Departed Fenton, Michigan early to allow as much time as possible at the Rock & Roll HOF in Cleveland. Arrived at the downtown Residence Inn about noon and, possibly due to our early check-in, Marriott upgraded us to a massive two-bedroom suite in the Euclid Tower. This 1800 sq ft area encompassed a huge living area and kitchen with full-size appliances and 2 bathrooms--quite the place!
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| Upper level walkway to the Euclid Tower at Residence Inn |
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| Downtown Cleveland Skyline |
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| Lakefront adjacent to the R&R HOF |
After dropping our stuff, we walked the 6 blocks down E. 9th Street towards the Lake Erie waterfront arriving at the Rock & Roll HOF just after 1pm. In recent years, downtown Cleveland has undergone quite a renaissance of downtown renovation. Aside from panhandlers working each city block, the area surrounding the R&R HOF is quite attractive.
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| Preparing to get "wrist-banded" at the HOF |
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| Main atrium of the R&R HOF |
The R&R HOF is located inside a glass pyramid designed by I.M Pei that opened September 1, 1995--my R&R HOF Wiki link contains some interesting background info on the HOF. Although the main visitor entrance is on the third floor, the exhibit galleries are distributed among 7 floors that can be accessed by stairs, escalator or elevator. And the main gallery on the lowest level is where most visitors begin and then work their way upwards thru the building.
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| Large Elvis gallery with costumes and his 3-wheel motorcycle |
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| Rolling Stones pinball machine??? |
We checked our coats on the lowest level and began the tour with the "Roots of R&R"...gospel, R&B, folk, country and bluegrass. There are small galleries for the notable individual artists/groups and quite a large exhibit of costumes worn by various performers. The butterfly-sleeved "Electric Ladyland" outfit worn byJimi Hendrix and a somewhat uncomfortable "suit of armor" full metal outfit worn by Beyoncé were standouts.
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| Jimi Hendrix "Electric Ladyland" costume |
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| "The Wall" by Pink Floyd |
We had a late lunch in the nice cafe on the fourth floor overlooking the lake. Then we headed up to exhibits of R&R innovators, like guitar-maker Les Paul, whose invention of the electric guitar created a new wave of R&R music. On the topmost floor was an exhibition on the greatest R&R concerts of all time and a 4-walled wraparound video stage with clips from multiple mega-concerts.
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| Yasgur Farm...hmmm, something happened there...oh yeah, Woodstock! |
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| Janis Joplin wailing away on the R&R video soundstage! |
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| Checkout registers at the R&R HOF gift shop |
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| Vinyl LPs for sale...brings back those memories of the '60s & '70s! |
For R&R gift shop fans there is a huge buying opportunity for LP records, posters, framed album covers and all the typical hats, jackets, sweatshirts, key chains, etc. Kenny bought a nice HOF jacket and I went for the amazing magnetic electric guitar bottle opener!
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| City building art |
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| E. 4th Street restaurant mall |
Our choice of hotel location was awesome as we were just a half block from the "E. 4th Street" restaurant district. Between Euclid and Prospect streets, E. 4th Street has been blocked from auto traffic and converted into a sweet little haven for a wide variety of restaurants. We met friends, Brian & Cristen, for dinner at Chinato and had a great dinner and a wonderful ending to our two week road trip!
Posted by TBW Travel Today!
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