Cleveland

I flew to Cleveland for the Midwest School Social Work conference this week (paid for by KSSWA!) and enjoyed it very much.  I was impressed with the city of Cleveland or what we saw of it.   The downtown has a bunch of tall buildings but unlike Chicago, New York, LA, and any other big city I've seen, the streets were not all straight and the buildings were placed uniquely.  And there were some gorgeous ones mixed in.
I left work on Wednesday mid day and drove to Aberdeen for a quick hello to the papa.  My buddy and fellow School Social Work friend, Alexis, picked me up at Aberdeen and then we drove to the airport and flew uneventfully to Cleveland, arriving there after taking a Lyft from the airport, at 10pm.  We changed planes in St. Louis and didn't get to sit together due to the new boarding methods at Southwest.
We stayed at a hotel in the famous Playhouse square area.  It was a nice room in a decent hotel.  We got up and found a cool vegan coffee and juice bar for Alexis (I ate and drank and enjoyed also) and spent Thursday in workshops.  Lunch was on our own and we found a super cool grocery store/deli that was in an old bank.  It had tons of food to choose from, deli, salad bar, bakery, soups.  We sat outside and people watched.  After the afternoon workshop, we napped then went on a long walk up and down Euclid ave seeing the stores, Cleveland University, beautiful churches, etc.  Then we changed clothes and walked a few blocks to a pedestrian alleyway full of restaurants and bars.  We ate outdoors at Pickwick something or other which is a comedy show place and restaurant.  Alexis had vegan meatballs and I had meatball flatbread pizza.  Yum.  I also discovered blueberry Smirnoff and gingerly and sucked down three of them which made my toes numb and my laugh louder.  Then we walked back to the hotel and spent two hours by ourselves in the hot tub, pool, and sauna having our fabulous girl talks.
Friday was a day of learning with a luncheon at noon to honor the 11 state School Social Workers of the year award recipients.  I was given a corsage to wear and they had my name and pic on a huge power point.  They read off what Cheri had sent and I walked up, stopped to get my photo taken with a plaque and then said a few words at a podium.  I also had a power point I'd made playing at a table in another room.  I don't like recognition but I was honored by all this.
Friday after the workshop we were pooped so we got a smoothie and sat out and people watched some more before our lyft to the airport and uneventful flights home.  I then drove alone from midnight to 2 am to get home to my warm bed and family.