Cleveland: random choice, rockin’ visit
Travel decisions sometimes take random turns. Example: On our recent road trip, my wife and I chose to jump in a rental car and drive to Cleveland.
That’s Cleveland, as in Ohio.
Actually, it wasn’t that far our of our way. We’d flown to New York a fortnight before, spent the better part of a week on Long Island, Brooklyn and then Manhattan before taking Amtrak to visit Mary Pat’s sister and husband in York, Pa.
Then we drove to Morgantown, W. Va., for reasons I won’t go into here (something about looking up family ancestry). It was there that we picked up our rental vehicle, a Toyota Corolla with 60,000-plus miles on it, and headed the 200-plus miles northwest to Cleveland.
A little over three hours later we arrived in the city’s downtown, specifically at the newly renovated Hotel Drury Plaza Hotel.
Constructed in 1931, the Drury Plaza is the city’s former Board of Education building and part of Cleveland’s plan to update its downtown mall. Renovation of the building began in 2014, and it opened as a hotel three years later. According to Cleveland.com, the cost came to some $52 million.
Even after being modernized – with complimentary wi-fi, a fitness center and basement swimming pool – the hotel managed to retain a classic feel. Along with its marble-lined, two-story lobby, you’ll find Depression-era murals and – again, quoting Cleveland.com – “historic details … around every corner.”
The best thing for our purposes, though, was that the hotel sits within walking distance of one of the major reasons why anyone would even think of visiting Cleveland: the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
In the limited time that we spent in Cleveland, we moved on to a place called The Orbit, a former NASA building turned into a boutique hotel, which sits less than a 10-minute drive from the city airport. We also made time to eat dinner at a cool dining spot called Cordelia, and then at the Burnout Tavern, along with doing what we came for: touring both the city’s rock and art museums. And I’ll readily admit, both were well worth the time, expense and effort.
First, the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame: Yeah, it’s a bit costly to get in, especially if you’re an out-of-towner (some $70 for the two of us, no senior discounts). But to be honest I was expecting worse. And besides, as someone whose rock appreciation began in the mid-1950s (when, by the way, I was still aged in single digits), I’d have paid even more.
And that’s because the whole place is a tribute to the kind music (mostly) that I love. From Elvis to the Beatles, Gene Vincent to Joan Jett, John Prine to Jimi Hendrix, through the entire decade of the 1980s, not to mention the rise of hip hop, the museum offers a virtual – and tangible – history of the best music of my lifetime.
The tangible parts were nearly enough in themselves, from the Fender Telecaster owned by the late Clash co-founder Joe Strummer to Jett’s black leather jacket to a wardrobe belonging to Taylor Swift.
But even more impressive were the theaters that played musical selections, my favorites being songs featured at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies (I’m still humming Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good”) and classic performances from the television show “Soul Train.”
I’m almost tempted to schedule another visit … though next time I might schedule a stop in Chicago, too. I hear they have a decent jazz museum there.
And now the Cleveland Museum of Art: First, and best of all, it’s free. Of course, they make up for it by charging for parking ($14 for us out-of-towners).
And while the museum can’t begin to compete with either New York’s Museum of Modern Art or the Art Institute of Chicago in the range of works that it offers, its setting is impressive, especially the grand lobby just off the entrance. And the collection does range from exhibits representing the ancient world to the pop art of the 20th century and beyond.
Other than seeking out anything painted by Caravaggio, I typically work my way fairly quickly in any art museum past the really old stuff (I know, shallow, right?) and look for highlights from the mid-19th century onward. So I found the Manets and Monets, the Van Goghs and Cezannes, and on through the Picassos and Mondrians and Pollocks – all of which I admire.
And I was surprised that even though most of the works were by men, one of the most impressive paintings in the whole place was done by an artist whom I had never heard of: Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899). The work is titled “The Farm at the Entrance of the Wood,” and it is a powerful – if simple – portrait of a farm house set in the shadow of a grove of trees.
Imagine. I was able to see both a painting by Rosa Bonheur and a jacket once worn by rocker Joan Jett in the same trip. All that and a Caravaggio, too. And it took place in Cleveland, a city that I previously had no plans of ever visiting.
It just goes to show, though, that some trip decisions, even the random ones, definitely work out.
