The View from my Front Porch

I like to stay home. I cherish the view from my own front porch. Still, I have had the chance to visit other places in our glorious world. I have had the good fortune and opportunity to see the Great Wall of China and I have also had the joy of seeing the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I’ve been to paradise, but I haven’t throughly explored the touristy places of my own neck of the woods, in Northeastern Ohio. That is about to change! Thanks to Adela Crandell Durkee.

Cleveland!

The historical drama of the the 2016 major league baseball World Series, pitted the extremely long-time winless Chicago Cubs against the long-time winless Cleveland Indians. The Fall Classic also prompted me, an Indians fan, to a have a friendly wager with Adela, Chicago Cubs gal. We agreed that the user would share a book with one of our Twitter retweeters (which really was a win for someone, right?) Adela upped the ante and added a Chicago deep dish pizza to the pot, and I, confident in my  team, promised a surprise. We had a blast; Adela tweeted photos of her with Chicago blue hair.

Soon the Tribe was ahead in the series 3-1. At which point, as a long-suffering Cleveland fan who knows all about jinxes, I knew the Indians and I had lost. In June, the Cleveland Cavaliers had complete an amazing triumph over Golden State. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, Cleveland rallied and won in Game 7. What were the chances that karma would now pay us back, via the Indians? 100% as it turned out- the Indians lost in Game 7.

I did follow through with the book part of the wager and I sent Charli off to a lucky retweeter. Then the holiday came and I forgot about the surprise part of the bet. Adela reminded me and said that her husband had a great idea- how about a tour of Cleveland! Wow-what fun! Except sight-seeing in the snow belt, Lake-effect maelstrom of Cleveland didn’t seem as jaunty. I punted (see we’ve gone from baseball, to basketball to football) and asked that we wait for warmer weather to tramp around #Believeland.

However, in the spirit of the wager,

I am offering Adela and any of my other social media friends the chance to virtually visit Cleveland.

Powered By the Tweet This Plugin

Tweet This

Stow your carry-on luggage in the overhead storage, recline your seat, put a glass of wine on your tray table and here we go!

Cleveland’s Top Five!

First, let’s visit my top 5 places! I should be more suspenseful and start with number 5, but lets start with my number 1 favorite.

1. My favorite thing to do in Cleveland is to cheer on the 2016 NBA Champs Cleveland Cavaliers at The Quicken Loans Arena, known as The Q. If basketball season is over, there are plenty of other sports, concerts, special events to enjoy at The Q. The fateful Cleveland Indians play across the street at Progressive Field.
2. Playhouse Square is the country’s latest performing arts center outside of New York. Every year, it hosts or produces a wide variety of quality performing arts- up to 1,000 performances! My family and I have been dazzled by many Broadway shows and other concerts. My favorite memory was the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular. And in addition to all this, Playhouse Square features the most amazing, gorgeous twenty-foot chandelier with 4,200 resin crystals suspended outside in the square area. Wow!!
3. I spent many happy times with my family at The Great Lakes Science Center. There are plenty of hands-on exhibits that always sparked our imaginations! There is an IMAX theater and special exhibits- one year we saw the Titanic exhibit and one year we were intrigued and also a little scared by the the Bodyworlds exhibit.
4. Let’s stay in the museum frame of mind and continue on to the venerable, historic and yet modern and happening University Circle area.  Home to world-renowned museums, prestigious universities, nationally recognized hospitals, eclectic restaurants, beautiful parks, and cozy spaces. From dinosaurs to botanical gardens, world-renown art museum and concert hall- let’s start exploring!
5. Would you like to see the Emerald Necklace? Let’s play at the Cleveland Metroparks.  We can have fun from A-Z: archery to zip lining. There’s golf, tobogganing, boating, swimming, skating, beautiful Lake Erie, and lovely hiking areas- all for us to recreate!
6. USS Cod– Ok I added this as a bonus. When my boys were little, we went to Hawaii. (Another place I have been!) We had the privilege of honoring the fallen at Pearl Harbor. The boys wanted to take a tour of the USS Bowfin submarine that is at the historic site. The line was long and one of the guides told us that it was worth the wait because the only other sub in the world like it was located in Cleveland, Ohio. We skipped the line. Even though I am not a traveler,
   we did make it to the USS Cod many times after that and it is fascinating!

   Powered By the Tweet This Plugin

   Tweet This

   

Can we Eat Now?!

1. Pier W– landmark white table cloth service; the architecture is designed to resemble the hull of a luxury liner cruising along Lake Erie.
2. Crop Bistro– inventive American fare
3. L’Albatos Brasserie– French with a contemporary twist
4. The eateries and nightlife on E. 4th Street. East 4th is like no other street in the world. It’s a great destination to visit or a great place to call home. It’s a neighborhood in the heart of CLE packed with world-class dining, entertainment, and modern living.

There’s More to See!

Feeling refreshed? Let’s continue our explorations and visit some of the famous places that I have never been to!

1. A Christmas Story House– the real house, complete with the leg lamp!
2. William G. Mather Steamship– I love to watch the modern-day freighters on Lake Erie; this 618-foot historic steamship let’s us see what life was like on board a working Great Lakes freighter.
3. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame– this is the story of our life, too!
4. Greater Cleveland Aquarium– don’t you love aquariums- this is a new one!
5. FirstEnergy Stadium– the Browns!

Last but not least! We can’t skip these landmarks!

1. Tower City Center– this is Cleveland’s heart and soul! Tower City Center, originally known as Cleveland Union Terminal, is a large mixed-use facility located on Public Square, and with a number of interconnected office buildings, including the landmark Terminal Tower, a shopping mall, a casino, two hotels, and the main hub of Cleveland’s four rapid transit lines. On March 17, 1976, the tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Union Terminal Group. It was completed and dedicated in 1930 and until 1964, the Terminal Tower was the tallest building in North America outside of New York City.
2. Lakeview Cemetery- established in 1869. The James A. Garfield Memorial is the most prominent point of interest at Lake View Cemetery. The ornate interior features a large marble statue, stained glass, bas relief, and various historical relics from Garfield’s life and presidency. The monument also serves as a scenic observation deck and picnic area. President and Mrs. Garfield are entombed in the lower level crypt, their coffins placed side by side and visible to cemetery visitors. Another prominent structure in the cemetery is the Wade Chapel. A small but magnificent chapel with Tiffany windows and elaborate Biblically-inspired mosaics on the walls, the edifice is still used for small weddings and located north and down the hill from the Garfield monument.There are many notable internments, including John D. Rockefeller and Elliot Ness.

Ready for some quirky places? Here we go! If we can’t go to them all, the Polka Museum and the Duct Tape festival are MUST SEES. Here’s an overview– you can choose what tickles your fancy.

Please come see me! We can ride Lolly the Trolley  or Uber, take the RTA Rapid Transit, walk, bus, zoom on a Segway tour, try a paddle boarding tour in August, see Cleveland from Lake Erie on the largest quadruple-deck 1,000 passenger luxury ship on the Great Lakes the Good Time III. Cleveland’s buzz phrase used to be “best location in the nation”- let’s have fun and find out!