Back to Ohio – Cleveland and Cuyahoga

It’s only a 58 mile drive from Lake Pymatuning, PA to Streetsboro, OH. That was one of our shorter moves. While moving day was full of sunshine and warmth, the next day was full of rain. We were here for many reasons, one of them being Cuyahoga National Park. A visitor center is always a good place to start, so we headed out in the pouring rain to Boston Mill Visitor Center.

This national park is distinct in that it sits in an urban area between the cities of Cleveland and Akron. It’s long and narrow, running north to south. I was surprised to hear that the park turned 50 recently. Gerald Ford signed it into existence in 1974 as a National Recreation Area. It only became a national park in 2000.

I did not think the person behind the desk was all that helpful. I had heard that you can put your bikes on a train that runs through the park, but I discovered that the train is a separate concession. She pushed a train schedule at me, and a map of the route, but I couldn’t take either one with me. I took pictures of them and we figured out a plan on our own.

Two days later, when the rain was finally finished, we were at the Brecksville Station. On the park map, it is shown as “Station Road Bridge”, and nearby is the Brecksville Nature Center. We waited hopefully with our bikes…and waited…no train. I finally did what I should’ve done in the beginning, and looked it up online. That’s what everyone really wants you to do in 2025. The train doesn’t run on Tuesdays, the very day we were there.

No worries, we rode on the Ohio-Erie Canal towpath nearby and although we were a shade disappointed that the bikes didn’t get to ride a train, we had a great bike ride. First, we had to cross the 100-mile Cuyahoga River, the centerpiece of the park.

After we crossed the bridge, we swung southward, and the old canal was on our left. The bike trail goes along the old tow path. Signboards told us what we were seeing, which necessitated a lot of stops. The theme of the board on this particular stop is that nature is slowly reclaiming the canal. Sometimes it is totally grown over, and sometimes there is still water in it.

The canal was constructed during the 1820’s and 30’s, and saw heavy usage right away. It carried freight traffic until 1861, when railroads were built. Until 1913, it was a source of water for nearby towns and industries. It began a slow decline in the late 1800’s, and then the flood of 1913 happened. The canal was mostly wiped out. This must have been a huge flood. I first learned about it when we had been in Dayton. There, a whole museum building in Carillon Park was dedicated to the flood and its aftermath in that city.

The signboards told of industry activity on the canal, families growing up nearby and using the canal for skating in the winter, portions where there was danger from thieves and bandits. Settlements such as Boston and Peninsula became flourishing towns.

Riding the towpath is an enjoyable way to experience the park.

We returned the next day to ride the train. This is not just a cute little excursion train. It is a full size antique passenger train cobbled together from old train cars from across the United States. This is an old resurrected California Zephyr observation car that ran between 1949 and 1970. It had been put behind a passenger train of unknown-to-me origin.

Our seats were in one of the “coach” cars that you see on the right of the picture above. We explored the train–ok, I admit, we were looking for the concession car– and walked through first-class cars that had been lovingly restored to the glamour of the 50’s and 60’s. We rode the train to its northern terminus at Rockside, and then back down to where our truck was sitting in Peninsula. If we’d had our bikes, the porters would have put them in the baggage car and taken them down again for us.

Before riding the train, we explored a couple of Cuyahoga Valley’s waterfalls. Driving through the park and trying to find things isn’t the easiest thing to do. The park’s boundries go in and out of suburbia and also Cleveland Metroparks, and signage isn’t always the best. We couldn’t find Great Falls of Tinker’s Creek, and spoke with another tourist at Bridal Veil Falls who couldn’t find it either. But Bridal Veil was beautiful.

At Tinkers Creek Gorge overlook, the full beauty of the national park is in view.

Brandywine Falls is the showpiece of the park.

I mentioned at the beginning that we’d had two full-on days of rain. On the first rainy afternoon, we had visitors.

Kevin and Diana arrived with Lithuanian kugelis, which is a potato and egg “pudding” – like an egg dish – and roses from their garden.

Diana and I were classmates when I lived in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid. We went to school together from grades one through four, and were pen pals for many years after I moved away. Now, though, we communicate by texting. She and Kevin drove from their home in Fairport Harbor just to see us. The rainy afternoon flew by and we ended up having the kugelis for supper.

I’ve seen Diana off and on through the years we’ve been friends, but mostly in our younger days. Whenever we do get together, though, it always feels like yesterday since I’ve seen her. There is always so much to catch up on.

We were a bit torn on what to do during the next rainy day, but in the end we drove up to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This was a fun stop!

Exhibits took us through the genre’s history, from before we were born and when we were children. Music blared and most of it was songs we’d remembered and liked. Original music, costumes, and other memorabilia were highlighted for many artists.

There was sheet music and boots from Carole King and Bob Dylan’s harmonica. Guitars from Earth, Wind and Fire and the Doobie Brothers. A couple of Cher’s and Rod Stewart’s costumes, and the list goes on.

There is a whole room dedicated to the Beatles.

It’s a little bit funny to think Elton wore these things.

Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” was a favorite of Cal’s back in the day. The Wall actually exists and it is here.

In the early era of rock and roll, those in authority were sure that the music was leading teenagers down the path of destruction. I liked what John Lennon had to say about it.

The heart of rock and roll is still beating…in Cleveland.

As we stepped out of the museum, the rain was letting up, and we decided to walk into downtown Cleveland for lunch. The Winking Lizard had the best salad I have had in a long time. They called it the Blueberry Salad, but there was more fruit in it than just blueberries, plus feta cheese, and sliced steak that came out sizzling hot. So delicious! On the way to the restaurant, an orchestra was playing:

For several years of my early elementary-school childhood, I lived on Lake Erie, and its beaches were my playground. Because of that, I feel a particular affinity to this lake. We walked up to it after lunch, but by then, we were back to full rainshowers.

Goodbye, Cleveland. Perhaps we’ll return on a sunnier day.

Next time – a bi-state visit