Self-Service Wings

Let me just say before I begin this wing rating entry that the whole ranking thing is starting to catch on. The other day my sister and her Julie called me to tell me they had given a 4-wing rating to some bread pudding they ate at Sushi Rock. Feel free to use the rating system for any and all things.

On Monday we traveled to Bedford, Ohio to eat at the Wing House. A student of mine told me they were known for their wings. With a name like that, it's hard to believe, but I bought her story anyway. When we found the place on Miles Road we noticed it was right next to the Crazy Horse Strip Club, so automatically the ambiance of the place got 4 wings. Upon entering we were told everythng is self-serve, meaning that you walk up to the bar and order and you walk up to the window and order your food. When I first heard this, I was hoping we could also pour our own drinks, but that didn't seem like an option after I asked the bartender.

We walked up to the window and ordered: hot, hot garlic, cajun dry and kung fu, which was essentially teriyaki, but the name sold us. The wings came out quickly and they were hot and juicy. The hot and hot garlic werent very spicy, but they had a lot of flavor. The cajun dry were really good, though one of them did break in half, and Julie said that should be an automatic half wing deducation. I agree as well. The teriyaki was really good, but not the best I have had. There was plenty of celery, but the blue cheese had a mayonnaise taste to it, so I passed on that. Overall, with the ambiance, the ability to self-serv, the freshness of almost all the wings, along with the old married men dancing with the younger women at the pool table, I will have to give this experience a rating of three wings out of four and that includes the half wing deduction for the broken wing.

I know it's only Wednesday, but I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am off to go camping, biking and whitewater rafting in Southwestern Pennsylvania for three days. I will be back just in time for kickoff on Sunday.

This Is How I Roll

Sunday was so beautiful outside it would have been a sin to stay in all day watching football and drinking beer. Instead of doing my normal Sunday routine, Julie and I headed out on a 25-mile biking adventure through Lakewood, Rocky River, North Olmstead, Strongsville, Middleburg Heights and Parma. Part of the plan was to stop at the Nature Center in North Olmsted, because it is along our route, and I have heard great things about the view. On this particular day the center was hosting a settlers celebration/fall festival, so along with the view we also got to enjoy banjo music and fresh apple cider made right before our eyes. As we headed through Strongsville we stopped and enjoyed the picnic we had packed before finishing the final leg of our trip through Parma. We got home just in time for the Browns game AND THEN I was able to watch football and drink beer. I have included pictures to show how beautiful these trails are throughout the West and South side of Cleveland.

Why I Love Weekends By Sportygrrl

I was going to blog today about how it would be hard to top the greatness that was last weekend. I then realized I have been so busy this week that I am yet to blog about last weekend. In a nutshell, I had an incredible time with Roz on Friday night, woke up Saturday and went to my nephew's football game, spent an insane amount of time and money at Trader Joes, met my sister and Julie for drinks at the Wine Bar in Ohio City, then we attended the party of the year in Cleveland compliments of Mindy, woke up early on Sunday and made baby back ribs while watching the Browns play an incredible game of football, and capped off the weekend on Sunday Evening when my father and I broke the record for most points scored in one week in our fantasy football league.

As for the event on Saturday night, it would be a tragic if I didn't describe it in more detail. Every year, Cleveland Public Theatre throws a party called Pandemonium, which is the perfect name for this event. It is an evening of on-going comedy, music and theatrical events spread all over the campus of this west-side theatre. It also includes food from restaurants all over Clevleand and an open bar. Most people pay $100 to get in, which is why it is called a benefit, however we are lucky enough to have Mindy let us come to events like this for free. Even if I can't get in next year for free, I am going anyway. It is easily worth the price of admission.

As you can see, it will be hard to top last weekend, but this weekend is shaping up to be a lot of fun as well. I am heading to the Indians game tonight as they are about to clinch the Central Divsion. Tomorrow after biking we are going to a clambake before heading to the Roller Derby Championship bout. It's hard to say what could end up happening after Roller Derby, it's usually an adventure. On Sunday, I am going to TiVO the football games, so we can bike all of our favorite metropark bike paths before the nice weather is over. We are going to start on the Lakewood trail off of Detroit Road, head into Strongsville and then take on the Parma trail which will be about a 25-mile bike ride by the time we are finished. Yes, you read that right...I am recording football to go biking on Sunday.

