Cleveland Rocks!!!

Blackmore's Night does not come to North America to play very often, sticking mostly to castles and cathedrals of medieval Europe, so when we saw the opportunity to catch them live we jumped on it. Cleveland happened to be the closest venue, a solid four hour jaunt around Lake Erie even though really just diagonally across from our place!

We figured we might as well make a day of it, so we headed out early and made the trek. We eschewed the speedy interstate and opted instead for scenic road along Lake Erie, once clear of Detroit and Toledo. The rain let up just before we got to Cleveland, allowing us to spend a few hours walking the surprisingly nice architecture and feel of the downtown core. Cleveland sits right on the opposite shores of Lake Erie, a little chilly on a sombre October day, but nothing a few good Great Lakes Dopplebocks can't fix.

The BMN show was incredible, two solid hours of Ritchie and Candace and their merry band of minstrels in an intimate venue. Sadly no pics of the show itself, but truly memorable all the same. Made the drive home afterwards, late and long but crossed the border with no wait or difficulty.....walked in the door just after 3am...

Blackmore's Night at the House of Blues

Cleveland architecture

...and from a distance....

Central monument and The Tower in the background

Zippity Do Dah!

I recently experienced a neat tree-top adventure walk, involving zip-lines and various unstable platforms strung high up in the trees using wires. The zipping was nice a break from all the other wacky balancing acts, including a huge final zip down to the clubhouse for a nice cold beer in the parking lot.

In the end it was a heck of a workout, and we only did the Medium level of difficulty. All in all a memorable experience....and everything is actually much higher up than the photographs make it look!

Clipped on for safety...

Yes, that is my arse over my tea-kettle....and the next thing I did was let go!

The Skateboard of Doom!