3 Day Visit? Enough time? (Columbus, Cleveland: chapel, how much, big house)

[wherewhatwho]

My husband and I have been watching the Drew Carey show for the past few months and it inspired us to look into Cleveland since it is featured so prominently in the show. I didn't realize how much there was to do in your city! Of course I knew about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (definitely interested) and the sports teams (not our interest) but the public theater and museums and other nearby attractions, wow! I've been to Cedar Point many times in my life but nowhere else in Ohio besides driving through.

We're planning a trip out sometime this year, torn between driving (about 7.5 hours) or flying and also trying to figure out how long to stay. Would 3 full days be enough time to see the main city attractions? We'd also love to see Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a day trip, likely a part-day trip. We're in our early 30s, enjoy eating and drinking but not partying and have the following on our list:

RRHOF, Christmas Story House, Cleveland Museum of Art, Botanical Garden and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We're huge Broadway fans and would love to take in a show but as I'm not sure exactly when we'll be visiting yet (either June or September, most likely), we probably can't bank on that with COVID. Any other must-see attractions? Including parks.

Note: We're from the suburbs of NJ and have been to NYC's Museum of Natural History many times so we can skip this one, most likely. West Side Market might be a pass as well. We've been to indoor food markets in many places around the world and they just don't do it for us. We're looking for things that are special to the city or area that we can't readily see at home, like GERMAN FOOD! We have hardly any German restaurants here and will be looking forward to trying some places in Cleveland. Are there any other types of cuisines the city is known for or any specific must-have restaurants? We're not into high end fancy dining at all. And no Italian :P

[bjimmy24]

I think you should go to W. 25th Street in Ohio City where the West Side Market is because there is so much there, such as Great Lakes Brewing Company. You may as well stop by WSM just because it does have some cool stuff but if not there are tons of breweries on that street. If you want Central European type cuisine, definitely go to Hansa in Ohio City nearby. This area isn't far from Tremont, where the Christmas Story House is.

I would throw on Little Italy as a stop after/before the art museum. Just a walk through and maybe getting dinner or at least a coffee and cannoli there. It's a lovely neighborhood. Lakeview Cemetery nearby is also well worth it- the President Garfield Memorial should be open and it's lovely, as is the Wade chapel (Tiffany glass interior) as well as some notable graves of people such as John D Rockefellar and Elliot Ness.

This should all be doable in 3 days and leave you wanting to come back another time for more!

[adam36]

Ditto Great Lakes Brewing Tour (buy tickets in advance, super fun). In addition to checking out Lakeview Cemetery (truly gorgeous, there's even a large dam), you might also consider traveling a few miles east of Cleveland on I-90 to see the James Garfield house/museum/presidential library >> I had a surprisingly enjoyable time there. Make sure to check out the Ledges part of Cuyahoga Valley NP (the best IMO), and at the very northern reaches of the park (if it's still even the park), take a walk down to Tinker Creek within the part of the park (or adjacent park) known as the Bedford Reserve/Reservation. If you're up for a fun breakfast treat, check out BrewNuts for some donuts.

[WRnative]

The Balaton on Shaker Square is the best Hungarian restaurant in Ohio, and IMO has the best Wiener Schnitzel in Greater Cleveland. You can take the Blue or Green lines from Tower City to Shaker Square. If you drive there, there is free parking behind the CVS almost adjacent to the restaurant. Make reservations.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...land_Ohio.html

Balaton Restaurant, Cleveland-Ohio

I enjoy the Balaton more than all of these restaurants.

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=ger...leveland%2C+OH

I would drive, perhaps stop overnight in Youngstown and visit the Butler Institute of American Art and other attractions.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...ng-valley.html

On the return trip home, you could visit Ohio Amish Country, or visit Falling Water once interior tours have resumed.

This dated travel article may prove useful. Check out other travel articles in the right margin. You easily could spend a week in Greater Cleveland, depending upon your interests, especially if attractions such as the U.S.S. Cod and Steamship Mather are opened again as the epidemic resides.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Cleveland.html

Perhaps check out the Blossom Music Center and the Jacobs Pavilion schedules.

https://www.blossommusiccenterschedule.com/

https://www.livenation.com/venue/Kov...avilion-events

The Cleveland Orchestra, which the New York Times says may be the best in the U.S., plans to resume on-stage concerts at Blossom Music Center this summer.

https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/p...eason-updates/

Read this thread beginning with post 35 and forward.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...eveland-4.html

Perhaps check out Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay. Coming or going, you could head south on I-71 and check out the Mohican Region, especially if the Big House at Malabar has reopened. A year from now, the magnificent Ohio State Fair should once again be an option. Both the Cleveland and Columbus zoos are very good. The big Ohio destination, however, is Dayton. Another dated travel article.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...The.World.html

On your return trip from Dayton, perhaps visit The Wilds near Zanesville.

https://thewilds.columbuszoo.org/

BOL!

[wherewhatwho]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I think you should go to W. 25th Street in Ohio City where the West Side Market is because there is so much there, such as Great Lakes Brewing Company. You may as well stop by WSM just because it does have some cool stuff but if not there are tons of breweries on that street. If you want Central European type cuisine, definitely go to Hansa in Ohio City nearby. This area isn't far from Tremont, where the Christmas Story House is.

I would throw on Little Italy as a stop after/before the art museum. Just a walk through and maybe getting dinner or at least a coffee and cannoli there. It's a lovely neighborhood. Lakeview Cemetery nearby is also well worth it- the President Garfield Memorial should be open and it's lovely, as is the Wade chapel (Tiffany glass interior) as well as some notable graves of people such as John D Rockefellar and Elliot Ness.

