Discovering Erie

I originally thought of titling this series, 'Erie, the Town I Love, but often rip on to Make Myself Feel Superior, because Forty Years in Cleveland can Make you Feel Inferior.'

But that seemed a little too wordy...I've been coming to Erie often for the last 15 years...My wife grew up here, and we have come back repeatedly to visit her parents and some friends...But this month we moved here...Her parents getting older, and needing help...Driving up from Cleveland once a week was just getting old....And late night long distance calls when they have a medical problem suck...So we uprooted our lives, and a our kids lives...My wife felt this was something she needed to do...I won't deny, I have been looking to make a move...In the past we talked about places like Boston, Seattle and Toronto...So landing in Erie, PA surprised some people...

We're in a good community, with good schools, and the neighbors seem really nice...As a matter of fact, I have run into a lot of nice so far...If you have read my posts in the past, you know I'm a bit of an angry asshole...I'm going to have to work on that here, because everyone I have met, or come across has been nice...The employees at Lowes were all nice...At the CVS, they were nice...The Plumber we needed to come out was nice...The garbage man was nice...Random people walking down the street were nice...My wife said even the people working McDonalds were nice...(In Cleveland, there isn't a nice McDonalds employee anywhere, let alone one that isn't an idiot!)

The level of asshole here seems much lower...Sorry me rolling into town bumped it up a little...It must be something in the water...I've noticed over the past 15 years visiting, that Lake Erie is much cleaner here...I find it amazing that a hour and a half West from here, the same body of water is a steaming pile of crap...Maybe it's all the shit overflowing from the Browns Stadium...

Uprooting the kids has been the toughest part...My sales pitch to them is that this will be an adventure...We have so much to discover...We know about Waldameer, and that Sara's is awesome! We know about Splash Lagoon and the Erie Zoo...But I know there's more...My youngest and I always like finding knew parks to play at...Here, we only know Frontier, because it's close to my in-laws...We will be setting out on a mission to find all the best parks and playgrounds in the area...

As a sports fan, I find myself pinned between Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh...So I'l still be able to follow the Indians...I like the Pirates, hate the Penguins, hate the Steelers, the Browns have made me hate them...Intrigued by the Sabres, and Rex Ryan makes me want to see what will happen next with the Bills...I'm also excited to see the next Connor McDavid come through the Otters organization...And I know Mercyhurst plays some good hockey...

As a food lover who has spent his life in the restaurant business, I know Erie is one of the Chain restaurant capitols in the country...But I'm looking for the good stuff...I'll tell you Alto Cucina is my favorite restaurant in town...But I want to checkout 1201 Kitchen, Cloud 9 Wine Bar, and 28 North...


I have many questions...Many things to discover....

Where is the best place for live music? Is the local music scene good?  Please don't be all Train cover bands...My wife went to school with Pat Monohan, so I have a constant reminder of how my musical aspirations failed...

Is there any chocolate better then Romolo's?  Gonna be tough to beat that...

What are the best bars?  Best old man bar? Best dive? Best grub?  Best "nice" bar for after fancy dinner and a show at the Warner Theater?  Who makes the best Moscow Mule?

Another sports question...I'm from Ohio...And I don't care what they say in Texas...You and I know that high school football is just as big of a deal in PA and Ohio....So I have to ask...With McDowell being such a big school, why is their football team struggling?  The past few years they have been taking on Northeast Ohio powers, and getting smoked...

I have a lot to do...We have a lot to discover, and I'll have more questions...But we have the rest of our lives...After the the pain in the ass that this move was, I told my wife, we're not moving again!

So my journey to become an Erieite begins...If you have tips, feel free to share them.