Cleveland, Ohio

|

Straight from the Michigan football game, we rushed off to Cleveland to make it to the ballpark in time to pick up this giveaway: a Steven Kwan t-shirt and a Franmil Reyes bobblehead! Reyes unfortunately was traded off the Cleveland team before they even gave out these bobbleheads… so the team added the Kwan shirts in honor of their rookie from the Bay Area who having a stellar debut year.

Mustard doing the splits. Can’t say we ever saw anything even close to these dancing condiments in any of the other 20 MLB stadiums we’ve visited.

Got our stamp! Stadium number 20 of 30. This was the first year the Cleveland baseball team launched its new name, the Guardians. Formerly the Indians. I’m all for it. Still waiting for the Atlanta Braves to quit doing their Tomahawk chop, but I might have to wait forever for that.

Another experience we didn’t have at any other stadiums… we were allowed to just leave the stadium completely, and then re-enter! So we headed out for bbq at Mabel’s in the surrounding downtown area of Cleveland.

Yum. And then they let us right back in to the stadium!

I see Steven Kwan! Also, racing condiments.

Beautiful sunset views over the ballpark.

A unique feature of the Cleveland ballpark: the Field View Bullpen, for which you can just line up to visit for a half inning. Similar view to our free viewing section at Oracle, but even closer!

And then, fireworks after the game! Again! Sorry, Detroit. Cleveland’s show was definitely more impressive.

The next day, we visited a National Park. In Ohio! On a train! Cuyahoga Valley National Park is definitely an interesting one. It’s not exactly like the Yosemites of the world, but I can appreciate that it exists. It was formed as a way to reclaim urban industrial land that had passed its heyday of the canal and railway age and left not much more than polluted land in its wake. The establishment of the national park happened hand in hand with the environmentalist movement of the 1970s. 

You can see the valley on this train that just goes out and back for a 3+ hour trip. Ok, train to nowhere; it’s a gloomy day anyway; all aboard!

On board the train: got my national parks stamp, and Lunchables!

I brought my knitting too.

Part of the park lands are leased out as farm lands too. Here’s a little farm stand we found amidst the national park.

For lunch, a visit to the historic West Side Market in the Ohio City neighborhood.

Surprised to find this old Chinese market building, now a brewpub.

And for dinner, pierogis at the Prosperity Social Club, a bar circa 1938.

And for homework, catching up on filling out our fun MLB Ballparks stamp book!

Roasted coffee shop

One of several Cleveland signs around the city. Wore my Ohio sweatshirt to complete the place name!

The “guardians” statue from which the baseball team got its new name. And a Jim Brown statue outside the football stadium.

Another Cleveland sign.

Despite having grown up in Cincinnati (in the opposite end of Ohio), this was only my second visit to Cleveland, and I had never visited their flagship attraction, the Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame. So we visited this time!

I was partial to the awesome outfits on display all over the museum.

And I also liked the interactive floor, where you could attempt to play guitar and all sorts of other instruments.

We even got to make our own band stickers. Very fun. And we topped it all off with some pho nearby!

 

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures, even in quarantine. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.

 


Midwest Baseball Tour

Related posts:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Ann Arbor Milwaukee