Cleveland
Even with the weather we had, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cleveland. It's a pretty small city, and even though our plans were thrown off by the rainout, we still got to see a lot of the things we had on our list. We stayed in downtown Cleveland near the Browns Stadium, and within walking distance of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field. During the summer, I can picture a family just walking around this area all day. Some highlights:
*At the recommendation of Chad, we made sure to hit Ohio City, and it did not disappoint. I think this is the best area in town. West Side Market is there, tons of cool restaurants, breweries, and Mitchell's, the famous ice cream place built in an old theater. We ate at Great Lakes (also a Chad recommendation) and drank the porter (you see a theme here) and the amber ale. The beer is excellent. I had the fish and chips, and my wife had the pierogies. Both great choices. The place was a favorite of Eliot Ness.
*West 4th Street is a pretty lively night spot. Lots of cool bars and restaurants. We ate at Michael Simon's restaurant Lola's. Which was pretty good but kinda pricey.
*The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a must. If you like music, you can easily spend the entire day there. We only had half a day and it wasn't nearly enough time.
*Cleveland Public Square is a cool place to hit on your way over to the ballpark. It's right next to Terminal Tower which, as both Chad and our tour guide told us, was for a long time the tallest building between NY and Chicago. Beautiful area. Lots of tributes to the Underground Railroad in Cleveland. Didn't know that about Cleveland, but it's pretty cool.
Progressive Field
We got there early and walked around the area. Lots of fun. It's right next to Quicken Loans arena and there are bars/restaurants in the area. I really wish CitiField could do something like this. Also, there were statues. Are you listening Fred?
Progressive Field is nice. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you're inside it's a beautiful stadium. Given the weather, we opted for club seats, located along the first base line. These seats give you access to the club on the second deck. Food included, climate controlled. The only issue is that it was super crowded so you had to camp out if you wanted a seat. Food was ok but nothing special. If you have nicer weather, I'd rather sit somewhere else. One weird quirk about the stadium. I don't like manufactured sound either, but when they flash the graphic "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!" it's not accompanied by any sound. In other stadiums they do drum beats, or music, or some other way to get your attention. It's really strange to see the stadium completely quiet while the scoreboard goes nuts silently.
Lots of Chief Wahoo around. It really is a tougher issue than I thought. When you sit here in NY, it seems simple. Get rid of the racist mascot. But when you're there, you realize how much he means to that Indians fanbase. Without Wahoo, the Cleveland gear is super boring. I mean, we love Mr. Met, but he's not on our uniforms. A Cleveland hat without Chief Wahoo doesn't really look like anything. I think the answer is they need a better design, and most certainly a new mascot to replace him.
Slider is not the answer.
I drank this. Obviously a pun on the movie. It was ok. I tried to find a place that served some of the local brews we had enjoyed around town, but they weren't offered. At least where we were sitting.
During Game 1, I figured the view would be beautiful at night, with the skyline in the background. But when night fell, I was disappointed to see that a lot of the buildings weren't lit. I wonder if this changes during the summertime.
With the weather and the early morning trip to Detroit looming, we ducked out after three innings of Game 2. Watched the rest of the game in our hotel wishing we had more time to stay in the 'Land. The Indians swept the Braves. We got to root for Plawecki again. Good times.
