In Cleveland your groups can cruise on a Great Lake, enjoy

big-league sports and sample cheese at a historic food

market. They can try their luck at a new casino, marvel at

marine wonders in a new aquarium and see where a quirky

cult Christmas movie was filmed. You might have trouble tear-

ing some of them away from what many consider to be the

city’s star attraction—the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Mu-

seum; even a two-hour visit there just isn’t enough.

A good rule of thumb for tour planners: Devote more time to

Cleveland than you originally had intended. Once you realize

the diversity of attractions and their relative proximity to each

other, you know you’ve discovered itinerary gold. How could

you call this place dull?

The glass pyramid that houses the Rock and Roll Hall of

Fame and Museum has become a city landmark and a

tourism-generating powerhouse. With seven floors of exhibits,

the museum deserves as much time as you can give it.

Whether a fan of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix or

Madonna, everyone remembers a certain era and revels in

nostalgia as they peruse the photos, videos, costumes and in-

struments. There are the pioneers like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee

Lewis and Buddy Holly. Motown is represented by the Jack-

CLEVELAND

ROCKSGood times await tour groups

on the shores of Lake Erie

28 August 2013 LeisureGroupTravel.com

The Rock and Roll Hall of

Fame is a shining star on

Cleveland’s lakefront.

Goodtime III − Cleveland’s largest excursion boat.

on location: midwest ❖

By Randy Mink

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son Five, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross

and the Supremes. Beatles memorabilia includes a Yellow

Submarine toy and jackets worn by the Fab Four. See Elvis’

white-beaded jumpsuit and film clips of “The King” in concert.

Listen to disc jockeys from your city.

Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction, running through

next March, is the museum’s first ever major exhibition cap-

turing the band’s long career. Chronicling the Stones from the

mid-1960s, it includes personal items that have never been

seen before by the public. The exhibit, with film and interactive

technology, takes up two-and-a-half floors.

The rock music shrine is just one of several attractions

fronting Lake Erie in downtown’s North Coast Harbor District.

A short walk away is the Great Lakes Science Center, which

offers an Omnimax theater and the NASA Glenn Visitor Cen-

ter, a collection of exhibits on aeronautics and space explo-

ration. The science museum’s Steamship William G. Mather,

a restored Great Lakes freighter built in 1925, is moored on

the lakefront and open for visits from May to October. Next

door to the Science Center is Cleveland Browns Stadium,

which offers behind-the-scenes tours.

From North Coast Harbor, the city’s largest sightseeing ves-

LeisureGroupTravel.com August 2013 29

See vintage cars and planes at Crawford Auto Aviation Museum.

PlayhouseSquare is downtown Cleveland’s theater district.

on location: midwest ❖ ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: For a look at Cleveland’s West Side Market, see the article at www.LeisureGroupTravel.com and enter this code: 31656.

sel provides a good orientation to Cleveland. For captivating

skyline views, consider a narrated Lake Erie/Cuyahoga River

cruise aboard the 1,000-passenger Goodtime III. Lunch and

dinner sailings are available. Another popular cruise boat is the

Nautica Queen, which offers lunch and dinner cruises from

The Flats, a riverside district that has grown in popularity with

the opening last year of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. At

Ohio’s only free-standing aquarium, located in the historic

FirstEnergy Powerhouse, guests can walk through the Shark

SeaTube with sharks and fish swimming overhead. One ex-

hibit features freshwater species native to Ohio. One- and two-

hour tours of Cleveland on Lolly the Trolley depart from the

Powerhouse.

Terminal Tower, a 52-story skyscraper on Public Square,

is the most recognizable beacon on Cleveland’s skyline, and its

enclosed observation deck is open to group visits at any time

(only on weekends to the general public.) The top of the Art

Deco masterpiece, dedicated in1930 and once the tallest build-

ing outside of New York, is bathed in colored lights for holidays

and special occasions.

The lower levels of Terminal Tower contain shops, restau-

rants and an 11-screen cinema. Called Tower City Center, the

complex has a food court with eateries like Nathan’s Famous

and McDonald’s. The Hard Rock Cafe at Tower City serves the

brand’s signature burgers, fries and shakes. For groups it of-

fers a package that includes admission to the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame. The restaurant has its own collection of rock

music memorabilia, from a Rolling Stones guitar to Madonna’s

shoes.

Creating the latest buzz at Terminal Tower is Horseshoe

Cleveland, a full-service casino that opened last year in the

former Higbee’s department store. Highlights include 1,900

slots, 89 table games and a buffet called The Spread.

The nearby East 4th Street District, a block-long brick

pedestrian street, is a nightlife hub with hotspots like the House

of Blues, Hilarities comedy club, Pickwick concert venue and

celebrity chef Michael Symons’ Lola. Corner Alley, an upscale

bowling center with casual dining at 4th Street Bar & Grill, has

12 lanes accented by video walls.

