Fun Places To Visit in Cleveland, Ohio
This year for my birthday I had the great idea to take a little overnight trip up north to Lake Erie with my family.
I searched Airbnb to see if I could find a good deal on a house and ended up scoring a cute 3-bedroom duplex for $150. That works for us!
I mapped out our trip with AllTrails, looking for a trail in Cuyahoga National Park that was short and easy enough that my girls wouldn’t totally hate me, but that would still be pretty to see. I found one trail that looked promising, so we planned to stop and hike on our way up to Cleveland. As a last-minute addition, I added a very short and easy trail in Blackhand Gorge as well.
*Head over to JillAllenCoaching.com’s Hike Live Explore page for an AllTrails discount code, as well as some awesome travel tips.
We did the Marie Hickey Trail in Blackhand Gorge first, and it was beautiful and fun. We did a little off-trailing, as usual, and saw the train tracks and the river, which my girls enjoyed.
Next, we did the Tinkers Creek Gorge Scenic Overlook trail at the Bedford Reservation. I could have sworn this one said waterfalls, and it did run along the Bridal Veil Falls, but we were all expecting something larger so we were a little disappointed. I think everyone’s favorite part of this trail was the vine swing we found along the way.
It was dinner time by the time we got to our Airbnb in Cleveland so we packed up and had dinner with lake views. We ate at Summer Place in Lakewood. The food was amazing and the views were gorgeous!
We had dessert at Mitchell’s Ice Cream in Cleveland. Their ice cream is so good and the restaurant is so adorable. It looks like the building was an old theater at one time and it’s a very bright, clean, and mid-mod/industrial design on the inside, which I love. It also has a 2nd story dining room inside where you can see straight into the kitchen area through glass walls and enclosures. It was pretty cool!
The Peanut Butter Fudge sundae
The plan for the next morning was to swim at Lake Erie, but unfortunately, it stormed all morning. We stopped at the Terrapon Bakery on W 14th St to get donuts and coffee for breakfast and it was delicious. The donuts were more cakelike, and they were large. We really enjoyed their different flavor options as they non-traditional flavors like Keylime and coconut and Butterfinger. Their breakfast sandwiches were served on a house-made croissant and were quite large as well. We ordered the Texas and the Pesto. The atmosphere was very laid back, and the employees were friendly. Overall we had a great experience and give it a 5-star rating. If you’re ever in Cleveland, be sure to check them out!
After breakfast, we set out to find something fun since we couldn’t swim at Lake Erie. Cleveland's museum scene is pretty strong and we heard great things about their science museum but unfortunately, we didn’t have time for that one. We found a self-guided tour of the U.S.S. Codd, a retired WWII submarine. My girls enjoyed walking through, seeing everything, and bonus points for it being educational as well.
All in all, we had a lovely time on the trails, a lot of laughs at dinner and dessert, and a morning of exploration. It was a wonderful, quick little getaway.
If you’re in Cleveland, be sure to check out some of these great attractions! Happy traveling :)