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The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the very best art museums in the U.S. with the best digital technology, including reportedly the largest multi-touch screen in the U.S., of any U.S. art museum. Revolutionary digital technology was incorporated into the entire museum while it was closed and rebuilt within the last decade. Before your visit, go to the museum's website and download the ArtLens application.
Perhaps read about Akbar the Great before your visit, as a Mughal painting exhibit is one of the best current exhibits at the CMA, and it demonstrates the uniqueness of the CMA's collection and its renown strength in Asian and Indian art. See also post 7 here:
The CMA is best visited on weekdays and/or during evening sessions, even on Friday evening (and even during a popular first Friday mix). As admission to the museum's permanent collection is free, Gallery One can be much more crowded on weekends, but otherwise the museum is so large that it easily accommodates even very large numbers of visitors.
The CMA is one of the nation's best encyclopedic museums, but its emphasis is on the collection and exquisite display of superb art objects, not on a massive collection of art objects. E.g., the CMA is perfectly willing to spend its entire relatively large annual acquisition budget (the CMA reportedly has the fourth largest endowment of any U.S. art museum) on a single object, and to divest lesser works of famous masters.
Check out the Cleveland Museum of Art's event schedule and current exhibits.
Here's an interesting page from the museum's website.
Also read about the Cleveland Orchestra and PlayhouseSquare in the above article. Check out the Blossom Music Festival which takes place at Blossom Music Center, arguably the best summer classical music venue in the U.S.
As for food, check out the "Dining" section of the Cleveland Tips article. I would suggest Lake Erie perch and walleye; if you go to Mentor and/or Kirtland, check out Brennan's Fish House in Grand River. Sokolowski's University Inn is Cleveland's only James Beard America's Classics restaurant and has great perch on Fridays as well as Polish American favorites in an historic cafeteria setting. Mabel's is the new Cleveland BBQ house of Cleveland food ambassador and national celebrity chef Michael Symon. The Balaton in Shaker Square is Ohio's best Hungarian restaurant, a top legacy ethnic food destination, with IMO Cleveland's best Weinerschnitzel and spaetzle. Mitchell's just north of the West Side Market is a favorite ice cream destination featuring locavore creations. The nearby Great Lakes Brewery and Pub is one of the nation's most acclaimed craft breweries with good food. Nate's Deli just north of the West Side Market demonstrates Cleveland's great Middle Eastern culinary tradition, as well as typical deli favorites. Momocho not far from the West Side Market demonstrates Cleveland's "mod ethnic" food culture, with Mod Mexican offerings.
Check out Oberlin College, where the small but very good Allen Memorial Art Museum is considered one of the best university art museums in the U.S. Perhaps visit the Kohl Building while there.
Another important art museum is the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.
Check out in the article below Ohio Amish Country (the epitome of retro living culture -- the 19th century lifestyle surviving in the 21st century), where in eastern Holmes County, German still is a primary language. Also read about the Mohican Region's Malabar Farm, where like a small version of Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace, an historic period of human existence is frozen in time. If you enjoy great American mansions, check out Akron's Stan Hywet Hall.
If you want to check out Cleveland's natural history, definitely read in the above article about Mentor (the Mentor Marsh National Natural Landmark and the adjacent Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve with over a mile of wild Lake Erie beach and the Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve) and especially adjacent Kirtland. Kirtland is the home of the Holden Arboretum, one of the largest and best in the U.S. Read about Holden's new Canopy Walk and Emergent Tower. Check out Bole Woods and perhaps Stebbins Gulch (available only on guided tours), both part of another National Natural Landmark, whose great old growth beech trees are under imminent threat from global climate change; see them now, if interested.
Read also about the Kirtland Temple and Historic Kirtland, explaining why Kirtland is a mecca for those of the Mormon faith.
