Adventure Saturday

Saturday found us out and about for an adventure. The three of us along with our friends, Larry and Linda, were meeting up with Ron's brother Wes and his wife Bev over in Tremont at Sokolowski's University Inn.

We have been hearing about this place for a long time and we finally made it. I don't know if the words that I type can truly justify this place.

First off, there was a line at the door waiting to get in before the place even opened at 4:00 pm. The line never went down. We were probably 100 people back when we got there and there was at least that many people still in line when we left two hours later. Was the food worth it? You betcha!

There was so much memorabilia and just stuff all over the walls that the wait seemed like nothing. There was so much to look at and take it that you almost wanted the line to go slower so you could catch up. Once you finally got to the top of the stairs where the food was, it was almost overwhelming.

This is cafeteria style. So you grab a tray, grab some silverware, and like any great restaurant, you start with dessert! Hey, I appreciate a restaurant that puts their best foot forward from the get go. Who am I to pass up some strawberry cheesecake? Of course I grabbed one. Then on to the real food. At the end of the line were rolls for the taking and they gave you a salad plate to take to the salad bar! C'mon now, if you left this place hungry, it was your own fault.

There was a choice of a handful of daily specials. Good Polish food for sure. Being Slovak, this was right up my alley. Here was my dinner of stuffed cabbage with a side of pierogis and green beans. Please note my strawberry cheesecake at the top left. Holy crap, that was good! Ok, it was ALL good! This wasn't Mom's stuffed cabbage but it was fantastic anyway.



Ron chose a pan seared red snapper with a side of pierogis and green beans. His dessert choice was a key lime cheesecake. The fish was cooked to order so it wasn't sitting on a steam table. Ron thought that it was fabulous!


Phil chose one of his favorite meals, the baked meatloaf. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures fast enough and obviously, Phil loved his dinner! This is what was left of his meatloaf! I think his sides were pierogies (do you see a pattern here?) and sauerkraut.


Like I said, we had a great group of family and friends around the table. For as busy as the restaurant was, there were still empty tables so we didn't feel rushed to get out of there and free up the table. We sat, we talked, we caught up, we goofed around, we just enjoyed the afternoon.

Going around the table, we had Larry in the shadows, me and Ron.


Ron and Phil:


Phil and Wes:


Wes and Bev:


Bev and Linda:


Me, Larry and the Pope!


After dinner, we headed outside for photo opportunities. From where I was standing to take the first photo of this blog, I turned around and this is what I saw - downtown Cleveland over the Inner Belt Bridge.

Keep in mind, the Inner Belt Bridge was inspected after the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis Minnesota collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The Inner Belt Bridge in Cleveland was found to have the exact same defect as the Interstate 35W and is in need of rebuilding. They have detoured truck traffic around the bridge, but I guess those of us in passenger vehicles are expected to take our chances on that bridge until it is torn down and rebuilt. I hate going over that bridge, but I digress.


Another shot of the Inner Belt Bridge. You could see the bumper of a car on the bottom left of this picture. This is also part of the parking area for Sokolowski's.


Looking up the Cuyahoga River and a closer look at the birds on the River. Well, I tried to get a closer look at the birds anyway. Work with me!



When all was said and done, we stood under the sign for a group photo opportunity. Another family was leaving at about the same time and the guy was hysterical! He said he loved photos and he wanted to be in it too! I tried to get his whole family in the picture, but they were too chicken to join in! So, thank you total stranger, for jumping in and being part of our family for a moment! You definitely made our day!!

From left to right, Total Stranger/New Family Member, Wes, Bev, Ron, Phil and me! It was a great Saturday in my world.