How the Other Half Lives

And by other half, I mean the other half of Cuyahoga County, a.k.a. The East Side. Yes, folks, my children and I crossed the Cuyahoga River today and ventured into unknown territory.

It all started with a Food Network Challenge. The kids love to watch these, especially when they have to do with cakes. The last one we watched featured a Cleveland bakery--The White Flower Cake Shoppe. The competitor did a really good job, considering it was her first challenge. We looked up the bakery, and of course--it was on the east side, Beachwood, to be exact.

Somewhere in the back of my mind an idea started forming that maybe we could go to this now-famous cake shop. But the east side? I just didn't know. You just don't cross over around these parts. It's been said that Cleveland is where the midwest meets the northeast...and I am definitely more of a laid-back, minivan, Target, mild snow storm kind of gal than a sophisticated, SUV, Nordstrom, snow belt kind of gal. But it's always good to try new things, to step out of your comfort zone, to have an adventure.

So today we headed east. Our first stop was Preston's H.O.P.E., a park we found out about on and Ohio Adventures blog. Looks fun, it's free--let's try it. It was a ton of fun. There is this whole little village with two levels to run around in, great for hide-and-seek. We turned it into a game where the kids were trying to hide from me and my camera. We all got really into it and I was laughing so hard it brought tears to my eyes. We were there for about an hour and a half and did not fully explore everything, so we will definitely have to go back. (And guess what? All the mothers there looked just like me. What was I so afraid of?)

The next stop was just up the road a bit, at La Place mall, home of the White Flower Cake Shoppe. There were some gorgeous cakes on display there. I thought it would be more of a bakery with a bigger selection, but it is truly a cake shop. There was one little display with little decorated cakes that cost $15.99 (uh, no) and wedding cake slices for $5 (that's a little better), but then we spied the cupcakes for $2.95 a piece. That's the ticket! We each got one, and can I just tell you--it was divine. Two kids got the cookies n' creme cupcakes, two got the s'mores cupcakes, and I got a red velvet with cream cheese frosting. I have never had frosting as heavenly as what was atop that tasty morsel. To. Die. For.

The final stop on our tour was Legacy Village, again--a place that has always seemed so intimidating. We drove through once to see what all it was, and lo and behold, it's just like Crocker Park! In fact, Crocker Park is much bigger! I can do this, no problem. We hit up the Joseph Beth Bookstore (a typical eastside name there), Heather's Heat and Flavor (for some hot sauces for Daddy), and La Gelateria (for some gelato, duh). Yes, I know we just had a major cupcake, but it was gelato and it was good. After that we headed back to the security of our home turf.

All in all, it was less than 30 miles away--a mere half hour, and we got an afternoon full of fun new experiences. While I definitely saw some hoity and some toity, it was not the foreign country I feared it would be. We may be venturing back someday, but don't worry, I am forever loyal to my westside peeps.