After a frantic 36 hours of two concerts, socializing and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I awoke on Friday morning tired but very happy. The friends I traveled with were heading back to Buffalo but I still had some business in Cleveland. I had decided to do the 6 km Cleveland walk. I belong to the Canadian Volkssport Federation which is part of an international walking group - there are walks all over the world and loads in the U.S. Cleveland was the first of three walks I would take on this trip. I wanted to see more of Cleveland's downtown, my bus to West Virginia didn't leave until 5 p.m. so it was perfect.
After breakfast I left my luggage with the front desk and I was off! The start of the walk and assorted paperwork (including maps) was located at the Renaissance Hotel in Public Square.
After signing in and taking a map my first stop on the walk was to see the Soldier and Sailors monument across from the hotel.
More snails! Being as I was walking about as fast as a snail I thought was an appropriate theme for the walk. It was a hot day so it was tempting to take my shoes off and walk in the water myself...but I resisted.
The monument is dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Cuyahoga County, Ohio who fought in the Civil War. It opened on July 4, 1894 and after a two year restoration reopened in 2010. It's quite impressive.
The route then took me past the Q Arena..ah memories... and then Progressive Field which is the home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
I walked in between the arena and baseball field until I made my way to Erie Street Cemetery which is Cleveland's oldest cemetery. It was established in 1826 in what was then the edge of the city and has over 8,000 graves - many of them unmarked.
One of the graves pointed out in the walk was that of Indian Chief Joc-O-Sot. For walks in the U.S. in order to prove you have done the walk there is always a question and this is where it was. It's good as it definitely makes you more observant. Reading up on this later I discovered that Chief Joc-O-Sot still haunts the graveyard -still very bitter because he was buried in Cleveland rather than his native land. Oh dear! I didn't see him though which was a good thing as there was no one else in the graveyard but me. As I always say the dead don't worry me, it's the living that do - I am a bit leery about being the only one in a graveyard as it's a good place to get mugged. So I didn't dilly dally in there which was a shame really. I must add it was HOT!!!
The walk carried on into the Playhouse Square district which is the largest entertainment district east of New York. Who knew?
By this time I was starting to get tired. It didn't help that I had to walk through a boring bit - luckily there was a nice bench in the shade of a plaza so I sat there for a while and drank a lot of water. I trudged on past the bus depot where I would be later that afternoonand finally got back to E. 9th St. which is the main drag downtown.
The route then headed down E. 9th St. to the water front.
World's largest stamp?
Back to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to exchange a t-shirt that was too big (shocker) and buy another coaster or two because we know I don't have enough of those right? I then headed down to Lake Erie and sat enjoying the views for a while.
It then started to cloud up so it was time to head back to the hotel. I just missed the down pour as I scurried into another location of the Winking Lizard Tavern. Isn't this terrible..I can't even remember what I had and I didn't even take a picture!!! You see that's the real reason I take pictures - so I can remember. It was good though..and I tried an orange flavour coke which I must say sounds gross but was very tasty.
I really liked Cleveland - there has been extensive work to the downtown area lately and it is impressive. I would definitely not be averse to a return trip to Cleveland one day - and next time I will see more of the downtown and spend a whole day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
It was back to the hotel for a change and wash up with handiwipes in the bathroom (life in the fast lane) then it was off to the Greyhound depot and another adventure. Stay tuned!
After breakfast I left my luggage with the front desk and I was off! The start of the walk and assorted paperwork (including maps) was located at the Renaissance Hotel in Public Square.
After signing in and taking a map my first stop on the walk was to see the Soldier and Sailors monument across from the hotel.
More snails! Being as I was walking about as fast as a snail I thought was an appropriate theme for the walk. It was a hot day so it was tempting to take my shoes off and walk in the water myself...but I resisted.
The monument is dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Cuyahoga County, Ohio who fought in the Civil War. It opened on July 4, 1894 and after a two year restoration reopened in 2010. It's quite impressive.
The route then took me past the Q Arena..ah memories... and then Progressive Field which is the home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
I walked in between the arena and baseball field until I made my way to Erie Street Cemetery which is Cleveland's oldest cemetery. It was established in 1826 in what was then the edge of the city and has over 8,000 graves - many of them unmarked.
One of the graves pointed out in the walk was that of Indian Chief Joc-O-Sot. For walks in the U.S. in order to prove you have done the walk there is always a question and this is where it was. It's good as it definitely makes you more observant. Reading up on this later I discovered that Chief Joc-O-Sot still haunts the graveyard -still very bitter because he was buried in Cleveland rather than his native land. Oh dear! I didn't see him though which was a good thing as there was no one else in the graveyard but me. As I always say the dead don't worry me, it's the living that do - I am a bit leery about being the only one in a graveyard as it's a good place to get mugged. So I didn't dilly dally in there which was a shame really. I must add it was HOT!!!
The walk carried on into the Playhouse Square district which is the largest entertainment district east of New York. Who knew?
By this time I was starting to get tired. It didn't help that I had to walk through a boring bit - luckily there was a nice bench in the shade of a plaza so I sat there for a while and drank a lot of water. I trudged on past the bus depot where I would be later that afternoonand finally got back to E. 9th St. which is the main drag downtown.
The route then headed down E. 9th St. to the water front.
World's largest stamp?
Back to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to exchange a t-shirt that was too big (shocker) and buy another coaster or two because we know I don't have enough of those right? I then headed down to Lake Erie and sat enjoying the views for a while.
It then started to cloud up so it was time to head back to the hotel. I just missed the down pour as I scurried into another location of the Winking Lizard Tavern. Isn't this terrible..I can't even remember what I had and I didn't even take a picture!!! You see that's the real reason I take pictures - so I can remember. It was good though..and I tried an orange flavour coke which I must say sounds gross but was very tasty.
I really liked Cleveland - there has been extensive work to the downtown area lately and it is impressive. I would definitely not be averse to a return trip to Cleveland one day - and next time I will see more of the downtown and spend a whole day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
It was back to the hotel for a change and wash up with handiwipes in the bathroom (life in the fast lane) then it was off to the Greyhound depot and another adventure. Stay tuned!
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