What else is there to do in Cleveland? (Stop laughing I'm serious)

Patrick said:

In reply to Jerry :

All the museums in Cleveland are neat.  The art museum is top notch and the natural history museum has Balto.  But what I think you really want is the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Crawford Auto and Aviation Museum.  Look that one up.  There is plenty of good food downtown or around the area, I can steer you any direction you wish from fancy to hole in the wall Polish comfort food.  

Second the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum. I went to college at CWRU and went to that museum pretty often. And the art museums in the same area are pretty good too.

I'm not sure if Panini's Bar in Coventry is still there. If so, you have to try one of their sandwiches. There's a fair amount of good Italian places besides Polish food.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is free every day (closed Mondays).  Aside from an original Monet Waterlily and similar the Museum has a large collection of Mid Evil Art and Amour.  

The building itself is quite the art piece.  Years back, the decision was made to expand but not change the historic building so they basically built a new building around the old building.  This leaves the old building like it's own art display.  

Front of building remains as always was...  

If you want to do a side trip into Columbus, you could try some of Beer Baron's handiwork. Does anyone remember what his brew pub is called?

In reply to Jerry :

Well that's just sad.  It's a very cool museum and it's free.  Take a day, wander around.

Page 2 and nobody has done this yet...

Cleveland Rocks!

A couple other things to do apart from what's been suggested already:

Castle Noel (keeping with the Christmas theme - they have the big slide from A Christmas Story, the RV from Lampoon's Christmas, and other stuff).  Also the Medina Square is a great place to wander around for awhile, lots of good food and shops to check out, plus a couple of B&Bs and an indoor kart track about a mile west of the square.

Pat's shop and Challenge museum is also a GRMer must-see , only a short drive from the square. 

If you're at the museums in Cleveland, Severance Hall and the Cleveland Orchestra is right there as well.

If you end up heading towards Akron/Canton for the Football Hall of Fame and Stan Hywet, there's also a small aviation museum on the west side of CAK - MAPS Air Museum. 

Someone mentioned the Goodyear AirDock at Akron Fulton- you won't be able to get in due to top secret blimp stuff, but I think you can still drive up to it.  If you do, the hangar next to it was one of the Corsair factories in WW2. 

MadScientistMatt said:

Patrick said:

In reply to Jerry :

All the museums in Cleveland are neat.  The art museum is top notch and the natural history museum has Balto.  But what I think you really want is the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Crawford Auto and Aviation Museum.  Look that one up.  There is plenty of good food downtown or around the area, I can steer you any direction you wish from fancy to hole in the wall Polish comfort food.  

Second the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum. I went to college at CWRU and went to that museum pretty often. And the art museums in the same area are pretty good too.

I'm not sure if Panini's Bar in Coventry is still there. If so, you have to try one of their sandwiches. There's a fair amount of good Italian places besides Polish food.

No kidding?  What years were you at CWRU?

Coventry's changed quite a bit since I used to hang out there.  My sister and I were hanging out a couple years ago and I said, hey, let's go to this vegetarian restaurant that I used to hit all the time.  Tommy's was still there but maybe 90% of everything else was different.  (And the food was meh, and way overpriced.  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be)

Lincoln Electric Welding School

Lincoln Electric has a huge base of operations just outside Cleveland (Euclid) and they offer welding classes. They offer tours if you schedule ahead. Thompson Dragway isn't too far away, either.  I personally enjoyed seeing the inside of a WW2 submarine at the USS Cod Memorial - walking distance from the R&R Hall of Fame.

You can see the Blimp hanger right from the parking lot of Pull-a-part, Akron. 

Just to add some North East Ohio things...

Both Canton and Niles have tributes to President William McKinley (Niles has the library, Canton has the monument and museum). The museum in Canton also has a lot about Canton and the sweeper industry (because Hoover was here).

If you want to see the Goodyear blimp, it's hanger is just north of Hartville at Wingfoot Lake. By being nice, you can get pretty close if one is in town. You could even get lucky enough to go for a ride!

Just to keep going with Stark County... the Pro Football Hall of Fame just got done with a HUGE renovation. The tech alone is worth seeing. We also have a beautiful winery in Canton called Gervasi. There is also the First Ladies' National historical center in downtown Canton and the Amateur Sports Hall of Fame right up the road. The art museum is pretty nice, although small and has a surrounding arts community with some great restaurants and galleries.

Getting out of Stark County, there is a big winery area in Ashtabula County near Geneva on the Lake. Around Sandusky there are the Firelands wineries too. There is even a winery about 2 miles from Nelson Ledges!

http://www.tonypacko.com/sweet-hot-pickles-peppers.php

Knurled. said:

 

No kidding?  What years were you at CWRU?

 

'97-'01. Coventry at the time was kind of hippy-ish and kind of seemed to milk the "We're the only place within bicycling distance of Case that's not the ghetto" for all it was worth. What's it like today?

I was at CWRU '95-'99.  Everyone kept telling me how much better Cleveland was then it used to be.  That just made me wonder how epically crappy it must've been before...

