Thank you to the Goodtime III for providing complimentary tickets for my family. As always, all opinions are my own.
Our family spent an amazing summer afternoon cruising on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River aboard the Goodtime III, Cleveland’s largest sightseeing vessel. The ship’s four decks offer indoor and open air seating for up to 1,000 passengers to enjoy the view of Cleveland’s skyline, its many bridges and all the new development at the East Bank of the Flats. This family owned tour boat was established in 1958 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary this summer. The Narrated Sightseeing Tour is especially kid friendly and a great way for visitors (and residents!) to learn about Cleveland’s downtown from a unique perspective. A ride on the Goodtime III with kids is a particularly good first boating experience for young passengers, and the views just can’t be beat.
Goodtime III Parking
Parking is conveniently located at the East Ninth Street Pier Parking lot and costs $10 for 2-3.5 hours. The kids’ excitement started escalating as I parked along the side of the enormous Goodtime III. My only challenge was locating the pay station, but lucky for me, my eight year old has a keen eye and pointed it out for me. Our car was parked only a short distance from the ticket booth, and we had to walk only about 20 steps after disembarking.
Goodtime III Tickets
After paying for parking, we headed to the ticket booth. There were separate lines for visitors with pre-booked tickets and for those purchasing tickets. General admission for the two-hour Narrated Sightseeing Tour costs $18 for adults and $10 for children, and reservations are available online for a small booking fee. Children under five are free, but need a ticket to board. Advance reservations are required for special events and all trips that include a meal.
The ticket booth is easy to find
Pro-Tips: Tours are offered Tuesdays through Sundays. The Goodtime III offers kids a special $1 admission on their 3 p.m. Narrated Sightseeing Tour from Memorial Day to July 4th.
Boarding the Goodtime III
Getting ready to board
I was happy to walk right up to the will-call booth and secure our tickets with my picture ID. We arrived at about 2:20 p.m., collected our tickets and made our way to the boarding area by about 2:25 p.m. and had only a few minutes to wait before boarding for our 3:00 p.m. cruise, which began sharply at 2:30 p.m. The kids really enjoyed experiences on smaller boats while touring the Kerala backwaters and whale watching in Dalvik, Iceland and were ecstatic to board this massive vessel.
Because this mid-week cruise afternoon cruise had about 150 passengers, we had plenty of seating options. The kids excitedly tried out a half a dozen views before the ship even left the dock. While there was plenty of room on our cruise, the Goodtime III, which has a maximum capacity of 1,000, never exceeds 800 to maintain comfort for all passengers.
Checking out the views while docked on the Ninth Street Pier
An Afternoon Cruise on the Goodtime III
The ship departed exactly at 3:00 p.m., so visitors need to arrive on time or will be stuck on shore. We enjoyed an hour of narration about Cleveland’s history, buildings, bridges and trivia and then a second hour of music on the ship’s sound system, which was fun to listen to while watching the ever-changing views.
The Flats have had significant development over the past few years
The facilities on board were excellent and kid-friendly, and it is clear that safety is a huge priority for the Goodtime III. After previous rides on much smaller boats with kids, I was relieved to see that all side railings provided a safe enclosure for little people. Although I still had to remind my kids to keep their feet on the ground and not to lean out of the ship, I did not have to spend the entire cruise holding my daughter. There were also bins full of adult and child-sized life vests strategically placed around the ship, and the crew provided a demonstration on how to use the life vests before we departed. The restrooms featured running water and even a diaper changing station not common on smaller boats.
He spent a lot of time just gazing at the city.
We ordered popcorn for the kids, which was reasonably priced at only $2 a box on the second level. Of course, after popcorn, they needed water, which was $2 a bottle. We also treated them to ice cream sandwiches, which were available on the main level and cost only $2.50 each. The Goodtime III also offered burgers, grilled chicken, nachos and a full bar on board.
Cleveland’s Public Square
I always love the idea of boating but am prone to seasickness and have regretted several boating or sailing excursions. However, I had no issues on the Goodtime III, which was large and very stable. Every staff member we met was also helpful and friendly. I apologized to crew member Ashlynn for the popcorn crumbs surrounding my daughter and even offered to sweep them up myself. She replied that she was happy to have something to do.
It was fun to see planes taking off from Burke Lakefront Airport.
My favorite piece of trivia from the narrated portion of the cruise was that TheLorax by Dr. Seuss, originally included the sentence, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.” However, Seuss removed the line 14 years after publication when Ohio Sea Grant Program researchers informed him of efforts to clean-up the Lake.
We spent the last 15 minutes of the boat ride on the main deck, and my daughter took full advantage of the empty dance floor to try out some moves.
The dance floor and seating area on the enclosed main level
The Goodtime III docked at 5:00 p.m. on the dot. We loved the punctuality, especially because my boys had evening swim lessons that we had to rush off to make.
Pro Tip: Make sure to bring sunscreen, sunglasses, light jackets, hair bands and a charged camera. It was a warm and sunny 73 degree afternoon, but it got chilly on Lake Erie due to the wind. Even my son who never gets cold was happy to have a jacket. My camera battery died with about 30 minutes before the cruise ended, and I had to rely on my mobile camera for the last pictures.
Pro-Tip: With four different levels, the Goodtime III is not stroller-friendly. There isn’t much walking needed, so I’d recommend leaving the stroller on shore unless it’s need for nap time.
Pro-Tip: While buying tickets in advance can save time, I recommend pre-booking the Narrated Sightseeing Cruise only after checking the weather or just purchasing tickets upon arrival. Note that the annual Fourth of July Fireworks Cruise sells out annually, so advance reservations are definitely needed for that.
We were lucky to take advantage of a beautiful summer afternoon and truly enjoy our hometown from a perspective we rarely get to see. We recommend a ride on the Goodtime III with kids. Our kids would love to make an afternoon on the Goodtime III an annual tradition, and I’m sure they would see and learn different things on each cruise.
Every so often, we encounter a place that is so fabulous for those traveling with kids that it is worthy of being featured on its own. For more fabulous locations, please check out our other Spotlight features! Also, be sure to check out all our category of posts on Cleveland with kids.
Thank you to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Duquesne Incline for providing complimentary tickets and a tour for my family. All opinions are my own.
Pittsburgh is known for its steel production, bridges and sports teams. It’s only about two hours from our home in Cleveland and where my college roommate lives, so we often get the chance to visit. In the 19th century, Andrew Carnegie became one of the richest people in the world by modernizing steel production in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, where the Monongahela River joins the Ohio River. Now affectively called the “Steel City,” Pittsburgh used to be known as the “Smoky City” because of so much pollution from the mills. Very little of its industrial past remains in this city now known for its hills, bridges, parks and biking and jogging trails.
Accommodations in Pittsburgh With Kids
My husband often travels to Pittsburgh for business, so I took a few days off over our kids’ recent Spring Break, and the rest of the family tagged along for a two day trip. We stayed at the Fairmont Pittsburgh and were very fortunate that our room was available when we checked in at 9 am. It was great to drop off our bags and freshen up before heading off to explore some museums. The Fairmont offers well-appointed guest rooms and luxurious and bright bathrooms, complete with a bathtub and separate shower area. There is no pool, but we have never found a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh that offers a pool. My kids’ only complaint was that the room didn’t have two bathrooms like our suite at the Treasure Island Beach Resort. Sorry, kids, a hotel room with two bathrooms is not the norm….
