Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Bound. Home of the Cavilers, LeBron James, the Browns and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!
After a scare-filled and roller coaster riding evening, we got a good’s night sleep and we were off the next morning. We managed to get an early start, which meant we would arrive in Cleveland right in time for BRUNCH! I can’t remember if we did a search the night before or that morning, but we found a fantastic little spot to grub out – Jack Flaps. Goodness gracious! I always forget how much I love brunch and how I need to participate more often. And Ohio didn’t fall short on food, yet again.
There was a little bit of a wait, but Jack Flaps was a tinier place and the food made up for the wait. AB and I were seated and ordered as fast as possible. Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but we went with an omelette burrito, cornbread with chili and eggs, a side order of homemade hash, a shared order of pancakes and a side of order of the pork belly. Sounds like a lot of food, but guess what? We finished every single bite of it.
Once our bellies were filled, we made our way to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Everyone I told that I was going to Cleveland said this national landmark was a must – and I have to agree. You could spend hours in that place. The history lessons on music are continuous! Before we even got into the building, we took advantage of the “tourist photo-opt”! Just like everyone else there, we stopped at the LONG LIVE ROCK statue, if you will. It was huge – to the point where we needed to be at the curb to get all the words in the picture. Now which word to take a picture with? CHOICES!
When you first walked in, there was a viewing area of the most recent inductees into the HoF. Crazy to think that 2PAC, Pearl Jam and Journey (YES JOURNEY! Don’t stop believing!) just got inducted in 2017. After visiting the museum, I now know there is a 25 year “wait period” from the time a band releases their first record. But still, mind blown!
If you are interested in seeing the entrance of R&RHoF, click 263 and it will download the video.
The museum (I think that is fair to call it that) was filled with music history, artist biographies and plenty of band memorabilia to blow your mind. The closest thing I have seen to this was when I visited the Country Hall of Fame in Nashville. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was the equivalent to that…but with Rock & Roll stuff (Duh!). While I was in the building, I got my fair share of a history lesson in music. I learned about Elvis, the new inductees, and all of the Beatles’ albums…and so much more! Right in the nick of time, I found a long video about the Beatles and all of their albums. I was dragging a little, so I grabbed a seat and watched the entire video. I learned a lot, but also got my second wind 🙂
There are some really amazing exhibits at the R&RHoF – Mellencamp, featuring everything John Mellencamp, Summer of Love Turns 50, Guitar Galley, and Rolling Stones: 50 Years. I am guessing the exhibits change occasionally, since on the website lists “Past Exhibits”. I am not sure how long these exhibits will be there, so don’t hate me if you are a fan of John or Rolling Stones and they aren’t there when you visit.
Out of all five floors of information, my favorite was the showing of the “Power of Rock Experience” in the Connor Theater. I am not sure if this was a permanent exhibit or not, but I am pleased that I had the viewing pleasure of it, while I was there. It documented some of the best inductee performances and mash-ups from past induction nights. It incorporated snapshots of performances, plus a light show and concert-like surround sound speakers. According to the website “Visitors feel every beat, hear every chord and are wowed by a powerful film of incredible induction moments…” (Power of Rock). And that describes the experience to a T. With it being a once in a life time experience, because of the complying of all of the performances, it is a MUST when you visit the R&RHoF. (AB even saw it twice, it was THAT worth it!)
After being on information overload, it was time to find food and refuel. I am pretty sure we made a pit-stop at the Air BnB we were staying at, but I can’t remember this far away from our trip. (Side note: Our Air BnB was kind of shady…both the area and the room. We eventually found out that the bathroom was a little too gross for our liking. So, we skipping showers before heading home, but we were okay with that – especially, if we smelled, we BOTH smelled! :-D)
Our food selection in Cleveland was unlimited – plenty of good recommendations on Yelp. We ended up picking a place that had bar-type food. It wasn’t “THE BEST”, but it filled the need after a long day of learning. I am surprised that I didn’t take any pictures of our food, but I figured it was because we were crazy hungry and didn’t think twice about a photo-opt.
The highlight of the evening food, though, was a local ice cream spot! Yeah, sure, I shouldn’t really have ice cream (dairy issue…), but when in Cleveland, why not try their local ice cream? I mean, come on, what kind of example would I be setting if we didn’t stop? It was called Mitchell’s. I didn’t originally realize this, but I think this spot took over an old theater – check out the front!
