Instead of one epic Great Lakes trip, I decided to break it up into thirds because it gave me an excuse to see my Mom. The plan was to fly to Pittsburgh on Friday and rent a car. From there, I would play it by ear depending on the weather. The forecast in Cleveland looked good on Friday (sunny and 72) but not so good for the weekend. For this reason, I hit Cleveland first. This was my preference anyway. Since the Pittsburgh airport is west of town, it was only 2 hours driving time into Cleveland. I chose to fly direct out of Atlanta to get in as early as possible. That proved to be a good call. My time in Cleveland was a little rushed but I saw everything that I wanted. If I had landed 2 hours later, I would have had to skip something.
I left work an hour early on Thursday and got to Atlanta at twilight. It was a beautiful evening there and I kinda wish I had taken more time. I could have taken MARTA from the airport into downtown to get some night shots of Atlanta. However, because of the early flight, I had to settle in early.
9/18- Out the door at 6 AM for an 8:30 flight. Landed on time at 10:15 and hit the road by 11. Lunch was just outside of Youngstown, almost halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. This was historically the boundary between Steeler country and Browns country.
First tourist stop was Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga NP. I wish I was there a month later and I bet it's beautiful at peak foliage. As it is, still pretty cool. There were several longer trail options but due to the time crunch, I chose the shortest one. It was only about a half mile each way to the Falls but they could be seen from 3 different viewpoints. From there, I checked into my fleabag motel and dropped off my bag. Downtown hotels were $500 so I opted to stay 7 miles south of town and save $400. I was only there to sleep and it did the job.
Next, I walked by the Christmas Story house and snapped a couple pictures. Unfortunately, I did not have time for the organized tour. I then took a dip at Edgewater Beach on Lake Erie. It wasn't as impressive as Lake Michigan but still worth a stop. Yes, the water temperature was still tolerable (probably low 70s). Waves were small but there were a couple of surfers out there. I asked my Facebook followers to guess where I was and the answers were hilarious. California? South Carolina? Gulf Shores? Nope. Cleveland, Ohio.
From Edgewater, it was only a 5 minute drive to the Rock n Roll HOF. I had enough time to do it somewhat justice and spent close to 2 hours there. It was a 15-20 minute walk to the baseball game but I made a quick detour to Voinovich Park for the iconic Cleveland sign with the skyline.
The stadium was about average but the game was fun. It was a 5-3 win for the home team and number 27 is in the books. Getting back to the hotel was a bit of an adventure but I made it and was already on the way back to Pittsburgh.
9/19- No issues on the drive in and I arrived at Mom's place by 10 AM. After lunch, we hit the road for about an hour to Oglebay Park in Wheeling, West Virginia and toured the University campus. We went out for a nice dinner then rested. I was zonked and went to bed early.
9/20- A more chill day. Church in the morning then watched a bad NFL game. We stayed in for dinner but my sister and nephew made it to see me.
After dinner was the real adventure. I wanted some shots of the Pittsburgh skyline at night in a neighborhood called Mount Washington. I got what I wanted but the road were so steep and narrow that I'm not sure it was worth the stress of getting there.
9/21- No issues on the flight to Atlanta. Again, I elected not to go downtown because I was too tired. The best chance to do this is probably the winter. With shorter days, I can get the night shots without staying too late and still get back to the airport hotel at a decent hour. That's the plan for next time.
Thoughts on Cleveland:
This city did not have a very good reputation when I was growing up. I won't go as far as to say I fell in love with Cleveland but I found it to be surprisingly decent and better than expected. Probably not a vacation destination but definitely worth a stop for a day or two if you are in the area
No comments:
Post a Comment