After many valiant attempts by Jess’ Mom to snap a family photo featuring each of us with his or her eyes open and looking moderately sober, a feat as of today unperformed in a few years, the Young children took off for lunch at Tommy’s in Cleveland Heights.
Along the way, we pointed out buildings that were new or gone, businesses that managed to remain and those that had disappeared. We stopped by Mac’s Backs bookstore, peered in the windows at the late, great Centrum movie theater, which appears to be under renovation as an improv comedy theater involving robots, and checked out the expanded Big Fun toy store (for those familiar with the Coventry area of the past 10 years, it’s still in its original space but has opened a large satellite location just across the street where High Tide Rock Bottom used to be).
Wonders do never cease: the Akron-Canton Airport, the same age and size of a Young Mens department at a Montgomery Ward, now has free wireless internet access. Note to self: bring laptop next trip. It will come in handy for passing time waiting, as I had to do today when a suspicious parcel threat shut down LaGuardia temporarily and delayed all flights an hour.
In a sad conclusion to an otherwise fine holiday, when I arrived back at my apartment, I watched Bewitched, a terrible, terrible movie during which I laughed not once.