36 Hours with a Native: Family-Style with Holly Rosby
Holly Rosby, author of Craving Cleveland, is 31 years old and currently lives in Old Brooklyn. She's been married for 5 years and has a 17-month old son (who, I can attest, looks brilliant covered in hummos). She works part-time as a reference librarian and does chat reference from home. Says Holly: "I've lived in Cleveland for my entire life and honestly doubt I’ll ever leave."When I asked her to describe what Cleveland was about in 50 words or less, this is what Holly replied:
Cleveland is about not taking the easy route. It’s about making an effort to find the local eatery or place to shop. It’s about taking advantage of what we have, not complaining about what we don’t.
Holly begins her 36-hour itinerary with a caveat:
Christine, this was more difficult than I expected! As I started thinking about an itinerary I realized that there would be way different ones for the different times of the year and if I had my family with me or if there were no babies involved. I decided to go with this....September with family in tow. Since my in-laws have a few empty bedrooms we would stay with them.
So here is Holly Rosby's family-friendly fall itinerary:
FRIDAY
Rosby's Greenhouse and Rosby Resource Recycling [editor's note: yes, Holly is part of the Rosby Raspberry Empire. Mmmm. Raspberries.]
Take a tour of the recycling and composting facilities. Everyone likes taking a ride on the Gator and looking at the big machines. It’s pretty interesting to see how all the debris is sorted and composted. Afterwards visit the greenhouse and go raspberry picking. [editor's note: did you know you can take your yard waste to Rosby's for recycling?]
Dinner - Siam Café
It's a great place for a large group to get dinner and very kid friendly. We actually had our rehearsal dinner here so it has some sentimental value for us too.
Honey Hut Ice Cream
I highly recommend Chocolate Pecan!
SATURDAY
West Side Market - Walk around market and purchase items for dinner which would definitely include ravioli from Ohio City Pasta & steaks from Pinzone's.
Lunch - Nate's Deli
Shish kabob sandwich, hummus and fatoosh.
Afternoon – Coffee at Gypsy Beans. Take a walk around the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood & visit Edgewater.
Dinner – Cook at home our market purchases and enjoy a homemade raspberry dessert. Hang out in the yard, roast marshmallows around a fire and have some beers.
SUNDAY
Tremont - Stop for a coffee at Civilization and a treat from A Cookie and A Cupcake. Take kids to the park to play and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Stop at Banyan Tree and point out all the cool places that we used to go to before we had a baby. End tour with a quick drink at Lincoln Park Pub's patio.
Labels: 36 Hours with a Native
posted by Christine Borne at 9:47 AM
7 Comments:
This is a really chill itinerary, which is great. You get the sense of doing a lot of cool things in 36 hours, but the schedule doesn't feel rushed! I think that is the neat thing about asking a native vs. sending a NY travel writer to pick out some neat stuff to do. There's less flash, more room to breathe. Nicely done, and I look forward to more of these! =)
Yes, I liked it too. There was a locally produced TV show I used to watch in New York called $5 a Day, where the hosts would show you a day's worth of cool stuff to do that wouldn't cost more than $5. And I think there is a lot of interesting family-friendly, cheap stuff to do *here*. (Note: I am super-cheap, so I naturally like doing family friendly stuff myself.)
The other thing I like about asking native Clevelanders what their 36 hours would consist of is you get a handle on what the family traditions are around here. My mom has a photo montage of my sister, myself, and my nephew riding the same horse on the carousel at Memphis Kiddie Park. These photos span nearly 40 years. Call me sentimental, but I think these things are important when you're considering the strong sense of *place* we have here.
Oh. I also liked that Holly's itinerary involved buying food at the WSM, to be prepared at home. I worry, when I go there on the weekend, that the place is just full of "food tourists." I mean, people who are there just looking and not buying. I worry about this because even though the WSM appears more crowded now than it did even when I moved to Ohio City in 2007, I still hear vendors say, "business isn't what it used to be."
Thanks! I'd never heard of Rosby's Raspberry Farm. Sounds worth a visit.
Christine,
A terrific post, as usual. I've been reading your blog for a long time, and now I've got a new job at The Plain Dealer that allows me to do something about that.
Part of my job is to reach out to the local online community and find ways to use cleveland.com to bring more attention to their talents. I'd like to talk to you about what we're hoping to do, and about other ideas for working together. Please get in touch!
thanks,
John Kroll
Director of Training and Digital Development
The Plain Dealer
jkroll@plaind.com
216-999-4117
Christine - thanks for interviewing me! I'm anxious to read what others write.
Holly definitely captured the true way to enjoy Cleveland--by seeking out small, quirky excursions and sampling some local favorites. The only thing I'd add is a quick stop at Mitzi's (near Siam) for a drink and deep-fried oreos (if they still make them?)
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