The main reason we stopped at the Elk's Lodge in Ashtabula was so we could drive back into Cleveland, OH to visit the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. It has been on my 'bucket list' for a couple of decades at least. We left Ashtabula in the VW about 9:30 am figuring it would take a good hour to arrive at our destination, and we arrived exactly at 10:30 am.....we had purchased our tickets online the night before to save $3/person. The Hall of Fame is right off SR-2 at the 9th street exit.....literally. We snagged the last street parking spot right across the street, and quickly inserted 9 quarters for 3 hours with the possibility of throwing in 3 more quarters for a fourth hour if we needed it.
TLE and I spent almost 3 hours walking through the various exhibits, and took over 100 pictures during that time. As you walk from exhibit to exhibit there is non-stop music playing. At each exhibit you can put on head phones and listen to the artist associated with that particular exhibit. We were mesmerized......I think 90 minutes had passed by and we were still in the Rolling Stones section......there is so much to see it could take 3, or 4 posts to verbally cover it all, so I will let the pictures tell the story.......
If you are so inclined you can visit the food court inside and spend all your time in the 'Hall of Fame'
Howlin' Wolf was a big influence on the 'Stones', and they covered several of his songs in their early years
Robert Johnson's music is considered by many to be the source of modern rock and roll
Of course Les Paul must be in the Hall of Fame.....he invented the solid body electric guitar....some of his early guitars are worth a fortune today
There is an entire exhibit dedicated to Rhythm and Blues, and the influence of those early artists on the birth of modern rock and roll.....totally fascinating.....you could literally spend hours there reading about each 'R&B' artist
Young Rolling Stones
Del Shannon hand written lyrics to 'Hats off to Larry'
Joe Walsh's hand written lyrics to 'Life's been good to me'
'ZZ Top' electric guitars....pretty cool looking
If you go the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame you must go into the Connor Theater to see this 15 minute movie.....very, very powerful
The first inductees into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.....I cannot disagree with any of them
The Beatles inducted in 1988.....
....and the Stones in 1989
Deep Purple.....finally!
Moody Blues....about time!
The Hall of Fame is built right on the shores of Lake Erie......just off the freeway
Parting shot
......frankly we could have spent a fourth hour, but after a while your mind is on sensory overload and it is time for a break. TLE found a little food court over on 4th and Prospect where we paid $18 for valet parking so we could walk down the street (no cars) and find a place that peaked our interest.........
....we settled on 'The Corner Alley'.....a sports bar/bowling alley.....very cool....
The Corner Alley
.....the bar was mostly empty at 2 pm, so we had the place to ourselves......just a couple of blocks away is Progressive Stadium where the Cleveland Indians play baseball, and there was an afternoon game in progress explaining the mostly empty bar.....no doubt it would fill up shortly after the end of the game. We each ordered a draft brew and then a couple of appetizers to split.......sweet potato fries and bacon bleu sliders......perfect amount of food!
We were on the road back to Ashtabula about 2:30 pm, and home by 3:30 pm.....we did buy a couple of souvenir t-shirts at the Hall of Fame.......here is TLE's......
......it was a wonderful day which took me back to my youth, and I am still basking in the glow of the experience. Were the 60's really that long ago? If you are a fan of Rock 'N Roll plan on visiting the Hall of Fame.....it will be worth your while.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Looks fascinating, Clarke. Hope to visit eventually myself.
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