Our room at the FairmontOur bright and beautiful bathroom
Our trip happened to coincide with the Pirates‘ Opening Day, and we were lucky to have a view of PNC Park from our window. Our boys enjoyed checking out the festivities while their sister attempted to nap in the afternoon. Strangely, we couldn’t find the game on television, but score updates from Siri sufficed, and a single firework signaled the Pirates first home win of the season.
A room with a view of Opening Day
Food in Pittsburgh With Kids
The Fairmont is centrally located downtown, but it was pretty cold during our visit, so we didn’t do as much exploring as we would have liked. We did met my college roommate and a friend around the corner at NOLA on the Square for happy hour. NOLA nailed the New Orleans vibe, both in its architecture and the art work displayed on the walls. Because it was a relatively quiet Monday night, our group of seven was seated in the dining area but permitted to order from the pretty amazing happy hour menu. With $4 cocktails, $4 appetizers and $1 gumbo ya-ya, we’ll definitely be back the next time we are in town.
After happy hour, we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Nicky’s Thai Kitchen. My husband regularly frequents Nicky’s and knows that their 1-5 rating is spicier than most. Our family often orders our food in the hot category, but three was plenty spicy for us. My husband once ordered a four and totally regretted it.
We really enjoyed our quick trip to Pittsburgh with kids and recommend these five fun family activities to other family travelers:
#1: Carnegie Science Center With Kids
It’s no secret that my kids love museums. Of the dozens of museums my 10 year old has visited, the Carnegie Science Center is his favorite. He’s probably not alone, as this is Pittsburgh’s most popular museum. The “science” portion of the museum is pretty cool, but the real draw for him is Highmark SportsWorks®, which is housed in an adjacent building and uses more than 30 interactive sports exhibits to show how physics, anatomy, biology and chemistry control sports. The Carnegie Science Center is part of the Carnegie Museums, and members can visit all four on the same membership, but we use our ASTC Travel Passport Program membership for free entry.
When we visited the Science Center on the day after Thanksgiving, the line for the new Ropes Challenge was too long. So, on this visit, my sons went straight for the Ropes Challenge line when we arrived. The Ropes Challenge consists of a series of challenges, including a rope bridge, rolling logs and a horizontal net that culminate in a zip line. This is probably my boys’ favorite “exhibit” ever, especially the zip line.
My daughter was pretty excited to try the SkyTykes Ropes Course, located under the Ropes Challenge, while her brothers waited for their turn.
My little explorer
Other highlights of the sports complex include a 24-foot rock climbing wall (which even my daughter tried out), a batting cage, a 10-meter dash and various challenges for endurance and balance.
Father-son climbRace against Olympic sprint times
My kids may not have left the Highmark SportsWorks® with a deeper understanding of center of mass and inertia or reciting facts about physics or biology, but the interactive exhibits are certainly fun and provide some basic exposure to the concept that science is everywhere. This bright complex is also a perfect place for kids to burn energy, especially on cold or rainy days.
Inside the Carnegie Science Center, my boys’ favorite exhibit is Roboworld, which is considered the world’s largest permanent robotics exhibition. Roboworld features more than 30 interactive displays, including a robot who shoots baskets with impressive precision and another who challenges visitors in air hockey. My kids could spend hours playing air hockey with a robot or comparing basketball precision.
We also checked out the Little Learner Clubhouse for the first time on our last visit. Because many exhibits focused on a younger audience have an age limit for participation, we often avoid them even when we have two adults. However, I was glad that this exhibit is designed for children six and under and their families. So, my older sons were able to accompany their younger sister, who absolutely loved the water table. Even though this exhibit was clearly geared for younger children, my boys had fun with the tomato stand.
The Miniature Railroad & Village is a fun but unexpected exhibit at the Science Center. This enormous village provides a tour of western Pennsylvania and includes over 250,000 trees. Of course, our favorite miniature was Fallingwater.
We’ve had lunch at Center’s River View Café several times. The Café is currently under renovation and open with only a limited menu, but its convenience is key as there really does not seem to be any other lunch options within walking distance. My kids thoroughly enjoyed their hot dog kids’ meals and cheese steak sandwich. A new wing is also currently under construction, but the exhibits are all open during the renovations.
E-motion cone
Kid Facts: The E-motion cone, which is a large inverted cone on top of the Science Center was installed in 2000. It is lit up at night with colored lights that signal the weather forecast for the next day. Red means warmer, blue means cooler, and green means no change. The cone flashes when precipitation is expected, and the color yellow indicates severe weather.
Pro Tip: Because of its proximity to the Steelers’Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center is closed when the Steelers have home games with 1 pm or 4 pm kickoff times and may close early for evening games.
#2: Carnegie Museum of Natural History With Kids
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History was founded in 1896 by Pittsburgh industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, and gained notoriety in 1899 when its scientists found the fossils of the Diplodocus carnegii. Carnegie gifted a cast of its diplodocus skeleton to England at the request of Edward VII, and “Dippy” was featured in Hitze Hall of London’s Natural History Museum for many years before being replaced by Hope, a blue whale skeleton, in July 2017. Dippy is currently on tour across the United Kingdom for the next two years. The original diplodocus skeleton was admittedly a major draw for us to visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It is housed in a space that oddly resembles a hotel lobby, but the exhibit is still a dream for any young paleontologist.
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History maintains one of the world’s most prominent dinosaur collections. The Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit is the world’s largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs and the third largest collection of mounted dinosaurs in the US and includes two Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons and a triceratops skeleton.
One of two Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons
My kids are fascinated by gemstones, so the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems was a big hit. Over 1,300 specimens are artistically displayed throughout several rooms.
I see a few that I’d like
The Bone Hunters’ Quarry gives kids 10 and under a chance to dig for bones with brushes and chisels. This interactive exhibit occupied my children for a solid 10-15 minutes until the 10 year old started getting bored.
Kid Facts: The diplodocus skeleton was found on an expedition to the Morrison Formation sponsored by Carnegie. The Morrison Formation in Utah is the most fertile source of North American dinosaur fossils.
#3: Carnegie Museum of Art With Kids
The Carnegie Museum of Art was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1895 and is housed in the same building in Oakland as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. One of the most unique features of the Carnegie Art Museum is the Hall of Architecture, which includes the world’s third-largest collection of plaster architectural casts. Andrew Carnegie financed a tinted cast of the West Portal of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, which may be the world’s largest architectural cast. Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is considered one of the most beautiful Romanesque portals. The Hall also includes almost 140 other full-size plaster casts.
We were also pretty excited to find the special exhibit, Hiroshige’s Tōkaidō Road, had opened just a few days before our visit. This series of woodblock prints depicts landscapes and people that master printmaker, Utagawa Hiroshige, encountered when traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto. We enjoy Hiroshige’s art so much that we have one of his prints at home, but our print is not one of this series. This special exhibit includes a complete set of 55 prints from the first (Hōeidō) edition of Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō. Vincent Van Gogh collected ukiyo-e with his brother, and their collection included Hiroshige’s works. Van Gogh incorporated similar bright colors, natural details and unconventional perspectives into his own works.
