Let's give little Cuyahoga some good attention.
We visited last Memorial weekend. I can't think of a single thing about this trip that wasn't surprisingly nice.
Maybe we had low expectations starting out, but we had a really good time.
For starters, the park is only 4 hours from home so we could get to a "National Park" after work on a Friday without driving 3 days.
The trip started off good when my kids liked the rest stops on the Ohio turnpike, lol. We liked that they had gas! In Michigan there are no turnpikes and you have to get off the expressway when you need gas, it's a pain.
We decided to stay at Streetsboro KOA. Nothing special about this park really, but our site was twice the size of previous KOAs we have stayed at, they had a fenced dog run, and the surrounding area is in a good neighborhood. It's quick to the e-way but you don't hear eway noise from your site. Also, there are grocery stores and a Walmart right off the eway as well.
For us, we've decided this will be a great overnight stop on trips of long distance going east.
After eating breakfast on Saturday we headed into Cuyahoga to go bike riding. It's about 20-30 minutes from the campground, a pleasant drive.
We stopped at one of the visitor centers and they have train schedules. We decided to do a 5 mile ride (that's about all the 5 year old could handle) and catch the train back from the next visitor center.
You actually ride right under the expressway. It's so high up that you can't really hear it. I thought it was very interesting. The river isn't very pretty that's for sure, but it's unique in it's own way.
This is basically a bike rider haven. The park has quite a long bike trail, but there several other state park and rec areas that also connected to the park. I can see many families from the community doing this on a regular basis.
On our way to the next visitor center we saw Park Rangers set up with binoculars on the side of the path for everyone to use. We pulled over and they had their sites on a bald eagle nest. We all got to see the nesting eagles and the kids got to ask questions and touch feathers, skulls, and fake eggs that the Rangers had brought with them. This was another nice surprise.
We also saw a ton of herons here as well, but we have tons by our house too.
We got to the Canal Exploration Visitor Center and the kids got to see the old fashioned lock and walk around in the visitor center, which had some hands on exhibits they could touch. They had costumed interpreters available to ask questions as well.
We spent about 45 minutes checking out the building and the lock. Then we went directly behind the building to wait at the train station.
This was the kids first real train ride and they weren't disappointed. If you are riding your bike, it's very simple to ride the train. You don't need to even buy a ticket. You just wait at the station, pay $3/person (or something similarly reasonable). They load your bike and you sit in any available seat.
On our way back to the visitor station where we left our car, we passed right by the eagle's nest that that the Ranger's had shown us. We saw the juveniles up close in the nest and the parents were nearby. Very cool for everyone.
You depart wherever you want and ask for your bike and off you go.
We had a picnic lunch packed and drove our truck over to Brandywine Falls to eat and check out the falls. Beautiful waterfall. You actually drive right over it but you can't see it at all from the road.
This was part of my Christmas card.
We had a nice time but the kids wanted to go fishing back at the campsite so we left with plans to return the next day. I still wanted to see the beaver marsh.
Sitting around the fire that night, I was looking in my awesome National Parks book and it said that in the surrounding area there was a submarine that was worth seeing. We all thought that sounded interesting, so we decided to go see the sub in the morning and return to Cuyahoga after lunch.
This is the USS Cod in Cleveland. This is not the first sub we have visited, but we had a fantastic time nonetheless. When we arrived there were Veterans on the sub doing a tribute for Memorial Day. We all watched and afterward, a vet came up to the kids and handed them shotgun shells they had just fired.
We headed out to go back to Cuyahoga to bike ride again and we saw a sign for the William G Mather. Hey, what's that? It's right around the corner, let's check it out.
Turned out to be a Great Lakes steam ship. We decided to tour that as well. Wow! That was awesome too! We've seen a ton of huge ships but have never been on one. It was a self guided tour but there were people around answering questions.
The steamship was lot of fun and a pleasant surprise, but now let's go for that bike ride. But wait, what's that over there? Great Lakes Science Center? I wonder what that is. Let's go check it out!
We had pizza outside then went in to tour what turned out to be a kids science museum. We had stumbled into a jackpot by accident!
We probably spent three hours here and could have spent more. We ended up spending the entire day in Cleveland and I still don't believe myself when I say that Cleveland was fun, but it was. Maybe it was the spontaneity that made it so great. We hadn't looked for any of these attractions, the submarine, the steamship, or the science center, rather we just happened upon them.
The next day we packed up and headed home. All in all, it was a very nice weekend trip for my family. We'll have to go back though, I still want to make it to the beaver marsh!
