notes from roadside: Cleveland, OH OH OH

I haven't had much access to the internet these last few days so I'm scouring the midwest looking for an internet connection to catch up on my notetaking. It seems that in addition to restrooms, gas and food, a lot of rest areas now include wi-fi. So here I am, sitting outside a roadside restroom, facing an aerial assault of flies, gnats, and mosquitoes, hacking away at my keyboard. Here goes...

Waking up just outside of Cleveland in a pool of sweat (and tears), I was able to get an early start on my checklist for the day before heading off to Chicago. A little fresh-up time in the men's bathroom of Walmart and I was off. The beauty on Walmart territory is the access to anything you might need upon waking up.

Cleveland Museum of Art - Unbeknownst to me, this is on Case Western Reserve's campus
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland, OH
Ralphie's house from "A Christmas Story"

The Cleveland Museum of Art was beautiful, inside and out. And free, which makes it even better. Housing a collection of artwork from the 1800s through modern and contemporary periods, I can confidently say it was worth my time. My interest revolved around their pieces from Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollack, Rothko, Monet (who I still don't care for, but can appreciate his importance), and Miro (see comments on Monet). I never really understood the important of Jackson Pollack until seeing his work in person. Now I (think I) get it: it's a display not of an image or idea, but of a process. The textures, colors, and layers and their contrast allow you to see how the piece was composed. ANYWAY, in an otherwise tumultuous time, life made sense for a few moments when I found myself standing in front of side-by-side Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali paintings. This was a great start to a day. And as with any decision making, these two paints made me feel as though I had made the right decision in spending my time here.

After stepping out and walking through the gardens surrounding the museum, I found a park bench with this inscription, which I found to be unnecessarily appropriate.

As for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...meh. I'm not so sure. It was interesting to see so many pieces of memorabilia from so many people I consider to be hugely influential, but paying $22 to see a bunch of the Rolling Stones' elastic pants and the Beatles' jackets seems a little steep. Maybe that's just me. I don't know what I expected, but on a 1 to 10 scale, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gets a 5-6 in my book. Still, the architecture is cool and if you're in Cleveland it's not a terrible way to spend two hours.

I'm sharing this below picture with you because it was the last one I was able to take there before my removal. (Worth it!) If you do visit the RnR HOF and are asked to put your camera away (somewhere in the vacinity of 4-5 times), you should do that... unless you'd like to be (very politely) removed from the building. While I thought I was doing a good job of discreetly taking photos, security disagreed.

On my way out of town, I stopped by 3159 West 11th Street, better known as the house from "A Christmas Story". While I found Cleveland's downtown area nicer than I had anticipated, this area was a dump. An "I don't necessarily feel safe here or ever want to be here again" kind of dump. That being said, I drove by and sniped a photo of the house (and the lamp, of course). I was excited when I discovered that the actor who played Randy (Ralphie's little brother) has been living in the house this year and conducting tours. I was disappointed (but not really) when I found out he wasn't there the day I was. So it goes. Good bye Cleveland!