On Friday, I met up with two of my ol gal pals, Catie and Marie for some good times. I was in for quite the healthy/delicious meal at Catie's house when she made an outrageously good vegan pizza. I'm so lucky to have an awesome friend who also is a dietian and fabulous chef! Triple threat :)
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Vegan pizza made with cornmeal,
buffalo tempe, peppers, onions, black olives, sauce
and deliciousness! |
And then I met Marie out for a drink in Ohio City and received too many unsolicited pick-up lines.... Ayayayi! So it was an interesting start to the weekend sans any photos. (Probably the best for everyone's sake). When I'm with Marie...shenanigans always ensue along with lots of laughs :)
Saturday, I met up with more gal pals for brunch and a day full of adventures around CLE! We started off by brunching at
Stone Town, which opened up this past fall in the bottom of 668. Good southern style eggs and fried green tomatoes! Yum!
Post-brunch, we headed over to
CLE's old Slovenian neighborhood in St. Clair-Superior to check out the new
Clevleand Flea.
"So what is The Cleveland Flea? Part urban treasure hunt, part culinary adventure, part maker center. An organized maze of experiences, The Cleveland Flea celebrates the thrill of the hunt and discovery of new to you treasures."
source.
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| JAM packed space with flea market finders |
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| Gina and Kayla showing off their treasures! |
From hand-crafted jewelry, presents for your pets, soap, clothes, glassware, vintage finds, and upcycled goods...this place has tons of treasures! It was fun for me to visit an emerging neighborhood that's being revitalized by shining up the good ol stuff, creating new arts and crafts, and showcasing CLE's ethnic history too!
And speaking of making history,
Portside Distillery is making some (rum) waves on the East Bank of the Flats. The girls and I continued our adventure by going on a wild goose chase to find the new rum distillery. Although they have no marked signs on the outside of the building, it was a welcoming fun place that kinda made me feel like I needed to do the secret knock at the door to get into the underground bootlegger :) The area around the distillery will certainly transform once its neighbors in the new Ernst & Young building move in. More booming business!
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| We found 'em! |
The place brews up some hoptastic IPA and some fancy rum too! Personally, I am more of an IPA gal myself, but after learning more about the process of distilling alcohol and getting a fresh taste of it too, I certainly have a new appreciation for rum!
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| Dan, one of the owners + silver rum + me cheesing |
Dan, who is one of the three owners, gave us an incredible tour and explanation of how the process works to distill alcohol. He has a background in physics and chemistry but an affinity for good booze, so he does this as his hobby! How cool! And he was dropping some serious knowledge bombs on us, accompanied with a deep love for CLE, and goofy humor.
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Dan explaining the chemical process--
and the copperpot that was made in neighboring Tremont! |
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| Gina + Portside Silver Rum |
The Portside Distillery is slated to open a restaurant and bar on site too, which will be another exciting addition to CLE, and one of a kind venue. To stay updated be sure to like them on
Facebook.
On Sunday, we hit one of my favorite brunch places,
Touch Supper Club, for a reunion with friends and familia from JCU. Marie now lives in DC and we'll be going down to visit her in 2 weeks to celebrate Steph's bachelorette party. And well Kay, he's the one that everybody loves :)
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| Marie, me, Kay & Steph getting our brunch on! |
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| The Touch Breakfast Bowl. Never fails me! |
Always great to catch up with friends over some the best brunch :) The rest of my plans for Sunday post-brunch didn't end up panning out how I intended, but it certainly was an action packed weekend of reunions, brunching, flea market discoveries, and wild goose chases for rum that maybe it's best if I sit back and digest the weekend!
Have you been to the CLE Flea? What's your best flea market find? Have you ever gone on a brewery or distillery tour? What's your favorite local CLE drink?
Hope you have a good week, kids! Keep JAMmin!
