With our big 2024 trips to New Zealand/Australia in February and Ireland in September, we deliberately made no summer plans other than Barb hanging out at the Cattail Creek pool. On my birthday, I floated the idea that I might take a summer road trip of my own. I had for a while wanted to see Toronto for the first time, the only major city in Canada I’d never visited. I discovered that the Baltimore Orioles had a four-game series there in early June, so I used that as an anchor for my plans. Looking at the map, it made sense to break up the drive to Toronto with stops in Cleveland and Pittsburgh in one direction of the other. Coincidentally, the Washington Nationals had a series in Cleveland just before the O’s were in Toronto, and the Pirates would be hosting the LA Dodgers and Minnesota Twins just after. Thus my itinerary fell into place.
Barb said she would feel better about the trip if I went with a buddy, so I asked both Joe and Larry if they were interested. Both of them showed some interest but could not make it work with their schedules or their wives which was not too big of a surprise. It was nice they were interested. It was nicer still that in a moment of weakness Barb agreed that I could go alone. I bought tickets, made hotel reservations, and got some good ideas from Larry on things to do in Toronto and Pittsburgh where he and Ashley had been a few years earlier.
Toronto | Pittsburgh
Friday, May 31 – Drive to Cleveland
After bidding farewells to Barb and Manny, I got out the door as planned at 9:30am. I got as far as the driveway before Barb flagged me down to say that Manny had puked. I came back in, got it cleaned up, and got back on the road, officially starting at 10am. I decided to avoid tolls and took a longer route through the Pennsylvania countryside. It was a beautifully clear, cloudless day with temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. I drove much of the way without air conditioning. The drive was pretty and largely uneventful. I stopped for lunch at a KFC near a Walmart somewhere east of Pittsburgh.
I was on interstates for about half the trip and on state roads for the rest. The state roads were slower but more interesting. In northwestern Pennsylvania I started to see Trump signs including not one, not two, but three video billboards showing fast scrolls of pro-Trump and stridently anti-Biden messages. The message that stuck with me was a picture of Trump and a heart with the words “Faith, Family, Freedom”. This from a man with no faith, at least two-and-a-half failed marriages and multiple documented affairs including with a porn star, and a penchant for locking up all rivals regardless of due process. How people can believe this nonsense is beyond me. It seems that whatever is ailing America reaches deeper than what common sense and reason can penetrate.
I got to my hotel in Cleveland and checked into my room at the Hampton Inn Downtown Cleveland by 5pm, settled in for a bit then headed out to get my bearings and search for dinner. I scoped out the easy walk to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where I would go the next day. I had been to Cleveland twice before, one time for a baseball weekend with Gerard, Chris and others in July 1994, and more recently for a quick visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Allie and her Singapore friend, Julie, in August 2016.
I walked down to the lakefront, explored the Voinovich Bicentennial Park for a bit and passed the Cleveland Cliffs ship, the SS William G. Mather, now a tourist attraction and the Firefighter Memorial between the Science Center and Cleveland Browns stadium. Both the ship and the firefighter memorial seemed new since I last visited Cleveland with Allie and Julie in 2016 but they were both there, I just didn’t remember them. In any case, I was surprised there were only a few other people out walking on this gloriously clear, sunny Friday.
I walked back into town toward my dinner destination, a Lebanese grill named Taza. It was in the Warehouse District near a handful of other busy restaurants. I got a seat, ordered a Lebanese white wine and two appetizers: garlic spinach and some sausages with a tomato sauce. Both were tasty, as was the fresh pita bread with zaatar and olive oil. A nice little meal.
I got back to my room by 9pm and found the Guardians game on TV. I watched them win and was surprised to find there were fireworks after the game. I could hear them from my hotel room but could not see them. If I hadn’t already taken off my pants and shoes I might have run out to see them. As it was, I just listened to the thumping. After the baseball, I found replays of the French Open for the rest of the evening. Go Ons Jabeur.
Saturday, June 1 – Cleveland
I had boring but adequate Hampton Inn breakfast at the hotel then headed down to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for its opening at 10am. I went down to the main exhibits on the ground floor and spent more than three hours there. I mostly skipped a special presentation area commemorating 50 years of hip hop and plunged into the permanent exhibit on the roots of rock. The museum does a credible job hitting the highlights including rock’s debts to the blues, country and western, gospel and more. There are also concise but detailed exhibits on the main geographic centers of rock’s history, including Memphis, Detroit, Liverpool/London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York/London (for punk), Philadelphia and Seattle.
I lingered at permanent exhibits (with long videos) to Elvis, the Beatles and Rolling Stones. The Beatles exhibit includes a comprehensive series of mini documentaries that chronicle each of their albums, with commentaries from the Beatles and George Martin at various stages. I spent more than an hour there. After that, the sparser collection of scattered Rolling Stones memorabilia seemed shoddy…there’s room for much more detailed storytelling. While there’s no doubt that Elvis, the Beatles and Stones…and nods to Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Janis Joplin, U2, and (questionably) a new display to Sheryl Crow deserve their places, there are lots of others that deserve mention. Where were displays for the Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, more about Little Richard, Louis Jordan, Dylan, the Band and lots of more modern artists? Granted, there was much more of the museum I hadn’t seen yet. I will say, it was a surprise to come across a couple of mentions of Charlie Gracie, a 1950s rock and roll pioneer and evidently an influence on the Beatles. I had never heard of him, which is saying something given the extent of my reading and listening about rock history. Someone new for me to research.
There was a theater dedicated to female inductees in the Hall of Fame with another hour-long set of videos. I sat through several but didn’t have time for them all. Maybe tomorrow. There was also a lovingly cluttered area dedicated to a vast range of rock musicians from Cleveland and the Midwest. It was admirable but gave short shrift to any one of them.
