This past week was a little on the quiet side. We stopped at Kirtland Creamery for one last Lake Erie Monster for the month of July. I think it is seriously one of my favorite flavors. I was so excited to have it one last time.
Friday we had an early lunch at Sol in Downtown Willoughby. Their patio is one of my favorites in the Downtown Willoughby area. It has a waterfall and tons of beautiful greenery. Since we went in early we got to enjoy the patio just the two of us for half of our lunch, which was so nice. I got the crispy chicken sandwich and my husband got the Cubano. Both came with street corn. My chicken was nice and crispy had a good crunch to it and lots of flavor in the breading.
We then spent the afternoon kayaking the Chagrin River. We launched them at the launching dock off Erie road in Eastlake. The family that runs it is super nice. It was $2 to launch our own kayaks and then you can also rent singles and doubles from them with life jackets and paddles. It turned out to be a beautiful day. When you launch from this spot it is really quiet and rural with some geese to keep you company. We then headed towards Trader Jacks and the soccer fields just enjoying the weather. We were on the water for about 3.5 hours and I got so burnt. Note to self remember to apply sunscreen more than once.
I decided to get brave on Saturday morning and went out for breakfast. I have been trying to not head out so much on the weekends whether it be to shop or eat out, as most places are just busier. We headed to Sunny Street Cafe for breakfast in Concord. Concord is a tinier suburb in between Chardon Mentor and Painesville. The area where Sunny Street Cafe is locate is really beginning to build up. They have added some new restaurants and a hotel. We had never been to Sunny Street and it was busy but I now understand why. For one everyone was very well socially distanced even though they were busy which I very much appreciated.
Two the food was very good. My nephew got the pancakes, ordering the double portion not realizing how large a double would be. It was huge by the way. My husband got the country fried steak with hash browns and ordered the sweet and spicy bacon. The sweet and spicy of the bacon was a perfect combination providing tons of yummy goodness. Lastly I got the loaded hash browns. They were loaded with cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs and sausage gravy. They had great flavor and the portion size was perfect. I would definitely return to try some other stuff on the menu.
To finish out our weekend we headed to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for the Asian Lantern Festival. This event goes until August 23rd, Wednesday thru Sunday from 630 to 1030. I was a little nervous about the amount of people that would be attending, as in the past it was jam packed, but the zoo did a fabulous job. They allowed just the right amount of guests in. I never felt overwhelmed or crowded by people. Everyone seemed very aware of everyone else. The metroparks had employees walking around monitoring mask wearing and if you were eating or drinking you could move your mask. This event has always been put on very well. This year though I appreciate all they are doing with the times we are in.
As for the lights themselves!!! They get better and better every year. This is an event I very much love attending. I truly appreciate all the beauty throughout the zoo. The lights just add so much to the whole zoo. My favorite was the beautiful changing colored flowers with the panda bears and the under the sea area as you are waking towards the giraffes. They had some lights that changed position and color. Some interactive lights with a piano that the kids could walk on, and circles that changed colors and played music when the kids walked on the them. The circle swings were there still and is something the kids love and look forward to.
If your looking for something fun to do with the kiddos this summer I highly recommend this event. The last two years were amazing and this year was nothing short of amazing. As I said before I was nervous because of everything going on but they did a good job lessening the crowd and keeping people a safe distance from each other. It was nice to have one normal thing not cancelled this summer.
Well that’s a wrap for the week of July 20th.