Like most major art museums, its impressionist gallery includes paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields at Auvers Under Clouded Sky was one of his famous series of wheat field paintings. While Van Gogh and Monet are our favorites, we didn’t make it here until well past nap time for my three year old, who found the large bench very comfortable.
Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields at Auvers Under Clouded SkyMonet’s Water Lilies (Nymphéas)
I love the convenience of two museums in one, which made it logistically possible to visit two museums on the same day we drove to Pittsburgh and still spend most of the afternoon relaxing in our hotel room. While we did not have a chance to explore all the galleries, the collection was impressive, and we look forward to future visits.
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is an interactive museum for kids that is also a member of the ASTC Travel Passport Program. We visited twice previously before our recent trip, and this is the only museum where I have spent an entire day back when my boys were 1.5 and 3.5. While most families likely visit for only 2-3 hours at a time, there is definitely enough to occupy kids all day. We had a wonderful day thoroughly exploring each and every exhibit in detail and spending hours in the Studio creating works of art.
Our recent visit was during our second afternoon in Pittsburgh and took place after a morning at the Carnegie Science Center. My daughter didn’t get a nap until we were in the car headed back to Cleveland but was so excited about all the exhibits that she forgot to be cranky. As soon as we arrived, she headed straight for the two-story climber that thankfully has entrance and exit openings only at the bottom. Her brothers followed her in but quickly came out, indicating that the climber had a strong odor of feet. Nevertheless, this climber attracted my daughter like a magnet. She probably spent a solid 20 minutes climbing all the way to the top and then back down while my boys worked on draw bots in the MAKESHOP®. She did get a bit stuck at one point, but she got a bit of a boost from a slightly bigger kid and kept moving. At the very top, kids are out of sight for a few minutes, which was a bit disconcerting at first, but the other parents milling around at the bottom assured me that the same thing happened with their kids.
A dream climber for kids
My boys happily worked in the MAKESHOP® just opposite the climber while I hung out at the wall dividing the two areas to keep an eye on all of them. The kids used household boxes to anchor markers in place and then attached motors to make them move on their own. The project involved tape, hot glue and a lot of trial and error, and this was my boys’ favorite exhibit at the Museum. My daughter was too young to create one on her own, but she enjoyed spectating and working on a draw bot with one of the Museum guides (who did most of the heavy lifting).
The Museum’s Studio offers hands-on creating opportunities for kids of all ages. Because we were short on time and stayed for a long time at the MAKESHOP®, we did not make it to the Studio this time, but it’s a beautiful multimedia space with wonderful supplies that allow kids to create paint, sculpt and silkscreen. The Studio is housed in a former planetarium and is a beautiful and bright space to inspire creative juices, and smocks are available. Because I am not crafty by nature, I really appreciate prepared craft projects.
The Studio’s ceilingCreating in the Studio
My boys really enjoyed the Waterplay exhibit on our previous visits. Honestly, I judged other museum waterplay exhibits against this one for years. Previously, full length rain ponchos and crocs were available for kids to use while exploring in the water. This time, only smocks were available, and almost all the other kids had changed into swimming attire or had stripped down to their underwear, and it seemed more like a spray park than it had been before. An ideal day at the museum for me does not involve hauling swimsuits and towels, and even my three year old would not be comfortable wearing only panties in public. My kids were hesitant because they did not want to get soaked, so this exhibit definitely lost some of its luster this time around. While the snow table was unique, we all agreed that the Wonder Lab at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland is now our waterplay gold standard.
All geared up during a prior visit to the Waterplay area
My daughter was pretty excited to find a puppet of her friend, Daniel Tiger, in the Museum’s Nursery.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and will definitely be back. While some of the exhibits are more age appropriate for my daughter, her brothers had fun accompanying her as she explored those areas and particularly enjoyed the MAKESHOP®. I think it’s been offseason or rainy on each of our three visits, but we hope next time, we can check out the Backyard.
Kid Facts: Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood was filmed in Pittsburgh from 1968 to 2001, and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh maintains some great memorabilia.
Pro Tip: Try to visit the Studio first so that art masterpieces dry before it’s time to leave. The Studio is housed in a former planetarium and is a beautiful and bright space to inspire kids’ creative juices.
#5: Duquesne Incline With Kids
The Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh is an amazing example of living history that combines a trolley ride up Mount Washington, engineering genius and an amazing city view. We visited on Thanksgiving before our turkey feast with friends. The beautifully detailed original trolley cars sit on platforms that keep them level while transporting Pittsburghers and visitors up and down Mount Washington without a driver. The 794-foot wooden track was both an engineering masterpiece and a work of art.
Interior of the trolley car
Wooden track
At the station at the top, there are historical exhibits that provide an overview of the history of Pittsburgh, its many inclines and the engineering challenges that the engineers had to overcome to build and operate the Incline.
Trolley car traveling down the Incline
Tom Reinheimer’s tour of the Upper Station gave us an overview of the history of Pittsburgh, its many inclines and the engineering challenges that the engineers had to overcome to build and operate the Incline. Tom then took us to the David H. Miller Working Museum to tour of the Incline’s hoisting machinery. The Incline still uses its original hoisting equipment that features giant cogs with wooden gear teeth.
Hoisting equipment
The highlight of the Incline is the magnificent view of Pittsburgh’s “Three Rivers” – the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which together form the Ohio River and the city’s “Golden Triangle” central business district. Other highlights include views of the outline of Fort Duquesne, the Steelers’ Heinz Field, the Pirates’ PNC Park, the Carnegie Science Center and many bridges (up to 18 can be visible). For more details, check out our Spotlight feature on the Duquesne Incline.
Thank you to One World Trade Center Observatory and the 9/11 Memorial Museum for hosting our visits to those attractions. All opinions are my own.
New York City is one of our favorite cities to visit. The “City That Never Sleeps” is the largest metropolitan area in the US and boasts Broadway and Wall Street, along with world-famous landmarks and museums. Nancy previously covered Five Fun Family Activities, but because this is one city that has a seemingly never-ending list of great tourist attractions, I have a few more to add. With so much to see and do, traveling to New York City with kids is a great family vacation.
Visiting New York City With Kids
I’ve enjoyed New York City as a tourist and while visiting friends. My mom and I had a whirlwind weekend in 2005 where we made it to most of the stops on her mile-long must-see list. My husband and I used to travel to the Big Apple each summer before kids, but we generally spent most of our time with friends and relaxing at the Long Island Beach. We have visited New York City several times with our kids, most recently in October 2016 as part of a trip to Princeton, New Haven, Amherst and Chautauqua and look forward to future visits to Manhattan as a family.
Checking out the view of Midtown from Bloomberg’s employee snack bar
For families who need a break, there are some amazing playgrounds in New York City for kids to explore. It’s hard to pass up the opportunity to see a Broadway show, and there are options to score cheap Broadway tickets at the last minute.
Accommodations in New York City With Kids
While in NYC, I have stayed several times at the Millennium Hilton New York Downtown in the Financial District. The guest rooms are very comfortable, and the hotel also offers an indoor pool. But, the highlight for me is the view of One World Trade Center and the Oculus, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub that opened in 2016 with retail and restaurants. The Millennium Hilton is conveniently located for both business and pleasure.
