I Wish I Took Advantage of The More Vast Opportunities of An Ohio Vacation

A few years ago, my family and I had taken a trip to Cleveland, Ohio. Our main goal was to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I did in fact enjoy that. As I wish I would have appreciated it more: due to the fact that I was much younger at the time and I did not understand the vast history of music, that is not the point of this post. The point is that we basically did nothing much exciting for the rest of the days that we were there. We did go shopping in the local mall and eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, but we would have had a better experience if we took more thought and research into the seemingly exciting city of Cleveland.

Map of Cleveland's Location

Ah, Cleveland. The city of the Browns football team, the Cavaliers basketball team, the Indians baseball team, their museum of art, and many other historical oddities. It is one of the many cities surrounding the Great Lakes, and popular with sea travel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean back in the 1800's. The area had been a trading hub, especially for iron and coal. Railroads were eventually introduced and built, as well as new settlers moving in. Quickly fast forwarding to the 20th century and beyond, the city has since prospered as a more definite cultural hub within the Midwest.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The year was 2009. My family and I decided to take a well-deserved vacation for a few days. In addition to making a stop in Shipshewana, Indiana (Amish Country!), we decided that Cleveland was a great place to go. Everyone in my family has a decent knowledge of music, so the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum was ruled out as our main stop. We explored through many parts of the museum, including the artifacts from Woodstock, outfits/costumes, posters, and especially John Lennon's white piano. We even got to go inside Johnny Cash's Tour Bus which was sitting outside of the venue at the time. All in good fun! However, for the rest of the week that we were there, we were just laying around the hotel and not productive with exploring the rest of the city. My mother did suggest going to sports game that was happening that week, but my dad shot it down immediately. With many places to visit in the city such as local food shops, a college campus, and an art museum filled with art forms ranging from contemporary to impressionism, we sure did miss a lot.

Inside the Cleveland Museum of Art

The lesson learned here is that before going on a vacation, be sure to do some heavy research into what a place has to offer. Whether it be famous or obscure, a new place to explore is always a fun activity for the whole family. You never know what you're bound to discover!

(I do have photographs from my trip, but I have been unable to locate them. As soon as I do, I will update this post.)