Win a “Snow Day Getaway” in Cleveland Plus
(c)DanMendlik_ClevelandIndians
Winter in Cleveland Plus is about more than just sweaters, scarves, mittens and boots. Winter is a time to experience the best of the season in a region that truly embraces the weather. And, what better way to experience winter than having your very own snow day! Positively Cleveland is offering you the opportunity to win the ultimate snow day in Cleveland Plus with a weekend full of family fun at Cleveland Indians Snow Days inside Progressive Field and much more.
Think snow tubing down a 10-lane hill on top of the bleachers, ice skating on the “Frozen Mile” around the outfield warning track, a “Rookie Rink” for newbies and plenty of areas to warm up and take part in family-friendly activities.
The winner will receive a Snow Day Getaway to Cleveland Plus with a prize package that includes: a family pack of tickets to Snow Days valid during the afternoon or evening of Saturday, Jan. 14; a family pack of tickets to Snow Days and the Frozen Diamond Face-Off hockey game featuring OSU vs Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 15; four tickets to Disney on Ice (Jan. 14 or 16); dinner and bowling at the Corner Alley; a Cleveland souvenir giftbag and a two-night stay at the Downtown Cleveland Hilton Garden Inn.
To enter head to www.positivelycleveland.com/contests/snow-days and fill in your information and entry. Finalists will be posted on Monday, December 16, 2011. The winner will be announced and contacted by phone or email on Monday, December 30, 2011. For a complete list of contest rules, click here. Sponsored by the Cleveland Indians and Positively Cleveland.
For more information about Indians Snow Days, click here.
Final Summer Fling in Cleveland Plus
In no particular order…
10. Enjoy an End-of-Summer Festival
Get to the the Sparx City Hop Sept. 11. This day-long event connects nine of Cleveland’s bustling neighborhoods and celebrates the visual, culinary and musical artists in each. Attendees can park their car in one location and then use free trolleys to explore the more than 60 galleries and 100 eateries along the way.
Presented by the Lake County Visitors Bureau, the Lake County PerchFest brings a weekend (Sept. 10 – 12) devoted to Lake Erie’s favorite fish – the perch! Enjoy a mouthwatering fish fry, local live entertainment, “Just For Kids” entertainment featuring a youth fishing tank, a perch fishing tournament, karaoke and more.
The Cleveland Museum of Art presents its 20th annual Chalk Festival Sept. 11- 12, an art that is a 16th century Italian tradition. Great for kids and adults.
Visitors can step back in time 200 years to the Yankee Peddler Festival at Clay’s Park in Canal Fulton Sept. 11 – 12, 18 – 19, 25 – 26. Visit pioneer America with master artists and crafters setting up rustic shops, food cooked over open fires and non-stop entertainment. Keep up to the hour with the Town Criers and visit with the militia and mountain men.
Celebrate both the edible gardening revolution and Northeast Ohio’s thriving commitment to local food at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. RIPE! Food & Garden Festival Sept. 24-26 lets visitors choose among three tracks of programs: culinary, gardening and children’s. Each track includes comparative tastings, demonstrations and appearances by gardening and local food experts. An onsite farmers market and garden marketplace lets you take home garden-related products, while local restaurants on-site sell harvest-inspired, ready-to-eat dishes.
9. All Aboard the Goodtime III and Nautica Queen
Take in the last wondrous moments of the summer weather aboard one of these passenger boats sailing Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River with good food, music and entertainment.
- The Goodtime III features a panoramic cruise of Cleveland’s lakefront and the Cuyahoga River. Daily tours, on-board entertainment and dining are available.
- Cruising April through New Year’s Eve, the Nautica Queen is a luxury ship featuring daily lunch and dinner cruises with elaborate buffet dining and on-board entertainment for sightseeing up and down the Cuyahoga River.
8. Take a City Tour
Spend the rest of your summer like a tourist – take a city tour of Cleveland.
Consider a one-hour, narrated tour of downtown Cleveland on a Segway. Thanks to Electronic Tranpsort LLC Segway Tours of Cleveland, you can learn all about the city while riding one these awesome gliders (weather permitting; year round).
And, while you may have seen those jolly red trolleys driving around the city every day, you might not know that these buses offer city tours and specialty city tours all over the town. Great for all ages and especially fun during warm weather months, check out Trolley Tours of Cleveland (year round).
Or, hop on a Take a Hike! Tour where you can experience three exciting tours through some of downtown’s most intriguing districts with the help of costumed historical characters from Cleveland’s past. Tours run until Sept. 12.
