Kids Korner

Visit Cleveland and Beyond! Playhouse Square Center Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame & Museum Halloweekend at Cedar Point You can find out all you want to know about Rock and Roll…and go fishing. Check out where the Wright Brothers got their start and ride gigantic roller coasters guaranteed to make you scream. Meet kids who live without computers, TV, and cell phones and tour a 21st century science center with cool hands-on exhibits. Welcome to Ohio!

Did You Know?

• The more rain in September, the longer leaves are expected to stay on the trees, prolonging the peak fall foliage season. Fall is also a great time in Ohio to pick pumpkins or see if you can find your way out of a corn maze. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will begin posting weekly fall color reports during the first week of October. Generally, leaves change color earliest in the state’s north and latest in the south. The reports can be accessed from www.discoverohio.com/fallcolor. For pumpkin pickers, see www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.com to find one near you.

• You may be able to see Prince’s Purple Rain coat, John Lennon’s report card and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar all in one place—in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (www.rockhall.com), where you can take a quick trip through the history of rock and roll music. It’s the first museum in the world dedicated to rock and roll music. Check out the new exhibit about the Doors.

• Ohio played a key part in the Underground Railroad. Cincinnati, Oberlin, Wilberforce and Ripley were all key cities in the journey to freedom for many runaway slaves who were helped to their next destination by local families like Rev. John Rankin and his family who helped hundreds of slaves escape from Kentucky. You can visit the Rankin House. At www.discoverohio.com there is an entire section on Black History and an interactive map. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in Cincinnati, shows how families just like yours helped. Download the Family Freedom Center Guide before you visit (www.freedomcenter.com).

• The Wright Brothers ran their bicycle repair shop in Dayton, Ohio from 1897 to 1908. Visit the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park at www.nps.gov/daav.

• On October 5, 1905, Wilbur Wright took flight from Huffman Prairie, and a new age of aviation was born. He flew for more than 24 miles in just 39 minutes, completing 29 circles of the field, at an average speed of 38 miles per hour. This flight, the longest of 1905 and longer than all of the previous years' flights combined, marked the achievement of practical flight. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer III had become, on that day, the world's first practical airplane. Also in Dayton, you can visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force and board the plane that carried President John F. Kennedy’s body to Washington after his assassination and stand where Lyndon B. Johnson stood while being sworn in as president. At Dayton’s National Museum of the United States Air Force on Wright Patterson Air Force Base, this and eight more presidential aircraft are on display (http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/).

• You can go 120 miles per hour up a 420 foot steel skyscraper in Ohio—on the Thrill Dragster roller Coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky. It’s taller than the Statue of Liberty! Cedar Point boasts 16 roller coasters and more than 150 other rides and attractions, including four kid areas, It also has an indoor water park, “Castaway Bay,” in 2004 (www.cedarpoint.com) . If you’re ready for monsters jumping out of trees, visit in October during HalloWeekend.

• You can time travel back before computers, cell phones, cars, and even electricity without leaving Ohio. You can visit Holmes County (between Columbus and Akron) home to the world’s largest Amish Community, which forgoes modern conveniences, as well as neighboring counties (www.visitamishcountry.com). You can help on the farm. The guided "Off the Beaten Path" tour is a step back in time, taking visitors off the farm and along back roads through 12 square miles of Holmes County. The trip includes a visit to three Amish home-based businesses: a broommaker, candlemaker, and noodlemaker. Visit www.Amish-r-us.com or Amish Culture Tours: For those who want a hands-on, "Amish-for-a-Day" experience, visit www.buggytrailtours.com.

• Ohio was the ultimate swing state in the last presidential election. But Ohio was important to presidential politics long before 2004. Eight Ohioans have occupied the White House, earning the state’s nickname, “The Mother of Presidents.” In Cleveland, you can visit President James A. Garfield’s home dubbed “Lawnfield,” where he gave his front porch campaign speeches. You can also see his impressive monument and gravesite at Lake View Cemetery (while you’re there, drop a dime at Rockefeller’s grave for good fortune or see crime fighter Eliot Ness’s memorial). And, just south of Cleveland in Canton is the National First Ladies Library in Canton.

• You can visit a rain forest right in Cleveland. All you need to do is go to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where the two-acre Rain Forest showcases more than 600 animals and thousands of plants from the jungles in the world. Be careful you don’t get rained on!

• There’s a restaurant that just sells different kinds grilled cheese sandwiches. Check out Melt Bar and Grilled (www.meltbarandgrilled.com) for food kids and adults will love. Another Cleveland restaurant, Cheddars, sells 20 kinds of mac and cheese. Give them a call at (216) 631-7555.

• The five Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. Lake Erie, on Ohio’s border, is the fourth largest and the shallowest. You can go boating or fishing on the lake in the summer or visit the Lake Erie islands. See what makes the Great Lakes unique at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. You’ll love the hands-on exhibits and the six-story OMNIMAX Theater (www.greatscience.com).

• Lifesavers were invented in 1912 in Cleveland because chocolate maker Clarence Crane thought chocolate melted too easily in the summer heat. Visit Sweetie Candy Company in Cleveland where you’ll see lots of old-fashioned candies your mom and dad will remember from when they were kids (www.sweetiescandy.com).

