Sometimes technology screws up. On Friday, our friends’ band, Bethesda, was playing at the Cleveland Museum of Art on the east side of Cleveland, in the University Circle area. I forgot to get the address, so I used the GPS in the car to find “Points of Interest,” and it found the museum. Off we went. After a long while, Mer questioned why we were so far along a highway going west, and we seemed to be due south of downtown Cleveland. I’m ever the optimist, so I said the GPS must be taking us some novel, but still efficient, way.

We got off the highway and were confronted with a detour. That took the better part of fifteen minutes to navigate, and the GPS led us into “The Flats.” On the west side of Cleveland. Nowhere near the Cleveland Museum of Art. But, it did bring us to two strip clubs. I guess some programmers have a different idea of art.

I used the “Points of Interest” feature on the GPS again to find Severance Hall, near the museum. This time, the GPS steered us correctly, and after parking in the well-kept secret of the Botanical Gardens parking garage, we made it to the museum with about ten minutes to spare.

This was happy, indeed. Bethesda put on a great two-hour show; they sounded really full and well-balanced – a good testimony to the sound guys, since the band was playing in an echo-filled cavern of a space. The band poured out a ton of energy and effort, which I thought was commendable, since more than half the upper-crust crowd seemed more interested in schmoozing and drinking than listening to music. To their credit, the movers and shakers were not rude or disruptive; they just did not offer back too much energy. There was a good crowd of folks near the stage who were really into the music, and a bunch of people were listening respectfully from the second-floor walkways.

The space was fun for me – it was in the new covered courtyard of the museum, which is a huge space, covered in glass and showcasing the old stone front of the museum. Mer and I had been there last fall with a friend, and the courtyard was still under construction, so it was really great to see the final product.

After the excellent concert, the GPS directed us toward home along a path that took us past the Legacy Village area. We successfully drove past the Cheesecake Factory, but I succumbed to Mitchell’s, an ice cream parlor. That worked out for social purposes, though – Mer has a current CVCA student who works there, and she was on shift, so we got to say hello. The excellent ice cream did not hurt, either.