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Last weekend Jason and I had the glorious idea to have a date weekend together that was in town, but felt like it was out of town. If you’ve never done this, it’s a great and super fun idea to try! Plus it adds just a little bit of excitement!  We planned our weekend starting Friday after work and figured we’d stay one night at a hotel, then work our way back towards Cleveland on Saturday, doing fun “date” things a long the way.

Anyways, Friday evening  we decided that we wanted to try the new Michael Symon place out in Avon Lake, Bar Symon.  I made reservations at the Courtyard Marriott in Westlake, which is like a good 10-15 minutes away…but  it had an indoor pool/whirlpool (WORTH IT!).  So, we checked in, had some champagne and then we were on our way!!

After a few wrong turns, which is COMPLETELY normal for us (we get lost almost every time we’re together), we finally made it. The inside was very spacious, sleek and clean with lots of neutral tones, creams and stainless steel. It kind of reminded theboth of us of  The Greenhouse Tavern, on E4th in Cleveland (One of my favorite restaurants in C-town, BTW), but muchbigger with a more contemporary touch. The seating was typical to most Symon restaurants, tables very snug to one another. Luckily it wasn’t very packed, so we didn’t have to share our conversation with the table next to us, which I’ve often had to do at Lola. Besides all the obvious things I could see up front, I think our favorite little touch was the awesome toilet flushers..LOL!  Once I got over this, we ordered Ketel One dirty martinis and a yummy shrimp appetizer. It was citrus-y, light and refreshing. We decided to order two dishes to share, the fried chicken (tweeps recommended it) and the swordfish sandwich.  I also ordered some Lola fries…but come on, how could I resist? Both dishes were extremely tasty, and although we were stuffed, we decided to order dessert as well.  This lovely creation was house-made vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between banana bread with a peanut butter sauce. WOW. So simple, but oh-so-good.  (And I’m not even a dessert person!)

My whole point in sharing everything we ate with you guys is because I was really expecting the bill to be ginormous! I mean, usually top shelf martinis are $10-12 a pop, which can really push your bill over the top. Jason and I were both very surprised to see that the check was well under $100!! Can you believe it?! Three courses of fabulous food and two top shelf martinis!! I would definitely recommend this Symon joint, not just for dinner, but I hear the Happy Hour is to die for. Honestly, I’m a sucker for a good HH. PS: The beer menu is HUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE!!! 

The next day, we decided to begin our journey back towards the Cleve, but we needed some lunch! The Westlake Panini’s was on the way to the freeway, so decided to stop there and grab some food and afternoon cocktails (Hey, it’s the weekend). I’m really glad that not all Panini’s are the same, because I wasn’t expecting the wonderful surprise of finding soft pretzels on the menu. It made my day .  

Right after our meal, we headed back towards downtown to hang at Map Room until it was time to see a movie later. Ahhhh, my go-to bar LOL.  We sat for a few hours just chatting it up with Swarna and her boyfriend, and had great conversation (obviously).

To finish off our weekend, we went to see Avatar at the Tower City Theaters. Although it was fun going to a movie, neither of us were really “jazzed” by this one. I think we were more excited about the 3-D glasses and having a slight buzz from the bar.  I also managed to sneak in a little 2o minute catnap, which worked in my favor. Besides that, I was pretty annoyed to wake up and find out that Swarna had left only the yellow Sour Patch Kids behind. Who even does that? Brat. 

Looking back, I think this kind of weekend was such a great idea. It felt like we were out of town, we spent fun, quality time together and we got to try new things and hang out with friends! We even ended the evening at my place, playing some wii Resort. I’m pretty sure we’ll be doing this again soon…either that or actually leaving the state. But really? Who needs to?! Cleveland Plus has everything you need to plan an amazing, romantic and fun weekend.