We visited last Memorial weekend. I can't think of a single thing about this trip that wasn't surprisingly nice.
Maybe we had low expectations starting out, but we had a really good time.
For starters, the park is only 4 hours from home so we could get to a "National Park" after work on a Friday without driving 3 days.
The trip started off good when my kids liked the rest stops on the Ohio turnpike, lol. We liked that they had gas! In Michigan there are no turnpikes and you have to get off the expressway when you need gas, it's a pain.
We decided to stay at Streetsboro KOA. Nothing special about this park really, but our site was twice the size of previous KOAs we have stayed at, they had a fenced dog run, and the surrounding area is in a good neighborhood. It's quick to the e-way but you don't hear eway noise from your site. Also, there are grocery stores and a Walmart right off the eway as well.
For us, we've decided this will be a great overnight stop on trips of long distance going east.
After eating breakfast on Saturday we headed into Cuyahoga to go bike riding. It's about 20-30 minutes from the campground, a pleasant drive.
We stopped at one of the visitor centers and they have train schedules. We decided to do a 5 mile ride (that's about all the 5 year old could handle) and catch the train back from the next visitor center.
You actually ride right under the expressway. It's so high up that you can't really hear it. I thought it was very interesting. The river isn't very pretty that's for sure, but it's unique in it's own way.
This is basically a bike rider haven. The park has quite a long bike trail, but there several other state park and rec areas that also connected to the park. I can see many families from the community doing this on a regular basis.
On our way to the next visitor center we saw Park Rangers set up with binoculars on the side of the path for everyone to use. We pulled over and they had their sites on a bald eagle nest. We all got to see the nesting eagles and the kids got to ask questions and touch feathers, skulls, and fake eggs that the Rangers had brought with them. This was another nice surprise.
We also saw a ton of herons here as well, but we have tons by our house too.
We got to the Canal Exploration Visitor Center and the kids got to see the old fashioned lock and walk around in the visitor center, which had some hands on exhibits they could touch. They had costumed interpreters available to ask questions as well.
We spent about 45 minutes checking out the building and the lock. Then we went directly behind the building to wait at the train station.
This was the kids first real train ride and they weren't disappointed. If you are riding your bike, it's very simple to ride the train. You don't need to even buy a ticket. You just wait at the station, pay $3/person (or something similarly reasonable). They load your bike and you sit in any available seat.
On our way back to the visitor station where we left our car, we passed right by the eagle's nest that that the Ranger's had shown us. We saw the juveniles up close in the nest and the parents were nearby. Very cool for everyone.
You depart wherever you want and ask for your bike and off you go.
We had a picnic lunch packed and drove our truck over to Brandywine Falls to eat and check out the falls. Beautiful waterfall. You actually drive right over it but you can't see it at all from the road.
This was part of my Christmas card.
We had a nice time but the kids wanted to go fishing back at the campsite so we left with plans to return the next day. I still wanted to see the beaver marsh.
Sitting around the fire that night, I was looking in my awesome National Parks book and it said that in the surrounding area there was a submarine that was worth seeing. We all thought that sounded interesting, so we decided to go see the sub in the morning and return to Cuyahoga after lunch.
This is the USS Cod in Cleveland. This is not the first sub we have visited, but we had a fantastic time nonetheless. When we arrived there were Veterans on the sub doing a tribute for Memorial Day. We all watched and afterward, a vet came up to the kids and handed them shotgun shells they had just fired.
We headed out to go back to Cuyahoga to bike ride again and we saw a sign for the William G Mather. Hey, what's that? It's right around the corner, let's check it out.
Turned out to be a Great Lakes steam ship. We decided to tour that as well. Wow! That was awesome too! We've seen a ton of huge ships but have never been on one. It was a self guided tour but there were people around answering questions.
The steamship was lot of fun and a pleasant surprise, but now let's go for that bike ride. But wait, what's that over there? Great Lakes Science Center? I wonder what that is. Let's go check it out!
We had pizza outside then went in to tour what turned out to be a kids science museum. We had stumbled into a jackpot by accident!
We probably spent three hours here and could have spent more. We ended up spending the entire day in Cleveland and I still don't believe myself when I say that Cleveland was fun, but it was. Maybe it was the spontaneity that made it so great. We hadn't looked for any of these attractions, the submarine, the steamship, or the science center, rather we just happened upon them.
The next day we packed up and headed home. All in all, it was a very nice weekend trip for my family. We'll have to go back though, I still want to make it to the beaver marsh!
