welcome to the 216

greetings blogtrotting visitors!  i'm excited to show you what this city has to offer.  i hope you enjoy your visit.

there is more than meets the eye when you come visit cleveland.

if you go here, they'll refer you to some of the popular main attractions in town, like the rock and roll hall of fame...

great lakes science center (just down the street from the rock hall)...

cleveland zoo...

 or the cleveland art museum...

these are fantastic, family friendly places to go to.  in fact, one of the things drew us to cleveland when we moved here 5 years ago (aside from family) is the art museum.  it's huge.  you can't see everything in one day.  and it's free (except the special exhibits).  it's one of those places that you can escape to for those miserable winter days.  we love it.

but there is so much more to discover.  join me and i'll give you a glimpse of some of our family's favorite places to go and things to do in the 216.

summers here are the best, because there is always something going on.  if you visit in the summer, maybe you can plan on going to the duct tape festival.  you will be amazed at what people can do with duct tape.

or there is the made in the 216 event that showcases a large number of very talented local artists and their creations.

then there's the annual ingenuity festival held in dowtown cleveland, where art and technology come together.  last year, they added an additional event as part of ingenuityfest called the bridge project which was held in the old streetcar level of one of the downtown bridges.  we headed down as a family and had such a great time seeing all that creativity at work.

then there are some great neighborhoods around town offering great, local eats and retail shopping once you're ready for a break from all the attractions.

if you head to the gordon square arts district there is gypsy beans and baking company that offers tasty coffee and delicious food.

or you can try out the happy dog.  they offer regular or vegetarian hot dogs with a whole list of toppings to choose from (even fruit loops).

photo source here.

while you're there, head down to room service (they host the made in the 216 event), a retail shop that offers some locally made items such as shirts, jewelry, and paper goods.  we love going in there to check out some of the unique items.

photo source here.

 photo source here.

on a side note, if you like indie shops, you could also stop by salty not sweet or blush boutique on the east side of cleveland.  they are full of locally-made wares.

or you can check out the tremont neighborhood and munch on a little something at lucky's cafe.  for dessert just walk down the street to lilly's handmade chocolates to enjoy some serious to die for truffles (ask for the one with the bacon...yum!).

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then there's melt bar and grilled.  if you like grilled cheese sandwiches this place has it and then some (there's even one with potato and cheese filled pierogies...ask for the parmageddon). i remember when they first opened this restaurant and it was love at first bite.  it was a hidden gem just walking distance from our house.  but now a days, if you want to get in be prepared to wait at least an hour during peak days and eating times (that's usually thursday - sunday starting at 5 p.m.).

 photo source here.

the melt has been featured on the food network's diners, drive-ins and dives and will be in the june episode of travel channel's man v. food.  when we do have a craving for the melt or try and take out of town guests there, we plan for an early dinner/late lunch meal either on a monday, tuesday or wednesday.

 photo source here.

speaking of food, one of my favorite things about summers in cleveland is the farmer's market.  i love being able to walk down the street and pick up fresh, locally grown and made produce and foods.  but there is one market that i love here that is open all year round.  the west side market.  even if you're just visiting and you don't plan on doing any cooking it's still a fun place to visit.  like any market, they have your fruit and veggie stands.  but then there's all the meat stands, deli stands, dairy stands, and the bakery stands.

there are unique stands like oooooooh...fudge and narrin's spice and sauce stand offering specialty asian spices, sauces and dried goods.  and if you get hungry for something stop by crepes de luxe for some sweet or savory crepes.  every time we go to the market our daughter always asks if we can have crepes.  it's probably her favorite stand at the market.

for the nature lover, the cleveland metroparks also offers plenty of activities.  our favorite spots are the rocky river nature center and the lake erie nature and science center.  great spots for kids to learn about the world around them.

if you are a fan of the movie a christmas story then i'm sure you already know that cleveland boasts the original a christmas story house.  yes, people.  this house (and cleveland) is where they filmed some of that movie.  if you visit during christmas time, it will be very, very busy.  it's drawn visitors from all around the world.  they even have shuttles running to the house from downtown.  but if you visit in the summer time, you can get the house tour all to yourself.

there is so much more, but i fear that this post will never end.  there are even things we have yet to discover as 216 residents.  i hope you enjoyed your tour of cleveland.  thanks for stopping by!