Visited Aug. 12-19, 2022
By Janell
As the mural states, "Greetings from Cleveland"! We didn't know there was so much to see and do in Cleveland. There was a lot, and we found that we enjoyed it very much!
It's an interesting story about the name "Masthead Brewing Co".
Moses Cleaveland (no, that's not a typo) founded "Cleaveland" on July 22, 1796. Legend has it that on January 6 1831, a local newspaper by the name of "The Cleveland Advertiser" printed it's first edition and purposely left the superfluous "A" out of Cleaveland, as it wouldn't fit on the masthead. I guess general opinion was that the "A" really wasn't needed, and it's been "Cleveland" ever since. Mr. Cleaveland didn't object, as he had already passed away in 1806.
Anyway, that's the origin of the name "Masthead" and of the rolled up newspaper as the brewery's logo.
I know it sounded a little far-fetched, but here's Moses Cleaveland to prove otherwise.
We took a walking tour of Cleveland and as always, we learned a lot. (We learned the above mentioned story of "Cleaveland" to "Cleveland", for one thing.)
Terminal Tower, as seen from Cleveland's Public Square
The 52-story Terminal Tower was once the world's tallest building outside of New York City. Terminal Tower is 771', while the Woolworth Building in NYC (built in 1920) is 792'. When constructed in 1927, Terminal Tower presented a new and radical concept of combining retail, hotel, offices, and a train station in one mega structure.
The Fountain of Eternal Life
The Cleveland Mall
Officially named: "Mall A", "Mall B" & "Mall C". Perhaps the naming committee was up against a deadline late on a Friday, and they just wanted to get the weekend started?
"Mall A" is the section in the foreground with the Fountain of Eternal Life, "Mall C" the waterfront section at the edge of Lake Erie, and "Mall B" between the two.
The "bent" high rise on the left with the chunk missing is the Hilton Cleveland Downtown. The missing chunk is Bar 32, where there's reportedly a great view of Lake Erie; and even from that great height, one cannot see the other side of the lake. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to make it up there and confirm that fact.
The Arcade
Built in 1890, at a cost of $875,000, The Arcade was once known as Cleveland's "Crystal Palace". Modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, it was considered the very first indoor shopping center in America. These days The Arcade is home to a Hyatt Regency and a handful of shops and eateries. This photo barely does justice to this grand, old building. It was gorgeous!
"Free Stamp"
While this is not the world's largest rubber stamp, (that's located in Saudi Arabia), this one's pretty darn big! It's 49 feet long, 28 feet high and weighs 70,000 pounds!!
We liked it so much, we went back a second time! I'd like to try all of their flavors, but only having tried four flavors, I'm giving Wildberry Crumble and Fresh Peach (a seasonal flavor) top honors!
Marty's having Bing Cherry Chocolate Chunk and Caramel Fudge Brownie.
Did you know Cleveland had a beach? This is Edgewater Beach on the shores of Lake Erie.
We visited the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, OH, which includes the former President's home and a museum. It was a really well done tour and museum.
As the 20th president of the U.S., President Garfield served less than four months of his term, when he was shot on July 2, 1881. Miraculously, he survived 79 days before dying on September 19, 1881. The bullets are not what killed him, and if he had been shot in this same manner today, he would've most likely survived.
I couldn't have told you anything really about President Garfield until I read a book about him recently, Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard. I found the book fascinating, and I highly recommend it.
After reading this book and learning that President Garfield was from an Ohio town near Cleveland, and we were soon to be visiting Cleveland, I looked into tours of his home. We're so glad we went!
From the NPS.gov website:
James Garfield's front porch was the place where campaigning for president took on a new meaning. Prior to 1880, it was considered improper and undignified for presidential candidates to campaign for themselves. Once nominated, they were expected to go home and stay out of the limelight. The office of president was too important to "pander" for votes.
His front porch allowed Mr. Garfield to maintain tradition and at the same time present himself to the people in an innovative way. He could speak to groups of visitors in a friendly manner, not touching directly on any political issues of the day. His front porch talks, covered by newspapers nationwide, showing him on his farm with his family close at hand, reassured Americans that he was a man they could trust to lead the government.
While at the Garfield museum, we learned that seven presidents were born in Ohio: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Only one state has produced more presidents than Ohio: Virginia has produced eight presidents.
President Garfield, along with his wife Lucretia and two other family members, are entombed at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. We visited, but it was not open at the time we were there. It was still quite impressive to see from the outside.