Millennium Hilton guest room with view of OculusView of One World Trade Center and Oculus from my room
Restaurants in New York City With Kids
New York is also known for amazing restaurants. Eataly is one of my favorites. This Italian marketplace includes several restaurants, food and beverage counters and retail stores. The food counters offer very reasonable but delicious meals, and the retail sections are beautifully curated.
Eataly’s higher end restaurant, Osteria della Pace is also a great option for lunch or dinner.
Osteria della Pace
I also enjoy Casa Lever, an Italian Restaurant that features original Andy Warhol paintings to complement its ultramodern décor. Casa Lever does not offer a kids’ menu and is not particularly child-friendly in the evening, but the food is superb, and the original Warhol paintings alone are a reason to make me want to go back.
Original Warhol paintings at Casa Lever
For breakfast, Stage Door Deli offers overstuffed sandwiches and a classic New York deli experience. We stopped for coffee and bagels after an early morning flight, and our wrapped bagels were thrown from the back of the store to the register for added flair. Stage Door is one of only two businesses to reopen on Vesey Street after September 11.
Here are my five fun family activities in New York City:
#1: The Metropolitan Museum of Art With Kids
The Metropolitan Museum of Art boasts a permanent collection of over two million works and is the largest art museum in the US and the fourth largest in the world. The Met’s main location is on Fifth Avenue, and we were a few of the Met’s over 7 million visitors in 2016. Admission to the permanent collection was previously by suggested contribution only, but the Met announced in January 2018 that it would begin charging a fixed admission of $25 for visitors who do not live in New York State. General admission gives visitors free entry at The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer and The Met Cloisters for three consecutive days. It would probably take that long to get through all the exhibits, but we did an abbreviated visit with our three kids, aged 2, 6 and 8.
Times Square is the world’s most visited location with about 360,000 pedestrian visitors daily and over 130 million visitors each year. Excluding residents from the count makes Times Square the second most popular tourist attraction behind the Las Vegas Strip with almost 40 million annual tourists. The Broadway Theater District is located in Times Square, which is especially known for its billboards.
Over the years, I’ve visited Times Square a number of times, but until my recent visit, my last photographs were from 2005. Even before the rise of digital screens, it was still a sensory overload experience.
Times Square – Summer 2005
I was absolutely blown away with the transformation of the Square since the development of digital screens on my recent evening visit. The largest billboard in Times Square was completed in 2014, spans an entire block and features almost 24 million LED pixels. A pedestrian plaza completed in 2016 offers tiered viewing of the Square, including the humongous new billboard pictured on the right below. Find out more about things to do in Times Square.
Times Square – 2018
Kid Facts: The New Year’s Eve ball drop at Times Square has been an annual tradition since December 31, 1907. However, it was placed on hiatus in 1942 and 1943 because of World War II lighting restrictions. Over a million visitors celebrate each New Year in Times Square. The new energy-efficient LED ball installed for the centennial celebration is now a permanent fixture in the Square.
#3: National September 11 Memorial & Museum With Kids
While I am familiar with tragic events like the World Wars, the Pearl Harbor attacks and the Vietnam War from history books, September 11 is one day that is burned in my memory. I had visited NYC for the first time only a few months earlier and spent an entire day exploring the Financial District in the shadows of the famous towers. On the morning of the terrorist attacks, I was numb as I sat glued to my television and watched the World Trade Center crash to the ground.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum is a very somber museum that chronicles the World Trade Center’s 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks. The Museum honors both the victims of these attacks and also the first responders. The Museum’s collection includes more than 40,000 images, 14,000 artifacts, 3,500 oral recordings and 500 hours of video. It may not seem like a family friendly attraction due to its content, and I noticed on my recent Monday morning visit that there were not any young visitors. I happened to be in the Financial District on business without my children when I visited, but I would not hesitate to take them to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
My boys learned about the September 11 terrorist attacks by reading Lauren Tarshis‘ I Survived the Attacks September 11th, 2001. Tarshis’ series of historical fiction books is brilliant because they tell stories of some of the world’s worst disasters through the eyes of a pre-teen boy (except one book featuring a female main character) experiencing the situation first-hand. In I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001, the narrator is Lucas, the son of a New York City fire fighter who happens to visit his dad at work on the morning of the attacks. My boys are familiar with the events of September 11 because of Tarshis’ book, and a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum with them would definitely be meaningful, but might be a quicker overview than the lingering visit I had with my colleague. The Museum offers a seasonal Youth & Family Tour with an interactive activity and the Art Memorial Cart, which offers age-appropriate self-guided explorations and art activities.
The Historical Exhibition chronicles the events of September 11, the events leading up to September 11 and the immediate aftermath. This exhibit includes first-hand accounts, television footage and a variety of items on display. Photography is not permitted in this exhibit, but is allowed in other areas of the Museum that feature items damaged on September 11, such as a fire engine from Ladder 3. All 11 firefighters who traveled from in this engine died in the World Trade Center. Also displayed is a segment of the radio and television antenna on top of the North Tower and the Last Column, which was the last piece of steel to be removed from Ground Zero and is now considered as a symbol of resilience.
Fire engine destroyed on September 11Piece of the radio antenna from the North TowerThe Last Column
The National September 11 Memorial located outside the Museum includes two large, recessed pools with cascading waterfalls that are set within the footprints of the original North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. The bronze parapets that surround the pools are inscribed with the names of those who lost their lives in the attacks.
September 11 Museum and Memorial
Kid Facts: The Memorial opened to the public on September 12, 2011, and the Museum, which is largely underground, opened on May 15, 2014. Roses are placed by victims’ names to commemorate their birthdays.
#4: One World Trade Center Observatory With Kids
New York City has no shortage of skyscrapers, but One World Trade Center towers over all of them as the tallest in the Western Hemisphere and sixth tallest in the world at 1,776 feet (a reference to the year the Declaration of Independence was signed). This new structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center and is located on the site of Six World Trade Center, an eight-story office building that was destroyed when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. The building opened in November 2014, and the Observatory, located on floors 100-102, opened in May 2015 and offers visitors a view of NYC from 1,250 feet in the air.
The experience begins at the Global Welcome Center where visitors are greeted in their native language. A live counter shows stats related to number of visitors and country of origin. The next stop is a walk-through montage, which includes personal stories of all the people who helped build One World Trade Center. The elevator ride to the 102nd floor is a special treat. Visitors travel 1,250 feet in less than a minute while watching a high-definition time-lapse video on the elevator walls. After a quick 3D film on NYC, visitors have the chance to check out the real highlight of the Observatory, the 360 degree views.
View of Midtown from One World Trade CenterThe Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
We did not have time to eat at ONE Restaurant (which requires admission to the Observatory). Our visit to the Observatory concluded with the high-tech and super-fast elevator ride down, which is as exciting as the ride up.
Kid Facts: The top floor of One World Trade Center is the 104th floor, but the tower actually has only 93 stories, and 103 and 104 are mechanical floors.
