during the show... I was completely lost amongst it all. The great thing was that I got to meet some of the other RGIN hosts as well as David and Mark's great friends. Day 04 - Burning Up in Ohio: People are saying that the strange weather patterns are a result of the wild hurricanes happening down south. Today was extremely warm and humid. Once we finished Imajin's radio show on Sunday morning we took Chase to the airport and then headed over to the Tremont Street Fair. Tremont once was an area full of government assisted housing and a high crime rate. Now the housing has been flattened, new houses built in their places and the main street has been lined with cafes and art galleries. They were having a crazy street fair. I'm not exactly what it was for... but it was a lot of fun. Loads of crazy people, music and yummy food! Later on Bill picked me up and we went downtown to check out the new Club Cleveland, followed by beers at Twist and dinner at Dianna's diner. I also got to meet Scott (famous for Scott-Boy.com and some other popular sites). I had traded mail with Scott ages ago but never imagined I would actually get to meet him! AND... he's an amazingly beautiful guy. I now wish I could stay in Cleveland longer to hang out some more. Day 05 - Shop-a-holic:
It's official... I can't help myself. I'm an
obsessive compulsive shop-a-holic. I have visited H&M stores 9
times during this trip. And you know what... they ALL
have the same stuff. Today was a perfect example of not being
able to control myself. I have to say that shopping in middle
America is the best! Bill chauffered me around to a stack of
malls around Cleveland today. We started in his home town of
Oberlin. A very cute little town built around the University
which was the first to allow black people and women to attend University
in the USA. We shopped up a storm everwhere from Walmart to
Abercrombie and Fitch. And we visited an amazingly huge store
that sold all College gear for colleges all over the USA. And they
were having a sale. Everything was $5.88 each. College
t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, pants, shoes, back packs, caps... you get
the idea.... all $5.88 each. How cheap is that??
I bought a stack of stuff today. Cleveland Ohio: Coming up to Cleveland was one of the highlights of this trip. Everyone I met were so nice to me. Cleveland was everything I expected and more. From the kitsch Malley's Chocolate Factory shop to the deer running about in Mark and David's backyard... no matter what anyone says... Cleveland is a beautiful place to visit. I think myself very lucky now to have been able to come and see Cleveland and meet some amazingly beautiful people.
PHOTOS
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