Christmastime in the City

 We don't go into the city very often. It seems fun enough, but we don't know where anything is, parking is a challenge... but those are not good excuses, so we recently decided to brave the unknown. We went to Tower City, which is just a mall, but full of Christmas cheer and right there in the middle of hustle and bustle. Christmastime is the perfect time to go down there. We both love malls during Christmas. 

It was cold and snowy, but we found decent street parking that was also free on weekends, so it was all worth it. We walked through this building to get where we were going. It was full of Christmas decorations, but there was no one else inside the shops or walking around. It was strange. 

We walked to the Old Arcade, which I'd heard about but not yet experienced. It's beautiful inside though. Google somehow made this picture glitter, but it really was quite lovely. Two weddings were going on there and we did our best to stay out of the wedding photographer's way.

We passed by this window. Did you know that the movie A Christmas Story was filmed in Cleveland? Both Carson and I hate the movie, but in honor of Cleveland, I want to get a leg lamp ornament before we leave and maybe even drive by the house - there are even tours of it!

We walked to Tower City and passed the Hard Rock cafe on the water.

And finally made it inside where it's warm. The tree was covered in ornaments and nutcrackers. We didn't have any shopping to do, so we walked around and then went out onto Public Square.

We walked outside because we saw all kinds of lights from the windows in Tower City. This square is decorated every year for Christmas and it's so fun! Behind me in this picture is the huge Christmas tree that's at the center of it all. And it's a real tree! The tree was supposed to be in the picture too, but we had a miscommunication :)

The flash pictures capture how really snowy it was that evening. Very seasonal, I thought.

Carson liked this sign.

I made a snow angel. I think the cold weather made me impulsive.

East 4th. Mom and I walked down here in July when they visited and I took a similar picture.

We thought about eating down there but decided against it and headed back to the suburbs. We ate at Yours Truly, a local favorite and a favorite of ours. After our meal, we got back in the car and drove around looking at Christmas lights. There were some excellent displays in the neighborhood we chose.

And we happened upon some reindeer... er, deer in someone's yard.

Although it looks much later, it was only 7pm by that point (I KNOW) so we came home and watched a movie and went to bed early. It was a lovely night exploring Cleveland, and because of this adventure, I think we'll make more trips there very soon!