Cleveland Field Trip

I grew up in Cleveland, so it was really a homecoming more than a field trip for me, but I got the chance to show Kyle around. It reminded me so much of all of the wonderful things I had grown up with, and that Cleveland really is a wonderful little city.

Downtown, we visited the old Arcade - once a glorious "shopping mall," circa 19th century - it is now a gorgeous hotel. Near the House of Blues, we saw lots of old shop fronts being converted into new shops and galleries.


Of course, we went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which was awesome. They are exhibiting the making of the Beatles film Help!, and they have all kinds of old advertisements and memorabilia from shooting. Kyle loved seeing all the old stage costumes preserved in the museum's permanent collection. My favorite was a set of giant mechanical wings that David Bowie wore.

On the way out of downtown Cleveland, we made our way to the Flats for a beer at Shooters on the Water. The Flats are rows of bars and clubs lining the Cuyahoga River at the mouth of Lake Erie. Most of the clubs have ample parking lots behind, and docks for your boat in front. It was too cold to see any boats there this time of year, but we did see trains going by on nearby drawbridges. An old drawbridge relic stands intact, pointed high into the air right next to Shooters.

The next day, we made our way to Huntington Beach near the suburb of Westlake. Kyle was very impressed at the size - he kept saying, "This is a real beach!" (He thought they only existed adjacent to oceans. But I reminded him that Lake Erie is a Great Lake.) I also promised him we'd come back in the summer for Honey Hut ice cream, and a visit to NASA.