Even though it’s time to buckle down and focus on my last year of university, my head is still in the clouds thinking about all the adventures my boyfriend and I were able to have this summer.

Right now I’m reminiscing about our weekend in Cleveland to see the Toronto Blue Jays play the Cleveland Indians. If you want to read more about our trip just carry on reading!

We stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel in downtown Cleveland, which used to be the Board of Education building. The history behind it is actually really interesting which you can read about more here. This historic building has since been completely renovated and actually just opened at the end of April.

Not only was the location perfect, the hotel clean and the staff friendly, but all the free perks that came with it made our weekend so much more affordable (the extras aren’t extras, as they put it). While the free wi-fi and free breakfast (which had a ton of options) were great to have, the best part was the free happy hour—yes, as in free booze. Every evening from 5:30-7pm Drury guests (that are the legal drinking age of course) receive 3 free alcoholic beverages of their choice and accompanying it they have a free small buffet serving up both hot and cold food. It all almost seemed to good to be true!

The Abraham Lincoln statue on the west side of the hotel.

The Fountain of Eternal Life

Despite hitting quite a bit of traffic on our way here we made it just in time to check in, get changed and make it for happy hour for a little pre-drink before heading to Progressive Field for the baseball game.

As a whole, Progressive Field knocks the Rogers Centre SkyDome out of the ballpark (sorry I had to make that terrible pun). Not only is it an awesome stadium with a beautiful view of the Cleveland skyline, but it offers plenty of options in regards to food and drink, it’s easy to navigate around and they allow in-and-out privileges. There’s also a ton of places to stand and watch the game for those that don’t want to stay in their seats—we actually only stayed in our seats for one inning and headed down to watch the game on the first level with a bunch of other Jays fans. The stadium was a sea of blue in regards to Toronto fans which added to the overall experience. Plus, the Jays beat the Indians 6-5!

LEBRON!

Sunday morning we woke up early to tuck into the free hotel breakfast before heading off to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

When I heard you needed at least 5 hours here to see everything I really thought Jason was going to have to drag me through it. However, I honestly think I enjoyed it just as much as him—it was just so fascinating! It covers every decade from the origins and pioneers of rock & roll to modern day and showcases an incredible amount of artifacts. Plus, there were a few special exhibits and of course, the Hall of Fame Inductee Gallery (the signature wall is so cool). All of this means it’s pretty overwhelming and because of this I didn’t take too many photos as there was just way too much to see and it was also quite busy with people.

Here are some of the pics I took inside (and yes, you do need at least 5 hours here in order to see everything):

Part of the Alternative Press 30 Year Anniversary Exhibit.

The King

The tag really says it all for this one.

Angus Young’s trademark schoolboy uniform. Those leopard boots at the bottom belong to Alice Cooper (which you probably could of guessed).

John Paul Jones’ bass guitar and stage outfit.

Just a tease of some of Bowie’s many costumes.

Lots of Jimi Hendrix.

Easily one of my favourite things was Jimi Hendrix’s sketches, specifically the medieval ones pictured from his early teens. I was totally drawing similar things like this at that age.

THE WALL

My all-time favourite band. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any Queen artifacts for me to obsess over.

We then took a little stroll down by the waterfront after, which was taken over by Pokémon Go players (not pictured).

‘Free Stamp’ – The World’s Largest Rubber Stamp located in Willard Park.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ended up being an all day excursion so needless to say we were feeling a bit knackered and after happy hour—where we got free drinks on top of our free drinks—a tad tipsy. So, Sunday night we relaxed at the hotel’s pool and hot tub before passing out in bed.

Monday morning I was really looking forward to visiting the Cleveland Museum of Art, but unfortunately we didn’t realize it was closed on Mondays (whomp whomp). However, we did make the short drive from downtown Cleveland to the Tremont neighbourhood where the original house from A Christmas Story stands, restored in all its glory.

A Christmas Story is one of mine and my family’s favourite Christmas movies and we watch it every holiday. So, naturally I was super stoked to see the famous house—leg lamp in the window and all!

The Parker family car.

The emblem that they put on the fire truck used in the movie—cheeky!

We then headed to Euclid Avenue, where the House of Blues is located, to grab a bite to eat and walk around a bit.

The Arcade—an absolutely stunning Victorian building built in 1890 and an iconic landmark for the city. How dreamy would this to be to have as your wedding venue?

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument dedicated to the Civil war soldiers and sailors from Cuyahoga County, Ohio. We also went inside which lists the 9,000 Civil War veterans that served with Cuyahoga County regiments or were from Cuyahoga County on tablets along the walls and at the centre are four bronze relief sculptures.

As much as we would of loved to explore Cleveland some more, it was time to make the drive back home (and a stop at Target, obviously).

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Cleveland was such a lovely city with so much history. We were surprised that no matter the time of day the city always seemed to be quiet and calm. It was rather refreshing compared to Toronto which is the complete opposite.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed seeing what we got up to in Cleveland! We will definitely be doing another road trip here and staying at the Drury Plaza Hotel again—I can’t recommend that hotel enough!

ellerow.