First off, I wanna apologize for the delay in publishing the photos of my wonderful Cleveland trip. I’ll be frank: I’ve been a bit depressed since I got back to L.A. Not that I want to move back to Ohio, but I truly miss all my old friends and family there. I have been feeling low ever since I returned :(

The Cleveland journey was wild. Bret B. from Anavan, Richmond and I flew on Skybus (“Ten $10 seats per flight”—check it out!) and it was REALLY just like a… bus. It’s a no frills airline where there really aren’t any flight attendants. The airline workers are dressed like concessions people at the ballpark with aprons and credit card readers, serving the passengers booze. Everyone on the flight seemed drunk (it was 6:30am!), and before long the attendants were encoraging inebriated passengers in red-and-white Ohio State gear to prove their state loyalty by leading cheers on the plane’s P.A. system. The look on Bret and Richmond’s faces was priceless as the cabin erupted with chants of “O-H! I-O!!” I was kinda cringing at first, but, hey, Ohio spirit was pretty infectious.

We landed in Columbus and took I-71 to Cleveland. The highway was soaked with blood and gore from all the roadkill (deer, raccoons, possums, you name it…). Eww. I had forgotten about that. Along the way we also saw beautiful fall leaves (still on the trees—which was amazing considering it was November), and Bret had his first Arby’s sandwich.

Justin H. and his wife Sara are dear old friends from my Case Western Reserve University days, and they welcomed us at their beautiful Lakewood home. If you can find a job in Cleveland, you can live really well, and we were all very impressed by their pad. Justin was also playing the show I was hosting that night, so we all went to Papa Nick’s on Clifton for some fantastic Italian-American food.

The concert I hosted at Now That’s Class turned out magnificently, and I would like to say thanks so much to DJ Beckett, John Delzoppo and Clan of the Cave Bear, Ownweatherone, Stephe DK, Paul and everybody who came out… The music was great, the drinks were SO cheap (I got wasted… duh) and it was just so nice to be in Cleveland again.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to food (we had snacks from Presti’s and Corbo’s, a luxurious dinner at Lola, an amazing Slovenian feast at Sterle’s, White Castle [Bret and Richmond's first!], an enormous Polish meal at Sokolowski’s University Inn, frozen custard at Rosati’s, and Middle Eastern cuisine at Aladdin’s in Lakewood), brews (the Beer Engine and a 10-beer tasting at Great Lakes Brewing Company), thrift store shopping, friends and family. I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to see, and that made me sad, but I visited twice this year and will likely be back again soon!!!

By the time Richmond, Bret and I slumped onto the plane to return to SoCal we had each gained 10lbs. and lost many brain cells on account of the incredible quality of the beer! When did Cleveland get so beer crazy? Wow.

I wish I had taken more photos, but I was just trying to chill, and it felt weird snapping photos of people I was trying to catch up with. Anyhow, maybe I’ll write more about our stay soon. Enjoy the photos!!!!

Though our attempt to phot-document every food item we ate in NorthEast Ohio was a failure, this pic—of a delicious pizza at Papa Nick’s on our first night—is a lovely visual metaphor for the Cleveland trip: big, yummy, and loaded with calories

Here’s the gang: Brandon & Justin (of Ownweatherone), Sara, Bret and Richmond at Papa Nick’s

Ownweatherone!!!

DJ Beckett!!!

Los Angeles meets Cleveland: hanging at Now That’s Class!!!

Ron Kretsch and Stephe DK!!!

Realicide!!!

Clan of the Cave Bear!!!

Richmond, me & America’s Next Iron Chef Michael Symon at Lola!!!! Note: Carnage with massive “gay hand”

Big BIG Carnage birthday lunch at Sterle’s Country House!!!

Gramp, Carnage, Richmond, & Anne Carnage!!!!

Richmond tames the wild Stegasaurus!!!

Richmond’s first White Castle slider!!!

Oh, yeah, that’s good!