Next weekend we are going on a 3-day camping/biking/canoeing trip, so both of these weekends could get trumped. Yes, you read that right...I am going camping. Wow, my life has really changed.

Goodbye Frye!

Early reports this morning from my friend Staci, a very reliable source, say that the Browns have traded quarterback Charlie Frye to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth round pick. Keep in mind she told me this two hours before it was reported on cleveland.com. Apparently I have contacts that rival Deepthroat from the Watergate Era.

My only question now is: Why does he get to leave? After his performance on Sunday he should be made to stay here and watch every game this season just like the rest of us. After playing the worst game of his life, he is now on a playoff team. The only logical reason I could think of is that because he is from Ohio, they found the farthest destination they possibly could as punishment.

First-Time Fantasy Footballer

Julie is playing fantasy football for the first time. Actually she is watching football for the first time, so it is a lot for her to take in. I find her questions endearing, and will blog them as they come up throughout the season.

September 9, 2007:
"Do they get extra points for end-zone dances?"

Bike The Trail, Ride The Rail

I didn't come up with that title on my own. All the credit goes to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. This company lets you bike the towpath and then you can jump on the train for $2 and head back in the direction in which you came. This is exactly what we did on Saturday when we headed south to Peninsula and parked at the Winking Lizard (foreshadowing), so that we could jump on the towpath. From there we biked north over 15 miles to Independence and paid our two dollars to jump on the train and head back to Peninsula. It was the coolest trail we have ever biked on, but it was also the hardest trail because it was a dirt path.

After biking and being dropped off right back at the Winking Lizard we had to have wings. The Winking Lizard in Peninsula has an interesting exterior because it has held on to the origianl sign showing there used to be a nite club in that spot. We ordered a dozen spicy garlic and a dozen caribbean wings. All the wings were the largest we have gotten at any restaurant and the spicy garlic were juicy and spicy, however the caribbean wings were lacking in sauce. Overall I would give the wings three wings out of four. Unfortunately two of our wings broke, which usually means that wings aren't very fresh. In this case, the new advertising in Peninsula could be: bike the trail, ride the rail and eat wings that are stale.

It's Hard To Be A Browns Fan

Sunday started out great. It was the first week of football, so how could it not be great? My dad showed up so we could head up to the Browns game. Before the game we were going to go to the Old Angle, but it was closed. We ended up just buying sandwiches at the store and went back to my place to wait for our taxi. After an hour, the taxi never showed up. We decided to start walking toward the stadium about five minutes before kickoff. After walking over a mile, which included my ticket falling out of my pocket on Superior Bridge, we finally flagged down a taxi and got to our seat halfway through the first quarter. This was just in time to watch the Steelers crush the Browns. We left at the end of the third quarter with the game well over, but the weather was just starting up. My brother Bob was nice enough to give us a ride home, but he was parked about a mile away. This is when the rain started. By the time we got to the car, we were drenched. It was a rough opening day for me, but my fantasy team has a great chance to win. That will probably be my last Browns game of the season. I like my fantasy world much better!

Father Of The Year Award

The father of the year award goes to my brother David, who gave up his home opener Browns-Steelers tickets to go to his son's sporting event. His love for his son is my gain. I will be at the game instead of him. I am so excited for football season starting as you can tell from my picture, where I opened a bottle of champagne during the first game of the season last night.

Lieberth Go Fish

As I was going out tonight, I went down to Mark's apartment to check in with him. The following conversation took place:
Mark: "Do you have any toilet paper?"
Me: "Damn! I was hoping you did."
Mark: "Damn!"

After spending a couple hours out with Mindy, and then me chilling out at home, Mark and I had the following text messaging conversation, because apparently at this point, we are too lazy to actually walk stairs:
Me: "I've got beer, what do you have?"
Mark: "Booze and toilet paper."
Me: "Nice! Wanna share?"
Mark: "Sure."
Me: "Yay!"

Thats how you play Lieberth Go Fish.

The Carnivorous Carnie

I went to the Geauga County Fair on Saturday night and ate like there was no tomorrow. It's amazing what happens to people when they walk through those fair gates with the smell of onion rings, elephant ears, gyros and sausage coming at them. I don't even like sweets and I have tried to give up all fatty foods, but all of that went out the window when that smell hit me. Just to illustrate the gluttony of it all, picture this: I had just finished a gryo, and then was standing in line waiting for a funnel cake as I was sharing "the world's largest corn dog." This was all after I had the wings. Like a moth to light, I can always find wings and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to rate fair wings, which in this case were much better than fair. I ordered up a half dozen hot wings and they did not disappoint. While it is too late for any of you to drive to Burton, Ohio to get these wings at the fair that has now left town, I would highly recommend it if you still could. The wings were crunchy on the outside yet juicy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. They were spicy, fresh and cheap and the best part is that I got them at a fair. I would rank these wings with three and a half wings out of four.

