This post is the next in a series from my recent invited trip to tour Cleveland through the great folks at Positively Cleveland. I’ve already detailed two big segments of the trip here and here, plus our Saturday breakfast at Lucky’s Cafe. Following a tour of the West Side Market and the Ohio City Farm, we drove along the winding Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and ended up at Lake View Cemetery. The cemetery is a beautiful space east of downtown, known for the burial spots of several notable figures from American history. One of the major monuments is that of President James Garfield, seen above.
The monument is a beautiful stone building – easy to pick out – with tile floors, stained glass windows, and intricate carvings. On the main floor is a statue of President Garfield standing underneath the dome.
Downstairs is his actual interment site. He’s buried next to his wife.
You can climb to the top of the Garfield Monument to enjoy views of the cemetery and downtown Cleveland.
After exploring the Garfield monument, we saw the Wade Chapel, a tiny space filled with absolutely stunning Tiffany glass wall murals. When we arrived, a guide was explaining the murals in great detail, with scenes demonstrating stories and ideas from the Old and New Testaments.
I tried to capture the sense of this room with a panorama (thanks, iPhone!). Click on it for a better view, although no picture can really communicate the finer details. The guide told us about the Tiffany glass company, and how they employed Clara Driscoll, the highest paid woman worker in the country. She designed many of the famous Tiffany lamps.
We also stopped to see J. D. Rockefeller’s family site in the cemetery. He began his company Standard Oil in Ohio before moving it to New York (hence Rockefeller Center there).
After his retirement, he became known for giving out dimes to children, encouraging them to begin saving responsibly. Now the tradition is to leave a dime on his grave, for good fortune in business.
Meanwhile, across town Mrs. Bfast w/Nick attended the Weapons of Mass Creation festival. During a morning break, she headed over to the Gordon Square farmers market nearby.
She snapped a couple pictures of the market in action.
Following our tour of the cemetery, we were guided by #HappyinCLE voters over to University Circle, a collection of museums, gardens, and medical buildings close to Case Western and Cleveland State University. Our suggested stop was the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The Museum recently finished a multi-million dollar renovation that included a beautiful and bright atrium connecting the older and newer buildings.
We had time to wander many of the rooms, seeking out modern and classic pieces. I enjoyed one whole of room of American landscapes that were amazingly detailed.
The Museum also has a room of arms and armor.
And no visit is complete without striking the Thinker pose in front of the sculpture out front.
Needless to say, we really packed in the Clevelanding that day. And we weren’t over yet. All of that walking and exploring was good for burning off breakfast, but it does work up an appetite for lunch…
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