One of "The Guardians of Traffic", aka "The Guardians of Transportation"
Seriously, that's what they're called. There are eight towering Guardians on the Hope Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Cuyahoga River. Eight 43' tall Guardians stand back-to-back, four at the west and four at the east ends of the bridge. Each Guardian holds a different vehicle in its hands: a hay-wagon, a covered wagon, a stage coach, a passenger car, a dump truck, a concrete mixer, and two other trucks.
The bridge, which was completed in 1932 was originally named the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge. In the 1980's the bridge was repaired and renamed Hope Memorial Bridge for Clevelander and comedian, Bob Hope, whose father, William Henry "Harry" Hope, worked on the bridge as a stonemason.
The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Oct. 1976, after a controversy in which Cuyahoga County engineer Albert S. Porter threatened to remove the historic pylons to widen the span, stating, "Those columns are monstrosities and should be torn down and forgotten. There is nothing particularly historic about any one of them. We're not running a May Show here."
Not being familiar with a "May Show", I searched online and found that it appears to be unique to Cleveland. From 1919 to 1993, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosted a "May Show" annually, which featured the works of hundreds of northeast Ohio artists and craftspeople.
Well, we're certainly glad Albert S. Porter didn't get his way. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but we thought the Guardians quite impressive! As to widening the bridge, I'd say that's not necessary; we saw very little traffic on the bridge whenever we were on it.
In the background, you can see Progressive Field, the baseball stadium where you can find the other Guardians.
Speaking of the other Guardians, we did go see the Guardians play the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. What a beautiful stadium with a nice city view, and the weather was absolutely perfect!
Many of you already know that the Cleveland Indians became the Cleveland Guardians in 2021, but perhaps like us you didn't know why they chose the "Guardians" as their new name. Well, now you know the rest of the story.
If you've seen the movie "A Christmas Story", you may remember that the fictional Parker family lived in Cleveland. That said, it shouldn't be too surprising to know that you can visit the Parkers' home, complete with all the props from the movie. There's also a museum all about the movie, and of course, there's a gift shop where you can buy an endless array of stuff -- from the movie.
You can even buy a leg lamp! (I talked him out of it. Whew!)
A family in our tour group brought a bunny suit with them, and their son put it on for photos! He looked just like Ralphie in the movie, and it was hilarious! Now that family was really into the movie!!
And here to refresh your memory, is a picture of the real Ralphie.
Last but not least . . . wouldn't you like to spend a night in the Parkers' house? You absolutely can!
Terminal Tower
Playhouse Square is Cleveland's theater district. It's the largest performing arts center in the U.S. outside of New York City. Pre-pandemic, they boasted well over 48,000 season ticket holders!
The largest outdoor chandelier in North America is hanging in the heart of Cleveland's theater district. Suspended over the intersection of Euclid and East 14th Streets, this chandelier weighs 8,500 pounds, is 20 feet high, has more than 4,200 crystals and is suspended from a 44-foot structure. One has to wonder how it behaves during a major storm. I would like to see that . . . from a safe distance.
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
Last but definitely not least: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!
Originally our plans were to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in August 2020. Despite Covid, they actually were open, BUT we were on our way to Niagara Falls and upstate New York. At that particular moment in the pandemic timeline, Ohio was on New York's no-no list; meaning, if we stopped in Ohio we would've had to quarantine for 14 days upon reaching New York. It was permissible to pass through Ohio but not to spend time there. We had come from Holland, Michigan (Michigan at that time was "okay" by New York's standards), and so we reluctantly just cruised through Ohio.
Needless to say, we made a point of getting back to Cleveland and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Notice the odd shape of the building? It's essentially a pyramid but with odd appendages here and there. There are seven floors to the museum. The street level entry brings you in at Level 1, and they tell you the best plan of attack is to start downstairs on Level 0 and proceed up from there.
This is in the café space on Level 1, one of the first things you see when you enter. I don't know what this has to do with rock and roll, but it was pretty cool.
Level 0 was quite large and chock-full of showcases filled with your favorite rock star's musical instruments, clothing he or she wore to different shows, photos, mementos, etc. etc. Every period of rock (and even beyond rock) was covered, from the very beginning of rock and roll to current day, so there's a wide variety of interesting elements to the museum. There was a wide variety of people visiting also. I'd say every age group was well represented; no age group held the majority, which was nice to see.
In addition to the thousands of items on display, they had videos, interactive kiosks, and music, of course. They also had individual sound stations where you could choose a decade and choose an artist from that decade and listen to them right there. Think of it like a large capacity juke box, just for you.
