SFO777

Mrs. SFO and I are off today for a quick one day trip to our adopted home town of Cleveland, and Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Our sports hearts will always be in Cleveland and especially with the Cavs and jinx or not, I wanted to be there for the potential Conference clinching game.

We were season ticket holders at both Richfield Coliseum and The Gund (now the Q) and I was at both Lebron James' first game in Cleveland with the Heat and his first game back as a Cavalier. I was planning to go solo but after Sunday's exciting OT win, Mrs. SFO said she wanted to come as well. So thanks to flashseats.com, we have Row 4 Center Court seats. She declined the chance to be on national TV with Row 1 seats right behind the Cavs bench, opting for seats with an actual view of the game. LOL. As usual at the last minute, United offered most of the F cabin at Saver mileage rates and we jumped at the chance to deny two more 1Ks their complimentary First Class upgrades.

• United First Class DEN-CLE
• The Ritz-Carlton Cleveland
• Hyde Park Steakhouse
• Quicken Loans Arena and Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals
• United Express First Class CLE-DEN

PreCheck South today was a mess with tons of kettles.



Fortunately, we used the CLEAR to bypass most of the PreCheck queue. Lots of pax waiting for the trains this morning.





With bulkhead seats this morning and now thoroughly familiar with United gate lice, we became overhead space seeking UA gate lice and commandeered the head of the Zone 1 lane.





Denver-Cleveland
United 833
A320
Wifi and Personal Entertainment but no power (brilliant Jeff!)
10:03A-2:55P
May 26, 2015
First Class





Another outstanding UA crew led by Purser Kevin. And yet another United open bar PDB, a rarity on AA mainline.





Lunch choices today were pretty much the same as last week, cheeseburger or chicken cobb salad with mushroom soup. The salad was a little skimpier than last week.





But the cheeseburger was actually not bad.









About 30 minutes after lunch, a delicious fresh baked chocolate chip cookie.



Our descent and glimpses of our old home town.





Another excellent United flight. After years of being loyal to American, Dougie's quick trashing of a once great premium domestic airline was all it took to explore greener pastures. Would never fly UA internationally, but for domestic service, they are currently at the top of my list.

With UberBlack 18 minutes away, we opted for a taxi and were pleasantly surprised at the city has gone with a dedicated fleet of airport only vans. Clean and spacious and only $35.50 to downtown.



Just a little over 15 minutes later, we were downtown at the Ritz-Carlton, part of the Tower City development. Now 25 years old, it didn't achieve the luxury shopping destination dreams of the developers. Still a great place for to stay while attending a nearby game.











While we checked in, the Hawks DeMarre Carroll walked up and Mrs. SFO wished him good luck tonight. Seriously??

Our room, apparently the basketball players got all the King Size beds.



















And the pleasant 14th floor Club Lounge.









Mrs. SFO opted for a nap while I headed out to take some pics of a downtown that has seen better days.







Iconic Terminal Tower, once the tallest building in the country after the Empire State Building... a long, long, long time ago.



















And our home for the evening...

icegirl

Hmm interesting SFO777, I have always though you to be a football (NFL) guy - 49'ers?

DetailsIM

I don't follow basketball closely but I'm guessing they are no longer burning Lebron jersey's

CosmosHuman

Enjoy downtown CLE. Go Cavs! But be aware there maybe protesters, just be alert.

Madone59

Basketball too huh? We need to get you back out taking photos at a PGATOUR event!

Have a great trip.

mike&co

Seriously !! I think someone is impersonating SFO777, I've just finished reading his last TR, he's hardly had time to draw breath and he's off again - what a life ^ enjoy

Thor3

Back to the "Land of Cleves". Enjoy the game.

FYI: the Terminal Tower never looked as good as in your picture.

Thor3

Great victory for Cleveland. It must have been fun to be there!

apodo77

Cavaliers did you a solid with a 30 point victory and the sweep.

Looking forward to the Hyde Park Steakhouse review. Go to Cleveland once a year for work and have wanted to try it. Will be there in August.

offerendum

The room really looks meh....

Loose Cannon

Thanks for the Trip Report and pictures. Congrats to Cleveland Cavaliers for their victory and making it to the Finals. Now Clevelanders will have something to do besides watch Channel 3.

UAL250

Very nice report so far. I hate Golden State (Portland fan here), so I will very much be rooting for LeBron and the Cavs. I think they can pull it off. We shall see.

Was Carroll limping when you saw him? I find it funny that the Hawks thought he could be effective guarding LeBron on one leg!

grandgourmand

No pictures of Polish Boys for dinner?

SFO777

More pics from our Ritz-Carlton room for a while before heading out for dinner.







Every now and then you get a stinker and tonight was that night. We had a choice of Morton's or Hyde Park Steakhouse. After a couple less than stellar Morton's experiences including in Cleveland, I opted for Hyde Park. Bad call. Wow, how depressing is this place with tired decor right of the 70's. Unfortunately, the food wasn't any better.







Yo chef, how about seasoning your steaks before your put them on the grill. And how do you get soggy fries??









For dessert, we decided on Key Lime Pie "made fresh daily". OK, whatever, Hillstone is still way better.



Then the table next to us offered a bite of their chocolate cake, which apparently serves 6-8. OK, that was good.



At around T-45, we headed up the street toward the Q.



And Mrs. SFO with my favorite pic of the trip.

















The TNT Inside the NBA crew... Chuck, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie. The best in the business.





As the players came out, an absolutely electric atmosphere in the building as nearly 21,000 came to celebrate.

















National Anthem



And player intros...



Getting ready for the tip.





Not a lot of pics once the game began. And what a game it was with the Cavs playing their best game of the series, taking an early lead and building on every quarter.









Reviewing an altercation at the end of the half as the Cavs take a 17 point lead into the locker room.



Halftime entertainment.









Warming up for the 2nd half and all smiles with a comfortable lead.







As the Cavs poured it on and opened a 25 point lead, lots of smiles and the anticipation of the Eastern Conference Championship and heading to the NBA Finals.









And the post game celebration with most of us soaking up the atmosphere and staying for another half hour.











A pensive Lebron, who came back home to try to end Cleveland's 51 year sports title drought, now just 4 wins away.























And the celebration continued outside.











What an amazing experience for a Cleveland sports fan. So glad we made the trip.

SFO777

Love football as well... Browns, and Broncos simply because we live in a Broncos-crazed Denver.

You guess correctly.

Thank you happymom2008. It was a great evening, no protests that we saw walking to or from The Q.

Thanks Madone59. Agree. How about Augusta next April?

LOL. Thanks mike&co.

Thank you Thor3. It also looks better from a distance.

Was an amazing experience to be there. Since we will be in France during the last 3 games of the finals, it was great to see one celebration in person.

Great game. But forget Hyde Park. Another great downtown restaurant is the Blue Point Grille in the Warehouse District.

Agree. The hotel is really showing its age. We'd probably not stay here next time, although the Marriott isn't very good and the Westin is too far from the Arena.

LOL. Thank you Loose Cannon.

Thanks UAL250. He seemed OK in the lobby. Even if was 100%, it seemed like the Cavs night.