Want to guide yourself? Download a free walking tour from www.cityprowl.com and explore the art, architecture and history of Cleveland at your own pace.
7. Cedar Point
The thrills keep going until October 31 at the amusement park recognized as the “World’s Best” for 12 consecutive years. This year, check out the 14th Annual Halloweekends, which promises to offer more thrills and fun than ever before. Check out spooky musical performances, monster midway invasions, haunted houses and its ever-popular scream-worthy collection of rides. Event runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Watch the Halloweekends video here.
6. Baseball
Summertime wouldn’t be complete without giving some love to one of America’s favorite pastimes – baseball. And, Cleveland Plus is no stranger to the sport, as it enjoys another season of Cleveland Indians Baseball. Tickets are still available for home games until Sept. 29.
Or, head east of downtown Cleveland to watch the Lake County Captains, the Single A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Regarded as one of the most fan-friendly ballparks in the minor leagues, Classic Park offers “Thirsty Thursdays,” family fun games, fireworks and ethnic heritage events. Home games run now through Sept. 10.
Also check out the Akron Aeros, the Double A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Like the Lake County Captains, the Aeros offer a traditional baseball experience paired with creative family-friendly promotions and special events like “Dollar Dog Mondays,” “Two for Tuesdays” and “Fireworks Fridays.” Ticket prices range from $7 to $9. Home games run through Sept. 15.
Find more Cleveland Plus baseball information here.
5. Farming and Living History
Part of enjoying the summer means escaping the hustle and bustle of daily life for something a bit more down-to-earth.
Visitors looking to slow down should head back to the 19th century in this outdoor, living history museum. Guests of Hale Farm & Village can see Wheatfield Village, a small Ohio town struggling with the impact of the Civil War. Period crafts are made on the premises, with skilled artisans demonstrating glassblowing, blacksmithing, spinning, weaving, candlemaking and basketmaking. Farm animals also are in residence with a “stable” of horses, pigs, cows and sheep. Hale Farm & Village is open weekends in September and October.
Also in the living history departments is the Historic Roscoe Village. Experience life in the 1800s in this beautifully-restored canal town with journey tour and horsedrawn canal boat ride. Also open in the fall and for Christmas tours, it’s a great “get outside” family activity for the end of the season.
And, while they’re opened year-round, Lake Metroparks Farmpark is also a wonderful option for those looking to enjoy the last of the summery weather. Discover more than 50 breeds of farm animals on a trip to this hands-on science center. While here, milk a cow, take a wagon ride, stroll through gardens and enjoy animal shows and demonstrations. Learn more here.
4. Head to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Get to the Zoo before Sept. 12 to experience FLUTTER!, an exhibit that allows you to walk among dozens of free-flying butterflies from around the world; DINOSAURS!, where animatronic dinosaurs, including several “babies,” roar and move just like they did millions of years ago and Scoop on Poop, an exhibit teaching children about natural, umm…functions.
3. Get Wet with Great Lakes Watersports
Experience the extreme side of Cleveland Plus while jet skiing, boating and kayaking on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. Great Lakes Watersports, located in the Flats, offers rentals including boat accessories like jet skis, wakeboards and tubes Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 19.
Whether you’re looking for a wild night or a relaxing getaway, Kelleys, Middle Bass and South Bass islands in Lake Erie eagerly welcome all visitors with a variety of vacation options accessible by the Jet Express, Miller Boat Line and the Goodtime I. Learn more about the islands here.
1. Charter Boat Fishing
Enjoy what’s left of summer aboard a charter boat where visitors can use the charter company’s fishing and boating equipment as well as their skilled fishing guides and captains for one last hurrah on Lake Erie. Some of our favorites include Fishin Boat Charters (30-foot Sport Fisherman) and Holiday Charters (56-foot steel-hulled, twin-diesel boat serving groups of up to 75 guests). Also check out these services:
- North Coast Charter Boat Association: NCCBA is a group of professional charter captains eager to provide an enjoyable and rewarding day of fishing on Lake Erie’s Central Basin.
- Wildwood Marina: A one-stop shop, Wildwood Marina offers boat charters for fishing, sightseeing and scuba diving for sunken ships. Other services provided with charters include bait, tackle, fishing licenses, rental rods, fish cleaning services and more.
Click here for more end of summer ideas from the Plain Dealer.
– Submitted by L.R.H.
Cleveland Plus Baseball
When the weather turns warm and the sunshine makes its grand arrival, we want nothing more than to spend some time outside. Patio dining is always a wonderful option in Cleveland Plus and our park systems are some of the best in the country. Not to mention Cleveland is home to several outdoor music venues and we’re a stone’s throw away from Sandusky, Ohio, home of Cedar Point Amusement Park. I love the hiking, I love the concerts but what I crave the most, by far, is baseball.
