Five Weekend Adventures in Cleveland

Last weekend, we flew out to Cleveland for another adventure/ baseball bucket list weekend.  We are seriously loving this Southwest companion pass (every time Mike flies, I fly free), and I'm pumped that we already accumulated enough credit card points to get it for 2018!  If you want more info on the credit card, please leave me a comment and I can send you a referral.  (You get 50k points to start off for signing up with my code, and I get 10k - win win!)

Okay, back to Cleveland. Whenever we told people we were headed there for the weekend, the response was, "uhhh...why?" Well, we had to check it off our MLB bucket list eventually, and as added bonuses the PGA Tour was in Akron AND the Indians were playing the Yankees. Perfect weekend to be there!

We stayed in the Playhouse Square area in downtown Cleveland, in a hotel I found on Rocketmiles (another awesome way to earn SW bonus points).  It's a Wyndham hotel right now, but they're in the process of transitioning to an IHG.  We were really impressed with the upgrades they're making, and we had a great view of Lake Erie.

Playhouse Square was the perfect place to stay.  It was in walking distance to everything, but being 3-4 extra minute walk (a few blocks) away from the city center and arcade gave us a little cheaper price tag - perfect for a weekend away!  I was really impressed with how easy it was to get around the city.  It was a great size to walk, and there were maps on almost every street corner.

We had a great time, and Cleveland really is the perfect city for a weekend.  Here are the top 5 things we enjoyed over our long weekend:

1. Sports: Right in downtown Cleveland are the stadiums for the Indians, Cavs, and Browns.  We watched the Tribe take on the Yankees, and although the Yanks lost, I loved watching this new, young team in action.  We loved Progressive Field!  They had tons of food options, and we even went on $1 hot dog night.

2. Roll & Roll Hall of Fame: Besides the Indians, this was the one thing I knew about Cleveland.  Home to the Hall of Fame!  It's right on Lake Erie, next to FirstEnergy Stadium (where the Browns play).  We spent at least a half day there (4-5 hours), checking out the new inductees, the 50 years of Rolling Stone exhibit, and learning about rock since its early years.  I absolutely loved all the costumes!

3. Parks and History: The veranda at the Hall of Fame had the best view down the Bicentennial Park and out onto Lake Erie.  We headed down there after the Hall of Fame, and obviously took a picture with the Cleveland sign.  After that, we toured around the whole city on our own (thanks to the city maps) and checked out a bunch of green spaces.  Willard Park has the world's biggest rubber stamp, and City Hall is just beautiful!

My suggestion, grab a coffee at my new favorite little coffee shop, Pour Cleveland, right outside the arcade, and start walking.  The arcade, East 4th Street, and the Warehouse District are all close by, too. 

4. Ohio City: Just over Hope Memorial Bridge (right outside Progressive Field) is Ohio City.  The West Side Market is the best spot to find local vendors' items and prepared foods.  While there, we also visited two breweries: Great Lakes and Nano.  Great Lakes had awesome food.  I had the chicken mac and cheese with homemade pasta, and Mike had the pierogies.  We walked down the street to Nano after dinner for a flight.  My favorites were the Black IPA and Lemon Radler.

5. The Zoo: The last day of our trip, we had a few hours to kill before we left, so we drove out to the Metroparks Zoo.  I don't think I've been to a zoo since I was in high school, and it was so fun to just walk around.  I fed larakeets, played peek-a-boo with a monkey, and saw my favorite, the tiger!  It was a cool day, so all the animals were out relaxing.  If you're more of a sea animal person, there is also an aquarium right downtown.

That's it!  Another new city in the books.  We had a blast and can't wait for our next adventure.