SocialRec.

The wife and I were fortunate to experience a wonderful trip to Cleveland Ohio back in the winter of 2019. A bit of back story, every year my friend, Matthew Puente and his family, take a trip to a Houston Texans’ away game. This was before we had kids and we had some funds saved up, so I decided to join in on the trip. I was not even aware that this trip would fall on my birthday weekend, so it was even more special.

Getting to Cleveland was a much different experience than staying in Houston. For starters, it was snowing upon arrival. It’s been years since I’ve seen snow, so that was a great sight to see. Once we arrived at our hotel, I remember seeing a few NBA players and was star struck. It was members of the then, Denver Nuggets team.

I recall seeing the “Manimal” Kenneth Faried, and someone who may have been Will Barton or Wilson Chandler, I cannot recall. I do remember seeing Nate Robinson though and trying to sneak a picture of him. However, my silly phone made the mistake of being on “record” and not “photo” mode, so he immediately noticed and started yelling playfully, “No paparazzi, no paparazzi”. Immediately I felt dumb because he caught me, and I never wanted to be that person who gets start struck. The rest of the night was a blur.

The next day, we went to the Rock N Roll Museum. That was a memorable experience. I didn’t realize how huge the museum was, thinking we could see it all in just a few hours. You need a whole day to experience it all because it was several levels.

After the museum, we decided to go see the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the King Lebron James play that evening.

This was Lebron’s second stint in Cleveland and since he’s been in the league, I’ve wanted to be in the atmosphere where it all started for him. I had snuck in some baby powder because I wanted to do the traditional toss that Lebron does before the game. It was unexpected in our section that the folks around us were in surprise, but we all laughed it off. The game itself was fun. The Cavs ended up winning and we had a great time.

That Sunday, we witness the Texans take on the Browns in what was a different experience since it was snowing and freezing during the match. I purchased a couple of souvenirs to commemorate the game, and that night we celebrated by eating at the Hard-Rock Cafe for my birthday. It was an overall great trip to have experience the city of Cleveland. “Cleveland, this is for YOU!”- Lebron James