Henry and I left the house around 11:30AM on Friday and headed out to Cleveland. The Black Queen was playing that night but I took the whole day off so we could spend some time that afternoon doing Cleveland things beforehand. We didn’t have any set plans, just: cafe and late lunch.

Our first stop was Atmos Cafe. I had the shaken honey espresso, and Henry got a tiramisu latte. They were both OK, the chocolate chip banana bread we split was good, but the overall vibe of the joint wasn’t doing it for me. Plus, they had a door propped open and it was NOT that warm out. I was sitting there shivering, and, as such, sitting there complaining that I was sitting there shivering.

Sitting there at a WOBBLY TABLE complaining about sitting there shivering at a wobbly table, I should add!

As much as I hate to admit it because – MGK – but the 27 Coffee Club was by far superior to this place YES I SAID WHAT I SAID. Not an MGK fan by any stretch of the imagination, but that cafe was pretty dope and the drinks were lit. What are: things an MGK fan would probably say.

We had planned on going to Happy Dog for an in between lunch/dinner before the show, but we had time to kill so we drove over to one of the parks along Lake Erie and went for a LITTLE STROLL.

Henry took hideous pictures of me.

Or is it more like: Henry took pictures of hideous me.

It was such a beautiful spring day. A cool breeze, warm sun, no humidity. Loved that for us.

This picture does nothing to illustrate the terror I felt as I tiptoed down this STEEP FOR ME path on shaky fawn legs down to the dog beach. The whole way down, I was a broken record of “OMG OH NO OMG OH NO HELP ME UGH OH NO”s–I’m tragically terrified of walking down trails. I was fine going back up though!

Lake Erie, everybody.

Idiot man.

Henry took forever to take this picture so then some guy biked over and started taking selfies behind me, thanks Henry.

(Also, how have we been to Cleveland a zillion times and have no legit touristy shots like this one!?)

We still had time to kill before Happy Dog opened at 4 (we even considered going somewhere else but I really had my heart set on Happy Dog because it’s been a hot minute since I’ve inhaled one of their veggie dogs) so we parked nearby and ended up stopping into Brewnuts for donuts. Do you know how hard it is to buy a donut when you’re starving but knowing that you’re saving it for the ride home after the show? OMG I wanted to eat one right then and there but I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat anything at Happy Dog after that without getting sick.

I ended up getting the vegan Churro (basically it was just a cake donut with cinnamon and sugar) and Henry, after agonizing over the choices like he’s not an adult with the free will to choose more than one fucking donut, finally opted with the Watergate salad donut, which was a powdered donut filled with the fluffy pistachio heaven & assorted fruit bits known as watergate salad. We definitely beasted the FUCK out of these on the way home and then the next day, Henry had to clean the car because he said it looked like we did coke in there on the way home lol.

They have super cute bathrooms* there and they know it too, which is why there are signs saying to please take your picture and go, no photoshoots, people need to actually use the bathroom lol. I can only imagine the influencer frenzy these bathrooms cause.

*(I was a lot cuter in 2022.)

*(The bathrooms actually ARE unisex, HENRY.)

I love me a good aesthetic and color palette, and this place fits the bill.

Henry got an iced carrot cake latte so that we could sit and kill some more time. I don’t know how he drank two iced lattes in one day, in the span of like 2 hours—I can’t even do that without getting the shakes and caffeine-induced nausea, and this motherfucker doesn’t even like espresso!!

It is just the coziest spot, exactly what I’m looking for!

I wanted Henry to stand in front of this wall, but he refused.

HAPPY DOG TIME. It was just us and a table with two bikers next to us who had vintage cameras with them so I was trying to get Henry to ask them questions about some of the cameras we have at home that I took from my Pappap’s house he just frowned at me and wouldn’t budge. I didn’t want to ask myself because I did not want my good mood to be ruined by a mansplaining seminar. They both put their helmets on at one point, like it was a visible, real world “OOO” message.

I always get the same thing at Happy Dog – veggie dog base with bleu cheese slaw and Froot Loops. The bleu cheese slaw tasted really weak this time and wasn’t as “saucy” as in the past, so my dog was kind of dry as a result. It was still good because FROOT LOOPS, but not as orgasmic as in past visits. Now I regret not venturing outside of my habitual nature and going for the vegan chili but also I try not to load myself up on questionable food items before a concert.

Like bleu cheese slaw and Froot Loops on a hot dog are not questionable, lol.

The other amazing thing about Happy Dog is that you can order a ton of different sauces and toppings for your fries or tots. We always get tots. Henry is a moron and selected Korean BBQ sauce after I already colored in the circle on my order form so we got two of them because Henry refused to cross his out and write in “OOPS, ERROR.” He sincerely ruins everything.

EVERYTHING.

We had some tots left over for the ride home, what a fucking blessing.

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