Travel: A museum weekend in Cleveland
By Cathy
Feb. 17, 2010
Recently the kids & I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio for a weekend mini-vacation. We were able to squeeze it in between snowstorms. The temperatures were cold and they also had snow on the ground, however we still enjoyed our visit.
See the photo slideshow at right or go to the album on Picasa.
Our first stop upon arriving there on Friday was the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. There we saw a planetarium show about constellations & debunking the rumors that the world will end in 2012. Additionally we viewed many of their exhibits about space, earth, gems & jewels and dinosaurs. There were full-sized skeletons of many dinosaur types including a T-Rex and a Triceratops.
The kids were most amazed by seeing the skeletal remains of ‘Lucy.’ Lucy is over 3 million years old & was discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia by a university faculty member of who worked at the museum – hence the reason that she resides there. She was named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
After our afternoon of Natural History we walked to the nearby Cleveland Museum of Art (which has free admission by the way). Luckily this museum was open until 9 pm so we had time to wander around until we were ready for dinner at a neighborhood diner. The art museum had 2 main galleries and we only had a chance to tour one of them. We were able to find pieces of artwork by many notable artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, Andy Warhol & Georgia O’Keefe to name a few. The kids enjoyed seeing the statue “The Thinker” by Rodin. It was not the large version that is in Paris (Rodin made multiple smaller copies as well).
I was most impressed by seeing the very massive oil painting by Monet titled “Water Lilies.” This piece measures over 6 feet by 14 feet in dimension.
Also there was a beautiful glass bowl deigned by Dali called “Sleep of Nautilus” which was crafted by Steuben Glass.
Since no photography is allowed in most of the art museum I was able to locate the images at right on the museum’s website, where they have a complete catalog of every piece on exhibit.
Our hotel was conveniently located in downtown Cleveland just a few blocks from (frozen) Lake Erie. From our window on the 10th floor we could see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum which is where we spent our second day. No photography is allowed in the museum except for in the lobby so I have only a few pictures from inside in the slideshow.
The museum houses many permanent exhibits that trace the roots of rock music back through blues, folk, country, gospel, R&B, and Motown. Along the way there are various listening stations so that visitors can listen to songs made famous by some of the featured artists. Throughout all the displays are countless costumes, outfits, original song lyrics, guitars and other instruments that most rock fans will recognize. These include garments worn by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and even Michael Jackson’s sequined glove which my kids enjoyed the most. There is Jim Morrison’s Cub Scout uniform and Buddy Holly’s high school diploma.
A special exhibit about Les Paul, who died in 2009, is on one level as well as a section devoted to radio DJ’s and the history of the radio. The ashes of noted disc jockey Alan Freed are even displayed. The primary special exhibit for this year features Bruce Springsteen. This takes up two floors of the museum. Again there are many of his outfits on display including the jeans & t-shirt he wore on the cover of “Born in the USA,” guitars he played, and multiple pages and notebooks depicting hand written lyrics. Awards that he won over the years like Grammys and an Oscar are also on display. If you’re a fan of the Boss, you really should see this exhibit.
The final stop before visiting the gift shop was to see the hour long movie montage that chronicles every artist that has ever been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A wall of autographs is visible in this area with room for them to add many more. This year’s newest members will include Genesis and ABBA among others.
At right are photos of a few items items from the R&R Hall of Fame’s website and other web sources.
Sunday was our last day in Cleveland. After checking out of the hotel we went to our final destination – the Great Lakes Science Center located right next to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum. Here they had various displays and hands on exhibits covering different science related subjects. There was a display of medically related art and of tools used in medicine (supported by the Cleveland Clinic).
We spent a lot of time in the space exploration section where you could drive a remote controlled moon rover, compare moon rocks, watch NASA film footage & conduct experiments. Next we tried out various mechanical gadgets using lots of technical & engineering principles. There was a remote controlled blimp, a drawbridge, a solar powered boat, and thermographic sensors.
After lunch in the Museum Café we enjoyed their special exhibit about water. It covered every aspect of water: irrigation, preservation, life underwater, conservation, rainfall predictions, and much more. The kids thought that was cool.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent on the second level where visitors could try out over a hundred of different hands on experiments & test virtually every scientific theory. Some explored sounds & music, light & optics, motion, or electricity & circuits, while others incorporated math and formulas. Steph’s favorite was the Harmonograph where you could draw a picture similar to old fashioned Spirograph drawings. Chris liked the water vortex the best.
We managed to cram a lot into our short visit to Cleveland. Luckily the weather cooperated and the hotel had a shuttle so it was easy to get around down town. I highly recommend any of these sights, especially the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum if you’re a rock music fan of any sort. Hopefully someday we can get back there again when the weather is nicer (the lake won’t be frozen) and we can explore some more parts of Cleveland.
Janis Joplin’s 1965 Porsche
Elvis Presley’s “Snowflake” concert jumpsuit
John Lennon’s Sgt. Pepper uniform