Great historic destinations are located in downtown Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is well known, but check out The Arcade, Tower City and the historic Terminal Tower, and Heinen's in the Ameritrust Rotunda if interested in architecture (see discussions in the "Cleveland Tips" travel article linked earlier). Check out the great West Side Market, one of the nation's best public markets. Near the Rock Hall are two great maritime museums -- the U.S.S. Cod, arguably the nation's best WWII U.S. fleet submarine (visitors enter and exit using the original hatches and ladders and the interior is largely preserved and open) and the Steamship Mather, once the queen of the Great Lakes and one of the very best ASME mechanical engineering landmarks. Also nearby is the small, but good and free International Women's Air & Space Museum. Visit the maritime museums in the early morning to minimize August heat. In Mentor, the James A. Garfield National Historic Site is a very good, small historic site that, especially if you listen to the site's video presentation, epitomizes the anguish of the American Civil War. The Garfield Monument at Lakeview Cemetery is the nation's largest Presidential burial place and exquisite. The Soldier's and Sailors Monument (read about it in the Cleveland Tips article) on Cleveland's Public Square and the nearby Fountain of Eternal Life on Cleveland's grand mall also are inspiring.
BTW, if you like white water rafting, one of the top places in the U.S. and certainly in the eastern U.S. is the New River in WV. It offers a real Huck Finn experience, especially with its famed Jump Rock, and is a favorite weekend trip from Cleveland, let alone Cincinnati, for outdoor enthusiasts.
In Cincinnati, check out Skyline or James A. Beard America's Classics winner Camp Washington Chili offering Cincinnati-style chili (I love it, but an acquired taste for many).
Between Toronto and Cleveland, perhaps check out Letchworth State Park, Chautauqua and Presque Isle State Park (and perhaps the adjacent Waldameer, which has no admission charge, with Ravine Flyer II) for fresh water, surf swimming.
You skipped over Columbus. Not that we are a super touristy city but if you're driving between Cincinnati and Cleveland and want to experience different faces of Ohio you might as well stop in our city
Edit: Oops! Read your post too quickly. So I guess save Columbus for another trip if you wish, enjoy!
If your apology were sincere, why didn't you edit your post by deleting it completely?
Ok, local suggestions (leaving out the obvious downtown attractions like Rock Hall, West Side Market, most things at University Circle too) for Cleveland, limited to the urban area. I'm gonna go with stuff that I think not too many people would suggest, but are actually pretty cool. I'm assuming if you want to see some of the more obvious stuff, you are already familiar with them.
- League Park/Baseball Heritage Museum, one of the oldest sites of a ballpark in America, recently restored and functional. The museum is great for a little Cleveland baseball history, but also covers a lot of just general baseball history and culture in the USA. Employees here are VERY knowledgeable (I think that, I used to give tours at Fenway Park too, so I'm no baseball slouch). https://baseballheritagemuseum.org/
I am going to be in the United States and Canada in a few days. My objective is to thoroughly visit and spend time in Toronto and Chicago (and introduce my friends to Boston), however I also have an intention to see these five places as well. I am looking to have a pleasant and great experience in ALL five of these cities but I am not familiar with any of them intrinsically, hence I am making a thread for them here. I would have made a thread in the local forums but to be rather honest, I actively disengage in local forum conversations for unexplainable reasons. Please don't give me any suggestions on which cities to see or to visit or which cities to drop from our itinerary, I already know which ones I will be seeing and visiting, that is set in stone. I'm in the process of finalizing where to stay in each of these cities right now (suggestions on that would be incredible).
About my objective;
My personal objective for as long as I can remember has been to see all 50 states in the United States and all inhabited territories. As I grew older I also adjusted my objective to include seeing every PCSA in America over 1 million people. To me it is unacceptable to even skip one, very unacceptable, especially if I am near there at any given point and have an opportunity to see it.
I am looking into doing things that are unique to these cities, things that you as a local would recommend to me, and finally, things that speak volumes about the type of place your city is.
Previous experience: I have previous experience in all of these cities but my experience is nothing noteworthy. We will be gong through various places in Ontario, the Midwest, and the Northeast Corridor on this trip.
Here are somethings I'm looking for;
- Cultural Institutions: this is an ABSOLUTE must for us. We experience cultural institutions (primarily museums) in every city we travel to. This will be no exception in these cities either.
- Performing Arts: If your city is truly remarkable or strong at this, then please recommend some places to us. None of us watch television and are entirely detached from mainstream American and global culture and I would categorize all of us as people that love retro styles and retro cultures from past eras and time periods. We truly enjoy going to a live theater and seeing a real performance instead of going to a movie theater.
- Food: Stuff that is absolutely special to your city. The type of food that you can say "you get here, no where else". We'd love recommendations on this.