This should all be doable in 3 days and leave you wanting to come back another time for more!

Thanks for the rec on Great Lakes! I'm not a beer drinker but I love brewery tours!! My husband will definitely be into that as well and he drinks beer. We can definitely stop by Little Italy on the way between the Art Museum and the cemetery which sounds and looks lovely. I generally shy away from Italian because we hardly eat it here in NNJ where the streets are paved in gabagool but I'd take a cannoli. It all seems like a walkable distance. I also love college campuses and I see Case Western is right there too. Seems like a whole day could be spent in that area.

[wherewhatwho]

Originally Posted by adam36

Ditto Great Lakes Brewing Tour (buy tickets in advance, super fun). In addition to checking out Lakeview Cemetery (truly gorgeous, there's even a large dam), you might also consider traveling a few miles east of Cleveland on I-90 to see the James Garfield house/museum/presidential library >> I had a surprisingly enjoyable time there. Make sure to check out the Ledges part of Cuyahoga Valley NP (the best IMO), and at the very northern reaches of the park (if it's still even the park), take a walk down to Tinker Creek within the part of the park (or adjacent park) known as the Bedford Reserve/Reservation. If you're up for a fun breakfast treat, check out BrewNuts for some donuts.

Thank you!! We haven't explored too many presidential homes/museums, etc except we did visit FDR's estate in upstate NY. Definitely have never been to a presidential library. It's on the list now! Thanks for the rec on specific areas within the National Park! It's great that the park is so close to the city. You're very lucky. We don't have any true NPs in NJ, but we do have some national monuments, national historical parks and such.

BrewNuts sounds wonderful.

[WRnative]

rful.[/quote]
[quote=wherewhatwho;60780844]Thank you!! We haven't explored too many presidential homes/museums, etc except we did visit FDR's estate in upstate NY. Definitely have never been to a presidential library. It's on the list now! Thanks for the rec on specific areas within the National Park! It's great that the park is so close to the city. You're very lucky. We don't have any true NPs in NJ, but we do have some national monuments, national historical parks and such.

The Garfield historic site may be closed due to the Covid epidemic. The Garfield Presidential library was the first, but it's only one room in the house, nothing like modern Presidential libraries. There is a small museum at the historic site, however. The Garfield house has most of its original furnishings making it very special.

Check out Mentor and Kirtland in the "Day Trips" article. Both are about 1/2 hour east of Cleveland and the Kirtland Temple is open for public tours (post epidemic).nd combined with Historic Kirtland, Kirtland is one of America's foremost religious meccas.

[wherewhatwho]

Originally Posted by WRnative

The Balaton on Shaker Square is the best Hungarian restaurant in Ohio, and IMO has the best Wiener Schnitzel in Greater Cleveland. You can take the Blue or Green lines from Tower City to Shaker Square. If you drive there, there is free parking behind the CVS almost adjacent to the restaurant. Make reservations.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...land_Ohio.html

Balaton Restaurant, Cleveland-Ohio

I enjoy the Balaton more than all of these restaurants.

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=ger...leveland%2C+OH

I would drive, perhaps stop overnight in Youngstown and visit the Butler Institute of American Art and other attractions.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...ng-valley.html

On the return trip home, you could visit Ohio Amish Country, or visit Falling Water once interior tours have resumed.

This dated travel article may prove useful. Check out other travel articles in the right margin. You easily could spend a week in Greater Cleveland, depending upon your interests, especially if attractions such as the U.S.S. Cod and Steamship Mather are opened again as the epidemic resides.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Cleveland.html

Perhaps check out the Blossom Music Center and the Jacobs Pavilion schedules.

https://www.blossommusiccenterschedule.com/

https://www.livenation.com/venue/Kov...avilion-events

The Cleveland Orchestra, which the New York Times says may be the best in the U.S., plans to resume on-stage concerts at Blossom Music Center this summer.

https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/p...eason-updates/

Read this thread beginning with post 35 and forward.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...eveland-4.html

Perhaps check out Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay. Coming or going, you could head south on I-71 and check out the Mohican Region, especially if the Big House at Malabar has reopened. A year from now, the magnificent Ohio State Fair should once again be an option. Both the Cleveland and Columbus zoos are very good. The big Ohio destination, however, is Dayton. Another dated travel article.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...The.World.html

On your return trip from Dayton, perhaps visit The Wilds near Zanesville.

https://thewilds.columbuszoo.org/

BOL!

Wow, thank you so much! It seems like we may need to make a few trips to Ohio since there's so much to do. Luckily we have a ton of direct flights now out of Newark to various cities.
You're speaking my language with "free parking"

[on3]

Originally Posted by wherewhatwho

Wow, thank you so much! It seems like we may need to make a few trips to Ohio since there's so much to do. Luckily we have a ton of direct flights now out of Newark to various cities.
You're speaking my language with "free parking"

If you come back around Christmas time, you will have access to the greatest beer cleveland has to offer during the Christmas season. The coveted, Christmas ale from the great lakes brewery that you plan to visit. You can purchase it from any local place that sells beer in the Cleveland area around that time, but certain places sell out quick. I typically have a few kegs filled up each holiday season. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without Christmas ale.

[Cleverfield]

Everyone has made good suggestions so far. Another area that I would strongly suggest checking out is Larchmere. It's got a ton of great shops such as Loganberry Books, and some great unique restaurants such as Felice and Batuqui (Brazilian). It's pretty close to University Circle, so maybe pop up there for dinner/shopping after visiting the museums.