The Summer of Drinking Smart

Back in early June my friend Alison won a free happy hour party at The Garage Bar. Part of the prize included a bunch of free alcohol-related stuff, such as wristbands, t-shirts and a hat. In particular, a Jim Beam racing hat. Because the party was outside and my face was getting burnt, I decided to snag the hat and wear it for the rest of the night, and the rest of the summer for that matter. The best part of the hat is that it has the words: Drink Smart in tiny letters on the side. When I noticed that I declared the Summer of 2007 The Summer of Drinking Smart. As Labor Day approaches I decided to create a slideshow to reflect back on my summer of drinking smart. (Slideshow courtesy of Alison, Julie, Mindy, Roz and anyone else I hung out with in this hat)

Fantasy Football Trumps Wings

Last week I went out for wings and beer to celebrate losing thirty pounds. I love irony like that. Last night, however I decided to make a healthier "wing" to calm my wing craving. I grilled turkey breasts and threw them in a homemade wing sauce I created, which was extra spicy and extra garlicy-better than any sauce I have had eating out and less fattening as well. I still had a beer with them because you can't completely cut yourself off from the whole wing experience. While the "wings" were healthy and the sauce was mouth-watering, they didn't have the full wing crunch that you get with fried things-go figure. I would have to give myself three and a quarter wings out of four for last night's healthy wing dinner.

As many of you may know, I have a certain penchant for fantasy football, and with my draft being tomorrow night, I am getting excited. While eating "wings" last night, Julie asked me how fantasy football works. You can imagine how my eyes lit up when someone actually wanted me to describe one of my favorite passions. As I started talking about the draft process and how everyone chooses their players, I actually pushed my wings aside so I could use my hands to talk. At this point, she said: "Whoa! Fantasy football must be pretty serious if you are pushing your wings aside." For those of you scoring at home: I do love wings (of any variety), but I love fantasy football more.

Public Service Announcement

I got an e-mail with the following DUI checkpoints in Cleveland for the rest of the summer. I have decided to post them because you can never be too careful. The one on Friday, August 31st on West 25th is only a block from my house. I was thinking of bringing a lawn chair and heckling people. Perhaps I will even go to each one and make t-shirts like a concert tour. Nonetheless, drive safely Clevelanders!

Friday, August 24:
1. Mayfield / I-271 - The briefing will begin at 10 p.m. at the South Euclid sobriety checkpoint at 4130 Mayfield Road; five police departments will be working the detail.--
2. Euclid Ave. - The briefing will begin at 11 p.m. on E. 185th at Neff; three police departments will be working the detail.Saturday, August 25--
3. Columbia Road - The briefing will begin at 11 p.m. at the Olmsted Falls sobriety checkpoint on Columbia Road one mile south of I-480; eight police departments will be working the detail.--
4. Lorain / I-90 - The briefing will begin at 10 p.m. on Lorain at W. 150th; five police departments will be working the detail.Friday,

Friday, August 31:
1. Royalton Road - The briefing will begin at 10 p.m. at the North Royalton sobriety checkpoint on Royalton Road at Abbey; five police departments will be working the detail.--
2. US 42 / SR 3 - The briefing will begin at 11 p.m. at W. 25th at Franklin; five police departments will be working the detail.

Saturday, September 1:
1. Mayfield Road / I-271 - The briefing will begin at 10 p.m. at the Lyndhurst sobriety checkpoint on Mayfield Road.; five police departments will be working the detail.--
2. E. 185th / SR 2 / Euclid Ave. - The briefing will begin at 11 p.m. at the Euclid sobriety checkpoint (location TBD); two police departments will be working the detail.

Lions And Biking And Wings...Oh My!

I did enough on Saturday for three blog entries, but I will try to fit it all in this one entry. I woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning knowing I wanted a new bike. I debated and debated buying a new bike, but it made sense to me to invest in my new hobby. I ended up buying a gorgeous bike at Spin in Lakewood. I even got to test drive it before I bought it. I think I spent more time with this decision than I did when I bought my last car. I took my new bike to the North Coast Inland Trail, which is an old railway that has been paved over for biking. We started the trail in Oberlin and went about 12 miles. The trail is fascinating because some of the railway markers are still standing (see picture with marker and my NEW bike).

