The Great Cleveland Trip

[fenchurch]

This year, when I tell people where we're going for our anniversary, they invariably do a double-take, especially since we went to Australia last year. Yep, we're going to Cleveland.

It's not as weird as it sounds... and technically we're not going to be in Cleveland on the actual day, but it's a lot of fun to see people's expressions when they hear it. The weekend before our anniversary is Vulkon Cleveland... complete with Anthony Stewart Head, Mercedes McNab, and Nicholas Brendon. My con-going friends at Vulkon Nashville worked hard to convince me to give it a go, and I didn't have to work all that hard to convince rackham by using some of their arguments... plus it helps that he's a BtVS fan and has never had a chance to attend a Buffycon before.

We're still working out the details of the trip, but at this point we're planning to take two weeks, just like last year, and make a grand adventure out of it. The plan was originally to fly into Cleveland the night before the convention, rent a car, stay there that weekend then drive up to Niagara Falls for our anniversary, then wend our way over to New York City, spend a few days there, then drive down to Philadelphia and over to Pittsburgh and finally back to Cleveland. I started checking airfare and realized we could cut as much as $50 per person off our tickets if we flew into and out of Pittsburgh instead... and I was surprised to discover that Pittsburgh is only a little over 100 miles from Cleveland. I'm constantly amazed out how close together everything is in the eastern US... I know I've got to factor traffic into the travel times, but still...

So, now we're planning to fly into Pittsburgh the day before the convention (and it looks like we may get there early in the afternoon, if we get the flight I want), spend the evening... possibly have dinner with my father-in-law who is supposed to be visiting the city (he's been working on an air quality study there for the EPA for the past year or so), then drive over to Cleveland the next day and follow the route I mentioned before, ending up back in Pittsburgh to fly home. It's funny, because the two places I'm dreading the most, at least from a driving standpoint, are NYC (we're probably going to stay out in the suburbs somewhere and take mass transit into the city, so it's not as much of a worry) and Pittsburgh. I've heard that city is the WORST for traffic and for getting lost.

So, the big question now is... does anyone have any recommendations for things to see while we're in that part of the country? My husband has been through that area before, with his dad and sister when he was still in high school, but the closest I've come was a layover at the Cleveland Airport.

Comments

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

The only thing I know about in Cleveland is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which is supposed to be tres cool.

Pittsburgh is on the other side of the state from the areas of Pennsylvania I'm familiar with, alas.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yeah, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was one of the things brought up by the crowd at Vulkon Nashville as a selling point for Cleveland.

And if you have any suggestions for the eastern part of Pennsylvania, send 'em my way! We're going to be going through there as well.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I have family in the Harrisburg/Carlisle area -- I highly recommend Lancaster and the surrounding area for just sheer beauty and, yeah, check out Amish country. Some of the restaurants around there can't be beat! :) Sadly, I never really got a chance to see much of Philadelphia, but there's a place I'd love to spend days-n-days.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

You're the second person to recommend trying the restaurants in Amish country, so they're definitely on the docket.