#5: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island With Kids
Liberty Enlightening the World (aka the Statue of Liberty) was a gift from France to the US and is an icon representing opportunity and freedom. The Statue of Liberty is a 151 foot copper statue located on Liberty Island. It was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It has been maintained by the National Park Service since 1933.
The statue’s pedestal and base were closed for major renovations in October 2011 and reopened on October 28, 2012, one day before Hurricane Sandy. The statue did not sustain direct damage due to Hurricane Sandy, but the storm did destroy the ferry dock. As a result, Liberty Island remained closed until July 4, 2013 for repairs.
The Statue of Liberty
Nearby Ellis Island was the busiest immigrant inspection station in the US from 1892 to 1954 and was the gateway to over 12 million immigrants. The descendants those immigrants now make up almost half of the US population. After sustaining major damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Ellis Island was closed for one year for extensive renovation. The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is located in the main building on Ellis Island. About 5,000 immigrants filed into the Registry Room each day for medical and legal examinations.
Registry Room
The view of lower Manhattan from Ellis Island is pretty spectacular.
View of Manhattan from Ellis Island
Kid Facts: While Ellis Island had been considered part of New York, a 1998 Supreme Court case determined that about 90% of the Island is in New Jersey. While the land originally given to New York by an 1834 interstate compact remains under the control of New York, land later reclaimed is now under control of New Jersey.
Find Out More About New York City With Kids
New York City is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US but is not just for adults. This traveler’s mecca offers many wonderful opportunities for families. Make sure to check out all of our posts on NYC before your next trip.
Thank you to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for hosting our family’s visit. All opinions are my own.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is not a typical aquarium. It allows visitors to spend time with rescued and awe-inspiring animals while maintaining an educational focus and throwing in a bit of Hollywood. We have been to many wonderful aquariums that offer amazing displays of marine life. Unlike almost every other aquarium, however, Clearwater Marine Aquarium does not buy, breed or sell any animals and is dedicated to the rehabilitation and release of rescued marine animals. The only permanent residents are animals who have some permanent condition that precludes a safe release. Clearwater Marine Aquarium is not only the home of Winter, the world-famous bottlenose dolphin who overcame all odds after losing her tail and uses a prosthetic tail, but is also the main filming location of two movies about Winter, Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2. We definitely recommend visiting the Clearwater Marine Aquarium with kids!
Kid Facts: Clearwater Marine Aquarium opened in a former water treatment facility in 1979.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Dolphin Tale
The number of visitors to Clearwater Marine Aquarium grew exponentially since the debut of the Dolphin Tale movies. As a result, expansion seemed inevitable, and Clearwater Marine Aquarium has been careful to maintain its education focus and not venture into theme park territory. The parking garage was completed in 2017, and construction began on the two-year expansion of the Aquarium in December 2017 that is expected to be complete by January 2020. Temporarily, visitors parking in the garage need to walk alongside the construction zone to reach the Aquarium. The kids enjoyed following Winter’s signs to the temporary entrance.
Kid Facts: Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s expansion includes two four-story buildings and a new dolphin habitat.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Winter the Dolphin
The highlight of Clearwater Marine Aquarium is definitely the Winter Zone, which is home to both Winter and Hope, the stars of Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2. Winter was rescued in December 2005 after being entangled in a crab trap near Cape Canaveral in 2005 when she was only two months old. Because the entanglement cut off circulation to her tail flukes, her tail ultimately deteriorated and caused her to swim unnaturally. Winter was not expected to survive, and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium received recommendations to euthanize her after her rescue. However, she persevered and overcame incredible odds. Hanger Prosthetics created a silicone-and-plastic tail with a specially-designed gel sleeve that allowed her to swim properly.
Winter – Photo courtesy of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Kid Facts: Dolphin calves usually spend their first few years with their mothers, learning important survival skills. Because Winter was separated from her mother at about two months and had a prosthetic tail, she was not a candidate for release and became a permanent resident at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Winter’s Inspiration
Winter has become an inspiration to children and adults with medical conditions or disabilities. People travel from all over the world to meet Winter, and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium displays pictures and cards from inspired visitors and friends in Winter’s Gallery of Hope. Winter also made quite an impression on my kids. My daughter sleeps with her Winter souvenir every night.
Kid Facts: Clearwater resident Maja Kazazic lost her leg at age 16 when she was injured by a motor shell rocket grenade in Bosnia. She was inspired by Winter and wanted the same doctor who treated Winter. Hanger Prosthetics also made her a prosthetic leg with the same type of gel originally created for Winter. Maja volunteers at Clearwater Marine Aquarium weekly and is a motivational speaker.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Hope the Dolphin
Hope was rescued from the Indian River Lagoon December 2010 as an orphaned dolphin attempting to nurse from her mother, who had died after becoming beached. Because her mother died before teaching her important survival skills, Hope was also not a candidate for release. Before our trip, we watched Dolphin Tale 2, which includes a dramatization of Hope’s rescue. We enjoyed watching Hope’s feeding during our visit.
Maintaining its educational focus, Clearwater Marine Aquarium never requires its animals to “perform” for visitors. However, dolphin Nicholas enjoys showing off for visitors. Nicholas is also a bottlenose dolphin who was rescued with his mother on Christmas Eve in 2002 when he was about six months old. His mother, Noelle, died a few days later but Nicholas was left with severe sunburn. When his burns healed, Nicholas like Winter and Hope, was not a candidate for release due to his separation from his mother at such a young age. We were lucky to watch one of his presentations during our visit.
Kid Facts: Nicholas has successfully predicted the outcome to many national championships and portrayed Mandy in Dolphin Tale 2.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is an animal hospital and constantly treating rescued animals. We got to see the Surgical Suite, which was featured as a movie set in Dolphin Tale 2 as a turtle ICU.
Kid Facts: This surgical suite was the set for Dolphin Tale 2 scenes featuring medical care for the sea turtle, Mavis. Permanent resident, Harold, played Mavis. Harold was rescued in 2010 and is non-releasable because of vision impairment.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Turtle Rescues
At Clearwater Marine Aquarium, we also learned about turtle rescues. Many turtles were effected by the recent cold weather in Florida and brought in for rehabilitation. By the time of our visit in February, 80 rescued turtles came to Clearwater Marine Aquarium in 2018, compared to a total of 79 in all of 2017. Additionally, 39 turtles had already been released this year, compared to 29 in 2017.
Kid Facts: Clearwater Marine Aquarium released 29 green sea turtles effected by cold temperatures on nearby Honeymoon Island on January 25, 2018.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium also treats many green turtles infected with the fibropapilloma virus that causes benign tumors on soft tissues. These highly contagious tumors can be removed with laser therapy, and cured turtles can be released back into the ocean. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is participating in research to find the cause of the fibropapilloma virus and why it typically effects only green turtles. Because the fibropapilloma virus is highly contagious, infected turtles are quarantined in tanks separated from turtles rescued for other purposes.
Kid Facts: Current research suggests that the fibropapilloma virus may be connected to agriculture and waste-water runoff.
Mavis’ Rescue Hideaway features Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s resident sea turtles, including Harold. Divers were doing a scuba presentation during our visit.
