SoapZone Community Message Board

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is great, to be sure (a long while ago, the joke was you knew you were a a true Clevelander if you've never been to the RaRHoF...or only went once, with an out of town visitor. I've been twice...both times with out of town visitors. Oh, and I attended a magnificent free concert in the lobby of the HoF once). But right next to the HoF is the Great Lakes Science Center, which I enjoy even more (and I'm not really that big on science stuff). Other things to check out in Cleveland...

- USS Mather/USS Cod - The former is a retired freighter turned museum and the latter is a retired submarine turned museum

- West Side Market - One of the oldest food markets in the country, housed in a really cool Beaux-Arts style building. You can shop for groceries or get a meal there (Frank's Bratwurst is great...and I don't even LIKE bratwurst...and I also like Steve's Gyros and the pizza at...I don't even know the name of it but they sell it by the square slice...and if you like savory crepes, Crepes de Luxe is excellent). There's also about a dozen (maybe more) truly wonderful bakeries. If you want to sit down, you can either have a proper sit down meal at the West Side Market cafe or--my insider tip--you can take your handheld and beverage and climb the stairs to a small balcony where you can overlook the entire market

- University Circle - I'm partial to the art museum because it has a world class collection of famous paintings...and because it's 100% FREE. But also located in UC is the Natural History Museum, the Botanical Gardens and the Western Reserve Museum, which has a basement full of beautiful old cars (and a few planes) and a carousel you can ride for free with a complimentary ticket provided with your admission

- Little Italy/Coventry/Lake View Cemetery - Just a little southeast of downtown Cleveland is this trio of attractions. Little Italy is a small neighborhood with a nice collection of shops, Italian restaurants and pizzerias. Presti's bakery has an amazing selection of sweet treats. Up the hill (Murray Hill) from Little Italy is Lake View Cemetery. I don't normally recommend, or even go to, cemeteries, but LVC is now "home" to a number of famous people (most notably John D. Rockefeller, Eliot Ness and President Garfield, who has his own huge monument in the cemetery that you can go through...when it's open). It's home to non-famous people too...one of the branches of Dad's family has a family plot with a number of relatives buried there. LVC is also home to some absolutely gorgeous sculptures, including the absolutely terrifying "Haserot Angel", aka "The Angel of Death Victorious", which holds an upside down torch ("life extinguished") and has weathered in a manner that the angel appears to be weeping. And at the top of Murray Hill is a single street--Coventry--that's home to all sorts of cute shops and restaurants with a funky vibe. I'm partial to Koko's Bakery, Tommy's (a destination restaurant for the vegetarians/vegans in the area, though they also have meat dishes) and The Inn on Coventry (the best lemon ricotta pancakes in the world--I'll fight you on that <g>). My sister's family swears by Grumm's, a popular sub shop.

- Severance Hall - Home to the Cleveland Orchestra, it's world renowned for its acoustics. The orchestra is world renowned as well; if you like classical music and can afford to go, I highly recommend a performance.

- Playhouse Square - If you would prefer a musical or play to classical music, there's bound to be something playing at Playhouse Square that you would enjoy. PS is actually a collection of theaters and is actually the largest grouping of theaters in a city outside of NYC.

I'm sure there's other places I'm forgetting (if you like sports, all our sporting facilities are pretty nice). I should also mention that Cleveland has a thriving foodie scene, with a surprising number of really, REALLY good restaurants from a variety of cultures.