By the time I more or less finished the ground floor it was 1:30pm and time to head to the baseball game. I decided I would likely spend the whole day on Sunday at the museum, skipping the option of another game.
While I was in the museum, I missed the gay pride parade that went right by my hotel. There was, however, an extensive festival covering several blocks of downtown parks. I wandered through and snapped a few pix but didn’t linger. I enjoyed the FREE stamp sculpture along the way.
I got to Progressive Field a full two hours before the game and it’s good I did. There were already multiple long lines to get in trying to ensure receiving the free Steven Kwan jersey giveaway. There were enough for the first 15,000 spectators and there were nearly that many already in line. I got in and was able to get in and snag my jersey – one size, XL, fits all…no choices. I had two hours to kill before gametime. It took me quite a while into the game before I realized that Steven Kwan was not even playing. He had played the night before but sat on the bench for his jersey day. I kept expecting him to pinch hit or something, but no.
I had researched things to eat at Progressive Field and was on the lookout for a Wisconsin burger that sounded pretty good – sausage patties with onions and peppers on a pretzel roll. But the article where I read about it was from 2019 and evidently it’s not there anymore or at least I couldn’t find it. I had worked up a bit of an appetite after breakfast and skipping my proper lunchtime. At 3pm I settled for a Rally Burger which was a basic bland cheeseburger with some “special sauce.” Nothing special. The upper deck seat I purchased had a beautiful view when I was standing but when seated, the exit blocked my view of home plate. Also, the guy squeezed next to me was not very friendly or generous with the armrest.
After the first inning I moved to an empty spot in the shade on the third base side. It was fun watching the game but I was not deeply invested in either the Guardians or the Nats. The Guardians are leading their division and have some exciting players – with or without Steven Kwan – but they also have some holes in their lineup filled with folks I’d never heard of with mediocre batting stats. I could check those stats in detail on the monstrously large video screen that stretched behind the whole of the left field bleachers. It was at least five times bigger than the out of date screen at Camden Yards. That said, if you weren’t pointed at the screen it was hard to see information, including out of town scores, on the much smaller scrolling screens along the seating bowl.
I waited until 5pm to try a brat and was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty tasty with a nice crunch. The home team ended up winning 3-2 so the crowd went home happy but the Nats never really seemed a threat to actually win the game.
I headed back to the room and was settled in by 7pm. I couldn’t decide whether to have any dinner; I found another baseball game on TV (Phillies vs Cardinals) and wrote up these notes before getting a bit peckish around 9pm. I went down to the lobby to snag some unhealthy, overpriced snacks before calling Barb and then calling it a night along with a PBS fundraising Elton John concert.
Sunday, June 2 – Cleveland
I was back at the Rock Hall of Fame by 10am and plunged back to the ground floor exhibits thinking that I might have missed something. Sure enough, one turn I didn’t explore the day before led to two major exhibit areas. One was a set of permanent exhibits on various major bands and rock stars that filled in many of the gaps I noted from the first day. Each display was built around memorable stage costumes and instruments that were readily identifiable with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Prince, Led Zeppelin and lots of others…an extended pantheon of rock music. There was also a special exhibit area dedicated to female rockers and bands including several good listening/video areas for performances. The Rock Hall was emphatically making the point that women rock too and please don’t accuse them of reptilian rock misogyny.
I spent more than an hour catching up on the things I missed. I even went through the hip hop exhibit though it didn’t take me long. I give the Rock Hall higher marks for inclusiveness and comprehensiveness though I’m sure I could come up with some oversights if I think much about it…OK, there was relatively little on disco, new wave, glam rock, prog rock and alt country, to name a few. It also occurred to me they could use an area called “Follow the Money” or something similar to trace the business side of music to compare the relative profitability of different genres, eras and technologies. My suggestions in case they read this.
The Hall’s second floor was given over to an interactive play area where guests were encouraged to pick up an instrument and try things themselves. I eventually worked up the courage to pick up a bass but I couldn’t figure out how to turn the amp on. Still it was nice to feel the heft of a proper Fender Precision Bass and plunk a few notes. There was also a garage band area where a couple of Rock Hall staffers helped guests thrash out some amateurish covers of classic rock tunes. I didn’t work up the courage to try that but I listened to quite a few who did. I doubt I could have done any better.
There was an area dedicated to Rock Hall inductees which included some listening stations. I eventually camped out there and traced the bios and playlists of a number of the more obscure (to me) inductees. This area was not quite as good as the listening stations at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville but once I found a set of relatively new headphones it wasn’t bad. There were also theaters dedicated to clips from Rock Hall induction ceremony performances, the show Soul Train, and I went back downstairs to catch all of the women rocker videos.
In all, I spent a fairly exhaustive 6 hours at the museum. I certainly got my money’s worth for my annual membership and now I don’t need to come back anytime soon. And besides, the day was intermittently rainy and I don’t think the baseball game would have been much fun, even though the Nats won.
I had lunch in the Hall’s snack bar, a decent chicken pita wrap. I was still full around 6pm when I headed to dinner. I elected to try Mabel’s BBQ because it came well recommended and seemed vaguely local. It turned out to be run by former Iron Chef Michael Symon who is from Cleveland. I had to get there before it closed at 8pm on a Sunday evening. So much for downtown nightlife. My plate of spicy kielbasa was fine but not very spicy.
I had a reasonably fun couple of days in Cleveland. I didn’t see much beyond the few downtown blocks between the Rock Hall, my hotel and Progressive Field but that was pretty much by my design. Aside from the gay pride parade yesterday the streets were mostly deserted and I didn’t feel particularly safe wandering alone. But so far so good; next stop, Toronto.
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