Mistake on the Lake

We’ve clearly missed something here. For one thing, a Tourist Information Booth. For another thing, a Population.

I know Cleveland has a lot to offer. First of all, its neighborhoods full of historic homes and 100 year old sycamore trees are breathtaking. Preparing for this trip, I believe I'd read enough online posts to know what to do and where to stay. We’re there, baby – we even booked the Gliddon House – but we’re all alone! What is going on and where is every one? There are barely any students walking the streets and we're right next to Case Western Reserve University. We tried downtown: a ghost town. We found a trolley: it had a few tours and we had missed them all when we called at 2:05pm. We found a boat tour: it only operates on the weekend.

We tried Lake Erie for heaven’s sake and couldn’t even find a spot to put our feet in. (Well, I actually found a path between two beautiful mansions on Lake Shore Blvd., but Grandma refused to trespass so we continued our search.) Finally, we found Edgewater Park, a perfect spot to spend the day, but alas, we were practically alone. Several sailboats in the lake, 3 kites in the air, a confident, old guy sunning himself on the pier and our family running wild. It was pretty fun actually!

In my opinion, Cleveland is on the brink of something great, but it’s missing the vibrancy of a city that knows it. There’s a surplus of museums, but we didn’t want to be inside when the weather was so perfect outside. We wanted to watch locals and feel like we'd actually been here, done that. Where were the outdoor vendors with all the food, the local musicians, the flower shops, the tours and even the hustlers? On 3 different occasions, other tourists asked me for information. Ha!

Cleveland, the mistake on the lake, needs someone to design a cool tourist map, organize the few tour companies, put up some signs and maximize this market. We wanted to love this city but feel as though somehow we missed it.