Day 10 - Nature

Cultural Gardens

Located in Rockefeller Park are the Cultural Gardens, a very beautiful place to go with family or friends when the weather is nice. It was more than just scenery as it also held a lot of history of the twentieth contrary. The stones and paths in the gardens, along with the monumental satiates that can be found, are meant to make us proud of both our heritage and our American blood. We spent a long time walking down the paths, learning about more heritages than we thought one garden could hold.

Here is a list of the types of countries represented in the gardens:
Armenians
Hebrews
Italians
Polish
Greek
German
Slovenian
Czech
Russian
Slovak
Lithuanian
Hungarian
Croatian
Syrian
Irish
Indian
Finnish
Estonian
Latvian
Ukranian
African American
Romanian
Serbian
Azerbaijan
Chinese
AND multiple American gardens

Dike 14
In the afternoon we decided to check out the Dike 14 Lakefront Nature Preserve. It is a very unique area that allows people to connect with the lake erie shoreline, and all the beautiful nature around it. You are not allowed to bike or walk dogs here, but it is a great place for walks and hiking. There are very diverse birds located in the area, and we happened to walk by some people who were actually bird watching! New trails and bird feeders are being set up, and the park is a greta place to bring the family! The location next to the lake also really helped enhance the beauty of the Nature Preserve.

Day 9- Legacy Village and Crocker Park

First Stop: Legacy Village

Described as a "Lifestyle Center" in the middle of Lyndhurst, Ohio, Legacy Village opened in 2003 and has been a super popular place to visit, spend time, shop, and eat at ever since. On the weekends it holds many concerts to home-town bands, and is usually filled with people of all ages, ranging from parents with their children, teens, and grandparents. Both of us have been to Legacy countless times, because it is a place where you can find almost everything. From eating at some of our favorite restaurants (such as California Pizza Kitchen, Chipotle, Starbucks, Stir Crazy, Brio!, Menchies, and many more), to getting our computers fixed at the Apple Store to shopping at unique boutiques such as Charming Charlies or Francescas Collections,  to shopping at more retail-like stores such as Nordstrom Rack, Lilly Pulitzer, Dicks Sporting Goods, Talbots, or Loft.
No matter what you are looking for, Legacy seems to have it. And if Legacy doesn't have it, then all you need to do is hop in the car (or even walk) to Beachwood Place which is right around the corner. The great location of Legacy is what makes it as popular as it is. It is right in the middle of the Cleveland suburbs and downtown Cleveland, attracting people of all types to stop and walk through. When we went this past week, we spent time walking around admiring what Legacy really is; a small village built for consumers and an incredible way to bring in business to help stimulate Cleveland's economy. We noticed how clean the streets were, and how friendly the people are who walk around. How happy everyone seemed and how great of a community legacy is adds to Cleveland's incredible city.

Second Stop: Crocker Park

Located on the west side of Cleveland in Westlake, Ohio, Crocker Park is very similar to Legacy Village. Since we both live on the east side of Cleveland, we do not get around to visiting Crocker Park very often. However, when we visited today, we saw a whole side of Crocker Park that we had not seen before in the past. While we had previously been there just to shop at clothing outlets such as Abercrombie & Fitch or Urban Outfitters or American Eagle, when we went this time we began to notice what an incredible area Crocker Park really is. Based on a French town-like setting, Crocker Park is home to many apartments and office buildings above many of the outlets. While it is a trek to get to Crocker park from the east side, it is well worth the visit. It has many popular restaurants and stores, and is filled daily with children, adults, and elderly couples as they walk around to enjoy the peaceful area. Crocker park is definitely a place to visit in Cleveland.

Day 8 - Our Great Lake

We have to emphasize that Cleveland is special because we are lucky to live right next to a great lake! Besides our consistent water source, the lake also makes it easier for us to harvest wind energy and be more economically efficient. Most importunely for us, however, the lake introduces residents with a variety of activities to participate in! 

Birds eye view of the yacht club

Firstly, for those interesting in boating, there is a fact club and multiple arenas that you can join. The yacht club will give lessons to those who are not members but are looking into the hobby of boating. You can join the club without owning a boat, and the activities available to members include...

