Cleveland Rocks...and so does their CRAFT BEER!!

Our seventh Grown Ass Man Extravaganza (G.A.M.E.) football weekend trip focused on Cleveland, Ohio, this year and while the Titans lost a game they should have won; and our rental house was a bit old and beaten-down; and our scheduled fishing trip on Lake Erie got cancelled due to weather; and then four us got rear-ended in our rental car (under my name, of course) by a hit-and-run driver on our last day there; the trip was not a complete bust because...AT LEAST THE BEER WAS AWESOME!!

Some of the dead soldiers from "The Cleveland Campaign"

Thursday, September 17:  It started with an Extra Easy Ale from the local TN Brew Works at Tootsie's at the airport. By the time we arrived, my friend, Chris, who recently moved back up north to Indiana and was able to drive over to Cleveland had picked up an outstanding regional variety pack for our rental house including a Columbus IPA from Columbus (OH) Brewing, a Tobias Apricot IPA from Noble Order Brewing (IN), a Sunshine Daydream Session IPA from Fat Head's Brewing (OH) and the Black Rajah w/ Coconut Nibs from The Brew Kettle (OH),  Well done, sir, well done!!

Friday, September 18:  One of the first of three nearby breweries was the most well-known, Great Lakes Brewing.  With lunch I had the Dartmunder Gold lager, a sip of Wayne's Burley Man Cider from Griffin Cider Works (OH), and the Great Lakes Oktoberfest

We had a free day in Cleveland, so it was time to do some exploring. What our rental house and the neighborhood it was in might have lacked in overall appearance, it made up for with a great breakfast place in walking distance called Jack Flaps and no less than three good microbreweries!

We headed downtown to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which is always fun (this was my second visit there).   While there, I had a Wilhelm Scream pumpkin beer from Magic Hat Brewing (VT) out on their cool balcony overlooking Lake Erie.

We caught an Indians game at Progressive Field on a beautiful fall evening.  During the game I had a Sunset Wheat from Leinenkugel (WI).  And, yes, the Indians won.  After the game I had a Dragonfly IPA from Upland Brewing (IN) back at the house.

At one of our "neighborhood breweries"  I had their New Cleveland Palesner,  

Saturday, September 19:  Some sketchy weather meant no fishing which meant drinking at our third "neighborhood brewery"  called Market Garden Brewery.  I had the Wallace Tavern Scotch Ale, a sip of Wayne's Blumberry Honey Blueberry Ale from Fat Head's on a guest tap and then a St. Emeric's Stout.  Back over at Platform Beer Company, I had their Hubris, an amazing quadruple IPA.  I also bought a cool brewery T-shirt from them.

Besides drinking, a decent back-up excursion for us today since the fishing trip got cancelled was heading south about an hour to Canton, Ohio, to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame which I have to say was pretty darn cool.  

Sending a prayer up for Keith Bulluck.  He's a long shot to get in, but I was glad he got nominated since he's one of my favorite Titans ever, 

My favorite room in the PFHOF was the Bust Room.  Pretty amazing.

There he is.  My favorite player of all-time (besides Doug Flutie).

This was kind of a cool new display.  We have future hopes I guess.

After the Hall of Fame, we also visited the historic Canton Brewing Company for dinner.  The food wasn't great but the beer wasn't too shabby.  I had their D.I.P.A. and the Carpe Noctem Coffee Porter

Back at home I had a Champagne Velvet pilsner from Upland, a Bell's Brewery (MI) Porter, and an Upland Oktoberfest.   Then it was back over to Platform for a guest tap Bodhi Imperial Double IPA from Columbus Brewing, a Speed Merchant white IPA from Platform and one of their Symon Says Saison.  A few of us who stayed late got a nice free brewery T-shirt from some drunk lady who worked in PR and knew the owner.  Thanks, tuts!

Sunday, September 20 - It's game day!  We went back to Market Garden Brewery for a Citramax IPA and a Midnight Vorlauf Coffee Porter.

Good seats, great weather, bad outcome.  I can't believe that putz, Manziel, beat us.

Monday, September 21 - Before everyone headed home, we were able to squeeze one more destination in to visit...and it was a doozy.

Yep, that's the ORIGINAL house from the classic holiday film, A Christmas Story.

This is a great place to visit and a must-see if you are in the area.  They even have "electric sex" glowing in the window.

Did I mention I love my friend, Wayne..a lot?  Did I mention this is one of the most "interactive" tours I have ever seen.

Well, it's time to leave Cleveland!!  Four of us were involved in a chain reaction accident that shook us up, but luckily no one was hurt.  The dude in the red car had to go the hospital.  The person at fault behind him sped off.  Pathetic.  The police and fire responders were pretty lackadaisical in our opinion.  We were not impressed.  Avis and my insurance company were pretty good to work with, at least, and it didn't cost me/us anything when it was all said and done.

Look, this is blog is not a place for politics, but, shit, that's just funny.  Cheers, Mr. Prez!!