buzzdog
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My celebration experience went like this. I went by myself because my brother has knee problems, and my wife never would have handled those situations with the large crowds and lines very well. I've only been in Ohio for 2 years after living my entire life in the west (since age 18) so I don't really have much of a network of like minded friends established here yet. Much of that 2 years I've spent working out of state. In retrospect going on my own was an excellent decision because it gave me complete freedom to roam.
I reserved airport parking and drove up from the south around 6 am. The I-71 construction slowed things down and by the time I got to the airport there was already a 3 hour wait to get on the train. I finally made it downtown around 10:30 am and I went over to check out the rally area. Seeing how it was laid out and how I could still get behind the stage later I went over to various points along the parade route. I started a few blocks from the end but as it took longer and longer for the parade to get anywhere I worked my way upstream along the route. It was a simple matter to go a block off the route and then dive back in at different intersections. When the players vehicles finally made it I was somewhere around Prospect. I was easily able to work my way to about 25 feet from 9th street because people were coming and going constantly and the crowd wasn't tightly packed. I think there was room because so many people just went right out on to 9th as it was passing.
I got lots of pictures and videos but I haven't even looked at them yet let alone download them. We had a real nice interaction with RJ and Channing, and Kyrie spent a lot of time there. as others mentioned it was hard to see Lebron because he stayed sitting in the car.
After that I wandered over to the area behind the rally stage. It was nice because the spray from the fountain cooled things off and there was good shade from the building to the west. I could see the stage through the crowd but it was better to just watch the video screen. By that time I was pretty exhausted from being mostly on my feet. My right knee is only 5 months old and it still stiffens up so I was able to sit intermittently on the short walls along the walkways there.
When Lebron was speaking there was an idiot next to me yelling into his cell phone trying to connect with his brother who was somewhere at the rally. This idiot kept screaming into his phone for the all of Lebron's speech, and it took all I had to restrain myself from bitch slapping the douche. But other that that one moron I can say that I encountered nothing but happy, polite, patient people the whole day everywhere I went. I didn't try to push too close to the parade route but based on what the people who went early are saying I assume all the pushy assholes had horned their way on to the street through all the folks who were trying to do it right. That left less the aggressive people a little further back where I hung out.
When the rally ended I was pretty tapped out, new knee was stiff and sore so I sat in the shade for a bit and rested, stretched and got ready for the trek back to the airport. When I got about half a block from Tower City the whole shooting fiasco happened. The shots were over by the time I had time to get behind a pole but there was a stampede of hysterical people running right through my location. A coupe of white SUVs showed up almost immediately and SWAT guys jumped out locked and loaded so I stayed behind the pole just in case more shooting broke out.
It wasn't long before they moved the scene perimeter to allow people to move through the area except for the entrance to Tower City . I saw the police apprehend one guy and the ambulance pull away with the injured person, talked to a few cops so I knew I was stuck downtown for at least a few more hours.
I only wanted one thing, to get off my feet and to drink a cold beer (I hadn't had anything but iced tea all day). I couldn't find anyplace that either had chairs, or that was letting people in the door because they were at capacity. I finally found a place near Jack's called 21 Lounge or something like that, where there were seats and cold beer on tap. 2 beers later I heard the train station had opened back up and I made my way home.
I heard Hooley whining today because with so many people in town only 21,000 showed up for the Tribe game. I can say that unless you had a room overlooking the parade route, if you were down there in the masses, chances are you were too exhausted to even consider doing one more thing. At least that was my case because I considered it.
All in all it was an excellent day and completely worth going, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I'm in no hurry to review my pictures and videos so I'll get to it when I get to it. Most are probably poor quality but I'm sure there are a few gems in there.
I reserved airport parking and drove up from the south around 6 am. The I-71 construction slowed things down and by the time I got to the airport there was already a 3 hour wait to get on the train. I finally made it downtown around 10:30 am and I went over to check out the rally area. Seeing how it was laid out and how I could still get behind the stage later I went over to various points along the parade route. I started a few blocks from the end but as it took longer and longer for the parade to get anywhere I worked my way upstream along the route. It was a simple matter to go a block off the route and then dive back in at different intersections. When the players vehicles finally made it I was somewhere around Prospect. I was easily able to work my way to about 25 feet from 9th street because people were coming and going constantly and the crowd wasn't tightly packed. I think there was room because so many people just went right out on to 9th as it was passing.
I got lots of pictures and videos but I haven't even looked at them yet let alone download them. We had a real nice interaction with RJ and Channing, and Kyrie spent a lot of time there. as others mentioned it was hard to see Lebron because he stayed sitting in the car.
After that I wandered over to the area behind the rally stage. It was nice because the spray from the fountain cooled things off and there was good shade from the building to the west. I could see the stage through the crowd but it was better to just watch the video screen. By that time I was pretty exhausted from being mostly on my feet. My right knee is only 5 months old and it still stiffens up so I was able to sit intermittently on the short walls along the walkways there.
When Lebron was speaking there was an idiot next to me yelling into his cell phone trying to connect with his brother who was somewhere at the rally. This idiot kept screaming into his phone for the all of Lebron's speech, and it took all I had to restrain myself from bitch slapping the douche. But other that that one moron I can say that I encountered nothing but happy, polite, patient people the whole day everywhere I went. I didn't try to push too close to the parade route but based on what the people who went early are saying I assume all the pushy assholes had horned their way on to the street through all the folks who were trying to do it right. That left less the aggressive people a little further back where I hung out.
When the rally ended I was pretty tapped out, new knee was stiff and sore so I sat in the shade for a bit and rested, stretched and got ready for the trek back to the airport. When I got about half a block from Tower City the whole shooting fiasco happened. The shots were over by the time I had time to get behind a pole but there was a stampede of hysterical people running right through my location. A coupe of white SUVs showed up almost immediately and SWAT guys jumped out locked and loaded so I stayed behind the pole just in case more shooting broke out.
It wasn't long before they moved the scene perimeter to allow people to move through the area except for the entrance to Tower City . I saw the police apprehend one guy and the ambulance pull away with the injured person, talked to a few cops so I knew I was stuck downtown for at least a few more hours.
I only wanted one thing, to get off my feet and to drink a cold beer (I hadn't had anything but iced tea all day). I couldn't find anyplace that either had chairs, or that was letting people in the door because they were at capacity. I finally found a place near Jack's called 21 Lounge or something like that, where there were seats and cold beer on tap. 2 beers later I heard the train station had opened back up and I made my way home.
I heard Hooley whining today because with so many people in town only 21,000 showed up for the Tribe game. I can say that unless you had a room overlooking the parade route, if you were down there in the masses, chances are you were too exhausted to even consider doing one more thing. At least that was my case because I considered it.
All in all it was an excellent day and completely worth going, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I'm in no hurry to review my pictures and videos so I'll get to it when I get to it. Most are probably poor quality but I'm sure there are a few gems in there.
