On the Ingenuity Festival What an exciting weekend in Cleveland! We had the air show, the Ingenuity Festival, Taste of Cleveland, and more. Imagine my surprise late Sunday afternoon, when, hungry and thirsty from having biked downtown, I could not find an open restaurant to give me some sustenance. That's right, from Euclid Ave., to the Gateway district, to the Warehouse district, every window I peered into was dark and featured a view of stacked-up guest chairs. The one open venue I found indicated that they'd be willing to pour me a beverage, but informed me that there would be no food until dinner time. (my strict grandmother used to give me that same admonishment to prevent between-meal snacking).

Are our restauranteurs CRAZY?! This is arguably one of the busiest weekends in Cleveland AND the last big hurrah of the summer, but hardly anyone was open for business during peak afternoon hours. We collectively moan about our economy, pine for a convention center to bring some live bodies downtown, but when we have a chance RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW to make some money, we just can't be bothered. There is no place for laziness in a growing economy. And if we're going to blow opportunities like this, well, then, we probably deserve to struggle.

By the by, I finally found a sandwich for sale at Constantino's market. While I sat at the outdoor cafe tables I watched some bikers cruise by once, twice, three times...trying to figure out what Constantino's was. They finally parked their bikes and came in for lunch, too. Evidentally, they couldn't find any other places open, either. Kudos to you, smart Constantino... who is also (very cleverly) going to be open on Labor Day.
From Cool Cleveland reader Karen D. Brockway downiecoATapk.net (:divend:)