Our furthest (so far) tournament of the Bantam B season took us to the home of Rock and Roll (Hall of Fame at least). Mike and I actually left Binghamton on Thursday when he got out of school, traveling as far as Erie where we spent the night. We had dinner at our favorite Quaker Steak and Lube, and then crashed out at the Country Inn and Suites in Erie (room 206, $71.04 for the night).
On Friday morning, we got up and had breakfast at Steak and Shake before heading the rest of the way to Cleveland. Jill had spent the week in Chicago for work, and she flew into Cleveland on Friday afternoon. Mike and I met her there, and then we went to our hotel for the weekend, the Fairfield Inn and Suites, Beachwood. After settling in at the hotel, hunger set in so off we went to a restaurant we had been wanting to get to for quite a while - Melt! Located in Cleveland Heights (and one other locale in the Cleveland area, but this was a great choice!), we were only 15 minutes or so from our dinner destination. All three had a great meal, and it is certainly somewhere we'd go back to if we were given the chance. Back to the hotel after dinner where we just hung out and called it a night.
Saturday brought our first game of the tournament, against the Plymouth Ice Sharks. We got to the rink in Mentor a bit early, so we went to the Manhattan Diner in Mentor for some lunch. Mike played this game, and was on the winning end of a 3-2 decision. After the game, before going back to the hotel, we stopped at Spudnuts so Mike could get a doughnut - his gift for a game well played!
The team dinner came late afternoon on Saturday, and we pretty much hung at the hotel after that.
Sunday had two games on tap, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Before heading to the first game we stopped at Bahama Breeze for some lunch. The Pond hosted our first game on Sunday, with Mike sitting this one out. The Olean Arrows defeated the Jr Sens in this game by a score of 5-1. Between games, we had another team meal at the hotel, using most of the leftovers from the day before. Game two on Sunday was at the Gilmour Academy, where the Jr Sens played the Indianapolis Racers and lost 7-2. Mike played in this game as well.
The Jr Sens fourth and final game of the tournament was Monday morning, back at the Mentor Civic Arena, site of our first game on Saturday. Mike rode the pine pony again on Monday, and the Sens lost to the Chicago Jets by a score of 2-1, with Chicago scoring a power play goal with 20 seconds left in the game.
Hit the hotel one more time after the game, where Mike and the Lindaman's played in the pool for a bit before we packed up the car and headed east. We stopped at the Quaker Steak and Lube in Mentor for lunch before making the trip back to Binghamton, arriving home early evening on Monday.
Cleveland, Ohio
Thursday, January 13, 2011 - Monday, January 17, 2011
Total Miles: 913 Miles
Page Last Updated: May 11, 2011