CLEVELAND EXPEDITION!!

GOOD NEWS!!  If you are a fan of a favorite, vintage holiday movie, you do not have to wait until December to relive some of your favorite scenes!   Instead, plan a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, and tour the actual house shown in the movie, A Christmas Story  ( www.AChristmasStoryHouse.com ).  A photo of this famous facade is shown in the photo below:

And, thankfully, as the sign on the outside shows, it is open year round for tours and photos!  In fact, there is a lodging property nearby, where you can spend the night!  This is not a typical historic house tour where you are not allowed to touch anything.  Rather, they encourage you to sit in the chairs, lounge on the couch, and even get your photo made under the sink, if desired!  In a nod to the famous scene in the movie where the little boy hides under the sink, to escape his father's wrath, I crawled under the sink myself, for the photo op shown below:

Have your picture made with the famous "leg lamp" that has become an iconic symbol of this movie!  Replicas of this lamp are widely available now, and my daughter-in-law gave one of them to my son, (whose name, "Grover", is also the first name of character Grover Dill in the movie.)

And in their gift shop (shown below) you can purchase that famous leg lamp in its original size, or dozens of smaller versions that are available.  As you can see from the photo, there are plenty of the pink, bunny shoes and bunny pajamas to choose from, as well.  If running shoes are more of your speed than bunny house shoes, then you might be interested to know there is a running/walking event held every December, that uses props from the movie in their logo.  This year it will be December 7. 2019.  Check out their website to register or get more information ( www.AChristmasStoryRun.com )

If you want to see Cleveland from the water, book yourself a trip on the Nautica Queen.  It is shown here at its mooring location on the Cuyahoga River, which flows into Lake Erie 

The night our group took a cruise, the weather was warm and sunny when we started, so I wanted to check out the upper deck, to take advantage of its excellent height for taking photographs!

As we sailed out of the Cuyahoga River, and onto Lake Erie, our captain came over the loud speaker, and told us to be sure and notice one of the entries in the  Tall Ships Festival, that was beside us, full of waving passengers, and would-be sailors. 

The captain told us that we were seeing the Appledore IV and Appledore V, which were the only ships that were taking out paying passengers, for a cruise on Lake Erie.  I had been one of those paying passengers who had taken a cruise on a "pirate sailing ship", when attending the Tall Ships Festival in Portland, Oregon.  Likewise, I used Ticketmaster, to purchase tickets for a sailing ship event in Tacoma a while back, at their event called "Festival of Sail".  The moral of this story is, make the effort to get a ticket to actually go out on one of these sea-faring vessels, and it will give you a whole new appreciation for those early adventurers, who sailed across the ocean with no clue of what lay on the other side of the horizon!

The Appledore IV is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan.  They have offered more than 40,000 students an educational program aboard Appledore IV.  The Appledore V is also owned and operated by BaySail, and serves as an integral part of a youth sail training program "Windward Bound", which has five to ten day voyages where trainees are involved in every aspect of running the ship.

The Nautica Queen cruise I was on, was called a sunset dinner/sightseeing cruise, and the views at sunset did not disappoint!  The photo above shows the sun, as it slowly sinks into Lake Erie.

We saw plenty of interesting sights as we cruised the waters around Cleveland, and also were able to get a nice view of the Cleveland skyline at twilight. 

One the second day of this visit to Cleveland, our group went to the area of the city known as "Playhouse Square" (www.playhousesquare.org )  The gigantic "light fixture" shown in the photo above, has the reputation for being  America's largest outdoor chandelier, and I can tell you it is a magnificent sight to behold, with the sun illuminating those thousands of crystals, as it rises through the morning, in downtown Cleveland.  The chandelier was added in the last few years, to unify the various attractions that make up the theater district of town.

Our group toured several of the theaters, including the one where the new musical, Come From Away, was scheduled to be part of the 2018-2019 Key Bank Broadway Series, from July 9-28, 2019.  Seeing this merchandise booth in their lobby made me even more excited to see the actual play later that day!

  In the meantime, our group went down to the North Coast Harbor wharf, where the 2019 Cleveland Tall Ships Festival ( www.tallshipscle.com )was taking place.  This is a tri-annual event in Cleveland, so start making plans now, to go to the next one, which will be in 2022.  When I go back in 2022, I want to do an activity I observed while touring the ships----that is, individuals paddling around the ships on Stand-up Paddleboards ( SUP ), and kayaks.  I read that these are available for rent at Great Lakes Watersports, located at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. 

Tall Ships Festival had not been to Cleveland since 2013, so they were excitedly telling folks they could expect to see 10 replica, and restored, traditionally-rigged, sailing ships, representing the U.S., Canada and New Zealand.

