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AUGUST 2010
Family-Friendly Cleveland
ROCKS!
By: Christine Smyczynski
Cleveland, Ohio, a quick 3 ½ hour drive from Buffalo, has a number of family-friendly attractions, making it a perfect one-tank day trip or weekend getaway destination. I’ve had the opportunity to visit Cleveland a couple times in the past year, most recently at the end of May.
Learn About Rock & Roll
Probably the best-known attraction in the city is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located along the waterfront in downtown Cleveland. This glass-walled, pyramid-shaped museum, which opened in 1995, houses many rare artifacts from the early days of rock and roll, along with items on loan from today’s artists.
Some of the items on display in the seven level museum include John Lennon’s jacket worn on the cover of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, Grace Slick’s vest worn on stage at Woodstock, Mick Jagger’s American/Union Jack cape and Neil Young’s fringe jacket.
I was there on a group tour, so we only had about 1 ½ hours at the museum, which I felt wasn’t really enough time. One could easily spend all day touring this 150,000 square foot facility. There is an overwhelming number of permanent exhibits focusing on everything from the history of rock and roll to today’s popular artists. There are also rotating exhibits, as well as interactive listening exhibits and five different films shown throughout the day.
Our tour group consisted of young teenagers, so while the other adult chaperones and I remembered many of the featured artists, such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Elvis, actually performing, many of our young charges viewed these rock icons as people who died before they were born! However, the kids still enjoyed the museum and thought it was really cool.
On display on the 5th and 6th floors of the museum until December 31, 2010, is From Ashbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen. A must see exhibit for any fan of “The Boss.”
As of late May, the Hall has become the home of the tour bus Johnny Cash used for the last two decades of his career. The bus is still upholstered with June’s blue velour furniture and the table in Cash’s personal compartment was built of wood salvaged near Cash’s birthplace from a Civil War-era house that was General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters.
Note that due to an agreement with the artists, photography and video is not allowed inside the museum; they actually make you check your cameras at the door. Be sure to visit their large gift shop, which has a lot of neat merchandise for the rock and roll fan. A café on the museum’s third floor serves light meals and beverages.
Something Scientific
Next door to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the Great Lakes Science Center, which has over 400 interactive exhibits on three levels. The museum, a non-profit education institution, has a mission to stimulate interest and understanding of science.
The exhibits actually begin outside, with a 150 foot wind turbine that supplies 6% of the building’s energy needs, as well as 156 solar panels, which produce enough power to light all 65,000 square feet of exhibit space. The first floor of the facility focuses on the environment of the Great Lakes Region. On the second floor, exhibits focus on bio-medical technology like DNA, stem cell research, and medical imaging. There are also exhibits on transportation, information technology, and even an outdoor observation deck.
The third floor has a variety of exhibits on sound and shape, as well as a van der Graff generator, where visitors can have a “hair raising” experience. There is also the Polymer Playhouse, for museum visitors age seven and under, which has 90 interactive exhibits and activities.
The new exhibit Strange Matter: Touch It! Twist It! Smash It! opened at the end of May and runs through January 3, 2011. It demonstrates how high-tech, advanced materials are incorporated into everyday things such as antennas, DVD players and golf clubs. With more than a dozen interactive exhibits, visitors can make their own slime to take home with them, smash a pane of glass with a bowling ball to see if it will break, and squish their hands in magnetic fluid — and much more!
For additional fees, museum visitors can view a film in the museum’s Omnimax theater or tour the 618-foot-long steamship, William G. Mather, a restored 1925 Great Lakes freighter where visitors can see what life was like aboard a ship during the golden era of steam boating. The ship is open May-October.
Tour The Waterfront
Another fun thing to do when visiting Cleveland’s waterfront is taking a tour on the Nautica Queen tour boat. The dock is located on the Cuyahoga River in the “Flats” area of Cleveland. All cruises include a buffet meal and musical entertainment. This tour offers a great view of the Cleveland skyline, including the Cleveland Browns football stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Our group of teens really enjoyed the cruise, especially since it was a kid’s buffet lunch cruise, complete with a DJ and a pizza party.
Museums & More
In University Circle
Last fall my family visited the Western Reserve Historical Society, located in Cleveland’s University Circle District. This district, located on the east side of Cleveland by Case Western Reserve University, is the cultural, educational, and medical center of the city.
The historical society focuses on the history of northeast Ohio. The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, located within the historical society, has about 200 antique and classic automobiles and aircraft. The historical society also operates several other historical properties in northeast Ohio.
Nearby, there are several other museums and attractions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, which is currently undergoing a multi-year major expansion. Its collection features works by European Masters as well as American artists. Cleveland also has a Museum of Contemporary Art.
The Children’s Museum of Cleveland is of special interest to families with children under age 8, with many hands-on interactive exhibits, like Splish, Splash, where kids can learn about the water cycle and more. The Big Red Barn exhibit was inspired by the book of the same name by Margaret Wise Brown.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, founded in 1920, is considered one of the finest institutions of its kind in the country. The Cleveland Botanical Gardens, as well as the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Rainforest are also in this district. The botanical gardens features an 18,000-square-foot glass conservatory plus ten acres of outdoor gardens, while the 168-acre zoo features 3,000 animals from 6 continents, as well as a tropical rainforest.
Play Ball
For many years, Major League Baseball fans from Buffalo have flocked to see the Cleveland Indians in action. This team, which was founded in 1901, has played at Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland since 1994. They are the closest major league team in the United States to the Buffalo area. If you catch a Sunday afternoon game, you can easily travel back to Buffalo before dark. If you happen to be traveling to Cleveland on a non- game day, behind the scenes tours of Progressive Field are available for a nominal charge.
• Resources
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (888-764-ROCK; www.rockhall.com) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio.
Great Lakes Science Center (216-694-2000; www.greatscience.com) 601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland, Ohio.
Nautica Queen (216-696-888, 800-837-0604; www.nauticaqueen.com) 1153 Main Ave. Cleveland, Ohio.
Western Reserve Historical Society (216-721-5722; www.wrhs.org ) 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Museum of Art (216-421-7340, 887-262-4748; www.clemusart.com ) 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art (216-421-8671; www.mocacleveland.org ) 8501 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland, Ohio.
Childrenís Museum of Cleveland (216-791-7114; www.clevelandchildrensmuseum.org ) 10730 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland Museum of Natural History (800-317-9155; www.cmnh.org ) 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland Botanical Gardens (216-721-1600, 888-853-7091; www.cbgarden.org ) 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio,
Cleveland Zoo (216-661-6500; www.clemetzoo.com ) 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland Indians (216-420-HITS; www.indians.mlb.com ) Progressive Field, 2401 Ontario Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
Directions: Take the NYS Thruway (I-90) west from Buffalo, traveling through Pennsylvania to Ohio. Cleveland is about 3 1/2 hours from Buffalo. Watch for the exit signs for Downtown Cleveland or University Circle, depending on your destination.
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