So, I’ve got a mission. And to start this year long adventure off, I book a flight to…drum roll…Cleveland, Ohio. I know that’s not what you expected. A mission like this should start off with a banger like Napa Valley, Cali or the sunny beaches of Florida. But a) it was summertime in Minnesota…I wasn’t in need of escaping from the cold to a beach vacation. And 2) this trip was a last-minute change. Originally, I had planned to go to Isle Royale, Michigan. Which sounds like a high-end extravagant getaway but is in fact an island of 99% wilderness, but more on that later. My trip to Isle Royale was postponed for the second time for Covid related reasons. But I had my travel challenge planned, I had the time off, I was going SOMEWHERE. So, I looked for planes that still had seats and for a reasonable price and not necessarily on the beach and narrowed it down to three locations. For a reason I can no longer recall, Cleveland beat the other two out. And I’m going to shock you yet again by saying I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE IN CLEVELAND. Maybe traveling anywhere would have brought me joy after being in the same county for the previous 15 months. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first time I took a solo trip in which I traveled alone 100% of the time (if you have not done this, I highly recommend). But I truly think it was where I was meant to go during that time. It was the perfect long weekend, mixed with relaxation and trying new things. On top of that, traveling solo forced me to interact with strangers more than I usually would at a time when I needed to see the kindness in others again. Cleveland gave me exactly what I needed, when I needed it.
I hopped on a Delta flight on July 15th, 2021, and landed in Cleveland around 10:00AM. Skies were full sun, and it was supposed to be the warmest day of my trip, so my plan for the day was to hit Edgewater Beach on Lake Erie. I am not typically one to spend a lot of time relaxing on vacation. I want to see as many things as I can. That day though, I relaxed. Even though all I could find to snack on was a snack sized bag of plain Lays and the only seltzer available was a Truly (I’m more of a White Claw girl), I laid there all…day…long. I planned to rent a paddle board and had read that there was live music at the beach on Thursday evenings. The pandemic had put a hold on these activities though. So instead, I started a book I would end up finishing during that long weekend (In 5 Years– 10/10 recommend). I watched people. I watched boats. And I watched airplanes overhead and made up stories about the people on them. I went from the beach to the water and back so many times. I have a soft spot for the Great Lakes I assume partly because I have a soft spot for all bodies of water and partly from living 90 minutes from one of them. But this Great Lake was different than Lake Superior. The water wasn’t icy cold and rather than a smooth rock, the beach was white/tan sand and the softest I’d felt since I’d been to Mexico 4 years prior. I didn’t seek out conversation with people that day and yet, ended up chatting with several people. In the snack and beverage line, after standing behind the same pair of guys for the second or third time, one commented that “we must be on the same drinking schedule.” A woman walked past me on the beach and stopped to chat about my book, which she had also read. When the clouds rolled in and the rain had me calling for a ride, Uber Adam was the best. In the 20 minute drive I learned that he had been part of a gang in high school, but eventually went back to get his GED and had turned his life around. I fell asleep that night with his words echoing in my head, “I don’t believe in complaining, I believe in making adjustments.”
