No tags yet.
2016 Travel Log, Cleveland
Our trip to Cleveland was short. We headed up to Ohio for Logan's cousin Caroline's wedding and decided to swing up to the city for the day. There were just a few things on the itinerary: exploring and food. I suppose those are necessary for any bit of travel, but that's basically what happened.
We stayed about an hour and a half from the city in the small town of Wadsworth where we had our very first airBnB experience. It was lovely! Our host lived in a very nice and quiet neighborhood with her two puppies. We had our own room and bathroom on the upper level of her house, and it was more comfortable than a hotel. We didn't see her much; we dropped off our things and went straight up to Cleveland and when we came back that night she had gone out to a concert with friends. The next day was all rehearsal and wedding prep and the next was wedding day. So we didn't spend a lot of time at her house, but what time we did spend there was very enjoyable and comfortable. It was a great first airBnB experience!
So once we drove up to the city we really just wanted to walk around for a while. We made our way towards Terminal Tower, but stopped short at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial.
I didn't spend as much time there as I wanted due to the time crunch, but we managed to glance at the artifacts in the museum and read a few of the plaques inside. We love finding small bits of history like this. It really makes for a memorable trip.
Terminal tower was just behind us so we made our way to it. We walked around, peeked in a couple shops inside and scanned the food court for some yummies, but decided it would be better to wait until we got to Little Italy instead.
We walked for a good hour and a half to two hours or so, stumbling onto more goodies Cleveland had to offer. We walked down East 4th and found the CUTEST little row of restaurants and coffee shops complete with cobblestone pathways. Next time we're up that way I am for sure stopping in one of those restaurants. I was so sad when we had to walk away.
On our way back to the car, I noticed the library and suggested we go in to check that out too. Guys, Cleveland Public Library is one of the prettiest places. The paintings on the ceiling, marble floor, the smell of books... I could've wandered in there for hours.
Little Italy was so cute! We decided on Guarino's, Cleveland's oldest restaurant ,and we weren't disappointed. The restaurant was nearly empty - we got there a few hours before dinnertime and they were setting up for a private event later on the terrace. Logan ordered veal parmesan and I chose chicken piccata. Both dishes were delicious, but looking back I'd order the veal parmesan for myself, it was so good! We finished the meal with cannolis and decided to walk around the neighborhood a bit, contemplating whether or not to get gelato next door.
After driving and walking around Cleveland for a few hours we decided to swing over to Willoughby to see where my hubby grew up. Once we got to a certain point he was able to find his house by memory, though he hasn't lived there since 1999. It was one of the sweetest things, to see him overcome with so much nostalgia, telling me about his growing up years in the cute little Victorian house his dad built.
We lingered in the driveway so long I was afraid the current homeowners might think we were creepy so we moved on. He showed me all around town, and we tried to find a spot his grandfather talked about, affectionately called "the break wall." We weren't able to find it but we stumbled upon a little strip of a park, Sunset Park, where we watched the sun go down over the lake from a porch swing.
Once the sun set below the clouds we drove to an ice cream place we passed on the way to the park. Logan was determined to have some Ohio soft serve before we went back to the house so we stopped at Charlotte's. Aglow in pink neon, the little hut sat in the middle of a neighborhood and had more ice cream flavors, options, and add-ins than I've ever seen in Tennessee. Seriously, the South needs to up it's ice cream game. I got my cup of ice cream with cheesecake bits and we sat and people-watched for a while just talking about how different the culture was near the Great Lakes.
The rest of the weekend was spent with family; cutting baby's breath to fit in mason jars, hanging out, doing little cousin's hair, and constant laughter. I'm so thankful Logan's cousins are such good friends and I'm excited to watch the family continue to grow. It was a perfect long weekend trip and we look forward to seeing Ohio again sometime.