- Hiking and outdoor areas: I am flying into Washington DC and at my house in the DMV I have some parachautes and gliders, both of which I plan on using in this trip. It would be remarkable if we could find an area where we could gain legal access to hang-glide off some cliffs. We have done this before in the past, in North Carolina, but we are looking to do this again on our trip. We cannot find an area near Chicago or Toronto to do this either due to restrictive regulations or flat topography. Also suggestions on hiking trails or water activities in your respective areas would be incredible. We truly are outdoors people, this will go an exceptionally long way for us.
- Neighborhoods and suburbs: We cant to see the best neighborhoods and suburbs in each of your cities. We'd like to get a good grasp on the history, architecture, culture, and style of each of these cities. We'd love to have a reference points of which neighborhoods and suburbs we should see in each of these cities and which ones to avoid.
- City parks: The best ones in your cities with the most stuff to do and see either in it or around it.
- Anything else to try out, see, experience, or do while we are in these cities?
I value the recommendations, especially from those that will take the time to give us some suggestions. Again, we truly are looking forward to enjoying ourselves on our trip but we have very little time to work out the details, so the sooner the better. I will not be including a poll in this thread, this thread is for personal gain and is not a city-versus-city comparison. I want to enjoy all 5 cities and preferably enjoy all 5 of them equally.
Thanks in advance!
Red John....these are great recs...but please use US highways. You see more. Do not use interstates! Let us know when you do a trip further south!
For Pittsburgh, depending on how much time you'll spend, you have the following:
University of Pittsburgh Nationality Rooms: I would suggest this as a high priority for a cultural site. There is nothing else like it anywhere AFAIK. They are located in the Cathedral of Learning (tallest building in Oakland on the Pitt campus; you can't miss it if you're in the Oakland neighborhood.) They are functioning university classrooms that were designed and paid for by the various immigrant communities in Pittsburgh. They include architecture, art and artifacts from the countries that they represent. When I went to Pitt (early 90's) there were 23 different rooms, but more have been added since. If you can, it's probably best to go on a weekend or during the summer since these are used as classrooms; you won't be able to see any of them that are in use for classes during your visit.
Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History: Also in the Oakland area just down the street from the Nationality Rooms. Contain a nice collection of art exhibits and also a natural history museum for the same price.
Warhol Museum: Located on the North Shore. Dedicated to the works of the Pittsuburgh native.
Heinz History Center: Located in the Strip District. Very nice collection of historical artificats focusing on the history of Western Pennsylvania. If you're a sports fan, an extensive exhibit dealing with sports in Western PA.
Red John....these are great recs...but please use US highways. You see more. Do not use interstates! Let us know when you do a trip further south!
Yes, if you have days to waste and like suburban sprawl and small town speed traps, definitely always avoid the interstates!
There are some great stretches of local road to use between interstate/freeway exits, such as Routes 603 and 95 immediately east of Malabar Farm, but they are slower than the interstates in almost all cases. If you are interested and request suggestions on the local forums, taking local roads can be very enlightening.
- Happy Dog on W. 58 and Detroit (this is kinda well known, but still)
There now is a Happy Dog at the famed Euclid Tavern rock venue in the Uptown District of University Circle in Cleveland. A cover charge begins about 8 p.m., if you like live music.
It's a classic bar and hot dog and tater toppings are a great complement to good craft beer on tap.
I especially enjoy the classic, well-maintained pinball machines.
There is a free parking lot diagonally across Euclid Ave. from the Euclid Tavern.
The Jacobs Pavilion across the Cuyahoga River from downtown on Cleveland's West Flats offers a great live music experience.
There now is a Happy Dog at the famed Euclid Tavern rock venue in the Uptown District of University Circle in Cleveland. A cover charge begins about 8 p.m., if you like live music.
True, it's definitely good if you're at UC. But last I was there, the menu is not as complete as on Detroit. Guess it depends on what neighborhood you want to explore.
If your apology were sincere, why didn't you edit your post by deleting it completely?
I already answered that question. I took time to post it and answer the OP's specific questions. They also explicitly mentioned they were interested in eventually visiting every PSA in the U.S. with 1 million+ population (Columbus fits this criteria). Potentially they can use the information I posted for a future visit, and if they're not interested at least they have a brief glimpse into what another major city in a state they will be visiting offers. Bye Becky.
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