Mitchell’s was awesome! It had the “ice cream factory” in the back, with viewing windows to watch the staff. There were windows on the first floor, but the prime hang out was on the second floor to look down on the works of ice cream making. I was in basically in heaven. Of course, I have dreams of opening a bakery and creating a baking business and this was simply INSPIRATION! Oh, and the ice cream was flipping fantastic. I am an addict of anything pumpkin and/or spice, so I knew I wanted the pumpkin spice flavor. The second flavor I chose was also something from the “seasonal” list – wildberry crumble. O-M-G! I was in HEAVEN – nom nom nom. (My mouth is watering thinking about the ice cream from that night.)
I was an ice cream snob that night. I asked for the scoops in two different cups, so they didn’t touch. I wanted to ensure I tasted the two flavors separately and couldn’t risk “contamination”. Amazing choice to keep them separate. DE-LISH!
Since Ohio was colder (than I expected), we didn’t really try to make the night-life rounds of downtown Cleveland. Instead, we booked it back to the Air BnB with full stomachs to rest up for our travel day the next day.
After a good nights sleep, we made our way to a brunch spot back by the Browns Stadium and R&RHoF. Don’t forget, it was October, which obviously means FOOTBALL SEASON. And it was Sunday Game Day in Cleveland. Browns fans were everywhere, carrying packs of beer, tailgating, playing corn-hole and ready to cheer for the Browns – even at 10am! Brown and orange colored the streets and parking lots surrounding the stadium.
AB and I stood out like sore thumbs in the Urban Farmer Steakhouse. We were the ONLY people not wearing Browns gear. And secretly, I had my Steelers shirt on underneath my millions of layers. Despite being out of towners, we struck up conversations with many locals. We offered the extra seats at the table to a number of bystanders and passersby. We ended up having a nice, long conversation with an older couple, who’s daughter was a manager (or trainer) for the Browns, who were in town visiting. They reminisced on their previous lives in Cleveland, their hometown, and relished in their adventures post-retirement. After their friends cashed out, we all parted ways, but not before, the older gentleman said I reminded him of his niece 🙂 Good times!
As for food at the restaurant, we had the option of an all-you-can-eat buffet or ordering from the menu. Since there were specialty items on the menu, we went with the menu. Oh, plus the buffet was all about the unlimited mimosas and neither AB nor I drink, so what’s the point? I ordered grilled flat iron steak and eggs, with hash browns and biscuit, while AB ordered Brioche French toast and a side order of bacon. Delectable. Delightful. Exquisite. Super super fulfilling – and filling!
There was one thing I wanted to do before we left Cleveland – collect sand from the shores of Lake Erie. I usually collect sand from every beach I find (I feel like I mentioned this before in a previous post). Well, we made the bad executive decision to get in the car to drive to the shore, before realizing where we actually were. From the restaurant, we could have walked to the shoreline faster than what ended up happening. We managed to get stuck in game day traffic. Finally, we decided to look for a shoreline away from all the action, so we could get on the road shortly after. AB did a quick search, while I drove, and we could a small recreational park a few miles down the highway.
The bizarre thing about the park we found was that it looked exactly like the park we visited when AB and I went to Niagara Falls the year before. It was a park on another great Lake – Lake Ontario – that had the same set-up (i.e. playground, hill to the water, huge parking lot, etc.). We had made jokes this whole trip that “this is Niagara”, “are we on our Niagara trip again?”. This major difference with this park was the beach at the shoreline of Lake Erie.
And there it was – the water! What I had been looking forward to all weekend and it was glorious! The water crystal clear; the sand was warm between my toes; the view of downtown Cleveland was stunning! AB and I ventured around the beach, looking for shells and rocks. I played in the water and we both climbed rocks. It was the perfect view before our 6-7 hour drive home.
And we were off, back to Virginia. Another successful trip in the books! Ohio wasn’t as big of a disappointment as I originally thought it might be. We managed to have some bomb-ass food, explore some amazing things and major landmarks, and learn a lot of [useful and useless] information. We rode lots of roller coasters, played on the beach, and watched madness of game day. Granted, I wouldn’t and couldn’t live in Ohio, I would go back. I hope to take my family back to both Cedar Point and Cleveland for the R&RHoF sometime in the future. They’re worth the trip!
Happy traveling.