Cleveland, OH

Cleveland OH

Tuesday, the 22nd

Since we had less than a 2-hour drive to Cleveland, we weren’t in a rush to leave, particularly since check-in at the Streetsboro/Cleveland KOA wasn’t until 2PM. We had a lazy morning then headed off. It was a pretty ride through Amish countryside and Ohio back roads. Then about 2 miles from the campground in Cleveland what do we see in front of us… a bridge. What the????? We just spent two hours the night before going thru the GPS to avoid a low clearance bridge. This better not be it! There was no sign indicating the height so we went with the assumption that this was a “normal” bridge and not the low clearance variety which they usually flag with a sign to let you know. We made it through fine. Gary said “you handled that very well” meaning I didn’t freak out. We got to the campground, got situated, and noticed they had ice cream at the front desk. That became a late lunch then the skies opened up and there were on again/off again heavy rains for the remainder of the day. Wonderful. Like this campground wasn’t soggy enough. It poured here the night before as well so everything is wet, soggy and muddy. We’re having to take shoes off and wipe Kya’s feet every time we come and go.

Wednesday, the 23rd

We head into Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which is why we’re here. It’s a gorgeous day and cool so we’re able to take Kya and leave her in the truck with the windows partially open.

Awesome experience at the HOF. A self guided tour but there’s friendly staff scattered around to help guide you. It’s on six levels but you start on the 1st level with the beginnings of Rock & Roll and the early influencers – Sam Phillips, some of the Jazz greats, Elvis, and the Southern California influence to name a few. Then the Beatles and the British invasion, Motown, and on and on. There’s a short film of highlights of Elvis’s films, a whole wall about the supposed bad influence of Rock & Roll on the youth of America quoting the media at the time, and memorabilia galore from all the greats… costumes from Madonna, Pink, Elvis, Little Richie, the Supremes, Michael Jackson’s famous glove, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks famous Rumours dress and so many others. Plus guitars on display from all the greats…. and handwritten lyrics when songs were just in the beginnings of the thought process. The graphics throughout are extremely well done. There was a large display focusing on John Mellancamp who also has gotten into painting and some of those were on display, and it talked about how he got started and how a marketing group came up with the name “John Cougar.” He eventually went back to his real name of Mellancamp.

There was the obligatory film which all of these places seem to have. This one on the induction of past Hall of Famers and their performances at the induction ceremony.

The HOF is definitely worth going to. A lot of the artists featured were ones that Gary and I grew up with. Performers become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the “influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.”

They have a few new displays on upper levels opening next week so we missed out on seeing those. As Gary said, this had the “wow” factor for him, rather than the Pro Football HOF.

We headed back to the campground and sat outside and enjoyed a beautiful late afternoon. Neighbors pulled in next to us who were from TX. We started chatting with both husbands. They were in two side-by-side motorhomes. When they heard we would be visiting Port Aransas in the fall, they gave us a few tips and even brought over a Texas Coastal magazine for us to have. Very sweet. They had come from the Lexington KY area and visited a huge replica of Noah’s Arc that had been built. We didn’t even know there was such a thing!

We had a campfire since it was such a pretty night.

Thursday, May 24

Bruce, Ellen’s brother, had recommended that we visit Kent State University if we were going to be in the Cleveland area. As it turned out, we were only about 15 minutes from the university so we decided to check it out. He was so right. They have a very moving museum and memorial set up explaining the events that lead to the tragic death of four slain students on May 4, 1970.

The back story: On April 30th Nixon announced that US Troops had invaded Cambodia. Students viewed this as an escalation of the Vietnam War, when Nixon had promised troop withdrawal. Kent State students protested, as did students at many campuses. On May 1 an anti-war rally was held on campus. The students were calling for a protest rally on May 4th. The governor wanting to restore order called in the Ohio National Guard. Approx. 100 troops were on campus while 2,000 to 3,000 students were protesting the war. The students were told to disperse. They did not. The Guard threw tear gas and from there things escalated. Within 20 minutes, four students were shot dead with nine others wounded, one permanently paralyzed. It didn’t end there. Students were still not dispersing and the military commander was threatening to fire again. One of the campus administrators asked to be able to speak to the students first before any additional shots were fired. Though a megaphone you can hear the pleading in his voice. He’s absolutely begging the students to walk away before there is anymore bloodshot. Finally the students acquiesced and left.

What struck me is this campus is so much like UNH. It could have happened anywhere but happened here, and Kent State University was forever changed and will forever be associated with this event. But, rather than covering it up, they embrace their history with a memorial, a museum and a walking tour. It gives you goose bumps. I can’t help but feel sorry for the National Guardsmen, some of whom were probably not much older than these students and just following orders by their superiors. A sad time.

The campus eventually planted over 50,000 daffodil bulbs on the hill where all this happened. One each for all the soldiers killed in Vietnam. It must be a site in the spring.

We enjoyed one more campfire before we move on to Niagara Falls, Ontario in the morning.