Knurled. said:

MadScientistMatt said:

Patrick said:

In reply to Jerry :

All the museums in Cleveland are neat.  The art museum is top notch and the natural history museum has Balto.  But what I think you really want is the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Crawford Auto and Aviation Museum.  Look that one up.  There is plenty of good food downtown or around the area, I can steer you any direction you wish from fancy to hole in the wall Polish comfort food.  

Second the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum. I went to college at CWRU and went to that museum pretty often. And the art museums in the same area are pretty good too.

I'm not sure if Panini's Bar in Coventry is still there. If so, you have to try one of their sandwiches. There's a fair amount of good Italian places besides Polish food.

No kidding?  What years were you at CWRU?

 

Coventry's changed quite a bit since I used to hang out there.  My sister and I were hanging out a couple years ago and I said, hey, let's go to this vegetarian restaurant that I used to hit all the time.  Tommy's was still there but maybe 90% of everything else was different.  (And the food was meh, and way overpriced.  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be)

I used to love Tommy’s growing up. I moved away from the Cleveland area 7 or so years ago, but passed through with my girlfriend last summer and stopped at Tommy’s. Echoing your feedback, it was a letdown. 

Cleveland is a strange place. The roads are absolutely miserable, rusty  falling apart unsafe vehicles everywhere, and grey skies for 9 months out of the year. Residents will endlessly complain about the place, but have an unhealthy level of pride when it comes to sticking up for the city. Its really bizarre. 

The museums noted above are worth a visit. The art museum used to be free, not sure if that’s still the case. Cleveland, and the surrounding area does have some stellar spots for food. Not to be a second buzzkill, but If you’ve traveled a fair amount, you might want to skip heading to a Cleveland.... 

docwyte said:

I was at CWRU '95-'99.  Everyone kept telling me how much better Cleveland was then it used to be.  That just made me wonder how epically crappy it must've been before...

I unexpectedly found myself in Cleveland a few months ago. I’m 30, and the majority of my life the flats were a complete wasteland. One section now looks completely different. Few bars/restaurants/condos. The downtown area is still very underwhelming. Many vacant storefronts,etc. 

I stayed at the aloft in the flats for a week. All of the mentioned new restaurant/bars are directly across from it. It was a ghost town that whole week. Two empty parking lots that whole week. I would assume it’s probably busier in the summer time? It was rather irritating paying $20 a day to park at my hotel, when the whole area was a ghost town.......

Someone on Facebook recommended Mike's Place to eat.  For reasons:

MadScientistMatt said:

Knurled. said:

 

No kidding?  What years were you at CWRU?

 

'97-'01. Coventry at the time was kind of hippy-ish and kind of seemed to milk the "We're the only place within bicycling distance of Case that's not the ghetto" for all it was worth. What's it like today?

Huh, that was around the same timeframe i was around there a lot. (I moved to Columbus in '02) I still get newsletters from Mac's Backs.

It is more or less the same but a lot more expensive.

Shawnb said:Cleveland is a strange place. The roads are absolutely miserable, rusty  falling apart unsafe vehicles everywhere, and grey skies for 9 months out of the year.

Doesn't sound like any place I've lived anytime ever. 

I mean, it snows, yeah, but that makes it brighter in the winter.  (One of the things I hated about Columbus, winters were just dark and dingy and cold-damp instead of bright 24 hours a day)  And then we have nice long summers that extend out to mid November sometimes because of that big heat sink to the north.

When I was there The Flats were the happening "Bar" place.  Tons of bars, clubs, strip joints etc.  Never went down there week nights, but weekends it was bursting at the seams.

Haven't been back there in almost 20 years tho, so obviously it must've changed.

It has changed lots in then last 10 years.

mike’s place used to have good wings but i have not been there in 10 years.  However if you’re going to Mike’s place, you’re only a couple exits from Summit Racing.  

Patrick said:

mike’s place used to have good wings but i have not been there in 10 years.  However if you’re going to Mike’s place, you’re only a couple exits from Summit Racing.  

Already planned a stop at Summit, even if it's just to see the place.  Maybe try on some new helmets for reference and birthday possibilities for SWMBO in June.  Everyone says I'll be disappointed with the muscle car parts bias.

For what it's worth, I still really miss Indycar racing at the Burke Lakefront Airport.

In reply to ncjay :

We hung out at my friend's place by 44th and Fulton every July 4th.  You could hear the racing from there.

Knurled. said:

In reply to ncjay :

We hung out at my friend's place by 44th and Fulton every July 4th.  You could hear the racing from there.

Dad and i went every year for the whole weekend, since it was only a 5 minute trip on 71.  Watched all the races.  Trans-Am, indy lighs, everything.  Because of this, Willie T Ribbs is still one of my favorite racecar drivers

If youll be downtown please stop in at  Porco Lounge & Tiki Room.

Website

Best. Drinks. Ever.

I can come up with more ( I live just ouside of Cleveland ) but I gotta run. l will check back here in a bit