Kid-Friendly Guide to Cleveland in the Spring/Summer

So I got an email recently that someone is coming to Cleveland over the long weekend, and would I have any advice on where to visit. The visitors have a 5 year old son and a 1 year old daughter.

I was starting to draft an email and realized that this isn't an uncommon question, so I may as well save the information to make it more accessible. So, here's my Kid-Friendly Visitor's Guide to Cleveland:

Things to See/Do

1. Memphis Kiddie Park. It's a real dinky mini amusement park off I-480 & Tiedemann Road. It's meant for kids up to age 7 (2 of my 3 kids have outgrown it but still will go and repeatedly ride the little roller coaster. there's a train ride, merry go round, and a few other little carnival-type rides. Visit Website.

2. The Metroparks. Not far from there (1/2 mile, perhaps) you can go into the Metroparks and have a picnic, hike around a bit, and enjoy the great outdoors. The Metroparks around here are really nice, and quite varied in the things you can explore. On the west side of Cleveland, there is more rocky terrain (around Rocky River); on the east side, you can hike along/through Chagrin River; there's short, flat trails, long hilly trails, and everything in between depending on your interest (and stroller needs). Visit Website.

3. If your kids like animals, Lake Farmpark is nice. Website (on the east side of town)

4. The Zoo

There are various areas to choose from:

University Circle

University Circle has (in addition to Case Western's campus and Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which I'm guessing you'll opt against with the kids):

1. Children's Museum - personally, I find it overpriced and underwhelming, but others love it. They charge admission for everyone, grown ups and kids, and there's really nothing to interest adults - at least not me - so maybe that's my issue.
2. Cleveland Museum of Art - it's free, and the renovations are gorgeous, so it might be nice just to go wander and get out of the rain for a while. And if the weather's nice, just taking in the view from the 2nd floor expanded area is nice
3. Cleveland Botanical Gardens - Beautiful indoor and outdoor garden stuff, if you're into all that nature and stuff. Plus, the outside garden is a nice place for the kids to run around.
4. Cleveland Museum of Natural History - Even if you don't want to go inside and explore the wonders of the museum, the kids will enjoy playing on Steggy outside.
5. Between the former three museums is Wade Oval, where on Wednesdays through the summer there are concerts in the evenings, and through the winter there is ice skating. But even when there are no events, this is a nice area for the kids to run around (with 3 boys under the age of 10, I'm all about scoping those out).
6. And on the other side of the art museum (closer to Euclid Avenue and Chester Avenue), is Wade Lagoon, a beautiful little spot to enjoy the beauty and for kids to run around. Pack some sandwiches and have a picnic, then walk around and feed the ducks/geese.

Up the hill, not far from there, is Cleveland Heights. This area has a few little restaurants that the kids might enjoy:

1. Dewey's Pizza on Lee Road near Cedar.

2. Tommy's Restaurant on Coventry (excellent milkshakes, and lots of vegetarian options, in case you were interested)

3. Tree Country Bistro on Coventry offers Thai, Korean, and Japanese food. It's not your typical "kid joint" but it's yum and as it's the only Thai restaurant that serves Thai Custard, and has the BEST Country Pad Thai, I will include them on any restaurant recommendation list I ever create.

4. Melt (Cedar & Taylor): If you're into Grilled Cheese sandwiches, and always wondered why there aren't more options in that genre, you're in for a treat.

5. Mama Santa's in Little Italy: service is a little slow, but yum!

While you're in the area, stop by Shaker Lake for a nice walk, or to Horseshoe Park. Or walk along the boardwalk at the Shaker Lakes Nature Center.

East Side

Heading East a bit, we venture over to the corners of Cedar and Richmond Roads, with 3 destinations for shopping.

Legacy Village: open air mall. Great place to eat. Restaurants include Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Stir Crazy (Asian), Brio (Italian), and possibly others that I can't remember right now. There's an Apple Store, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Dick's Sporting Goods, and a pavilion where kids can run around.

Beachwood Place: has a new Lego store inside. Otherwise, kind of your typical mall, but one of the more upscale ones in the area. There is a Pottery Barn inside. But for those who can't take a trip without visiting a mall, it's a nice one. but then again, so are South Park Mall in Strongsville, and if you're coming from Dayton, you may as well stop off in the Outlet Mall instead.

La Place, has a Border's, Mitchell's Ice Cream, and White Flower Cake shop where you can get tasty cupcake for a snack :)

A couple other cool shopping areas include:
Westside Market: this is Cleveland's historic west side market, in Ohio City. You can do a little farmer's marketing while you're there, or pick up a snack and then visit one of the restaurants nearby Website.

-- Great Lakes Brewing Company is right around the corner from the Westside Market.
-- there are others which I haven't had a chance to visit (and don't know how kid-friendly they are)

Eaton Collection: Chagrin Blvd & east of Brainard. There's a Michael Symon restaurant - B Spot - that's a great Burger and milkshake spot. And the fries are great too. If you've been hiking the Metroparks, it's not a bad way to replenish your energy :). There's also a Trader Joe's, Barnes & Noble, and North Face store there. Taza is another good restaurant right there.

Chagrin Falls is a cute little village where you can wander around, window shop, and walk near a waterfall.

Downtown

There's the Galleria, which was a cool mall that never quite made it, but now seems to have been turned into a greenhouse/office space, and may be making a comeback.

Browns Stadium, the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and the Science Museum are all next to each other on the water, right next to George Voinovich park, and is worth at least a drive by.

The Lake

If you'd like to get to the Lake, click here. You can look at a map listing all the access points. Apparently only 6.1 miles of the Lake Erie shore is publically accessible in Cuyahoga County, so you'll want to plan ahead if you want to hit the beach (and for that I'd recommend Mentor Headlands)

Now, I know this list is incredibly incomplete, and I hope to keep building it into a comprehensive guide in the future. But for now, let me leave you with one final bit of important information:

If you want to know of different events coming up, here are 2 links:
1. Cleveland.com: this is the website for the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Entertainment Section.

2. CoolCleveland. Thomas Mulready started this as a weekly email list to subscribers who wanted to know about off-beat events happening around town. The email comes out every Wednesday, and covers events for the following week, including a special section of Kids Events.

Between these two links, you should get a good feel for what's happening around town.

Hope this helps, and all you west-siders, feel free to chime in.