Cleveland actually hosting the NBA All-Star weekend. This felt like a dream. I can’t believe it was happening and I was so excited to be downtown to celebrate and take in all the festivities.
For Cavs Wine and Gold ticket members the Cavs hosted an event on Wednesday to kick off All-Star week. It was nice of the Cavs to have us at the arena. We were given one drink ticket and 4 food tasting tickets and had access to some of the All-Star merchandise before the public. We also got to hangout with some of our favorite people, which is always a good time.
We checked out the merchandise, and walked around to check everything else out. Sadly we couldn’t see the court before the weekend started. We did get to try a bunch of different food. All of the specialty food booths had a special dish for the All-Star weekend. Wednesday night we tried the pizza with banana peppers from Flour, the burger from Michael Simon’s burger joint, and the spicy chicken sandwich from Pearl’s. All were great additions for the weekend and I hope some of them stick around for the rest of the season.
We spent Friday and Saturday downtown to take in all the festivities and craziness. I will admit I was hoping to randomly run into some people while we were out but if we did I honestly did not notice I was having so much fun. It was super cool just to be downtown and be around the fabulous atmosphere. Cleveland put on a great party.
Friday night we went to Butcher and Brewer for a drink. I feel like they have been closed for so long and I really missed their beer. We both had the albino stout which is one of our favorite craft beers. It’s light but has such great flavor. We then headed to a private event, hosted by Casamigos, at the St. Clair Ballroom. This event center is gorgeous. The views over looking Downtown and Lake Erie were beautiful. I wish I would have gotten more photos but I was really just living in the moment and trying to take it all in. There was free food and an open bar, featuring Casamigos and Chosen Family by Channing Frye and Kevin Love. The food consisted of some different bruschetta, chicken, shrimp, fruit and some other options. Everything we tried was done really well and the shrimp was huge.
The food was great but for me I was so excited to try the wine and it did not disappoint. I tried the Chardonnay, it had the oakiness that I prefer in a Chardonnay but also had some sweet notes. It was really good. The best part of getting to try this wine wasn’t just the wine it was being able to meet and talk with Channing Frye. It was so nice of him to take the time to come hang out, meet with people, talk wine and of course basketball. I asked him all about why they named their wine Chosen Family and he told stories about the 2016 season, championship and how it influenced their wine. It was the highlight of my weekend.
Mark Price was also there that night and walked around and visited with everyone. He is so nice and was so interesting to talk with. We talked about free throws and how frustrating todays league can be when it comes to them missing so many. I thank both of these amazing men for not just taking the time out of their busy lives to appear at this even but for being genuine guys and chatting with everyone. I really enjoyed the conversations we were able to have.
The event bused us over to the arena for the Rising Stars game. Which I very much appreciated with how cold Cleveland was over the weekend. It was crazy all the safety protocols that were put into place and I was very happy to see all of them. The agencies and Cleveland did a really good job of making us feel safe. Our bus was searched by bomb dogs and all the proper procedures were taken as we went into the arena to make sure we were all kept safe. We did make it to the Rising Star game at the Fieldhouse on time even with all of these protocols. It was awesome that we could be down town to be a part of these events and root on the Cavs players. Mobley and Okoro both played awesome in the Rising Stars game and their team won! The arena, court and stage just looked amazing. Cleveland and the NBA did such a great job. After the game we stopped into Harry Buffalo to check out the Michelob Ultra Beer Shaka Laka club they created for the weekend. NBA Jams games were all over the 2nd floor of the bar, and a DJ booth. They had different people perform and some retired players make appearance there throughout the 3 days.
Saturday we went down for the skills challenge. This is my favorite night of All-Star weekend and I couldn’t wait to be able to see it in person. We had dinner at Barrio before heading into the arena. The Cavs took home the victory with the skills challenge which was so cool to witness on our home court. It was amazing to be able to watch the 3 point and dunk competition in person. I will be honest I am missing the dunk competition of the 90s and early 2000’s but it was still an experience. The atmosphere of downtown and the arena was more electric than I had expected.
We decided two days downtown of all the craziness was enough for one weekend so we passed on going to the actual All-Star game and watched it from home. But just getting the chance to experience downtown for this event and being a part of it was an experience I will never forget. Cleveland did such an amazing job!!
