Natural History Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art

Thursday the 27th we visited both the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Museum of Art, both of which are located in University Circle. The Natural History Museum is open Monday-Saturday 10 am to 5pm, but is open late on Wednesdays (until 10 pm). Sunday hours are 12pm to 5pm. Admission prices are $8 for children and $10 for adults. Currently on exhibit at the Natural History Museum are "Fieldwork: The Rare and Wonderful at Singer Lake Bog", "Tyrannosaurus Rex", "Triceratops Horridus", and "Meet Jane, a Juvenile Tyrannosaur". Coming May 29th is the exhibit "Wild Music: Sounds and Songs of Life". As we had plenty of time, we saw all four exhibits, but if you're in a time crunch, we felt that the full size replica of the T. Rex (part of the "Tyrannosaurus Rex" exhibit) was the most impressive of the four! The schedule of events at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History can be viewed at their website, http://cmnh.org/site/Index.aspx.

After lunch at the Falafel Cafe in University Circle, we headed for the Cleveland Museum of Art, located at 11150 East Blvd. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.clevelandart.org/?gclid=CNycksrpgaICFYd-5QodOlyfGA or upon arrival at the museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art is open to visitors Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm and on Wednesday and Friday from 10am to 5pm. It is closed on Mondays. The museum is home to a handful of different collections that can be viewed year round, such as African Painting and Sculpture, African Art, Ancient Egyptian Art, Art of the Americas, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, Drawing, Photography, Textiles and Islamic Art, and more! Our favorite was the African art collection, where we spent over half an hour marveling at the detail of the exotic paintings and sculptures. There are also a handful of exhibits feautured at the Cleveland Museum of Art which are constantly changing. To veiw the current exhibits, visit the official website at http://www.clevelandart.org/visit/Exhibitions.aspx.

Cedar Point

Wednesday May 26th we went to Cedar Point! It's about a two hour drive to Sandusky, Ohio, so a visit to Cedar Point is definitely an all day event. The hours can be found at the official Cedar Point website, http://www.cedarpoint.com/. Over the summer, the park is usually open from 10am to 10pm. The price of admission is $45.99, but you can get discounts through stores like Giant Eagle! You can also invest in season passes, which save lots of money for those planning to frequent Cedar Point often! Cedar Point is a great place for everyone, as it offers much more than just high speed roller coasters. There are also rides for younger kids, rides like the scrambler, swings, arcade games, water rides, virtual rides, bumper cars, and more! For the roller coaster lovers, Cedar Point has some of the best in the country, like the Raptor, the Magnum, the Millennium Force, and the latest Top Thrill Dragster, which has a drop that is over 420 ft tall! Lines were pretty quick, as we went on a weekday in May, but over the summer they can be quite long, so be sure to bring a water and fun people to chat with! The park offers plenty of options for dining, but as these can be a bit pricy, bringing a packed lunch is always a great idea. The park offers lockers to hold whatever items you don't want to carry around with you. There are hotels at the park if you wish to stay over night, something a lot of people do as the park offers so much to do! We had a great day at the park. We rode just about all of the coasters and many of the "thrill" rides, and after a quick lunch we spent the afternoon on the water rides and playing arcade games! A trip to Cedar Point is a must over the summer!

North Union Farmer's Market at Shaker Square

Saturday May 29th we woke up early and drove a short distance down Shaker to Shaker Square, home of the North Union Farmers' Market. Every Saturday from 8am to 12pm farmers from all over Ohio come to sell fresh produce, cheeses, jams, honeys, flowers, jewelry, pottery, art, and more. Although the outdoor farmers market is strictly seasonal, there is an indoor market at Shaker Square that you can visit during the winter months. Another exciting attraction to this bustling market is that on opening day, usually April 3 of every year, there is live music to accompany the stands full of delicious food and beautiful arts and crafts. Shaker Square is only one of the locations of the farmers market but arguably they're most attractive one. Also, with Dewey's Coffee Shop right next to the market, you can truly find anything you may need in one location. Check it out! For additional information on the farmers market specifically at Shaker Square, check out http://www.shakersquare.net/farmersmarket.htm. And for more information on the North Union Farmers Market, http://www.northunionfarmersmarket.org should answer any question you may have.

