Travelogue: Cleveland

Taking a break from the UK/Ireland trip, to share images and thoughts about a weekend trip my husband, son, and I took to Cleveland. A few years ago, we launched a new type of trip within our family--the 1-1 (i.e., parent(s) and kid). With five of us all having our own interests, this is a way to build strong bonds without having to constantly compromise on where to go, what to see, what to eat, etc. We still do the "everybody in the bus" trips, but the 1-1s are very special.

This year, Noah announced that he would love to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I was particularly excited because except for our trip to Kansas City in May '08 to catch Wicked, I haven't really spent any time in the Midwest. Now I know why--it is not easy to get there by plane from Colorado. It's easier to go to Cancun, Honolulu, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, etc. than it is to get to Cleveland. Maybe it's just that the airlines have really cut down on flights and plane size to stay in business, but we had a rough time finding any non-stop flights DEN/CLE that weren't outrageously expensive. But we did, and we went last weekend.



We didn't have time to visit any other Cleveland sites other than the R&R HofF, but that was absolutely terrific. A beautiful building on the outside, and spacious and interesting, hip and entertaining on the inside.

Key takeaways...
...all the costumes on display seemed really small. For example, Bruce Springsteen's leather jacket looks like it would be tight on my petite 14-year old daughter. I expected Mick Jagger's outfits to be tiny, but it seemed that all the outfits were small.
...loved seeing the handwritten notes and early lyrics for blockbuster songs; I especially liked seeing Linda Ronstadt's handwritten play list for a 70's concert that included all of my favorites!
...interesting to see Jimi Hendrix's art from his schooldays--especially the ones of guys playing football. Seems so Wally Cleaver.
...found that a lot of my favorite music was included in the "roots of rock and roll" part of the exhibit.
...one, and only one, Elton John item. A picture of him. Despite being inducted into the HoF quite a long time ago, the museum has no memorabilia. We asked why not and were told that he donates everything to charity. So why don't some of the people who bought it, lend it for display?
...it was packed. I particularly liked seeing the grandmas and grandpas lined up to view the KISS exhibit. The times they are a rolling along!
...you can only take pictures in the lobby area. Apparently it's a copyright, intellectual property thing wherein the artists who have donated or lent work to the musuem don't want people taking pictures of their art and selling it, I guess.
...the musuem is on the shores of Lake Erie, and we stayed a few blocks away with a view of the lake. Weird to be so near that big a body of water and not hear it.



I would go back to Cleveland in a minute to explore the rest of the city. Just driving around and finding a few great restaurants was enough to make me appreciate that there is more to this heartland city than we were able to squeeze in.