I woke up in a cozy, king-sized bed and decided to spend the next day at The Flats, one of the places suggested by Uber Adam the night before. I took the hotel shuttle and ended up with the same driver who had picked me up the previous day at the airport. He remembered I had the beach plan, commenting on my sunburned skin. I was starting to enjoy people again. The Flats reminded me of Canal Park in Minnesota, just bigger. Brick roads followed the shore of a river that entered into Lake Erie. I had lunch at Lindey’s Lake House, known for Leo’s lemonade made with Ohio’s own vodka and their honey biscuits. Both were amazing. I stopped at Margaritaville where I chatted with two hilarious ladies on their way to work yet indulging in a pre-work day beverage. By mid-afternoon I had finished my book from the day before while overlooking the pier and decided to check out another Uber Adam recommendation, a coffee shop called 27 Club, owned by a local rapper who had passed away. 27 Club was no average Caribou Coffee. Hip hop music blared while I walked past the SECURITY GUARD at the door. The barista recommended a pink latte which I enjoyed on my walk back to the pier. Thirsty Dog brewery was my next stop. I ordered a drink at the outside bar and when the bartender asked if I wanted food, I wasn’t very hungry yet, so I declined. He looked appalled and continued to stare. When I gave him a “what’s up?” kinda look he said, “It’s just that, there’s this burger thing.” Turns out I went to Cleveland during Cleveland Burger Week. The couple to my right filled me in on the specifics, even pulling out a map with their strategic plans on which days to get what burgers with which sides. The burger was awesome, I had no regrets. Aside from their burger recommendations, the couple had some other great ideas which I decided to spend the rest of the evening checking out. I spent about an hour people watching from the patio at Goodnight John Boy. Almost immediately, a young man walking passed stopped to chat. He thought I was in my 20’s so I guess that sunburned skin knocked off a couple of years. He was traveling from Montana, trying to find meaning in life after his girlfriend had suddenly passed away. It appeared I wasn’t the only one trying to find something on this trip. I met some other very kind and interesting souls at Goodnight John Boy, but this bar had just been a spot to kill some time before the dueling piano bar next door opened. I’d never been to a dueling piano bar and had no idea how popular they were and how many songs I would recognize from mainstream radio/music apps. I loved it. So did a lot of people because the place quickly filled. Needing to use the restroom, and not wanting to lose my spot now that it was a full house, I began to pay attention to the people around me. After discretely watching a couple at a nearby table, I explained that I needed to use the restroom and asked if they wouldn’t mind watching my things/keeping an eye on my seat. When I got back, the woman had switched seats so that she was closer to my bag. They explained they thought I might be more comfortable with her sitting next to it than the man, a thought that never would have occurred to me but warmed my heart yet again toward humanity. I sent them a drink as a thank you before heading out for the night, because I had one more recommendation from the burger couple that I wanted to check out. The local zoo was hosting an Asian Lantern Festival that I knew I had to see. When I got there, they admitted me for free because they were closing in an hour and it had started to rain. And by rain, I mean RAIN. Still, I walked along the paths, gazing at the beautifully impressive lanterns and felt at peace, the perfect end to my night.
On my last day in Cleveland, I woke up to more rain. Luckily it was more of a mist than a torrential downpour. I drank coffee in bed and tried to blow dry my hoodie from the night before because it was the only one I had with me, before heading downtown to do some of the “tourist things.” My first stop was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Being a music nerd myself, it was amazing to be in the presence of instruments owned by some of the greats. Playing a guitar in that building was surreal. I had lunch at Nuevo Modern Mexican and Tequila Bar. It was delish. I hit up the iconic Cleveland sign and asked a random to take a picture, because what kind of tourist would I be if I skipped that? I walked past the Brown’s Stadium and the Indian’s Stadium. To get a break from the rain, I told myself the next bar I saw I was stopping! Whistle and Keg was a beer lover’s dream, which I am not. The vibes were good though and it was dry, so I stayed for a White Claw. I chatted with the bartender about my solo trip, and she said she had made a vow to herself after missing a concert to never again miss anything even if it meant doing it alone. When I left, I gave her a wave goodbye and she ran over to me with a brown paper gift bag. She said, “I don’t know what you have going on in your life, but I feel like you have an aura that we were supposed to meet.” She handed me the bag, which I opened while sitting on a bench waiting for the subway. In it was a Cleveland coin purse and a short note. On my flight home, rather than reading or plugging my headphones into the seat media player, I closed my eyes and listened to the conversations around me. The couple in front of me was traveling for the first time with their 4-month-old and were clearly nervous but the stranger sitting in the corner in front of them tried to get their minds off it. The gentleman behind me was chatting with his seatmate, a man much younger than him who was clearly trying to move on from something. The older gentleman told him he was doing the right thing, and that he’d pray for him. Listening to these strangers conversating, coin purse in hand, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be. I felt at peace for the first time in a long time. I felt proud of myself for having made it through this adventure on my own. And I was excited to see what else I would learn in the next 12 months.
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