Best Of Cleveland

Cake Decorators
Eggs, flour, sugar, a spike of rum. In lesser hands, such a list might yield a sad little 9-by-13 inch dessert and a tipsy baker. But under the art-school trained eyes of cake designers Lauren Bozich and Marianne Carroll, simple ingredients become the stuff of whimsy: delicious Louis Vuitton bags, LeBron’s 22nd birthday cake (complete with a crown covered in edible 24-karat gold), fantasy wedding displays of buttercream art.

Wilderness Supplies
“Um, I think I have a coupon for that!” the salesperson says. Oh, wait. He thinks he was wrong. Oh wait, on further inspection, it turns out he was right! It’s usually the case at Appalachian Outfitters, a wilderness supply store in Peninsula that always seems to have just the coupon you need for whatever gear you’re loading up on.

Cover Band
Eighties cover band L80s Nite does the usual rockin’ retro set list, playing classics from Blondie to Earth, Wind & Fire, from Rick Springfield to The Outfield (OK, they had one hit song). But these guys have more than mad music skills — they offer an unparalleled entertainment factor. During select shows, the four band members rock a Napoleon Dynamite show, decked out as characters from the cult-classic film.

Trail Run
A little cake in the face on your wedding night? Please. Try a flop from a 25-foot hill into a pit of frothy mud. Amy Frank and Sean Hensley, dressed in a white wedding dress and a tux, took the plunge in the face-plant contest at this year’s Mud March.

Recycled Art
Operating out of a funky Ohio City studio adorned with a hand-painted sign, the Glass Bubble Project specializes in art made from recycled metal, blown glass and scavenged car and machine parts.