If you want to take full advantage of the city you live in, there are certain things you should be doing. Sure, you think you already love Cleveland. But get a new appreciation by making sure you do these 30 things and fall in love with your city on a deeper level.
Make friends with someone who has a boat. Because obviously you can’t afford one yourself but you need to be out on the lake in the summer.Patronize old restaurants.We’ve said goodbye to places like Sokolowski’s in recent years. But we still have Gunselman’s, Guarino’s, Marie’s, Slyman’s, Giovanni’s, Geraci’s, Heck’s and many other restaurants in the city that have been alive for 30, 40 or 50 years plus. Places like Empress Taytu should be on your dining calendar, because if there’s one thing we learned in recent years, it’s that no restaurant is safe from disappearing. So visit your favorites while you still can.Get Lost at the Cleveland Museum of Art
One of the best art museums around sits on East Boulevard just waiting for you. The world-renowned collection spans continents and eras, from Italian Renaissance to modern, from ancient Greece to African, and more. Obviously, always more. Spend a day getting lost.
Photo via Scene Archives Credit: Scene archivesYou will say you’re from Cleveland even if you’re from the suburbs Credit: Scene ArchivesDon’t assume businesses and restaurants are opened on Sundays and Mondays. Especially since the pandemic, more and more businesses and restaurants have been cutting back their days. Many are closed on Sundays and Mondays and some are even closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well so make sure you check their website before hitting up a local business. Credit:Flickr/AnneThe green B-line trolleys from RTA are completely free and can shuttle you around downtown.
Via Derf82/Reddit Credit: Scene ArchivesTake time and admire and appreciate building architecture. Cleveland has some of the most beautiful architecture in the country. The Terminal Tower is gorgeous, the May Company building is beautiful, the Cleveland Public Library, Gray’s Armory, Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the Cleveland Trust Rotunda, the Halle Building and the Leader Building are just some of the many architecturally stunning buildings downtown. It’s easy to stare at the sidewalk. It’s better to look up. Credit:Erik Drost/FlickrCCDo Public Square a service and eat your lunch there. Public Square is actually a nice place to eat lunch. So grab some food at a local restaurant or the sandwich you packed at home and park your butt down. Credit:Cards84464/Wikimedia CommonsStanding in The Corner at Progressive Field and remembering you forgot your sunglasses and can’t see a thing Credit: Scene ArchivesKayak down the Cuyahoga River We swear, it’s the best way to see the city in all its glory.Think twice before getting a Cleveland sports tattoo. That chief Wahoo or Baker Mayfield tattoo was just not a good idea and your next one won’t be smart either. Credit: Twitter.com/ReaperoftheNor1“I’m going to vote in this mayoral election” Credit: Scene ArchivesEat a Roman Burger. We don’t have a comment on whether Mr. Hero’s Roman Burgers are actually good or not but they’re Cleveland, and if you’re a real Clevelander, you’ll eat one. (We have an opinion: They’re awesome.) Credit: Mr. Hero FBGet yourself a city/county library card and use it for more than books. Yes, a library has more than books, You can get newspaper and magazine subscriptions, you can rent DVDs and music, Kanopy is an awesome film streaming service that comes with your county library card, and much, much more. Credit: CPLFeeling the need to always eat on a patio despite the fact there’s no shade and the sun is beating down on you Credit: Scene ArchivesMill Creek Falls
24000 Valley Pkwy., North Olmsted
Located in the Garfield Park Reservation area of the Metroparks, Mill Creek Falls is the tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga County. And the views are breathtaking, so there’s no better place to scream into the void. Credit:@CleveMetroParks/InstagramCleveland Public Theatre
If shows at Playhouse Square are out of your reach, you can still catch dynamite theater whatever your budget at Cleveland Public Theatre, which last year expanded its pay-what-you-want policy to include all tickets to all shows. The city’s home for original and experimental works did so in the belief that art is essential and it thus must be economically accessible. Find CPT’s full schedule cptonline.org and buy your tickets there or by calling the box office. Credit: Scene ArchivesSign up for a local CSA CSA (Community-supported agriculture) are crop sharing systems that allow local farms to directly sell to consumers. In Northeast Ohio, there are a multitude of farms that participate in CSAs and you can get anything from vegetables and fruit to meat, flowers, and more. Find one here. Credit: Fresh Fork MarketAsiatown Food Tour
A tour of Asiatown’s food spots? Sign us up. Presented by Night Market Cleveland and CleFoodies, eat your way through the midwest’s second largest Asiatown, sampling all of the different cuisines it has to offer.
Photo via Scene ArchivesShop local for gifts.Uncle Bezos has enough money. Go to a local shop or specialty market the next time you want to buy a gift for a loved one.Don’t sleep on Geneva wine country. An hour outside of the city and honestly the best way to spend a late summer/fall Saturday.
Some favorites: M. Cellars, DeBonne, Harpersfield, Laurello and Laurentia
Via SingerInspired/Reddit Credit: Scene ArchivesSee a Movie at Cedar Lee
There’s only one theater in Cleveland showing the best movies to come out each year, and not just from Hollywood, but Bulgaria or Australia or an indie filmmaker in Montana. The Cedar Lee wins Best Movie Theater every year for a reason and is a gem for anyone local or out of town.
Photo via Scene ArchivesIgnore the Browns, root for the Cavaliers and Guardians. The Cavaliers are currently in fourth place in a tough Eastern Conference, the Guardians won their division last year and have 7 prospects in Baseball America’s Top 100. Skip the agony of the Browns, root for the actual good teams in town. Credit: Emanuel WallaceDon’t wait until the last minute to stock up on supplies in advance of a winter storm. Ya, we know, sometimes the weatherpeople oversell a storm and it doesn’t actually come. But storms do hit Northeast Ohio, and you don’t want to be panicking for supplies and food at the last minute so stay prepared and stock up beforehand. Credit: Scene archivesCheck out local music. There are always great local shows at Beachland, especially in the Tavern. Bop Stop has Brent Kirby’s 10X3 singer-songwriter showcase. The Grog Shop, Winchester Music Tavern, Brothers, Coda, Mahall’s, The Foundry and No Class are just a few of the many venues around town with the sounds of the local scene. You’ve listened to enough Taylor Swift recently anyway. Credit: Jen PolandListen to college radio
Maybe you’ve given up on scanning the dial, maybe you’ve done that for a good reason. But scan through the lower end of the dial and catch college radio programming that will remind you why terrestrial radio was once the place to discover something you hadn’t heard before. Credit: WRUWSpend some time at a dive bar and listen to a stranger’s life story.
They may be wise, or they may be deranged. Either way, it’s bound to be interesting. And Cleveland has more dive bar options than just about anywhere. Credit: B&G FBEmbrace the clam bake
The fall tradition is undefeated for a reason Credit: Catanese Classic SeafoodEmbrace the fish fry
The spring tradition is undefeated for a reason Credit: Ohio City ProvisionsRead local media
The best way to know about the city and to make sure you will continue to know about the city? Read the local news. Subscribe to Cleveland.com, the Axios Cleveland newsletter, read up daily at Ideastram, Signal, Crain’s, Cleveland Magazine, WEWS Channel 5, Fox 8, WKYC, and of course your humble altweekly. Credit: Scene
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