Food Trucks and Puppets

Grad parties have gone the way of weddings, in that they have become over the top. We can barely navigate our residential development on a Friday or Saturday night anymore, with over 50 cars at a time lined up and down the streets. Often, on both sides of the street, violating city codes. We refused to participate in the madness, only having small, close family parties for our own children (and honestly, they didn't want anything more). And we've always gracefully turned down most invites, but this weekend we made an exception, as we are close friends with the parents. After parking our car a half mile on another side street (closest we could get), I was a little surprised to see this parked in their driveway:

Probably the most famous food truck in Cleveland. I'm generally no where near food trucks, so it was my first time I've had their 'street tacos.' And honestly? My husband and I don't get the hype. I make a MUCH better chicken taco. However, the party was a lot of fun, and I saw many people I hadn't seen in years, as most of us don't have kids in the school system any longer.

On Saturday night, we had the whole crew together (all my children, plus my son-in-law) for a rare night out. We started with dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Akron. They are known for their specialty cocktails and unique food combinations. I'm not much of a hard liquor girl, so I tried this:

Lost Coast Watermelon Wheat Beer - delicious! For my meal, I ordered their lump crab meat BLT that had avocado (Mark!), Kumato tomato, and a sherry aioli. I also had some side greens with a pomegranate vinaigrette. Then it was an after dinner drink called Bread Pudding made with Crown Maple, Jackson Morgan Bread Pudding Liqueur, coffee, and cinnamon brown sugar whipped cream.

Afterwards, it was on to the main event:

A local production of Avenue Q. Middle Child (yes, the one with autism) has been talking about this show for years. If there's a Broadway musical out there, she knows all about it. Combine that with the fact that she has a vast knowledge of all things Jim Henson and Sesame Street-related. So, when she told me it was coming to Akron, I bought tickets for all of us. If you are not familiar with the show, I will tell you that despite the puppets, it is NOT appropriate for children. It's the story of an affordable neighborhood in NYC if you are a recent college grad or unemployed. The superintendent of the building is named Gary Coleman (yes, THAT Gary Coleman) and the entire show is a parody of Sesame Street, complete with numerical videos played on a screen, and a pervert monster that sounds suspiciously like the Cookie Monster.  Here are some of the many songs from the 2 hour show:

"What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?"
"If You Were Gay"
"Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" (my fave)
"The Internet Is for Porn"

Parts of the show were hilarious; parts were a bit over-the-top, even for me. You will hear every 4 letter word about once. For a show that tackles topics like racism and sexuality, it's decidedly NOT politically correct. I'd recommend it, if you are not easily offended! My family thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was fun for me to watch their reactions. Afterwards, my son told me he knew EXACTLY what line in the show would crack me up the most . . . he was right!