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 The Joys of Business Travel
by Meggo
 Dateline: Thursday, 24-Jun-2004
I have to say, I like it. I like business travel. Ok, so I don't have to do it all the time; this is only the second time in four months. I started my new job in mid-March, and the first time they sent me on travel was in April - 3 days in Cleveland to meet with the Federal Reserve Bank. Now it's June, and I'm back in Cleveland for two more days of client meetings. You might think I'm nuts, but sometimes I wish it were for longer.
Sure, there are sacrifices. I'm missing the first two rounds of my adult co-ed recreational softball tournament. I won't get home until late Friday evening, and we're flying into the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, which is trauma all in itself. They should have named it East-Bumblefuck Maryland International Airport, because it is close to neither Baltimore nor Washington. And most of all, I'm missing the company and warm bed that come with being at home with my husband.
But let me tell you how it is: right now it's about 8:15pm, and I'm lounging about in my pajamas in my very nice hotel room (the Hyatt Regency Arcade; practically swanky), with 2 1/2 pints of Guinness and a perfectly-cooked, medium-rare hamburger inside me and The Two Towers showing on the Starz! channel. Plus, I've got a stack of books on the bedside table (including Harry Potter #2, for re-read #6 or 7), for when the movie is over. What, life gets better than this?
I'm on a per diem, so that Guinness and hamburger? I didn't pay for them. The lawn to be mowed, the laundry to be done, the dishes to be washed? Not even a shadow of a thought in my mind, since there's clearly nothing I can do about them.
"He was *twitching* 'cause he's got my axe embedded in his nervous system!"
Sorry, one of my favorite lines. But I digress.
The thing is about business travel, I'm on my own in a new place, with no responsibilities once I've finished the work day. I can go anywhere, do anything, as long as I show up for the next day's meetings. Forget what people say about Cleveland; this place is great. Baseball stadium, football stadium, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are all within walking distance of the city center (unfortunately the Indians are on the road right now). Restaurants on every block, including Fat Fish Blue, a bar/restaurant with live blues music almost every night, and Frank & Pauly's, an extremely tasty family-style Italian restaurant. The nicest people in the world - get your mid-western charm right here.
Today's meetings finished up around 5:45, which gave me a few minutes to explore the Cleveland Public Library before it closed at 6. (What, you didn't know that the first thing I did was look up the public library? It's actually right across the street from the hotel.) The Main Library building opened in 1925 and was renovated in 1999. It reminded me of the Grad library at Michigan. Awesome ceiling decorations, and when they renovated it they put up some modern art murals that somehow fit right in. The general reference room has great dark, wooden tables with those table lamps with the green opaque glass shades. You know those ones? They make me want to do some research on something, anything, just so I can sit at one of those tables and read some weighty tome.
After that, it was off to Moriarty's, a small, dark pub that serves only Harp, Guinness, and Labatt's. I forgive them the Labatt's; they don't serve Bud Light, after all. The bartender was friendly and talked to all the customers. She was perfectly happy to serve me my Guinness (she didn't even card me) while I sat at the bar and cracked open Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
After a couple of pints my stomach started to complain about the lack of food, so I walked 2 1/2 blocks to Flannery's. Flannery's is one of those large, clean Irish pubs, not a whole lot of character, not even really a "pub", but I'll take it. They serve good beer and they don't give you any of that bullshit about only cooking your meat medium or well-done. It was a perfectly medium-rare burger. Not easy to find most places. I read a little more Potter, drank some more Guinness, then decided to head back to the room.
And what luck! Lord of the Rings on television! How often do you get a night like this? *Not* very often, in my experience. I'm not saying I'd want to do this every week, because I wouldn't. In general I'm pretty much a homebody. But - you won't find me complaining next time they send me off to Cleveland.
Well, it's time for me to shut down the computer; I've been sitting in front of it most of the day. I think I'll open up my book, put the college baseball world series on in the background, and have a great ending to a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
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