As a Cleveland neophyte, I was tired of surfing the web for ideas of what to do in and around Cleveland. So here's an account of my own adventures showing, hey, Cleveland ain't so bad after all.
It was late yesterday afternoon when the BF recommended that we try to get last minute tickets to the Cleveland Browns vs. NY Giants game. I completed both my undergraduate and graduate degrees at a Big Ten university, so I’m no stranger to football (or its crazy fans) but I’d never been to a pro football game and the weather was unseasonably warm for mid-October in Cleveland, so I said “let’s do it.” We headed down to the stadium at around 7 pm and managed to find a scalper selling tickets for face value in section 345 right up against the rail. The BF is a huge Cleveland sports fan and he tends to keep me updated on his teams, so (sad to say) I expected to be cabbing it back to my apartment at half-time with the Browns down by 2 or 3 touchdowns. But, it turns out that playing televised Monday Night Football against the Super Bowl champion Giants was the fire the Browns needed under their butts to get a win. Other than the SUPER obnoxious and stinking drunk fan who was sitting next to us, it was a great night. But, the “mostly” part of my recommendation is the caveat that the Browns don’t always perform like they did last night.
This past Friday, the BF and I headed 40 minutes south of Cleveland to check out Akron’s famed Haunted Schoolhouse and Haunted Laboratory (come on! where’s your Halloween spirit?). This place is probably about as close to the urban legend haunted house as you’ll find in Northern Ohio. You know, the one that’s supposed to be 7 to 10 stories high with fall-away floors and a full refund of your entrance fee if you complete the whole thing. Even though there isn’t a refund or any fall-away floors, the Akron houses have 7 floors if you go through both buildings and they’re pretty decent as far as haunted houses go (if you’re into that sort of thing). Afterwards, we came back to Cleveland and watched a scary movie to top it off.
Price: $26 for the combo ticket to both houses (there are $4 off coupons on the website)
Time: approx. 1 hour to go through both houses (don’t forget that there tends to be a line)
On Saturday, we filled a backpack with water, pretzels and trail mix, and drove for about 30 minutes to the Hinckley Reservation (one of the Cleveland Metroparks). It was a gorgeous day and we walked/hiked the Hinckley Lake Trail (crane symbol) to the Buckeye Trail (hiker symbol) that led to Whipp’s Ledges. The rocks at Whipp’s Ledges are perfect for rock climbing, but you need to know what you’re doing and bring your own equipment. Along with the runners and walkers on the trails, there were plenty of people out walking their dogs and fishing. I found out from one of the people there that you can go to Walmart (of all places) and get a fishing license of $20.
Then later on Saturday, I met up with a small group at the Bier Market on W. 25th to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I never actually went inside because our party was seated outside, but the beer list was pretty extensive, and although we didn’t get there until around 9 pm, I saw that they have some really great happy hour specials.
Cleveland Browns Stadium at Sunset, CASB © 2008
Inside Browns Stadium, CASB © 2008