• Power Fleet Cruises
• Sail Races
• Water Sports
• Sail Camp and Swim Team
• Youth Activities
• Fishing Tournaments
• Skeet, Bowling and Golf Fleets
• Chorus Programs
• Ladies Sailing and Social Groups
• Book Club and Bridge Games
• Wine Tasting Dinner
• Holiday Celebrations

(note that in the picture, the water looks gross, but as soon as the boat leaves the docking area the water is much more blue)

Edgewater

We visited two beaches today that are great for people of all ages. The first was Edgewater Park, located near the downtown area. The view is perfect and lets you see the buildings downtown over the water. There are parks nearby for children to play on, picnic areas, stands set up to grab a bite to eat, and ice cream trucks often come by in the summer. There are also paths right next to the beach that are great for a walk or run, and in the summer, there is a place where you are able to rent bikes! These bikes are not all normal, some are made so two people can pedal side by side with an awning over them. It's a really popular event for families especially. There are also docks provided for fishing (they have a stand that sells worms), and there are also boat launch ramps for people who want to bring their own boat. It is easy on a nice day for someone to spend their whole day here! 

(note: it is in our opinion, however, that we do not recommend swimming at this beach as the water seemed dirty.)

The second popular beach is Mentor Headlines State Park, located in Mentor. This park holds 120 acres of land, and the beach is perfect to come to on a hot summer day! There is not as much to do as Edgewater, but the water is much cleaner and good for swimming. It is great for people of all ages, and during the busy hours of a summer day lifeguards are on duty to guard swimmers. Sometimes people come in and provide wind surfing lessons too! When we visited we couldn't swim because the water was still cold, but we still appreciated the park for it's beauty and plan on coming back when it heats up!

A beautiful shot of Mentor Headlines Beach. (It's always very clean and spacious)

Other areas to note:

Wildwood - A great place to dock and/or launch boats into the water. There is a picnic area nearby, playground, and walking path. This is a place especially good for fishing because of the summer Walleye!

Villa Angela - This has a very beautiful boardwalk and fitness trails, a 900-ft beach for swimming, and a bathhouse.

Euclid Beach - This has a 650-ft beach for swimming, and picnic areas that can be used to rent for parties that hold up to 50 people.

Gordon Park - This place also has a picnic area, but it is great for fishing too! It holds 6 boat launch ramps, and because of the location near the Cleveland Electric and Illuminating Company, there is warmer water discharged into the lake that attracts steelhead and salmon.

East 55th Marina - This is a good place to dock a boat. It is a gated community so your boat is safe overnight, and there is a place to eat where you can literally park your boat right outside! 

Overall

We encourage all residents of Cleveland to use our lake to its full advantage! Fisherman, swimmers, runners - everyone can find a way the lake helps them fulfill their activities! We also must say that while we explored the area today, we saw that the houses by the lake were gorgeous. It seems like a great place to live, and we could only imagine the view they have from their windows. We are so lucky to live next to a great lake, and everyone should check out at least one of the parks mentioned above.

Day 7- The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Today we decided to check out the animal-fill Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Having both taken the Laurel School Passport trip to Tanzania in 2009, we both had a pretty good sense of what it is like to see wild and rare animals in their natural habitats, considering we spent three days of the trip on a African Safari. Neither of us had been to a zoo since before our trip to Tanzania, because we figured that nothing could compare to how we saw real animals all the way across the world. However, when we first stepped through the gate leading into the zoo this morning, many memories from our previous travels came into play. We first walked over to the elephants. There were about 6 elephants out to look at, and even a baby! We went through the Australian Adventure to see the kangaroos, then saw the koalas, the lions, giraffes & African Savanna, Monkey Island, rhinos, gorillas, then up to see the tigers, bears, and aquatics. The funny thing about going to see the aquatics area, (an inside building with fish, sharks, ect.), is that we found this experience to be much more educational, exciting, and entertaining than we found the Cleveland Aquarium to be. It also is a great place for other events, like on holidays such as halloween, or when the space is used for beneficial walks like The Suicide Prevention Walk.The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has done an incredible job with their exhibits and attractions. The Zoo was clean, the food was good, the animals were entertaining, and the overall experience we had today with the animals was almost as realistic as we had remembered in Tanzania. We saw people of all ages there; from babies to children to parents to grandparents; showing that the Cleveland Zoo is a Cleveland attraction that helps make Cleveland as great a city as it is.

