Cleveland Rocks!

For our day in Cleveland, the kids chose the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Jeff saw that there was a Titanic exhibit at the Great Lakes Science Center.  Around 9:30 a.m., we headed into the city to check them out.

The kids really liked the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  They were able to see pictures of singers and bands that they've heard of, and watch video of them singing.  Henry could have spent hours watching the video screens with snippets of rock concerts, music videos, and Hall of Fame Induction concert performances.  Ruth checked out Michael Jackson's sequin glove and listened to music on headphones she said cost $300.

The kids recognized Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Johnny Cash, ABBA, and of course, thanks to American Idol, Steven Tyler and Aerosmith.  I liked seeing Janis Joplin's custom-painted car - it was really cool.  Jeff checked out the area highlighting Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Elvis outfit

The special exhibit there right now celebrates 50 years of the Rolling Stones.  To get in the exhibit, you walk through the trademark Rolling Stones mouth, which Henry thought was awesome.

After the Hall of Fame, we went over to the Science Center next door.  We spent most of our time in the special Titanic Exhibit, which was pretty good.  They didn't allow photography, so we have no pictures to post.

 Upon entering the exhibit, we were given boarding passes with a name of a real person on the Titanic.  The exhibit begins in a brightly lit room with lively music playing that depicts the departure and boarding experience.  There are some metal artifacts from the ship, and on the walls, biographies of the ship's architect and captain.  There are also biography panels of some of the famous people on the ship, including John Jacob Astor, Molly Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Strauss, owners of Macy's.

The next rooms include artifacts from the ship, including water faucets, tiles, and wine bottles.  They recreated a first class room on the ship using furniture designed for Titanic that was in storage so you could see what a first class room would look like.  They also had a model of a third class room, which is better than I thought it would be.  As you walk through the exhibit, it follows a timeline, and you eventually come to the room where the ship hits the iceberg.  They even have a huge chunk of ice resembling an iceberg in the final room that you can touch, and it explains how cold the water was and how most people died of hypothermia, not drowning because of the freezing water.

Helium balloon experiment
at the Science Center

The exhibit also shows the submersible that went down and explored the Titanic on the floor of the ocean and said a metal-eating bacteria is slowing eating the Titanic away.  Some day, there will be little left.

We looked at the huge chart on the wall of the survivors and those who died.  The women on Ruth's and my boarding passes lived, and both Henry and Jeff's men died.

After walking through the exhibit, we were hungry, so we got a snack to tide us over until lunch.  We walked through a bit of the science center, including a really nice NASA exhibit, and then headed over to the Great Lake Brewing Company for a late lunch.


 

ZZ Top

The Who

 

Keith Richard's handwritten set list

 

Hendrix guitar