Kid Facts: On Valentine’s Day, a Clearwater Marine Aquarium volunteer was married in an underwater wedding in the Aquaium’s turtle habitat.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Pelicans
We also met Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s pelicans. Matthew and Tyndall reside in Rufus Beach, which was named for the pelican featured in the Dolphin Tale movies. Rufus was played by Ricky, one of Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s permanent residents, who resides in the new aviary with Skylar.
Kid Facts: Pelicans are flighted birds that can have wingspans up to 11 feet.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Cooper and Walle
The kids also enjoyed otters Cooper and Walle at the Otter Oasis.
Kid Facts: Walle is a five-year-old otter with more energy than fifteen-year-old, Cooper.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium With Kids – Dolphin Tale Memorabilia
Clearwater Marine Aquarium features lots of memorabilia from the Dolphin Tale movies and pictures from the films that were especially fun for my kids, who really enjoyed both movies.
Our favorite bit of memorabilia was the houseboat. Our amazing guide, Julia Anderson, expertly answered our countless questions about the movies and the Aquarium. We not got to see many of the animals featured in the movies but also learned a good deal of “fact v. fiction” about the movies. The movies maintain key elements, but there was some dramatization for Hollywood purposes.
Kid Facts: The lookout on top of the houseboat frequented by Hazel in the Dolphin Tale movies was deemed too unsafe for filming. All scenes were filmed looking up into the lookout, which was actually placed on the ground.
Most aquariums are educational facilities that help visitors enhance their knowledge about marine life. Clearwater Marine Aquarium offered not only an educational experience but showcases inspirational examples of animal perseverance and the necessity to protect marine life. Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and release marine animals and also focuses on environmental conservation. Located about an hour from Tampa and two hours from Orlando, we totally recommend a trip to Clearwater Marine Aquarium with kids of all ages.
Every so often, we encounter a place that is so fabulous for those traveling with kids that it is worthy of being featured on its own. For more fabulous locations, please check out our other Spotlight features! Also, be sure to check out our post on Clearwater Beach with kids and our entire category of posts on things to do and places to visit in Florida with kids.
Thank you to the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for each providing complimentary tickets for my family. All opinions are my own.
Cleveland is typically not a city that comes to mind as a vacation spot but has been growing as a tourist destination in recent years. While venturing out of my office for lunch at North Coast Harbor this summer, I was surprised to find myself surrounded by casually dressed visitors rather than the usual business crowd. National Geographic Traveler‘s “2018 Best of the World” list recently named Cleveland as one of seven cities in its culture category. Editor George Stone described Cleveland as a city “that you kind of thought you knew but you don’t,” and we agree.
If you look beyond its historically bad reputation and unfortunate football team, Cleveland really does have a lot to offer both its residents and visitors. Playhouse Square is the second largest performing arts center in the country, behind only New York City’s Lincoln Center, and now boasts the world’s largest outdoor chandelier. The Cleveland Orchestra is world-renowned and considered one of the country’s “Big Five” symphony orchestras, and the hospital systems are consistently top-ranked. Cleveland’s downtown has added a number of hotels and residential housing developments. A variety of amazing museums around the city, including the world’s only Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, offer something for everyone. In 2016, the Cavs won the NBA finals, hosted the Republican National Convention, completed a $50 million renovation to Public Square, and the Indians played in the World Series. LeBron James has led the Cavaliers to the last three NBA finals, and the Indians had a 22-game winning streak last season. There also is definitely a Cleveland food scene with world-famous chefs Michael Symon, Jonathon Sawyer, Rocco Whalen and Chris Hodgson each owning several hot spots in town.
If any of that is convincing enough to persuade you to travel to Cleveland, be warned that winters here are admittedly long and chilly. The weather has been so bad recently that various area schools have closed for extreme cold, ice or snow on five different days this month. With that in mind, try to visit between April and October, if possible. The absolute best time to plan a visit is during a championship parade. But, Cleveland sports teams have been notoriously cursed, so there has actually been only one during my lifetime. I can assure you that my family was there to share the June 22, 2016 celebration with 1.3 million of our closest friends and family. We had a spectacular view of the festivities right from my office window.
With no championship parades in sight, we decided to make the most of our recent winter break staycation and truly become tourists in our own city and enjoy all it has to offer. Our kids were thrilled to visit many of the city’s premier museums. Here are our five fun family activities in alphabetical order:
Fun Family Activities in Cleveland With Kids
#1: Children’s Museum of Cleveland With Kids
The Children’s Museum of Cleveland reopened, in November 2017, in the former Stager-Beckwith Mansion, one of the four remaining mansions still standing on Millionaire’s Row. We had been members of the Museum at its previous location in University Circle when my oldest son attended preschool nearby. The Museum was housed in an old Howard Johnson’s restaurant. Although our boys thoroughly enjoyed their visits, the space was choppy with a few stairs here, there and everywhere such that it was a stroller nightmare. The Millionaire’s Row mansion in Midtown had most recently served as the main campus for Myers University and an elegant banquet hall. One of my best friends had her wedding reception in the space that now houses Adventure City. The new site and $10 million renovation really puts the newly expanded and totally accessible Museum in a different ballpark.
The Museum features these four permanent exhibits:
The Wonder Lab is an industrial science laboratory with water tables, whirlpools and jets that particularly fascinated my daughter. My sons spent most of their time building ball tracks on the magnetic wall. This was my kids’ favorite exhibit.
Moveable ball tracks on a magnetic wall
Adventure City offers an amazing indoor two-story climber with a construction site theme. The space also recreates the much-loved grocery store, doctor’s office, nursery and kitchen that were featured in the Museum’s prior location and also adds an auto shop. Building a car was a huge hit.
This climber was enormousSerious grocery shopping
Making Miniatures features a collection of dollhouses created by local artist, Cathy Lincoln and completely entranced my daughter. Each house was placed on a pedestal and enclosed with a plastic casing. Children could get up close by standing on small step stools and carefully explore the houses with available flashlights. My boys were less enthusiastic, but the Museum seemed prepared for them. They placed a tiny CMC logo in each house for a “hide and go seek” challenge, which was right up their alley and occupied them while their sister carefully examined each dollhouse.
She carefully examined each and every dollhouseMy boys had fun finding the CMC logo in each dollhouse
Arts & Parts is a bright art studio with different prepared art projects for children to create. My kids created paper lanterns and played with playdoh.
Playdoh creation
The Museum also features a Sensory Friendly Room for children who get overwhelmed in loud and crowded spaces. While only vending machines are available on site, the Café offers tables and a microwave for families packing lunch. There are also party rooms.
We visited right after New Year’s Day when most schools were still on holiday, and the Museum was packed. But the only real issue we had with the crowds was in the Coat Room. Despite the fact that this was the best Coat Room, which included shelves with baskets to help store cold weather accessories and lunches and also a window into the Wonder Lab below, it was a challenge to find a spare hanger when we arrived. The exhibits themselves were buzzing with activity but all accessible to my children.
The Museum is geared for visitors aged birth to eight. My nine year old enjoyed the Museum with his siblings – particularly the Wonder Lab and Adventure City and also joined their pleas for “five more minutes” when it was time to leave. But, he did get a bit bored in the Making Miniatures and Art & Parts exhibits and inquired whether it was time to move on. If the youngest child in your group is over eight, this may not be your ideal activity or, perhaps, only a short visit. I really love that adults are not admitted unless accompanied by children and that children are similarly not admitted unless accompanied by adults.
