My Trip to the Mistake on the Lake
Last weekend, my girlfriend Abby and I took a trip to Cleveland, OH, to go on a date in which we had planned to visit the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, go to lunch, and then walk through the art museum. The drive was fairly interesting being about an hour and a half away, but taking majority back roads for the first third of the trip. This definitely proved to make the drive less mind numbing and more appealing to the eyes as opposed to staying on a highway with no views but grey, save for the occassional red lifted Ford F-150 with its high beams on in broad daylight riding my tail. Getting to the aquarium itself was a nice drive once entering the city as well. We managed to pass right by the Cleveland Browns stadium which I had never actually seen in person, and although they are intending on changing locations once their current lease is up in 2028, it is situated nicely alongside Lake Erie.
A few twists and turns on, around, and under a bridge, we finally got to the aquarium. My first thoughts entering the building was that the building itself is quite deceiving on the outside. What appears to be a factory laid entirely in brick on the outside is a comforting, banquet hall-filled fish home on the inside. I'll spare the digression of each detail of our rounds of the aquarium, but it was a pleasant experience (including an underwater Q&A with a diver in the shark tank). And, of course, no aquarium is complete without a water tunnel to walk through, and a stingray petting station. Although the stingrays did their best to avoid me, possibly detecting that I am a Steelers fan, I managed to poke one of their fins, which was satisfying enough for me. Abby ended up buying a patch she could sew onto her clothes, and I myself purchased a bottle of hot sauce - as I like to do when visiting places - called "Megalodon," which having since then tried it in BBQ pulled pork, was surprisingly very good, though not as spicy as advertised.
We managed to finish up at a great time to get lunch, so we checked out a place downtown called TownHall, marketed online as a "health restaurant," which I was hesitant to visit at first, but ultimately decided to try something new, and knew it would be a good place for us to visit with Abby having a limited diet, and it being difficult for us to find places she can eat. This decision turned out to be a highlight of our day. The food was delicious. I managed to find probably the most unhealthy thing on the menu, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, while Abby got a pumpkin squash bolognese, and buffalo cauliflower lettuce wraps to share. The food, though on the higher price end, was colorful, fresh, and full of flavor. We even got to sit outside to enjoy the near perfect weather and sunshine while having an excellent city street view. Ultimately, we will be visiting again.
We ended our trip by visiting the art museum, which admittedly was her idea, but again, I thought it would be a good idea to try something new. Entering the atrium of the building would reveal a huge glass ceiling, and lots of floral life decorating the stone floor. The museum was split into "wings," each categorized by the time period or culture in which they were displaying. We started with ancient Rome, Greek, and other civilizations, eventually observing works of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and ending up in the Medieval period before moving on to the second floor which demonstrated Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Native American art. We stepped in to the contemporary part of the exhibit briefly, but to put it lightly, the work was not our cup of tea. My favorite parts of the museum had to be a very specific room which showcased several landscape paintings, and the armor court. I will include a few pictures of them below with the rest of the imagery of our trip. This type of art really appeals to me, as each frame and piece of armor tells a clear story. The building itself is very well cared for, and the employees were very kind and welcoming. I was pleased to have experienced something new in this way, and overall, was very happy to have gotten the opportunity to visit the city and spend the day with the woman I love.
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