Images Of Cleveland: Cool Bridges, Public Art, Science and a Haunted Hotel

After The Christmas Story House, we explored the city a bit.  Although my husband is a firefighter by trade, he's always had a love of cities, particularly those that have a strong industrial background, such as Cleveland.   He's the kind of guy that, despite having attended Mass College of Art, gets more enjoyment out of an old mill building, railroad bridge or factory than he does the local art museum.  

I have to admit,  I like fancy bridges and old mills, too.  This was probably my favorite - the Hope Memorial Bridge - if for any other reason than those cool statues.  We did drive over it at one point, but of course, you know me - camera was packed away in the back seat!  We took this one from below...

We thought this was cool, too...

And unlike some people, we have no problem waiting for a draw bridge to open and close - it was really interesting watch those huge counterweights pull the bridge up then set it back down again.  All in all, it took 10 minutes.  Probably why the locals avoid this stretch of road!  

Another shot, showing the canal and surrounding area.  This was taken from an area known as The Flats - really cool place.

In the center of town, right outside Tower Place, is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, one of many, many pieces of public art in the city.  

There were others that I didn't get shots of, but wish I had.

And then...there was this....

The Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial, located between Progressive Field and the Great Lake Science Center (in the background - note the solar panels out in front of the building).   As I've mentioned, my husband is not only an architectural, urban design, public art afficionado, but he's also a firefighter - one who was intimately involved in a local tragedy which claimed the lives of six of his coworkers nearly a decade ago.  He's very particular about memorials - even lamenting that the one that we have in Worcester is "the same old, 'firefighter-on-one-knee' type" of memorial.  He likes memorials that tell a story, like the Hotel Vendome Memorial in Boston, or on a greater scale, the FDR or Korean War Memorials in Washington, DC.   Memorials that are unique, thought-provoking and memorable...and made of something other than fiberglass.  From a distance, I didn't really see what was so bad about this one

But close up, it looked pretty tacky - like the fake stream of water from the hose you see here, disappearing into nowhere.  Then the more I looked at it, the "flames" looked like a giant, three-pronged, neon hand.  I walked away from this one feeling sorry for the men it memorialized.  I'm sure whoever designed it had their heart in the right place, but fiberglass?  I think they deserved bronze, at the very least.  

Well, onto the science center, which was an awesome experience for Punkin.  Hundreds of kid-friendly, hands on exhibitions, an indoor playground and an outdoor water exhibit.  And with every stop, I actually found myself explaining something to her (or reading the little plaques so I would know what the heck was going on).

Here she is constructing a strand of DNA...

And outside playing with one of the water exhibits...

We spent more time here than we did at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame!

Later we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (where we could see all that R&R stuff for free.....), then went back to our hotel.

I was just getting ready to settle down when suddenly I spied something behind the curtain...straight out of the urban legend that surrounds the film "Three Men and A Baby", where people claim to see a spirit in one of the scenes filmed in a New York apartment...

Suddenly, it realized it had been found and darted away!

Oops...false alarm!

Punkin! Don't scare Mommy like that!!!

Next morning we headed off to Columbus...