It’s Wonderful to be Home for the Holidays!
By Claudia Taller
At this time of year, there’s a longing for a “home for the holidays” experience. Every time I go on a holiday home tour or walk, I wonder why I do it, but the more I think about it, it’s to capture the spirit of the holidays, to savor the scent of cinnamon, the sight of twinkling lights, and the sound of a crackling fire. While walking from place to place with other people, fortified by cookies or spiked punch, a community is built much like Christmas carolers or holiday revelers going a wassailing.
One of my favorite holiday experiences is the Ohio City Home Tour. The 3rd annual holiday walk will light up your spirit on Sat 12/3 from 6-10PM. Get your tickets early because this event sells out. Tickets are $16 and available for purchase by calling 216.781.3222, ext. 102. Proceeds support the Ohio City neighborhood and the walk is sponsored by Conveyor & Castor. Eight historic Ohio City homes will be decorated near West 31st Place, but the tour begins at Garage Bar with a party hosted by Marlin Kaplin of Dragonfly Lounge. Lolly the Trolley provides transportation. If you arrive in Ohio City earlier in the day, check out the Christmas Festival from 11AM-5PM on Market Avenue, and don’t forget to pick up a nut roll at the West Side Market across the street. The weekly competition at the Sat 12/3 festival (there’s a festival every Saturday) is a Best Mustache/Beard competition, which can be entered between 11AM-2PM, with judging at 2:30.
Rocky River likes its homes. The residents of Rocky River keep their doors well groomed and decorated throughout the year, and during the holidays, eight homes have been selected to participate in a tour from 11AM-4PM on Sat 12/3. The Holiday Home Tour is sponsored by the Rocky River Junior Women’s Club and begins at Pearl of the Orient at Beachcliff Market Square where you can pick up tickets and information beginning at 10AM. Good cheer will be brought on by a cocktail reception after the tour. The homes will be decorated by local designers and florists, which will give you ideas for your own home. A beautifully decorated wreath will be raffled off. Proceeds from the tour support a number of local charities and institutions. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 on the day of the event, and can be purchased at Paper Trails at 19146 Old Detroit Road; Mitchell Sotka Ltd. at 19071 Old Detroit Road; or Embellish Accessories at 19055 Lake Road. For more information, click here. When you pick up your tickets, linger at the Shops of Old River, a network of boutique retail stores, galleries and restaurants at Detroit and Wooster Roads.
One of the best holiday walks you can make is around University Circle, our cultural nucleus. The Holiday Circle Fest at University Circle, 1961 E 117th Street, takes place on Sun 12/4 from 1-5:30PM. This event has been going for 18 years strong and deserves your family’s attention. Activities, food, open doors at the museums, shopping at galleries, and strolling the galleries will be part of the holiday fun at University Circle. The highlight of this festival is the Cleveland Art Museum’s Winter Lights Lantern Procession around Wade Oval, which is always spectacular.
Find the “home for the holidays” spirit in Ohio City, Rocky River or University Circle this weekend. Traditions run rampant and true while we walk and tour, and live on in our imaginations when we get home again. It’s great to be home where the spirit of the holidays is captured in tinsel and mistletoe and everything else magical about this time of year. Home for the holidays — isn’t it wonderful?
Claudia Taller’s book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries was just released by Arcadia Publishing. Find out more about the book by going to http://OhioLakeErieWineries.blogspot.com and order it through Claudia by sending an e-mail to claudia.taller@yahoo.com.