What Other Kids Say You Should Do While In Cleveland, Ohio . . .

Meet: Rachael (age 8) who lives in Cleveland. She is the daughter of Southwest Airlines Cleveland Customer Service Supervisor, Valerie. She says, “Go Tribe! The Cleveland Indians are World Series Bound.” Don't miss an Indians game at the Jake, the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, the Westside Market, the Inner Harbour, the restaurants in the Flats, or the Metro Parks. Don't go home without original Cleveland Stadium Mustard. The best places to eat are Karl's Inn of the Barrister and Johnny Q's Steakhouse. The best places to visit outside of Cleland are Cedar Point, Amish Country, and Hinkley Reservation.

Kids, Tell Your Parents . . .

• The first resource for visiting Cleveland is www.travelcleveland.com and for Ohio, www.discoverohio.com. All restaurants in Ohio have smoke-free restaurants (though outdoor patios are exempt.) If you’re visiting Cleveland in October, check out the weekend Halloween Hayride with kid-oriented thrills at the Lake Metroparks Farmpark (www.lakemetroparks.com) and Boo at the Zoo at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (www.clemetzoo.com). Lolly the Trolley provides narrated city tours, visit www.lolly.com. The website www.gocitykids.com is also a good resource to find out what’s happening in the Ohio city you plan to visit. In Cleveland, check out www.Ctix.org for discounted tickets to plays and concerts.

• University Circle in Cleveland is home to several museums, gardens, parks and more. It’s the most concentrated square mile of arts and culture in the US. Visit www.universitycircle.org to see what events are scheduled when you plan to visit.

• Paramount’s Kings Island is the destination for wooden roller coaster aficionados. “The Son of Beast” is the world’s fastest and highest wooden coaster with its predecessor, “The Beast” taking the title of the longest wooden coaster. There are plenty of kiddie rides the park’s Nickelodeon Central and Hanna-Barbera™ Land.

• Geauga Lake features 10 coasters, plus family rides, shows and the Kidworks Playzone and Splash Landing, both designed specially for kids (www.geaugalake.com).

• The Hale Farm and Village depicts farm life in Ohio during the Civil War (www.wrhs.org).

• See a Cincinnati Reds game (www.reds.com) or a Cleveland Indians (www.cleveland.indians.mlb.com) a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game in winter (www.nba.com/cavaliers ) or a Cleveland Browns football game (www.clevelandbrowns.com). Watch the Cleveland City Stars play soccer (www.clevelandcitystars.com) or the Lake Erie Monsters play hockey (www.lakeeriemonsters.com). If you’re driving through Canton, check out the Professional Football Hall of Fame (www.profootballhof.com).

• The winter won’t stop you from playing in the water at the 271-room, Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky with its 33,000 square foot indoor water extravaganza (www.greatwolf.com) or the African-themed Kalahari Resort (www.Kalahariresorts.com), with Ohio’s largest indoor water park.

• Niagara Falls is just a couple of hours in a car from Cleveland (www.infoniagra.com).

• The Children’s museum of Cleveland designed for young kids. They’ll love the two-story climbing structure and huge water table as well as a “farm” for babies and toddlers (www.clevelandchildrensmuseum.org).

• The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The kids will love all the dinos! Visit www.cmnh.orh for more information.

• The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is consistently ranked as one of the top zoos in the country. Opened in 1875, it is the nation's second oldest zoo and a national historic landmark. The Zoo’s 75 acres house more than 500 animal species and 3,000 plant varieties. The zoo is internationally known for its success in the protection and propagation of endangered animals and plants, and engages in research and conservation projects around the world (www.cincyzoo.org).

• The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is home to more than 700 species and 6,000 specimens. Known worldwide for its success in breeding endangered animals, the Columbus Zoo features hundreds of species threatened with extinction in the wild, including bald eagles, black rhinos, Asian elephants, okapi, Mexican wolves, West Indian manatees, bonobos, leopards, sea turtles and Andean condors (www.colszoo.org).

• COSI museums can be found in Columbus (www.cosi.org) and Toledo (www.cositoledo.org). Each makes science fun through hands-on discovery. COSI Columbus features eight interactive exhibition areas, each geared toward many scientific topics under one theme. COSI Toledo is a dynamic center of hands-on learning and fun. With unique, themed exhibition areas, COSI Toledo sparks curiosity and imagination and encourages exploration in all topics related to science.

• NASA’s Glenn Research Center where you can take a tour the first Saturday of each month. More astronauts are from Ohio than any other state, including John Glenn and Neil Armstrong (www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn).

• The Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland (www.glsc.org) is one of America’s largest interactive science museums. More than 400 hands-on exhibits, daily demonstrations, educational programs and the OMNIMAX Theater show visitors the delicate interdependency of science, environment and technology.

• Find more than 500 miles of biking trails and the chance to hunt for fossils in ancient caves at Ohio’s 74 State Parks. Go fishing and boating on Lake Erie. Camp or stay in a cottage. Visit www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/.

See Past Editions of Kids Korner.

By: Eileen Ogintz, Author of Taking the Kids™