Cleveland Here We Come!

Joseph, Anthony and I have returned from a fun-filled trip to that vacation mecca, Cleveland!  We wanted to give Glenda some time to scrapbook, and since this was the rare occasion where I actually had the whole weekend off, all the boys took a roadtrip up north.   After a smooth trip up I-71, (and after circling the parking lot like vultures), we finally made it into West Side Market.  About noon. On a Saturday.  Did I mention the parking lot?  Boy, this place was bustling!  Wall to wall people made it tough to navigate with 2 boys in tow, but we made it downstairs to the "Comfort Station" which is a pleasant term for a bathroom.  Back upstairs we made it to "Johnny Hot Dog's"  where the kids got a burger - and a sucker from the nice lady behind the counter.

Next stop - Steve's Gyros.  I set our DVR to record every episode of  "Man Vs. Food" on the Travel Channel.  Every week host Adam Richman visits a different city to take on various food challenges and showcase the city's gastronomic highlights.  The moment I saw his Cleveland episode, I knew I was destined to visit Steve's Gyros.  Apparently, every person in Cuyahoga County was destined to visit Steve's that day as well.  Yes, the line was literally out the door, and yes the wait was worth it!  The kids' hamburger was too messy to eat standing in line, so I doled out emergency goldfish crackers to ward off mutiny while I waited for my gyro (which was roughly the size of Anthony).  We had an impromptu picnic in the parking lot and it was off to the Great Lakes Science Center.

As members of COSI here in Columbus, we have free admission to over 160 museums across the country as part of the ASTC Passport Program.  The Great Lakes Science Center is among the many museums we have visited to take advantage of this great program.  In the picture above, Joey is piloting the Space Shuttle.  The main floor has  a lot of exhibit space devoted to space exploration, while the top floor has a ton of demonstration centers illustrating different scientific principles.  Tony and Joe explore DNA below:

The ground floor leads out to the Lake Erie shore with a nice view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Goodtime III boat.  Also moored there is the Steamship Wiilliam G. Mather, which we took a self-guided tour of.  Joseph saw a big sign bearing his name inside the steamship and both kids posed by the safe onboard as well:

At 2:15 we got to experience a live science demonstration outside by the lake.  The first part showed the wonders of dropping Mentos into Diet Coke - it was kind of like being at a Gallagher show when he gets out the watermelons - you don't want to be in the front row!  After that, we got to see a liquid nitrogen-hot water cloud.  Our mad scientist spilled some liquid nitrogen on his shoes and got freeze-dried footwear.  Luckily his feet were not harmed in the process.

Before we left, we had to check out the photobooth.  We all took turns wearing Anthony's hat and it was  then that I realized Joe didn't have his hat with him.  Lost and Found didn't have it so we re-traced our steps and found it upstairs.  It was a hat that his Granny made for him, so we weren't going to leave without finding it.

The kids both fell asleep for a few minutes in the car on the way to the Super 8 in Beachwood.  After a quick nap, we got some Chinese food and the kids each got another sucker (I guess that's one of the perks of Halloween weekend - suckers at every turn).  Back at the hotel, it was pajama time and the kids got to watch the first quarter of the Buckeyes game before it was lights out.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

After raisin bran at the hotel, we went to Preston's Hope playground.  We got there before 10:00, and it was still pretty cold, so we bundled up.  Preston's Hope is a great interactive playground designed for kids of all different physical and developmental abilities, with wheelchair access and Braille signs throughout the park.  We were there for the better part of an hour and the kids loved every minute of it.

After the park, we headed over to Rascal House Pizza for lunch - it was very close to our next destination, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The Natural History Museum is another great attraction on the ASTC Passport Program list that offers free admission to COSI members.  The last time we were here we just ducked into the bathrooms during the "Parade the Circle" event with our friends Carly and Cliff and their daughter Emma.  Today we were ready to see everything, starting with the huge stegosaurus outside.

In Sears Hall,  Tony met a girl named Mamie that he wanted to pal around with, and we got to see a red-tailed hawk named "Meep", a(n) opossum named "Dora" and a snake named "Nero" - Tony got to pet the snake.  We also got to see "Disease Detectives", a traveling exhibit that we had actually seen in Muncie, IN several months back.  Here Joe posed with E. coli and got to take a giant nasal swab:

We also got to see all manner of fossil and skeletal remains of various species - Tony's favorite part was getting a squashed penny with a skeleton on it.  After checking out the planetarium, we went outside to see more live animals including Turkey vultures, white-tailed deer, American crows, various owls and the like.  Following a trip to Costco to develop our pictures and Smokey Bones for dinner, we rolled back into Westerville about 7:00 PM.  We were all tired, but glad to see Glenda/Mom.  Another Great Adventure!