After biking, I decided to treat myself to wings for the first time in a month. That's right...I haven't eaten wings in a month. This along with the biking would explain my weight loss this summer. I thought about going to Winking Lizard because I know what I like there, but I have already rated their wings, so I branched out to the Parma Tavern. I was unsure of what to expect from this establishment because I have never been there. The tavern had over ten televisions showing the Browns game with a full house watching the game. I thought it would take awhile to get our wings, but they came out quickly. We ordered the following flavors: Teriyaki, Hot Buffalo, Cajun and Garlic. I was impressed by how fresh the wings tasted, but the sauce was lacking as well as the spice. They did serve the best teriyaki wings I have ever tasted though. Overall the wings had great taste but not enough spice; the blue cheese was watery, but the beer was cheap. Considering all of these things, I would give the Parma Tavern three wings out of four.

Finally I would be remiss if I didn't mention the performance of Brady Quinn against the Detroit Lions. Yes, he played well against scrubs from Detroit in the fourth quarter, but Detroit's starting defense isn't all that good to begin with, so I am taking it all with a grain of salt. It was exciting and this town needs some excitement in a quarterback. I look forward to see what he can do next week against Denver. I also look forward to Bernie Kosar's commentary. He is the worst commentator in the history of sports. The man sounds like he just left a wedding reception with a great open bar. As a matter of fact, I am starting the Bernie Kosar commentating drinking game. It goes like this:

1. Bernie stops mid-sentence: take one drink
2. Bernie mentions the word "quarterback" for no reason at all: take two drinks
3. Bernie acts like he just woke up and just blurts something out: take three drinks
4. Bernie slurs every word in his sentence: All drink!

As you can see, it was a great Saturday, which might explain why I was so tired on Sunday.

Helmet Addendum

I bought a new helmet for my city biking adventures. Yesterday as I was walking through the house, I was wearing my helmet before I got ready to go biking. I went to close my bathroom window and hit my head on the wall, as I always do, but this time there was no pain. There was only the sound of my helmet against the wall. I then decided I should probably wear the helmet full-time. I would feel a lot safer not only biking around downtown Cleveland, but also walking around my apartment in Ohio City.

Bad Religion

Yesterday I participated in an Ohio City Biking Scavenger Hunt. To say I was excited about this event puts it mildly. I have been biking almost 45 miles a week this summer, and on top of that I live in Ohio City, so I thought I had a good chance to win the $100 dollar prize. I even bought a new bike helmet to wear for the event.

We got our list of things to find five minutes before we took off and then the race was on. Things started out well as we captured the Franklin Castle on our camera phones, and then we were on our way to Church Street to captue the St. Johns Episcopal Church followed by a bed and breakfast, the Glass Blowing store, a mansion and made our way to Monroe Street to get a picture of the cemetary. We biked quickly back to the finishing point and realized we were the first ones there. As I showed my pictures for proof, I quickly realized my picture of the church didn't save. I immediately jumped back on my bike and went as fast as I could for a mile and a half to get another picture of the church. I made it back completely out of breath and found out that we had finished in second place. Instead of collecting the money prize, I found myself holding a ten dollar gift certificate to a local coffee shop. I was in disbelief. I have since found the humor in the fact that the one picture that didn't save was a picture of a church on a Sunday morning. I wonder if this was a sign that I should get to church more often.

Yum! Crow Tastes Good!

I was mistaken. There is indeed a bed and breakfast in Barberton, Ohio and I was there on Sunday to make sure for myself. Sure...I had to be lured by the smell of Barberton Chicken, but I ended up at the CasaBella Bed and Breakfast that sits right next to the lake. It was a beautiful place and a wonderful getaway spot, but just keep in mind you are getting away to Barberton, and once you are done bowling and eating chicken, there isn't a whole lot left to do.

Just Like Mapquest

Many of you may be aware that Cleveland was flooded yesterday. My direct route home and the route of many other people in the area was filled with water, up to two feet of water in many places. My office let out at 4:30 because the electricity went out in my building, and I was excited to get home early. Normally if I am let out at this time, I get home by 4:45. This is one of the advantages of living downtown. One of the disadvantages of living downtown is that it floods when we get a storm like we got yesterday. Instead of getting home at 4:45, I pulled in my driveway at 6:30. As I sat in traffic, I dialed up my inner Mapquest and came up with the following route.