Day 6 - Little Italy and Chinatown

Little Italy
In the morning, we headed to Little Italy to do some exploring. We are both unfamiliar with the area and have only really been down there during the Feast of the Assumption, a festival held in late August. However, this is a very lively and fun place that is great for people of all ages! Case is nearby so it is common for the students to come grab lunch or hang out here at night, the bakeries and restaurants are all incredibly good. We stopped at Prestie's to grab some classic cavatelli and pepperoni bread. It is always filled with people because all the food is always fresh and authentic (also a reasonable price!) We also saw a very beautiful church in the are for those who are religious, which can be seen in the picture below.

Prestie's Bakery is the one with the red awnings 

We walked down the streets a little bit to note a variety of other restaurants that would be great to visit at night for dinner. It would probably be best to visit this place when there is nice weather since outdoor eating is very popular. At some places you can hear their music carry into the streets and there is a great atmosphere.

A lot of the side streets had brick roads

Besides places to eat, we saw art galleries and boutiques! At one boutique we even saw some earrings being sold that were originally made by Laurel's own art teacher, Catherine Butler. We didn't bring money to shop, but we both plan on coming back sometime since all the merchandise was very original and cute.

Apartments

It is a great place for people of all ages, but we feel that young people especially would be able to enjoy the area. Above is a picture of apartments that have a balcony, elevator, and easy access to the central area of Little Italy!

Chinatown 
The set-up of chinatown was much different than Little Italy where it was not as much of a town, but instead a small group of stores and restaurants. There were some local shops there that sold chinese teapots or children's toys, but chinatown is most commonly visited for it's restaurants. My family personally visits chinatown quite frequently to enjoy the dim sum. On this visit we learned that some restaurants in chinatown are also known for their late night karaoke, which could defiantly be something fun to check out sometime!

Day 5 - Art and History Museum

Art Museum 
The Art Museum in Cleveland is very unique because it is free! It is conveniently located right next to the Cleveland Institute of Art so that students are provided more opportunity. There are special events held and some workshops given for those interested. All the employees were very friendly to us, and there was always someone nearby if you had any questions about the work. Of course, we couldn't really take pictures inside, but here is a picture of Clare standing outside the museum.

The work inside was very varied, from paintings to armor replicas to statues like the ones above! For those who have knowledge on the background of the art work, one could easily spend a whole day in here.

Lunch
The area around the art museum is very beautiful, and we decided to just grab lunch at a hot dog stand outside. There is a beautiful pond to sit by while you eat. We would highly recommend spending your summer days in this area!

Day 4 - Rock and Roll (and science!)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Today we stopped at the place Cleveland is most famous for, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Surprisingly, neither of us have been here before and we were really excited to finally experience it! This H.O.F is world famous and after opening its doors in 1995, it has educated many fans and scholars on the history and importance of Rock and Roll.

Outside the museum there was a display of large guitars that all were painted with a different style.

Once in the building, we were not allowed to take pictures. However, there were many displays that were as colorful and creative as the guitars above! We saw a large display on the development of Rock and Roll, the rejection of it, and the many people who have contributed to the movement. Elvis Presley and the Beatles both had a lot of space dedicated to them were people were able to walk by and not only read about them, but see outfits and instruments that they used in the past! There were certain sections where you could listen to music by putting on headphones, learning the influence and background behind some of the famous songs that are played on the radio today. It was really cool to see.

Neither of us play an instrument so we couldn't fully appreciate the full context of the measeum, but if you are in any way interested in music, visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a must! It is something that makes Cleveland very unique and famous, and it is sometimes even placed in movies (like "The Rocker" and such). Recently The Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the museum, where many famous musicians came for the celebration! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame helps keep Cleveland lively and fun, and we are so lucky to have it!

Lunch - Hard Rock Cafe
It only seemed appropriate to go to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, located right by tower city in downtown Cleveland. This is a very famous restaurant found all over the world, and it is only appropriate one be placed in the Rock and Roll city as well! There is a variety of food, but we both stuck to a burger and a sandwich to keep it simple!

Science Museum
Not quite sticking to our Rock and Roll theme for the day, the Science museum is conveniently located right next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so of course we were going to swing by! This is a place we remember attending on field trips and with our families, it was always full of fun things to do that never get old. It makes learning fun and science very interesting. It holds special events, such as the body exhibit, and the space of the building always holds a variety of things to do. The I-MAX Theatre is also located attached to the museum, and if we weren't on a budget we would have liked to end the day off there. The large screen is great for providing a 3D movie experience without the glasses, and it is especially good for documentaries and nature films.

It was a great, enlightening day to spend downtown! We look forward to our next trip out.