The former Stager-Beckwith Mansion is a huge improvement over the prior setting for the Cleveland Children’s Museum and definitely worth the wait. My kids had so much fun in this ideal place for kids to explore, imagine and create.
The new home of the Cleveland Children’s Museum
Kid Facts: Anson Stager, who is known for creating the most effective secret code used during the Civil War, originally built this home in 1866. Stager sold the home a few years later to Thomas Sterling Beckwith, the founder of Cleveland’s first carpet and interior store. In the 19th century, this portion of Euclid Avenue was known as Millionaire’s Row and home to powerful industrialists, including John D. Rockefeller.
#2: Great Lakes Science Center With Kids
The Great Lakes Science Center opened next to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 to support STEM learning. Its North Coast Harbor location on the shore of Lake Erie is picturesque setting, and the wind turbine, which was installed in 2006, provides about 7% of the building’s electrical needs.
Great Lakes Science Center
We met friends visiting from out-of-town at the Science Center a few days after Christmas. Between our two families, we had five boys and one girl ages three to eleven. Even though it was mid-week, it was a very popular day due to the holiday. We started in the hands-on exhibits in the main exhibition space upstairs. This area was a bit of a zoo with the number of families running around, but the kids didn’t seem to mind at all. This exhibit checked all the right boxes for my oldest, who is a kinesthetic learner. He could have easily spent all day trying out absolutely everything.
Throw-back photo from a previous visitShe wanted to watch and try out everything
One of the kids’ favorite activities was building a catenary arch with a few other visitors. Each cushion needed to be arranged in number order and carefully held in place until the entire arch is completed. Due to the height, the final cushion required adult assistance, but the rest of the arch was predominately constructed by kids, who were very excited about the free-standing finished product.
Catenary Arch
After about an hour of intense scientific discovery, we took a break to watch the Rocky Mountain Express in the Cleveland Clinic Dome Theater. The film depicts the construction of the first transcontinental railway of Canada. The IMAX photography really makes viewers feel like they have been transported to Canada. The film not only had beautiful cinematography, but we learned a lot about the building of the Canadian railway. Naturally, we straight to All Aboard! The History of Trains after the film.
The NASA Glenn Visitor Center has been housed at the Great Lakes Science Center since 2010. The highlight of this exhibit is the 1973 Skylab 3 Apollo Command Module. Visitors can try out a nearby replica capsule, which, even with the door removed, was so small that it screamed claustrophobia and made me wonder how the astronauts handle such confined spaces.
At another exhibit in the Visitor Center, kids can operate a remote control rover using a controller and video screen. The rover itself is located across the room, and this simulation gives kids the chance to experience the challenges of remotely operating similar rovers exploring Mars.
Operating the Rover
We finished our time at the Science Center in the Cleveland Creates Zone, which offers various activities for kids to invent, design, tinker and create. The five boys were particularly fascinated by the rocket pod and tried several different designs.
We did not make it to the Polymer Funhouse, an area geared for scientists aged seven and under because half of our crew was too old. However, my daughter would have a blast there, especially on a less crowded day. We also couldn’t take the self-guided walk of the William G. Mather, which is closed November through April, but hope to come back in the Spring to check it out.
Kid Facts: It cost about $120,000 to move the Apollo Command Module from the NASA’s Brook Park facility to the Science Center in 2010. The move required a year of planning but took only about 30 minutes to complete the 13-mile journey.
#3: Greater Cleveland Aquarium With Kids
The Greater Cleveland Aquarium opened in its current location in the Flats’ FirstEnergy Powerhouse in 2012 and remains Ohio’s only free-standing aquarium. When we arrived, the diver presentation was just beginning in the shark tank, so we decided to head straight there. Watching Matthew, the diver, feed the aquatic life was the highlight of our visit. A special microphone allowed Matthew to talk directly to the audience. We learned that most shark bites are really caused by mistaken identity. Sharks explore the world with their mouths, and surfers often look like fish from below.
Diver in the Shark Tank
The 230,000 gallon Shark SeaTube includes four species of shark, stingrays, angelfish, a giant barracuda and a whole host of other ocean creatures. You can literally walk under the tank to get a whole new perspective. If you want to take a peek into the shark tank in real-time, check out the shark cam.
Shark SeaTube
The Aquarium has more than 50 exhibits, 250 species and 1,450 animals from Lake Erie and all across the globe. Some of our favorite animals included the turtles, lion fish and clown fish with the stunning anemone.
Turtle hanging out
Beautiful lion fishClown fish (aka Nemo fish) are always a favorite for our kids.
My son particularly enjoyed the Invertebrate Touch Pool where he got the chance to feel a starfish with the official “two-finger” technique. The Aquarium is an amazing place to learn about aquatic animals and get a glimpse of life under the sea.
Kid Facts: The Aquarium has someone on site 24/7 to check on the tanks and make sure all the animals are safe.
#4: Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland With Kids
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) is one of 20 modern art museums in the US. MOCA opened its new facility in 2012, and a video on its website shows the construction process in under three minutes. A Poet*hical Wager, opened in October 2017 to celebrate its fifth anniversary in University Square. In conjunction with its opening, MOCA announced that it would no longer charge entrance fees for guests under 18, which is a great benefit for families.
The main exhibition space on the fourth floor is a wide-open space that is very different from the typical gallery in traditional art museums with paintings and sculptures. The current exhibit also did not have any barriers. While the exhibition featured in this space changes several times a year, it is probably best suited for children over five.
Many of the installations in the current exhibition, A Poet*hical Wager, challenge the viewer’s preconceived notions about art. Several docents were on hand to explain the background for this exhibition, which was inspired by the book of the same name by Joan Retallack. Most featured artists in this exhibit come from low-income backgrounds and third world countries. Mexico City artist Abraham Cruzvilleges contributed a black and red acrylic painting to cover up newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, tickets, napkins and other items. He also created an installation from various found objects in Cleveland that my daughter likened to a space ship.
Another memorable installation was Rashid Johnson’s Shea Butter, which was a cinderblock wall with shea butter used in place of mortar and sometimes in place of the cinderblocks themselves.
The third floor features an exhibit by British artist Phil Collins (not to be confused with the popular musician) that consists of listening booths that contain vinyl recordings for guests to play on actual record players. Collins anonymously recorded conversations from a homeless shelter phone booth in Cologne that offered free domestic and international calls. A group of musicians used the recordings to create the musical works contained on the records. The novelty of the record player was pretty exciting for my seven year old who had never used one before.
The enclosed Yellow Staircase, which includes a sound installation was a fun way to travel between floors of MOCA.
Yellow Staircase
My kids’ favorite part of our visit to MOCA was the Marjorie + Anselm Talalay Classroom on the third floor where kids could create their own art. To go along with the theme of the main exhibition, the Obfuscation Station encouraged kids to layer colored tape on top of magazine clippings. My kids had so much fun creating works inspired by the exhibition that I’m seriously considering investing in a colored tape dispenser.
