By Jeffrey Yoham
It’s been a little over a year since I took the chance and decided to drive up to Cleveland, Ohio from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to attend law school. Law school is already a daunting task as is, but to combine that with moving to an entirely new and unfamiliar place has taken much time to get accustomed. Even after a year of settling in, I’m still trying to find my footing. Outside of attending classes or cramming… I mean studying promptly for exams, I’ve been able to explore both inside and outside the city and find places where I can delve into other interests and escape the narrow trappings of the law. I’d recommend them to anyone, especially those new to the area.
One of the first places that I found and now make a traditional visit to is the Cleveland Museum of Art in University Circle. The museum itself is massive with numerous expansive levels filled with art and artifacts from a multitude of regions of the world and eras of history. The outside of the museum opens to Wade Lagoon where you get serene views of the surrounding buildings and get to walk along the park grounds. You can also double the visit in August when the Feast of the Assumption occurs since Little Italy is only a short walk away. There are plenty of places both in and out of the museum to shop and eat so it’s a great launching area to see the rest of the neighborhood. I make the visit after finals every semester as a way to escape the stress and get lost in the mosaic of detailed portraits and paintings, impressive weaponry, brilliant jewelry, and ancient artifacts that line the museum’s vast halls.
Another area I’ve found to be a great place to check out are the parks and eateries of Lakewood and West Side Cleveland. The two most well-known parks in the area are Lakewood Park and Edgewater Park, both of which offer great views of the city and Lake Erie. Lakewood Park has an amazing piece called the Solstice Steps that cascade down the hillside and overlook the shoreline of the Erie and provide the best vantage point for watching serene sunsets and feeling the breeze coming off the water. The park also provides swinging benches, wide open space, a walking path along the shoreline, volleyball nets, a swimming pool and much more. Edgewater Park sits closer to downtown Cleveland and provides its own beach for those warm summer and spring days and long pathways for walking, running, and biking that meander up and around the park. If you’re not too interested in parks then you can check out the various restaurants and bars that run along Madison Ave and Detroit Ave. There’s something for everyone, from coffee shops to barbecue joints, local taverns to gourmet restaurants. It’s given me many a memorable night.
A final place I’ll mention is out in Westlake called Crocker Park. It’s an outdoor mall that has several shops to peruse through and restaurants to check out. It’s just an all-around pleasant place to walk around and experience with its long promenades and city-like center. They also have a farmer’s market every Saturday morning.
All in all, there is plenty to do in and around Cleveland to help make this new place feel like home even for someone from the other side of the country. Though, I’m still not done exploring, so when I’m not digging into constitutional or criminal law in the library, I’ll be searching for more gems to discover.
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