A walk down Euclid Avenue leads to PlayhouseSquare, a

cultural magnet centered around five restored theaters. On al-

most any night you can catch a Broadway show, Shakespeare

play, concert, opera, ballet, play or top comedian. The Great

Lakes Theater Company and Cleveland Playhouse, among

the top regional theater companies in the country, provide a

wide variety of fare. All five theaters—the Allen, Ohio, State,

Palace and Hanna—were built between 1919 and 1921 as

vaudeville or movie theaters. They closed in the 1960s but

were saved from the wrecking ball; renovations began in the

’70s. Theater tours can be arranged.

Not far from PlayhouseSquare are Progressive Field

(Cleveland Indians) and Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland

Cavaliers). Tours of Progressive Field include a dugout, the

visitors’ clubhouse, bullpen, indoor batting cages, press box

and exhibits on the team’s past. Quicken Loans Arena, or “The

Q,” is also home to the AHL Lake Erie Monsters and arena

Cleveland makes a good base of operations for touringNortheast Ohio. Here are just a few of the possibilities:

• Pro Football Hall of Fame,Canton. Fresh from a major renovation/expansion, the hallcaptures defining moments offootball history and profiles greatsof the game through videos andhigh-tech, interactive exhibits.Touch screens provide bios of allinductees. (profootballhof.com)

• Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens,Akron. This 65-room Tudor Revival manor house, built in1912-15 for Goodyear companyco-founder Frank A. Seiberling,showcases treasures from aroundthe world. (stanhywet.org)

• Cedar Point, Sandusky. Thisamusement park on the shores ofLake Erie boasts 16 roller coast-ers, including some of the tallestand fastest in the world. Alsoenjoy the beach, miniature golfand Soak City water park. (cedarpoint.com)

• Hale Farm & Village, Bath.Journey back to the 19th centuryat this outdoor living history museum in the Cuyahoga Valley.A property of Western ReserveHistorical Society, it includesdozens of historic buildings and a working farm staffed by role-playing interpreters who demon-strate pioneer crafts. (wrhs.org)

• Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Independence. Take a nostalgic three-hour ride in aclassic rail car pulled by a 1950sdiesel locomotive. Travelingthrough Cuyahoga Valley NationalPark, the excursion train tracesthe Cuyahoga River and Ohio & Erie Canalway, traversing meadowland, forest and farms.Fall color tours are especially popular. (cvsr.com)

Side Trips from Cleveland

32 August 2013 LeisureGroupTravel.com

Some of the world’s premier rollercoasters dominate the skyline atCedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

Obtain Ohio visitor guides and itineraries and contact group-friendly suppliers directly at leisuregrouptravel.com/instant-info

football’s Cleveland Gladiators and hosts major concerts.

Many of Cleveland’s cultural institutions are clustered in

the University Circle area, a few miles east of downtown. The

Cleveland Museum of Art (free general admission), undergo-

ing an extensive renovation and expansion, spans 6,000 years

of art, offering everything from Egyptian

antiquities to French Impressionists and

modern American art. You can view vintage

cars and planes at the Crawford Auto

Aviation Museum, part of the Western

Reserve Historical Society, which also

encompasses The History Museum. Other

University Circle attractions include Cleve-

land Botanical Garden, which has a con-

servatory that houses the ecosystems of

the Madagascar desert and Costa Rican

rainforest; the new Museum of Contem-

porary Art; Cleveland Museum of Natu-

ral History; and magnificent Severance

Hall (home of The Cleveland Orchestra)

on the campus of Case Western Reserve

University.

The West Side Market, one of Amer-

ica’s great historic food halls, is a favorite

with tour groups and Cleveland residents.

More than 100 tenants sell everything from

meats and fish to spices, nuts and baked

goods. Many stalls have remained under

individual family control for much of the life

of the market—a few dating back to its

1912 opening. Architecturally distinguished

by its vaulted, tiled ceiling and landmark

clock tower, the market makes a great

lunch stop. Many vendors offer free sam-

ples, or your group can eat its way through

the market with Taste Cleveland Food

Tours and meet its colorful entrepreneurs

at the same time.

Fans of A Christmas Story will want to

visit the Christmas Story House, the re-

stored house used in the classic 1983 movie

about a 9-year-old boy who wanted an air

rifle for Christmas. The companion museum

across the street has props, costumes and

other movie memorabilia, including Randy’s

snowsuit and the family car.

Cleveland, as more and more tour plan-

ners are discovering, comes as a neatly

wrapped package full of goodies for groups of all ages. While

the lakefront certainly has summertime appeal, groups will find

merriment here any time of the year.

For travel information, contact Positively Cleveland CVB,

positivelycleveland.com. LGT

LeisureGroupTravel.com August 2013 33

To discover what you have been missing visit www.wccvb.com or call 1-800-362-6474

2013 WCCVB 094 061113

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