Have I really been home from Ohio almost a week? I guess so. I'll be off again out of town in a little under two weeks, so I had better get the blogging about the Ohio trip underway!
I'm going to divide the trip into two entries, one on Cleveland and one on Cuyahoga Valley National Park. There's a lot of photos, and I think it makes sense thematically as well. So then, Cleveland first. Ready? Let's go!
Not unexpectedly, Van stayed in bed as long as possible on the Saturday morning we were in Cleveland, and I took advantage of that and the better weather I could see from the hotel
to get outside early and out and about on foot. I rather suspected that Cleveland would not be busy with traffic early on a Saturday, and I was right. I walked all over with little need to pause other than to take photos. And oh, I took photos. Buildings and fountains.
The public library.
A cathedral.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame from both sides.
The Lake Erie waterfront.
The stadium.
Me!
And then I got over by the Cuyahoga River,
and for Conrad's sake, I started capturing shots of bridges.
Lots of bridges.
I think I made it past five miles that morning,
and that included a welcome Starbucks stop.
Eventually Van got up, and we started our day. We had to check out of the Hilton, but we weren't due at the Hall of Fame for our entry time for a couple of hours. I reached back into my memory and directed us over to the West Side Market, a place I am pretty certain we visited years back.
It was fun to see the market, and it made me long for one that was a little more accessible to us than Grand Central Market (I also think that the variety on offer at West Side was better than Grand Central, but the dining options were not as good). Not finding some place that appealed to us for lunch, we headed down the block and happened upon Soho Chicken + Whiskey.
A cocktail
and a good brunch later (fried green tomato eggs Benedict for me),
and Van
and I
were ready to see the Hall of Fame.
We were told we needed a lot of time in the Hall, but I think that's really only true if you are interested in and adept at some of the interactive displays wherein you play an instrument or create a beat. We didn't do that. We also weren't interested in the special Bon Jovi exhibit that was mounted on the top floor. My takeaways? It's a terrific museum, it has a lot, it has too much, it has scope creep. Why does a hall of fame have an exhibit on Saturday Night Live? Why are there so many items from people who are not honoured as inductees in the Hall? Why are there so many things in the display cases? Why can't the font be bigger or the lights turned up? Why is the layout so confusing? But aren't all those costumes really cool? Billie Eilish.
Deborah Harry.
Devo.
Annie Lennox.
Earth, Wind, and Fire.
Sarah McLachlan.
Joan Jett.
Bjork.
Really cool to see. Not all of those acts are (yet) inducted into the Hall, though. Ah well. I quibble. We enjoyed it.
Later in the afternoon, we hopped into the car and headed along the lake, then south through the city and suburbs and to the national park. A fine day in the city, and now we were ready for something a little more rustic.
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