1. Get on the Shoreway like you normally would to head West toward Lakewood.

2. Sit still in traffic for 40 minutes.

3. Drive on the side of the road to the lane you usually get in to exit onto 2 West.

4. See the exit for 2 West (as pictured) is flooded and head back three lanes to get onto 90 East. 5. Drive through the flooded lane until you get on higher ground.

6. Get on 90 East and call Roz and say “I’m home free!” until you realize that all the exits on 90 East are also flooded, and there is no way to turn around in either direction because of the traffic jam.

7. Jump onto 271 South and get off to go to the bathroom at the McDonalds in Willoughby because of the iced coffee you drank before you left work.

8. Sit in traffic with all the other people who live in the East suburbs.

9. Take the exit for 480 West and head to the State Road exit which puts you Southwest of the city.

10. Get off at State Road and head home.

11. Don’t forget to have a small panic attack every time you are stuck on a bridge or under a bridge because of what happened in Minneapolis yesterday.

Once I got home, I jumped on my bike and went down to Lake Erie, which was quite calm. I can only assume this is because half of it was sitting over on the Shoreway.

Biker's Guilt

I have come up with a new phrase: Biker's Guilt. This is the guilt you have once you realize you are not going to go out biking, even though you probably should because it's a nice day. When I got home from work on Wednesday it was raining. I knew I wouldn't be able to bike, so I instead decided to have a couple beers, which I believe is the healthy alternative to biking. After a couple beers, it cleared up outside. I felt guilt running through my body as I realized there were still two more hours left of daylight. On Thursday, it also rained, but this time I just decided to get ready for bed early and call it a night. Again it cleared up, but I was already in my pajamas, so I was feeling a little less guilt. This is when I got a text message from Tim letting me know he was working out at Edgewater Park. I looked at the clock, looked at his text message, looked at the clock again and then re-read his text message. Within ten minutes I was on my way to Edgewater to go biking. I just didn't think I could handle any more biker's guilt (I was raised Catholic, can you tell?).

Last night as I was biking around I was able to bike over to Wendy Park which is part of Whiskey Island. What an incredible little untapped area in Cleveland. It's hard to find, but it is worth it when you get there. Check out this website for more information on Whiskey Island and Wendy Park. I actually found a way to bike there from my house, and I couldn't be more excited. By the way, excitement always trumps guilt.

Wings With A Healthy Twist

I have decided to start eating healthier. Unfortunately eating healthier includes cutting back on the good stuff. However a Sportygrrl can not live on lean cuisine and light beer alone, so I went to the Winking Lizard (WL) in Independence for Wings. I present to you Wing Ranking System Part 2.

Every Monday and Tuesday, which is how often I used to eat wings, the WL has wing night where the wings go for 35 cents apiece. The bad thing about wing night is that the wings are always overcooked. I ate wings on a non-wing night once and the difference was huge. On non-wing night you get fresh wings with fresh sauce. I actually asked a friend who used to work there why they tasted so much better on non-wing night. She said often times the wings are sitting under a heat lamp or they have to re-cook them. this was exactly how the wings tasted: overcooked and dry. The ironic part is that we had to wait over a half an hour to get wings that were overcooked and barely had any sauce on them, and the sauce is of course the best part of the WL experience. Everyone knows, or at least you do now, that you don't go to WL to eat chicken, you go there to eat the sauce. The wings there aren't all that jumbo and they tend to break, which always disturbs me, but I blame it on the overcooking and not the fact that the wings aren't fresh. If that were the case, I would have a hard time going there, so I must continue to tell myself it is due to overcooking. On this particular venture we ordered five of each of these sauces: spicy garlic, caribbean, cajun and thai. My personal favorite is the spicy garlic, but all of these sauces are great. If had to rank WL on sauce alone, they would get four wings out of four wings. Unfortunately you have to rate the whole meal, and on this particular wing night, I would only give the experience two wings out of four wings. I also think I am giving up on wing night. It is worth the extra quarter per wing to get fresh wings with more sauce. I can afford it now that I am allowing myself only one beer per wing sitting, which is the healthy twist part of the meal.

Quick recap: Winking Lizard wings on wing-night are not good, but the sauce is always good. If you want good chicken you don't go to Winking Lizard, you go to Barberton.