A spring break trip to catch a basketball game
Wednesday, April 3 – We headed up I-71 to Cleveland, but took I-271 and I-77 into the city so we could locate Gund Arena. The exits were well marked but there was no sign telling us where to turn after we left the expressway. We drove around downtown Cleveland for a while and discovered that left turns (and sometimes right turns) could not be made at most intersections. We finally found our way to Gund Arena and Jacob’s Field and decided to drive by Municipal Stadium. We kept expecting to come to Lake Erie but then could see not water. We soon realized the lake was still covered with ice.
It was becoming obvious that our Rand McNally atlas was not detailed enough to guide us successfully in town. We spotted a sign for AAA, pulled in, and obtained an updated lodging list and two folding road maps. Thus armed, we set out to find accommodations for the night. Searching for a hotel led us on a merry chase on several side streets and through Hopkins Airport as we ruled out one place because of the neighborhood and another because renovation had closed the pool. In Middleburg Heights we found a Holiday Inn with an indoor pool, a whirlpool and sauna and checked in to a room on the fifth floor. The kids got a quick swim before dinner at a Ponderosa.
We took I-71 back into Cleveland where the Indians had a 7:05 start next door to the Cavalier’s 7:35 game. All the parking near the stadium was taken up. Traffic officers waved us to the parking garage for Tower Square shopping center. One flight of an escalator took us to Terminal Tower’s arcade and an enclosed walkway led us under the streets to a flight of steps inside Gund Arena. We made it to our seats with a few minutes to spare and watched the Cavaliers defeat the Lakers. We were too late for the kids to try and get autographs and decided that if we ever went to Cleveland to watch a game again, we’d park early, eat downtown, and try not to come when the Indians were playing at Jacob’s Field. Michelle was especially entertained by the game and all the lights and sounds. Scott was in a foul mood because the Lakers trailed almost the entire game. While we were driving back to our hotel, fireworks began exploding over Jacob’s so we had a nice light show to cap our evening.
Thursday, April 4 – The day dawned sunny and bright although rain was in the forecast. After breakfast at Denny’s we drove to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The roads were very well marked but it started to drizzle before we got there. Our membership in the Cincinnati Zoo got us a discount for a ticket to the zoo and the separate Rain Forest exhibit. The Rain Forest was in a building covering two acres of displays with over 10,000 plants and hundreds of tropical animals. We took in the Rain Forest first. Some of the highlights included a Swiss Cheese Plant, some Dieffenbachia, a spiral staircase inside a kapok tree, and a thunderstorm that flashed lightning and poured rain on a 15-minute schedule. A poisonous snake hanging from a tree spit venom at Scott – lucky there was a glass barrier between them. Two small Komodo dragons were on display but there was no mention if they were from the Cincinnati Zoo. Michelle got to see an orangutan face to face and decided it was very ugly The orang kept his opinion of Michelle to himself. Scott ran a remote-control camera that tracked a leaf-cutter ant as it harvested a leaf and took it back to the ant colony.
It was still drizzling and cold when we left the Rain Forest building so we passed on the zoo and headed towards the museum district next to Case Western University. The kids had to suffer a lunch at McDonald’s before we drove in the now-pouring rain to the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. In the Historical Society’s lobby Michelle and Scott posed to have their picture taken in front of the giant Chief Wahoo sign that used to stand outside Municipal Stadium before the Indians moved to Jacob’s Field. The auto museum had cars ranging from 1898 to modern racers. Among the many vehicles were a $150,000 Aston Martin, a DeLorean, and a couple of experimental Fords from the post-war years that had stainless steel bodies. It was still raining when we left and our feet were sore so we headed back to the hotel. We wanted to eat dinner at a 50’s style diner called Moondogs but couldn’t find it so we had a pricy but very good dinner at Mountain Jack’s. When we left to go back to the hotel, the rain had started to freeze.
Friday, April 5 – Clouds gave way to sun while we were eating breakfast at the Holiday Inn and we decided to swing through downtown Cleveland again before we headed south. The kids finally got to shoot a couple of games of pool at the hotel before we left. We were able to park on the street right next to Jacob’s Field, look in through the gates and take some pictures. We drove down by the lake to get a picture of the ice, then headed east to Lawnview Cemetery to see the grave of President Garfield. The structure was not very impressive from the outside – the stone was a grimy, sooty black. Inside was a different story. Rainbow hues from the stained glass windows illuminated the mosaics on the walls and marble columns that surrounded a statue of Garfield and led the eyes upward to the domed ceiling.
A spiral staircase led to a balcony which gave an excellent view of the city and downtown Cleveland. Another staircase which led down had an arrow and sign saying “Restrooms and crypt” – the first time any of us had seen this combination. Scott opted to stay in the car the entire time but Michelle gamely climbed all the stairs and learned a little more about Garfield, Presidents, and respect for the dead. On our way out of the cemetery we drove past the grave of John D. Rockefeller Sr., the world’s first billionaire. We had lunch at a KFC before catching I-77 south through Akron to Canton where we stopped to visit the Professional Football Hall of Fame. We thought about visiting the tomb of William McKinley but didn’t have the time. US 30 took us to Wooster where we got a room at the Amerihost Inn and ate dinner at a Country Kitchen.
Saturday, April 6 – After continental breakfast at the Amerihost Inn, we continued west on US 30 to I-71. South of Columbus, the sun disappeared and snow began falling as we neared Cincinnati. We got home a few minutes past noon
Milestones on this trip: The first time Michelle had stayed in a hotel in Ohio.
States and provinces we visited: Ohio.
Capital cities we saw: Columbus
