Ohio’s second largest city is Cleveland, located on the shores of Lake Erie. Officially Cleveland has half the population of Columbus, but to me they both felt like large cities with an equal among of things to do. Above is a day and night shot of downtown Cleveland taken by the waterfront. This is probably the best place to start exploring the city!

The waterfront is also known as North Coast Harbor, and has most of the city’s main attractions such as the sports stadium, NASA science center, Rock N’ Roll Museum, and more. Aside from the attractions, just walking along the waterfront was an enjoyable experience for me. I visited in the middle of the summer, so the weather here was perfect. Above is a large cargo ship docked in the harbor and a photo of Lake Erie from North Coast Harbor.

During the summer the lake offers all the normal water sports you’d expect like jet skiing, sailing, and swimming. I didn’t swim myself but imagine the water is colder than I’d like it to be but doable. I’ve never been to the great lakes region in the winter time, but I think that would also be another amazing experience!

While walking around the North Coast Harbor I also saw this large party boat about to take off. I’ve no idea what it cost or how long it sails around the lake for, but there were definitely a lot of screaming people that seemed already intoxicating. I guess that could be a fun trip, but if for some reason you find out you don’t like the vibe you’re kinda trapped until the ship returns! The photo on the right is the Cleveland Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. This was actually the first place I visited in the city.

As their own website states, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exists to collect, preserve and interpret the impact rock has made on our world.” For some reason I expected this place to to have been built in the 70’s or maybe even 60’s, but it was actually founded in 1983! Inside you’ll find lots of memorabilia from famous musicians spanning over 50 years. This place is pretty large, so there was no way I could photograph everything of course. Above were some of the first exhibits I saw, a summary of musicians from Cleveland, which claims to be where Rock N’ Roll was founded photographed on the left. On the right is a photo from a large exhibit dedicated to Michael Jackson.

These three photos above show some other memorabilia from artists such as Aerosmith on the left and Stevie Nicks in the center. There are several floors in this pyramid shaped museum, so I have to emphasize there is a lot of things to see! What I liked most about this museum though was they had things from fairly recent artists that I had grown up with, and it wasn’t all necessarily from Rock N’ Roll artists. For example on the right, are some unpublished lyrics from the rapper Snoop Dog.

Another famous landmark in Cleveland is The Arcade found in the city center. The Arcade was built in 1890 and was paid for by the famous John Rockefeller. The Arcade was the first real shopping mall inside America which probably made it a great place to do business in the city’s cold winters in the late 1800s. The mall remains a busy place to this day, and has the expected shopping and dining, as well as festivals throughout the year. I swung by here late in the day and there was a wedding taking place.

Downtown Cleveland has its share of large buildings as well as a history for them. The Tower Cit Center you see photographed on the left was built back in 1927, and for nearly 40 years it remained the continent’s tallest building outside of New York City. The building has several uses from business office use to restaurants and shops. For a reason I don’t know, I never tried to enter the tower and that will definitely be something I do when I return. The photo on the right shows another downtown shot just a few blocks away from the Tower City Center.

I don’t remember the name of these districts above, but I came across several bars and restaurants in the city. The one on the left was just outside the baseball stadium. The photo on the right shows another district that is only open to foot traffic. There was a lot to choose from, but I ended up eating at a great Mexican restaurant here with my friend.

Cleveland seemed to have a less diverse demographics than other cities I’ve visited around the country. Of course there are people from all over here, but primarily the city seemed to be white with a large minority of African Americans. The photos above are two shots of people in downtown Cleveland. I had visited the city right as another war between Israel and Gaza had just kicked off. Below you can see some Palestinians walking around who were protesting Israel’s response.

I’m not sure the crime rates of Cleveland, but for some reason I feel like they might be slightly higher than most cities in America. During my weekend visit here, I never saw anything or felt unsafe, so like all cities in America if you’re visiting normal neighborhoods and districts nothing will happen to you. The most I saw while here was this broken window on this van. It looked liked it had just happened since glass was all over the ground. It looks like it could have been an accident though, since things were still in the van and not stolen. On the right is a photo I took of a car accident I passed by on a major road.

This might look like a normal neighborhood in Columbus, and in many ways it is! There is something special here though for those who grew up with the Christmas Story movie. I had seen the movie many times as a kid, but never realized it took place in Cleveland! The two photos above were taken right outside the house showing the neighborhood. As you can see, the neighborhood is in some need of repair.

I arrived too late in the day to make it to the Christmas Story house, but that didn’t stop me from walking around the yard and even backyard. The house is still beautifully maintained and acts as a museum now. Just across the street is a large souvenir shop dedicated to the movie. Above is a photo of the house itself and the inside. Below you can see the souvenir shop, and even the sled on the lower right that sits on the front porch!