We spent four days in August, 2002, in Cleveland, Ohio; while this may sound like an odd place to spend a vacation, believe me, there is a lot to do. So much so, we will probably going back soon to visit some places we didn't get time for on this trip. As has been the case the last few years, my parents joined us as tour guides and companions.
We started the day by dropping off our dog, Princess, at Waynewood Kennels in Elma, NY. We were on the road to our vacation at around 10 AM, and promptly headed over to Alton's Family Restaurant, our traditional start-of-vacation breakfast spot. By 11, we were on the Thruway and on our way. It would be Interstate 90 all the way to Cleveland, so this was an easy trip.
By the way, if your throat is dry or your bladder is bursting, there's a really nice truck stop about 10 miles after you get into Pennsylvania, on Interstate 90 at mile marker 35.
We checked in at the Comfort Inn on Quarry Lane, off Rockside Road, in Independence. After settling in and unpacking, we drove around the area to see what was close to us. We had dinner at Eat'n Park, then headed back to the hotel for the night.
I think the real highlight of the trip for all of us was the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. This is a magnificent place to visit, and the tropical rainforest exhibit is worth the price of admission by itself. We did not see all of it, due to the heat, but we hope to go back in fall or spring to tour the entire zoo. Because it was so hot, we decided to go someplace cool. We headed down I-77 towards Akron to tour Harry London Candies. Unlike the simulated tour of the Hershey factory, you can tour the actual factory, and it is an entertaining, informative tour. The quality of the chocolate is excellent, and we brought home way too much. Oh, I also got a lengthy, good-natured razzing from the tour guide due to my choice of attire (I had inadvertently worn a Hershey T-shirt).
We went back to the hotel to freshen up, then went to Zayda's Restaurant on Brecksville Road in Independence for dinner. This is a very nice restaurant, with a varied menu, good prices, and a nice kid's menu. I'd highly recommend it if you're in the area.
We split up today, with Mom and Dad doing their own thing, and us and the kids doing ours. We started out by driving into downtown Cleveland, and going down Chester Street to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. We arrived just in time for the show at the brand-new Shafran Planetarium, which is a beautiful facility. I was proud of Jill for speaking up for a few of the questions, and the director complimented her for her knowledge of astronomy.
After the show, we toured the rest of the museum. They have impressive exhibits of dinosaurs, early homonids, geology, astronomy, and all kinds of Earth sciences. The exhibits were clean, modern, and up-to-date, and none of the interactive displays were out-of-order, which really impressed us.
We went to The Flats for lunch, but most of the places weren't open yet, and the few that were didn't seem to have "kid friendly" cuisine, so we left after taking a look around.
The next stop was The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, probably Cleveland's most well-known tourist attraction. They had a fantastic multimedia presentation showing all of the inductees, a huge John Lennon exhibit, interactive terminals where you could listen to songs and trace the influences of popular bands and individuals, and lots more. The only complaints I had were that you couldn't take pictures, the gift shop lacked any kind of unique CD or DVD compilations of the works of the various inductees, and that George "The Hound" Lorentz was not as prominently displayed as Alan Freed (it's been a long-standing argument between Cleveland and Buffalo as to which one actually coined the term "Rock and Roll"). Aside from that, it was a wonderful experience, and we hope to go back soon.
The kids were incredibly tolerant, and indulged us our time in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without (much) complaint. As a reward, we let them choose where to eat dinner. They selected a nice-looking, two-story McDonald's near the hotel.
Time to go home! We started out by having breakfast at the Denny's near the hotel, then headed over to Aurora, Ohio; located there is Aurora Premium Outlets a very nice collection of shops and outlet stores. From there, we headed up route 43, took route 271 to I-90, and headed for home. Oh, we stopped at our favorite pizza place, Sorrentino's, for pizza, wings, and a pitcher of Molson Canadian, when we got close to home.
This was a fun vacation. Because Cleveland is only about three hours away, many of the places described here make ideal weekend trips. In my opinion, the people who are trying to decide Buffalo's future should visit Cleveland, if they haven't already. While they've been arguing for the past 30 or so years about what to do, Cleveland has gone and done what it takes to get back on track.