We’re very lucky to be home to both a major and minor league team and with so many options to take in a game in Cleveland you’re very likely to find a lineup appropriate for you. From family-friendly deals to beers for a dime on “Thirsty Thursday,” everyone gets to play in Cleveland Plus.
It’s Tribe Time at Progressive Field
Progressive Field, formerly Jacob’s Field or “the Jake,” sits in the heart of downtown Cleveland in the Gateway district, among popular hangouts, entertainment and dining making a trip to the stadium more than just a game. Fans enjoy spectacular views of the city from every seat and friendly accommodations are within homerun distance of the park.
Not to miss at Progressive Field:
- AMPM All You Can Eat Seats – Fans enjoy an Indians home game in the Upper Deck and unlimited hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos and soft drinks for $28.
- KeyBank Kids Fun Days – Select Sundays are KeyBank Kids Fun Day at Progressive Field. The Indians provide a unique atmosphere on Gateway Plaza at least two hours prior to designated Tribe games filled with fun activities for kids of all ages like blow-up slides and batting practice.
- There are plenty of ways to save on tickets. Click here for ticket specials.
- Fans enjoy a fireworks show after Friday night games (and some Saturdays) through September 10.
- Monthly Sweepstakes offer up some pretty cool prizes like Batting Practice Xtra passes, ampm All You Can Eat seats and Club Seats in the all inclusive Club Section at Progressive Field.
- The FanCave, the ultimate sports suite is the newest addition to Progressive Field. Available for rent with food and beverage package, the Fan Cave features 6 HD TVs, a beer fridge, sports-themed furniture, pool/ping pong table, arcade games and toilet paper decorated with the opponent’s logo.
Stay at: Hilton Garden Inn, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade, Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, Radisson Hotel Cleveland-Gateway
Lake County Captains at Classic Park
Classic Park opened in 2003 and quickly became known as one of the most intimate and fan-friendly parks in the minor league. The ballpark, constructed by the city of Eastlake, combines nostalgic charm with amenities of the modern sports facility and provides plenty of seating options from festival seating above the outfield wall all the way to luxury suites in the upper deck. Classic Park offers an affordable, comfortable and enjoyable experience.
Not to miss at Classic Park:
- Weekly Promotions – Great deals every day of the week like “Kids Eat Free Tuesdays” and “Thirsty Thursdays.” Check them out here.
- Check the promotion schedule for extras like fireworks, fan appreciation giveaways and other special events.
- Classic Park provides a variety of food and drink at very affordable prices. Specialty food and drinks are served at Grillworks, Captains Galley, Sausage Shack, Munchie Madness, Ice Cream. Bottled beer is served at all portable locations and Corona Castaway’s Bar offers a fully stocked bar.
- Kids Zone – Located behind the bleacher and lawn seats in left field, the PNC Kids Zone features inflatables such as speed pitch, bouncer and a slide.
Baseball Heritage Museum
Experience the stories, photographs, letters, programs, uniforms and other game-used treasured memorabilia detailing the important contributions from the Latin and Caribbean leagues, the Industrial and Barnstormer leagues and the Negro and Women’s leagues that helped shape the history of the great American pastime. The Baseball Heritage Museum is open by appointment only and admission is donation based. Call 216.978.5068 to visit.
Akron Aeros
The Aeros are a Double A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians playing in Akron, Ohio just a short trip south on I-77. Like the Lake County Captains, the Aeros offer a traditional baseball experience paired with creative family-friendly promotions and special events like “Dollar Dog Mondays,” “Two for Tuesdays” and “Fireworks Fridays.” Ticket prices range from $7 to $9 and can be purchased by calling 1.800.97.AEROS or visiting www.akronaeros.com.
Lake Erie Crushers
Head east to catch a baseball game at the newly built All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio. The Crushers are an independent, professional minor league team meaning, essentially, their players are not working their way up in the Major League system. The family-friendly stadium (with a grassy knoll and an inflatable jumping course) holds around 5,000 people and ticket prices range from $6 to $18. Check the calendar for special events and weekly promotions like “Kids Club Night,” “Family Day” and “Thirsty Thursday.” Call 440.934.3636 or visit www.lakeeriecrushers.com for tickets.
With so many opportunities it’d be hard to miss the “boys of summer” this year in Cleveland Plus!
–Submitted by C.A.
Tribe Goes Social
Peanuts. Check.
