Travelogue: Cleveland

August 2019
Where We Stayed:  n/a

I never in my life thought that I’d visit Cleveland because… why would I?  It was just never a destination that made any sort of Bucket List.  But guess what?  We went to Cleveland!

We had a day on our vacation to fill — and didn’t want to spend all that time at Niagara Falls because we covered what we wanted to see the day before.  We thought about going to Buffalo but there wasn’t much there that appealed to us.  But Cleveland… Cleveland has the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the house from A Christmas Story… and it was only about 3 hours from Niagara Falls!  Done and donnnnne!

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was easy to find and the parking was smooth.  The facility itself was amazing — we spent almost 3 hours there and I don’t think that was enough time.  There’s also a cute little cafe on the ground level floor and they had a killer gift shop.  Two-thumbs up, A+, would recommend!

It RAINED like crazy when we were there.  We were so thankful that we saw what we wanted to see of Niagara Falls the day before — in the beautiful, sunny weather.

We drove around Cleveland so I could see the world’s biggest rubber stamp and the Greetings From Cleveland mural.  Then we went to the house from A Christmas Story.  It has been converted into a museum and you can take a tour of the house!  We didn’t do that because this trip was so last-minute, but I got some pics of the house.  There is also a beautiful and enormous gift shop across the street.  The whole area is really nice and it makes you feel like you’re in the movie.  Loved it.

It was then time to drive back to Niagara Falls (*sad trombones*).  The next day we drove the half-hour to Buffalo and flew back to Wisconsin.  I bought a buffalo wing Christmas ornament at the airport because… of course I did.

This vacation was 90% great and 10% getting on each other’s last NERVE.  But that’s any family vacation, right? (Though honestly, it wasn’t a vacation… it was a trip!)  I’m very fortunate that I a) get along with and genuinely like Denny and Jeanne and b) still have them here with me.  Time and health are fleeting and that fact is not lost on me.  Here’s to many more family trips!

The Def Leppard section… one of my favorite 80s bands!
Taylorrrr!  And my Cinnabon.  I hadn’t had a Cinnabon since about 1995.  It was just as warm and ooey gooey as I remembered it to be.
There was a gigantic truck parked on the sidewalk in front of this mural… so I couldn’t get the whole thing in one shot.  Oh well!
It’s FRA-GEEEE-LAY!
My ridiculous AND awesome buffalo wing Christmas ornament.