Progressive Field- The Home of the Cleveland Indians

Tuesday May 25th around 6 30 pm we hopped on the rapid and rode to Tower City in downtown Cleveland. For only $7 each we were able to purchase tickets on the second level behind home plate! We watched the Indians defeat the Chicago White Sox 6 to 3, and watched the fireworks go off in celebration of our victory! The park serves all sorts of hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, ice cream, cotton candy, and more! There is a souvenir shop with Indians t-shirts, hats and other paraphernalia. We watched Slider dance for the fans, and, since it was $1 hotdog night, "ketchup" "mustard" and "onions" raced around the bases during the 7th inning stretch! It was a lovely summer night out, and spending the breezy evening at the Tribe game was a lot of time! We absolutely recommend checking out the Indians schedule and picking a game to watch! You can buy cheap tickets at the gate! The Cleveland Indians schedule can be viewed at http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle.

The Cleveland Metroparks

Monday the 24th we spent the entire day at one of our favorite outdoor spots, the Cleveland Metroparks. The Metroparks are huge, and there are countless locations at which you can enter the park. We drove to the South Chagrin Reservation to begin our day at Squaw Rock where we spent the morning walking the paths, eventually wading into the river and walking upstream. There are several waterfalls and areas where you can swim, and since it was a lovely, hot day, we spent several hours in the water. We left Squaw Rock and had a picnic in a grassier, less wooded area of the Metroparks. After refueling, we put on sneakers and spent the afternoon hiking and exploring. The South Chagrin Reservation offers a handful of trails to its visitors, like the Pine Tree Loop trail, the Dragonfly Trail, the Flower Trail and others. The map of the South Chagrin Reservation can be seen at http://www.clemetparks.com/pdf/reservations/trailmaps/South%20Chagrin%20trail%20map.pdf which also indicated the many different trails, picnic areas, special sites and more. It also provides an in depth description of each trail so that hikers can pick which trails they wish to take! The Metroparks are a great place to go any time of day. You can go alone, with friends, with family, whatever! You can simply lay in the sunshine, read a book, or enjoy a picnic, or you can hike, run, swim, bike, or even ride horses on certain trails! The Metroparks are also unique in that they are great year round. In the winter, we often take our dogs to the park to run around in the snow! Another great thing about the Metroparks is that there are park rangers on duty 24/7 to ensure the park remains safe. The Cleveland Metroparks offers numerous special events, such as "Brookstock- A Celebration of Music and Nature" on July 17, the "Summer Beach Party" August 7, and more! All of these can be viewed on the official website, http://www.clemetparks.com/ . The Metroparks are a great way to get outdoors and enjoy nature. And since its free, it's a great activity when you have no plans and don't want to spend tons of money for entertainment. Why not enjoy a free day in the great outdoors!

United Skates of America

On Saturday, May 22, the four of us drove out to United Skates of America for an afternoon of rollerskating! There are several locations in the Cleveland area including one at 3155 Martin Luther King Blvd and another at 30325 Palisades Parkway in Wickliffe. You can either rent roller skates or in-line skates or you can bring your own. There is fun music to skate to, and when your legs need a rest, there are both arcade and video games. You can use the tickets you win at the games to redeem all sorts of prizes! There is lots of food (literally any kind of pizza you could want) and plenty of drinks to replenish you after a day of roller skating. United Skates of America offers private parties, so you can even host a birthday party here! The roller skating schedule can be found at http://www.usa-skating.com/dynamic.asp?schimg=reg_sch.gif&sel=3&LinkID=1. The hours change every day, with open skating at certain times and exclusive private parties during others, plus there are special summertime hours. When we arrived, we rented skates and skated around to music. We hadn't been roller skating in years and were a bit rusty, so the first fifteen minutes or so of skating was a bit of a struggle. But after a short while we were zooming around the rink, racing eachother and having a great time. We snacked on pizza and played the arcade games, and shortly before we left we piled together all of our tickets and visited the prize area! Though it was certainly a rather random outing and not a place we would frequent often, roller skating was something none of us had done in years, and we had a great time revisiting United Skates of America!

Hessler Street Fair

On Sunday, May 23rd, the four of us drove down to the annual Hessler Street Fair, located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. This particular street fair is a community arts and music festival held on Hessler Street. This historic street hosts a non-profit, volunteer run weekend full of music, community arts, and delicious food. When we arrived at Hessler Street, we had to walk through the stands multiple times to truly capture all there was to see. The stands this year carried everything from hot sauce to clothing and the bands performing drew quite the crowds. As the day turned to night, we were able to catch a high energy performance by Carlos Jones and the PLUS band. It was the perfect ending to an exciting and creative day. You can find out more information about the Hessler Street Fair at http://www.hessler.org.