Popcorn. Check.
Blackberry. Check.
We’re ready for the Indians take on the Chicago White Sox this afternoon in some of the newest seats at Progressive Field, the Tribe Social Deck.
The “best-friend’s backyard” designed section is aimed at providing an in-game social media experience for ten attendees. Tucked up in left field, the deck combines a unique view of field play with the ability to network, not only with those sitting in the section, but also the social masses via a Wi-Fi connection. Also available is a close-up view of the game on a television to see scoreboard graphics without strain.
Anyone interested in scoring these seats can apply online here, most appropriately using 140 characters or fewer.
Today’s game against the White Sox is more than a battle of the bats, it is also a battle in the Twitterverse as beloved Tribe mascot, Slider, takes on Southpaw from the White Sox in a all-out hashtag match-up.
Fans are asked to add “#GoTribe” or “#GoWhiteSox” to their tweets to show support for their favorite club while supporting a good cause. For each Twitter battle hashtag used during the game, each team will donate $1 (up to a total of $1,000 per club) to Stand Up To Cancer, a non-profit organization that raises funds for research and the delivery of new therapies to cancer patients.
The team with the most tweets wins, meaning the losing team’s mascot has to pay tribute to the winner before a future Tribe-White Sox game. And, the fan who submits the deciding hashtag tweet and three friends will be treated to a pregame meal themed around the winning city.
Follow @PositivelyCleve and @tribetalk for updates throughout the game. – Submitted by A.P.
Sometimes It’s Easy Being Green – Eco-friendly Options in Cleveland Plus
RTA Healthline (photo by Jason Miller)
You might not figure that a place with a steeltown reputation spends much time thinking green, but thanks to regional environmental and sustainability initiatives across Cleveland Plus, spending time enjoying Northeast Ohio can appeal to your eco-friendly side, too.
A quartet of Cleveland hotels – the Crowne Plaza, the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade, the Radisson Gateway and the InterContinental – have all taken steps from using more efficient light bulbs to unplugging unused extras like room refrigerators and hair dryers to ditching aerosol cleaners. And guests can do their part if they’d like by opting for fewer linen and towel changes. Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky is the first – and only – hotel chain to have all its US properties Green Seal™ certified and this family-friendly waterpark resort goes to great lengths to be environmentally conscious.
Getting around is greener, too, with the RTA Healthline’s hybrid buses and 1,500 new trees along the newly-polished Euclid corridor connecting Public Square with the East Side.
Chef Jonathon Sawyer (photo by Scott Meivogel)
Catching an Indians game at Progressive Field? You’re not the only one soaking up the rays: An array of upper deck solar panels provides enough electricity to run the stadium’s 400 televisions. And the stadium’s recycling habits date all the way back to Opening Day of 1994, continuously expanding to the tune of 150 tons of recycled material in 2009. The Tribe has also turned to using environmentally-friendly items like plastic cups and cutlery based not on petroleum but on compostable materials like corn starch and sugar cane.
Head over to East Fourth Street’s Greenhouse Tavern for a mouthwatering meal that includes sustainability as a major not-so-secret ingredient. Founder and chef Jonathon Sawyer and his wife Amelia embraced the importance of local foods and low-impact restaurant operations from the start, putting their restaurant in a refurbished building and using recycled and repurposed materials and furnishings every place they could.
And when it comes to food, Jonathon has long believed that the closer a kitchen is to its farms, the better the dishes it will serve. That’s why you’ll find a menu rich in local fare from Northeast Ohio farms that cuts down on costs and carbon without carving away an iota of flavor.
Turns out that in Cleveland Plus, being green can be as easy as dinner, a night out and a stay downtown. –Submitted by guest blogger John Booth
Major League Fun
I’m a huge fan of the movie Major League. It’s one of my favorites – if for no other reason than the line “The Indians win it, the Indians win it . . . oh my God, the Indians win it!” Brings tears to my eyes every time.
On Saturday, my family was invited to a suite at the Indians game and had the chance to meet Corbin Bernsen, the actor who played Roger Dorn in the movie. (Bernsen is in town—well, in Akron, technically– directing a movie about the Soap Box Derby.) I have a Rickie Vaughn (the character played by Charlie Sheen) jersey so I wore that to the game and asked Mr. Bernsen to sign it. Dorn and Vaughn actually had a bit of a rivalry in the movie, so he wrote “Dorn rules” and “Go Dorn” and crossed out Vaughn’s number and put Dorn’s number AND autographed it. What a blast!–Submitted by TB
Celebrating an Anniversary with the Indians (07.30.08)
A night at The Prog.
