2024 has been the year to travel with aging parents. My "other FIL" Hal (wife's Step Dad who raised her) wanted to visit family in Cleveland and Alabama where he originally came from. He didn't want to travel alone so we volunteered to tag along.
While not exactly "destinations" on my radar, so far it has been a great trip. Mostly sight seeing but some fishing too, I promise.
As for the sight seeing, I was surprised at what a beautiful, vibrant city Cleveland is. Or more accurately, is becoming again. Hal's brother Stan is an award winning business journalist, and has been giving us extremely informative tours of the area, the history behind the buildings, industry, and influential people. Really quite a privilege.
Some shots from downtown Cleveland and the industrial area, which had a huge impact on the development of the nation, and arguably, saving the world during WWII.
In 1964, the Fountain of Eternal Life
was dedicated to honor those who served in WWII.
One of the last working steel mills in the USA (street name inclusion intentional).
The Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. This is the very same river that caught fire in the 60's. It now hosts a run of steelhead... er, uh, I mean adfluvial rainbows. Accordingly to Stan, that event was the turning point that created the EPA.
Day Two: Hal and his other brother Dan attended Kent State and we met up with two of his college buddies. Again, what a privilege, albeit sad, to hear about that horrible day in 1970 from 4 people who were actually there, and knew students who were wounded or died.
Day Three: Was a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Oddly enough, this was something I've always wanted to see being both a fish and a fossil nerd. The area around Cleveland is famous for fish fossils from the Devonian period (aka "the age of fishes"), roughly 420 to 360 million years ago. The T-Rex of that time was Dunkleosteous. A beast of a fish with no true "teeth", but cleaver-like plates that sheared it's armor plated prey like scissors cutting paper.
Fishing next post .....
While not exactly "destinations" on my radar, so far it has been a great trip. Mostly sight seeing but some fishing too, I promise.
As for the sight seeing, I was surprised at what a beautiful, vibrant city Cleveland is. Or more accurately, is becoming again. Hal's brother Stan is an award winning business journalist, and has been giving us extremely informative tours of the area, the history behind the buildings, industry, and influential people. Really quite a privilege.
Some shots from downtown Cleveland and the industrial area, which had a huge impact on the development of the nation, and arguably, saving the world during WWII.
In 1964, the Fountain of Eternal Life
was dedicated to honor those who served in WWII.
One of the last working steel mills in the USA (street name inclusion intentional).
The Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. This is the very same river that caught fire in the 60's. It now hosts a run of steelhead... er, uh, I mean adfluvial rainbows. Accordingly to Stan, that event was the turning point that created the EPA.
Day Two: Hal and his other brother Dan attended Kent State and we met up with two of his college buddies. Again, what a privilege, albeit sad, to hear about that horrible day in 1970 from 4 people who were actually there, and knew students who were wounded or died.
Day Three: Was a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Oddly enough, this was something I've always wanted to see being both a fish and a fossil nerd. The area around Cleveland is famous for fish fossils from the Devonian period (aka "the age of fishes"), roughly 420 to 360 million years ago. The T-Rex of that time was Dunkleosteous. A beast of a fish with no true "teeth", but cleaver-like plates that sheared it's armor plated prey like scissors cutting paper.
Fishing next post .....
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