Museums, Cleveland

Lakeview Cemetery was founded in 1869 and is the resting place for nearly 100,000 people. Some of the best sculpture I've ever seen is here. There is so much to see (including the most famous tomb....that of the 20th president, James A. Garfield).....monuments, crypts, mausoleums, and many rare plants and flowers.
Last year there was a sculpture show throughout the cemetery, there was a play given amongst the headstones last summer, and there are always new gardens being planted.
Pack a picnic lunch and wander through here for an afternoon.

A few miles northeast of downtown Cleveland, but still in the metropolitan area, up State Hwy. #283, is Lawnfield, home of the 20th president of the United States. This is one of the lesser visited of America's National Historic Sites, but one which deserves more attention.

Garfield conducted his campaign for the White House from a small garage-size building behind his house, and from his front porch. There on the spacious veranda, which he added during the campaign, Garfield would give speeches to potential voters who came by the trainload. A special stop was made along the tracks which bisected his farm. Alas, poor Garfield was killed by an assassin's bullet just six months after he took office in 1881.

You'll learn a lot here.

Lawnfield is the Presidential Home of President James A. Garfield (1876-1900). From the front porch, he ran for president. There is a railroad just to the north that cut through the Garfield farm, and a stop, from which he would catch trains to and from town and the nation.

Hours: M-Sa 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Su noon - 5 p.m.

When recently wandering through Tower City Center again, I discovered a flyer for a great new gallery: Lake Erie Artists. It features an array of artistic creations, all from Ohio artists. According to the flyer, there are also music performances, demonstrations, and more, on weekends.

The place appears to be off to a great start, and has plans to continue expanding the store to the next floor up. I definitely recommend stopping here to see exapmles of our local art! =)

Located on Level 2, next to Bellastanza.

Walk through history at the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum in University Circle. Great collection of old cars, trucks and motorcycles, plus period stores and a tour through a beautiful old mansion with a good docent. This is a great museum for people of all ages.

So while visiting Cleveland my buddy took me to the Great Lakes Brewing Company (actually the pub) - but they offer a free tour of their brewing facilities. The tour leave on the hour every hour (last tour is at 8pm) from the pub. The tour lasted about 45 minutes. I have been on several brewery tours and this was actually one of the most interesting I have been on. At the end of the tour there is a small tasting - Ohio state law prohibits giving free beer (they are no fun) so to get two samples it costs 25 cents - the cheapest beer deal I have ever had. The tasting was actually more to demonstrate the power of the correct tempature of beer - absolutely amazing!!! Can't beat a free tour.

Located at: 2516 Market Avenue
Cleveland

One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon in Cleveland is to walk around Murry Hill in the little Italy area. There are many fine resteraunts and art galleries and best of all...There is the worlds largest gallery of Dr. Suess's artwork! No, not pictures from his books, but paintings and sculptures. It is fun to browse through, but expensive to buy. The gallery can be found at:
The Dick Kleinman art gallery
12210 Mayfield Road,
'Little Italy',
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
(216) 421-8484
Fax: (216) 421-1003

Children's Museum of Cleveland
10730 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
216-791-KIDS

The Childrens museum is a great place to burn off some of the young ones energy! With many interactive exhibits can be hours of entertainment for them. There is small grocery store that they can pretend to be shoppers or cashiers, there are different carer stations where they can pretend to be police or bus drivers or teachers. there are things to climb on and even a water exhibit that demonstrates how the cleveland lake and old canal system worked!

If you visit in the summer you should go to the Cleveland Art Museum on Wednesday or Friday night. There is a courtyard on the grounds where they have set up a third party catering group and live jazz. You can sit, listen to the music, have a glass of wine or beer and then take a free tour of the museum!