I still had a week of vacation I needed to take this summer, but we had unexpected car repairs and a new hot water heater that sucked up our potential vacation fund. Plus, with Mer’s folks having just arrived in the area, we wanted to stick around to see if we could help some. So, we decided to have a “stay-cation” and just indulge in day-trips.
On Monday, the big outing was to Hudson to see the new movie The Amazing Spider-Man. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of a film being remade so soon after a pretty successful series (the other Spider-Man movies came out starting in 2002, so it had only been ten years from the first film). I was pleased, though. I had been afraid the film might end up being too dark (a sort-of Batman-meets-Spider-Man), but while there were some dark moments, there was some very good humor as well. The choice of the Lizard as the main bad guy was a fantastic choice, and the script did him very well. I liked all the characters quite a bit, although I thought Spider-Man took off his mask a bit too much. I expect that makes acting quite a bit easier.
On Tuesday, Mer took me up to Cleveland to cash in on one of her CVCA auction items that she still had. We went to the Flats, an area near the river which used to be happening, but is pretty empty now. The city is trying to reinvigorate the Flats, and the new aquarium is located there. We were not there for the fish, though; it was also the launching spot for the two-hour “Lolly the Trolley” tour of Cleveland.
Trolley tours and bus tours are common in cities, but I had never been on one in Cleveland. The day was fine, so the trolley windows were all open, so it was easy to see. There were about fifteen people on the tour, including a family from South America and three people from Eastern Europe. There was a slightly boisterous family that got a little irritating as they got restless toward the end of the tour, but on the whole the group behaved.
The tour went around much of the city, but skipped the far west side for some reason. The trolley took in all the major sites of downtown, including the baseball field, the skyscrapers, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the football stadium. It went all the way out east to University Circle, where Case Western Reserve University and the art museum are located. We came back along the lake and stopped at the lakefront airport for a fifteen-minute break. The airport had an exhibit on women in aviation, including women astronauts. You could also see right out onto the runway, which you can’t do much in big airports anymore.
In all, it was a good overview of Cleveland, including some side-street neighborhoods I would probably have not found on my own. The driver and tour guide was pleasant and informative, and we had a good time. And it was at a discounted rate from the CVCA auction too!