Like any museum, they have rotating exhibits. When we were there "The Beatles - Get Back to Let It Be" was being featured. There were a handful of mini theaters, like the one above, where we could see and listen to the Beatles. This particular performance by the Beatles was their last live performance as a group. It was somewhat impromptu on the rooftop of Apple Corps' Savile Row offices in London on January 30, 1969. People on the streets below were surprised and stopped to listen -- it was cool to see! Can you imagine it? You're walking along, going about your busy day, when you hear the Beatles live from the rooftop above?!
As you might imagine, there were a lot of guitars everywhere you looked (it is a rock museum, after all). Because we're already talking about the Beatles (and because I like the Beatles), I'm going to show this particular one, which belonged to John Lennon. I'm not a guitar aficionado however; I'm sure there are probably others I should feature . . . If you're really into guitars . . . you should go to Cleveland.
This is a 1965 Epiphone Casino. John Lennon used this guitar extensively during the Let it Be sessions and played it during the Beatles' final public appearance on the rooftop.
Because of the pyramid-type shape of the building, each floor we visited got progressively smaller as we went up. Thank goodness, because Level 0 seemed massive; if the rest were equally large, well . . . we'd still be there!
Pink Floyd's The Wall exhibit
This is just one of the many inductees in the Hall of Fame -- one of Marty's faves: The Allman Brothers Band. The walls were lined with all the many awards in chronological order. There was also an alpha listing if you were looking for someone specific. They had little papers and gold pencils, and if you wanted, you could do a rubbing of your favorite artist's signature. One man was getting all of the Beatles' signatures. They also had electronic screens where you could vote for the next Hall of Fame inductees. You could even pick up headphones and watch and listen to the induction ceremony from your favorite artist. This place really was amazing with all it had to offer.
We were in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for five hours!! But you know, and even I will say, that it did not seem that long. We were thoroughly engaged. Also, there were a couple of films (besides the Beatles clips that we sat in for just a few minutes). So, we were not on our feet the entire time.
One film was a 30-minute, continuous loop of snippets from Dick Clark's American Bandstand. We walked in and stood in the back, thinking we weren't going to stay long. After a few minutes, we were enjoying it so much we decided to take a seat and watch the rest!
The other film we watched was called "The Power of Rock Experience". It was a fast-paced, 15-minute show, described as "an adrenaline-fueled show that captures the excitement of a Rock Hall induction night . . . this show reaches into the vaults of the Rock Hall to highlight the most unforgettable moments".
In addition to all of the above, there's the Garage Band experience. We didn't take part in this, but we know a few people who would love doing it! Whether or not you know what you're doing, you're encouraged to pick up an instrument -- one that was used by B.B. King maybe, or Black Sabbath -- and play! Their website lists the current instruments on exhibit and who played them.
So, why Cleveland?
This historical marker above, (which was outside the museum), explains how in 1951, Cleveland disc jockey, Alan Freed gave this newfangled kind of music a name: "Rock 'n' Roll".
In addition, there's the following which I found on the Rock Hall's website:
In 1985, when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was deciding where to open its physical museum, Cleveland threw its hat into the ring for consideration. Thanks to a groundswell of public support and a $65 million commitment from city officials, the Foundation chose Cleveland as the winning site, over locales such as New York, San Francisco, Memphis and Chicago.
On June 7, 1993, the Who's Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips, and Ruth Brown (to name a few) attended the Cleveland groundbreaking ceremony, while Jerry Lee Lewis performed a year later when the building was finished off with the placement of one last steel beam.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame threw open its doors on September 2, 1995, and celebrated with a blockbuster benefit concert at nearby Cleveland Municipal Stadium. This marathon show featured once-in-a-lifetime pairings and performances by greats such as James Brown, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and Booker T. and the M.G.s. Besides the Municipal Stadium concert, the Rock Hall's festive opening weekend featured a downtown Cleveland parade and a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Little Richard and Yoko Ono.
When visiting Lake View Cemetery we also stopped to visit Alan Freed's very fitting "jukebox" tombstone.
From Wikipedia:
In 1986, Alan Freed was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His "role in breaking down racial barriers in U.S. pop culture in the 1950's, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality "at the vanguard" and made him "a really important figure", according to the executive director.
Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. The organization's website posted this note: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll.
Six of these Cleveland script signs can be found around the city, and we saw two of them. The odd-shaped building in the background on the left is the back side of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As a born and bred Clevelander, this warms my heart. Cleveland is often (unfairly) maligned. Geez, your river catches fire one time and... But seriously, I'm glad you saw (and reported) some of what Cleveland has to offer.
ReplyDeleteCleveland seems to be a very fun and interesting city. Who knew? Not me!
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