Last night I took my husband to an Indians game to celebrate our upcoming eighth wedding anniversary. If you ask him, I actually took him to a Tigers game. He grew up in Detroit, so whenever Detroit plays Cleveland in any professional sport, we try to go. This time I really splurged and got us second row seats behind home plate. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful evening, the perfect temperature for a ballgame . . . which is good because the game lasted 13 innings. A friend of ours and his girlfriend went with us to the game and, as he so eloquently put it, if he was “. . . going to be at a baseball game this long and stick around to the end of the game, these are the seats I want to be in!”
My husband and I got to the game an hour early, since the seats we bought came with passes to the Terrace Club. We decided to sit at the bar, the service at the bar seemed quicker and we wanted to make sure we got to our seats at the start of the game. The bar and restaurant have a fantastic view though, so had it been much hotter we may have decided to stay inside in the A/C and watch part of the game. I think I had the biggest mimosa I’ve ever seen in my life. We passed on appetizers and the carving station, because it just doesn’t seem right to go to a game and not eat an all-beef frank with Bertman’s Ballpark Mustard in the comfort of your seat while watching the game, at least not for us. This is our first game of the season that we’ve gone to, and we wanted the full ballpark experience.
These were great seats.
The area where we sat was a blast. I desperately wanted to get a pic of the guy sitting in the front row behind home plate that made himself at home and watched the entire game with no shoes on, but the hubby would have been too embarrassed. I also learned about a guy named “Pudge” who just got traded to the Yankees by the Tigers yesterday. It apparently was a very big deal to Bobby, our usher, who had a passionate conversation with my husband and our friends. As he said, “Why on earth would you want to help the Yankees?” There were some very amusing girls behind us heckling the Tigers, and I personally enjoyed heckling my husband and our friend (both are Tigers fans) as the Indians led 11-7 in the eighth. My friend’s girlfriend and I bonded every time the Indians scored, agitating the guys with high fives, and chimed in our “O-H-I-O” during “Hang on Sloopy.” There’s nothing more fun than teasing a Michigan fan, especially one you love.
I should always know however that teasing and heckling will always come back to haunt me however. Despite the fact that after 13 innings and over 5 1/2 hours of play the Indians lost to the Tigers, it was a terrific game to witness. Kelly Shoppach played an awesome game, becoming the ninth player in MLB history with five extra-base hits in a game, which ties the all-time record, including two homers. Ben Francisco and Grady Sizemore were also good for some exciting homeruns.
With the exception of the outcome of the game, it was a perfect outing to the ballpark. Awesome seats, great weather with a gorgeous breeze, an excited crowd, hanging out with the husband, beer . . . and stadium mustard. I think I may be an atmosphere junkie. -LS
A Model City (Cleveland “Posers”), 07.09.08
Guess which one is me. (Credit: Scott Meivogel)
I am one of Positively Cleveland’s interns for the summer and my time here has really been a memorable one. I love the city of Cleveland and want it to be respected like all other big cities. I think we’re definitely on the right track. Over the past couple of years, Cleveland has started to develop its image slowly but surely. It doesn’t hurt that we’ve moved from once losing sports teams to teams that compete for world championships. Or that downtown nightlife is now a hip new melting pot of restaurants, clubs and bars.
I got a firsthand look at the improvements the city has made on July 9th, 2008, when I was a part of a small group who went around the city on a photo shoot for the new Cleveland Plus Destination Planning Guide, an informational publication designed for meeting planners and motorcoach operators. We were posing as business people experiencing the city. Some of the shoot locations I had been to already and knew a little about them, like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field. But there were also some new places where I had never been before that are new developments within the last couple of years. One stop was East 4th Street, which is possibly going to be one the most popular destination streets when the construction along Euclid Avenue for the HealthLine transit system is finished. While on East 4th we went to House of Blues and Wonder Bar, which were both cool places.
After taking pictures there we headed down to the Rock Hall and took more shots, then on to the Warehouse District and West 6th Street. West 6th is another popular street for younger adults because its full of restaurants and clubs. Our photos were taken at the Velvet Dog. I heard of the club before but had never been inside. Well let me tell you, I was impressed. Three levels of dance floors and bars and on the top level there is a rooftop patio/bar area. It was simply amazing to be up there and look out on the city. I was very happy that I got the opportunity to take part in the shoot and was also very proud of the city of Cleveland for bringing a lot of new thing downtown instead of out to the various suburbs. The next couple of years are going to be very exciting for us. Cleveland rocks!!! –JO
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