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Akron, Ohio
I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time
Not all that far away from Cleveland in Akron is a Coop Himmelblau designed building, and a good one at that. We’re starting this short slideshow with a close up of the Akron Art Museum, a surprisingly good museum in a generally empty small city.
After landing at night, I stayed at the airport hotel before transferring early the next morning to a downtown one
This is Cesar Pelli's Key Tower, downtown Cleveland, Lake Erie and Public Square from the 42nd floor observation deck at Terminal Tower (which makes a cameo in this picture as a hard to miss shadow).
Terminal Tower is named for Cleveland’s Union Terminal Rail Station, which no longer really exists like it once did, although luckily for me the tracks remain. I stayed in a hotel near the airport and rented a car, making it easier to see some sites like the Akron Art Museum. But when I wanted to go downtown, I decided to take the RTA Red Line, a light rail system that took me right to the basement of the Terminal Tower. I have a theory that the only way you can really understand a city and really feel like a local is to take public transportation, and if a rail option (like this one) exists, you know I’m going to take it.
As for the pictures, they are more views from the observation deck, including another of the Pelli tower and another of the Terminal Tower view over the Flats.
I have been to Cleveland before, I’ve been to the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, saw a baseball game at the Jake and even once had decent seats watching an Indy Car race set up at the downtown lakefront airport. Even though I’ve been there before, this was the first time I actually explored downtown. It was my first time on the RTA, my first time up Terminal Tower (which might have not actually been open last time) and my first time here at the Arcade, an absolutely spectacular public space and the best one you’re going to find in Cleveland, and probably all of Ohio to be honest.
Hiding behind the trees (or possibly a utility pole, who is to say) are the trademark billowing metal clouds of a Frank Gehry building, this one a business school at Case Western Reserve University.