Obfuscation Station
MOCA offers monthly Pre-K Play Dates on Saturday mornings. These events are free for kids. On the first Saturday of each month, MOCA offers free admission and family friendly workshops and activities courtesy of PNC Bank. MOCA is a great resource for Cleveland families and encourages children to use their imaginations to create art in non-traditional ways.
Kid Facts: This $27.2 million building was designed by Farshid Moussavi, a world-famous architect.
#5: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame With Kids
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was established in 1983, Cleveland lobbied hard to be chosen as the site of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and won the honors in 1986. As a Cleveland native, I remember the excitement when Cleveland scored the Rock Hall and was lucky to tour it shortly after its 1995 opening. The Rock Hall is definitely a reason why some tourists decide to visit Cleveland.
The lobby area is impressively large and has a car suspended from the ceiling above the Café (which we also enjoyed). This was probably the first suspended car I’ve ever seen.
The Rock Hall features both permanent and special exhibits. The Legends of Rock is a permanent exhibit that includes artifacts such as handwritten drafts, instruments and costumes. The recently renovated Beatles’ exhibit is the world’s largest artifact-based collection of the famous English rock band. The Rock Hall also has always featured a standing Elvis exhibit that features different artifacts. My husband and son watched the exclusive 14-minute Elvis video.
The costume exhibits are really fun. It’s always surprising to see first-hand how small many of the musicians are in real life. I did feel really old when my younger son asked if Michael Jackson was a basketball player and realized that the King of Pop actually died before he was born.
Michael Jackson’s jacket
The boys even found costumes of musicians they recognized like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. We are all still amazed that Lady Gaga actually wore this contraption.
We particularly enjoyed Rolling Stone: 50 Years, which includes celebrities’ letters and interviews and a stunning wall display of the magazine’s iconic cover images. This exhibit encompassed floors 4-6 of the museum, and now the boys have some familiarity with the popular culture magazine.
We noticed more families with young children touring the Rock Hall than we expected. While our kids are not familiar with most of the featured musicians, they enjoyed the multi-media exhibits. My husband and I could have easily spent a few more hours perusing the exhibits, but our shorter highlight tour was a perfect introduction for our kids.
Kid Facts: Cleveland’s Alan Freed was the disc jockey who originated the term “rock ‘n’ roll.”
Find Out More About Cleveland With Kids
There are so many kid-friendly things to do in Cleveland, an up and coming destination. These five amazing museums are just the tip of the iceberg. Spending time in Northeast Ohio, check out our favorite activities in Cleveland with kids.
Thank you to Duquesne Incline for providing complimentary tickets and a tour for my family. All opinions are my own.
The Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh is an amazing example of living history that combines a trolley ride up Mount Washington, engineering genius and an amazing city view. We were traveling to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving and planned to arrive early enough to visit the Duquesne Incline before our big turkey dinner. It was a beautiful clear day, and we were eager to get out and take a trolley ride on the Incline after our drive from Cleveland.
Duquesne Incline Carson Street Station
The best way to get to the Incline is to park at the gravel Station Square parking lot just below the Incline’s Carson Street Station. Head up the stairs and over the Carson Street pedestrian bridge that takes you to the beautiful station with notable old-world charm. When we arrived, a trolley was ready to depart, and we were able to get right on the trolley for a private ride to the top of Mount Washington. We were surprised that the car ran without a driver onboard, but later realized that the trolley was operated by a control station at the top of the hill. The trolley sits on top of a platform with an angled base that keeps it level for the entire ride. It felt like we were stepping back in time when we entered the original trolley car.
Interior of the trolley car
The detail of the wood work in the trolley car was absolutely exquisite.
Trolley car woodwork
The 794-foot wooden track was both an engineering masterpiece and a work of art.
Wooden track
We thoroughly enjoyed our private ride up the Incline and made sure to check out the view from every angle. When we neared the upper station, the trolley car slowed down until it came to a gentle stop, and the doors opened.
The Upper Station
We met Tom Reinheimer, who handles Marketing and Group Tours for the Duquesne Incline, when we arrived at the upper station. Tom provided us an amazing tour of the museum and gave us an overview of the history of Pittsburgh, its many inclines and the engineering challenges that the engineers had to overcome to build and operate the Incline. The Incline was designed by Samuel Diescher, who designed a majority of the inclined planes in the US in the late 19th century. Diescher was associated with John Endres, who built the nearby Monongahela Incline along with his daughter Caroline, who was one of the first female engineers in the US. Diescher married Caroline in 1872, and the two lived on Mount Washington. The Duquesne Incline was completed a few years later and opened on May 20, 1877.
Trolley car traveling down the Incline
The main purpose of the Incline was to transport cargo and people between Grandview Avenue at the top of Mount Washington to Carson Street at the bottom. The Incline was especially helpful to the many coal miners who worked by the river providing coal for Pittsburgh’s steel industry and lived up on Mount Washington. Those who did not take an incline would have to climb up or down 1,400 stairs instead.
On the tour, Tom shared a great deal of Pittsburgh history – all the way back to the city’s role in the initiation of French and Indian War. Steam originally powered the Incline, but eventually was retrofitted to electricity and a generator just before the Great Flood of 1936 when passengers were stranded midway up the Incline for the only time in its 140 years of operation. Passengers were warned that the Incline might not make it to the upper station due to rising flood waters. We also learned that Pittsburgh was once the US steel capital and produced 60% of the country’s steel. Before the Clean Air Act, the city was very smoky due to soot produced by the coal mines.
Tom Reinheimer’s tour of the Upper Station
Tom then took us to the David H. Miller Working Museum to tour of the Incline’s hoisting machinery. The Incline still uses its original hoisting equipment that features giant cogs with wooden gear teeth.
Hoisting equipment
The tour concluded on the observation deck. The view was magnificent. We saw Pittsburgh’s “Three Rivers” confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which together form the Ohio River and the city’s “Golden Triangle” central business district. Other highlights include views of the outline of Fort Duquesne, the Steelers’ Heinz Field, the Pirates’ PNC Park, the Carnegie Science Center and many bridges (up to 18 can be visible).
Three rivers and so many bridges
The Duquesne Incline is a historic landmark but does not receive state or federal subsidies. The Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline is a non-profit organization that operates the Duquesne Incline and relies on fares, gift shop income and donations to maintain the Incline.
Our family really enjoyed the Incline ride and breathtaking view. We all learned a great deal about Pittsburgh history and engineering during our visit. It is a great attraction for families and visitors of all ages because of the fun trolley ride up, the historical significance and the amazing city view. It’s no surprise that USA Today recently named the Duquesne Incline as one of the 10 great streetcars, trams and funiculars. If you can organize a group of 10 or more, I definitely recommend that you request a tour by contacting Tom Reinheimer to schedule.
Before You Go: The Duquesne Incline runs every day (even Thanksgiving!) and stops only for electrical storms because of concerns related to a power surge. Note that the Duquesne Incline accepts only cash and requires exact change. There is an ATM available at the upper station. You can request free tours for any group larger than 10, including school groups and Cub Scout groups (check out their Patch Program) through the Incline’s website.
We also love Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, so the Met’s Water Lilies, a smaller version than many others we have seen in this series, was a real treat. We are fortunate to frequently visit 
My boys learned about the September 11 terrorist attacks by reading 