In a nod to festival presenter Tall Ships America's commitment to education and preservation, these awe-inspiring ships are partially staffed by young sailors between the ages of 13 and 25. 

A general admission festival ticket allowed attendees to climb aboard and tour the ships.

Once inside the controlled-access area of the harbor, visitors could enjoy the live music, food, drinks, and sailing-related gift vendors. 

From the Tall Ships Festival location, our group took the short walk along the water, to get to the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I have written about this Cleveland landmark, in a previous blog, so the reader can view the saga of me and the blue suede shoes, in the blog archives (September 12, 2008).  For other information on planning a visit here, check out their extensive website at www.rockhall.com  If you want to be inundated with photos of the place just look up #LONGLIVEROCK in your computer's search engine.  ( #LONGLIVEROCK ) 

This photo shows a tourist family, who is taking advantage of the opportunity to have a "garage band" recording session, using instrument and sound equipment, provided by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  If your group is interested in trying this, I would recommend going on a day with low visitation numbers, because on the Saturday I visited, there was a very long line of folks waiting to be part of the Studio A Garage Band experience!

Our group also fit in a quick visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art, shown in the photo to the left.  I was very impressed how the architects had used a glass roof to form a sunny atrium that united the "old" Museum of Art building on the right, to the new, and more modern architecture of their facility, on the left side of photo. 

After dark, the group I was in made it back to Playhouse Square, so that we were able to see what America's Largest Outdoor Chandelier looks like after dark.  It was even more stunning than when I had seen it in the morning, lit up only by the rays of the sun!

This is a photo of the playbill and ticket for the musical we saw on Saturday evening, July 13.  Notice the prices here are much more reasonable than Broadway theaters!!  This production was FANTASTIC!!  I especially found it touching because it used a Bible reference, Philippians 4:6, as an integral part of the story.  That verse says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God;"  If I say much more, it might be a "spoiler" for those who have not seen the play, so instead, let this be a "teaser" to make you put it on your "Must See" list!

The final day of our trip, our Destination Cleveland hostess took us on a walking tour of downtown Cleveland.  The statue and fountain shown in photo above are actually the "roof" of the Cleveland Convention Center.  The front of the Convention Center opens out to expansive views of Lake Erie.  Similar walking tours (Free of Charge!) are offered from May 14 through September 15.  Since city walking tours are sometimes called "Urban Hikes", it is not surprising that this service is called "Take A Hike", and folks can learn more at www.TakeAHikeCLE.com .

The vintage photo on the left shows an impressive structure that was a bank, during the Gilded Age of Cleveland.  Since then, the majestic looking edifice has been converted into a swanky grocery store, called Heinen's:

 This is a view of the first floor coffee shop, taken from the second story balcony.  When standing on the balcony, it also enables the visitor to get a good view of the architecture of the space:

This photo shows the viewer the intricacies of the inside dome:

For those who do not want to get dressed and go downtown, Heinen's also offers on-line grocery shopping, and you can find out more on their website at www.heinens.com .

Thanks to Heinen's Grocery Store, downtown Cleveland is not a "food desert" area!   (Food desert is a term nutritionists use, to refer to an urban area where it is difficult to find fresh produce to purchase for home use.)

The old name of the building is still visible in stone, but the new name of its occupant, is also prominently displayed on the outside.

Another former bank building that has been repurposed, is the Holiday Inn Express where our group stayed.  The rooms were very large, and had the original ( and beautiful! ) hardwood floors that were in the bank , when it served as an office location.  More information available at www.holidayinnexpress.com .

Another incredible bank building that has been repurposed as an elegant restaurant, Corn, is where our group visited to tour and have lunch.

We had the experience of passing through this incredible vault door, to get to the private dining area, designed for groups such as ours.  

I hope you can tell from what I have written that Cleveland is a destination that is outstanding in the variety and quality of experiences that a visitor can enjoy.  That is why I hope you will go there, so that you, like me, will "Come From Away" with "MILES OF SMILES"!!    Tricia

If you have never been to Cleveland, Ohio, you need to go!!  Likewise, if you have been to Cleveland in the past, but not recently, you need to go!!  I learned SO MUCH by talking to representatives from "Destination Cleveland".  Destination Cleveland ( destinationcle.org ) is a private, non-profit convention and visitors bureau whose mission is to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Cleveland through memorable leisure, convention, and business travel experiences.  They publish a wonderful magazine , known as the Cleveland Official Visitors Guide ( www.ThisIsCleveland.com ), and have an extensive presence on twitter, facebook, instagram, youtube, pinterest, and trip advisor.  Their official hashtag is #ThisisCLE