Cuyahoga County

This was my eighty-ninth county, the last of the forty-two counties that start with "C." It's also, according to the latest U.S. Census estimates, the largest county I've visited on these trips since we moved East in July 2012. Cleveland is the main city in Cuyahoga County, and only the second (after Athens County, home of Ohio University) of nineteen I've visited in Ohio, that didn't vote for the current President in 2016.

I allotted four days, Friday to Tuesday over Veteran's Day weekend, to do justice to the county. Between Council meetings, my last class at OLLI, and our planned trip to Memphis, I couldn't find other times to go. I thought I would stay downtown, but The Usual Chain charged twice as much as a suburban branch, plus an extra fee for parking. I had figured I could drive the 200 miles to Cleveland from Morgantown before lunch. I left late, as usual, so stopped for lunch on the Ohio Turnpike at Panera at a rest stop. I don't know if the kids who work there don't listen, but this was probably the third time, at different locations, that my order was taken wrong. This time, I caught it before they made up the order and got it straightened out.

I pulled into Cleveland's Public Square about two, found a parking garage, and started looking for a bathroom. I walked into a fancy branch of a big chain hotel looking for one. This is a time when I use the privilege of being white and unscruffy, looking like I might being staying at the hotel, to find a bathroom off the lobby. No luck! It was locked and one needed a guest key to get in. There was a coffee place next door. I thought I would order tea, and use their facility, but a sign on the door said there was no public restroom. I ducked into the iconic Terminal Building, figuring it might still be a railroad terminal and thus have a restroom. The lobby area and several floors of the building are now an indoor mall, with some upscale stores and many vacancies. I found the food court in the back, with an adjacent restroom, open to the public. It was crowded with the locals, mainly African-American men, looking for a bathroom and a warm space to hang out. This seemed to be the only spot on the Square to do that.

I did check out the Civil War monument, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, much fancier than the obelisks honoring Confederate soldiers in every county in Virginia. It's quite elegant, with a museum inside with brass bas reliefs of scenes from the war. From there, I went back to the car, and drove out of town to the hotel, eight miles south in Independence. Wikipedia says the Rockside Road corridor, where my hotel was located, is the "Silicon Valley" of Metropolitan Cleveland. After a nap, I walked to a fast-casual Middle Eastern restaurant. It was cold out and it wasn't a great place to walk, with only intermittent sidewalks.

I picked twenty historic places in Cleveland to visit, out of several hundred on the National Register, and planned to visit the most eastern ten Saturday and the western ten Sunday, leaving most of the suburbs for Monday. I planned on seeing the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood on Saturday. Sunday I figured to go to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Saturday, the temperature ranged from 29 F. to 37, overcast and windy. I started at Cleveland State University just east of downtown, saw some old buildings along the "green necklace" park system along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. I stopped  at Case-Western Reserve University, then passed the museums (some of which Joe and I visited with my sister Robin in 2018), then out to the far eastern end of the city, to find a historic theater on East 185th St. I ate at Gus's Diner on the same street, an old-fashioned kind of place, like the diner in the movie that we used to visit in Baltimore. From there, I checked out Wildwood Park along Lake Erie. This was my third trip to the lake, after Ashtabula County, Ohio  in February 2014, and Chautauqua County, New York in March, 2018. On both of those trips, the lake was frozen over. Not this time. There is a strip of small shops on Waterloo Road, parallel to I-90, out that way, and I stopped at a record store. I bought a 1969 Warner Brothers teaser, a two-record set of up-and-coming artists from 1969, like Sweetwater, and The Fugs.

I visited the Maltz Museum in suburban Beachwood, the current fashionable Jewish suburb, after close-in Cleveland Heights, where there is still an Orthodox community in that walkable inner suburb, and past Shaker Heights, Cleveland's answer to Baltimore's  Pikesville, where Jews lived fifty years ago. Beachwood is past there, and the houses are larger than Shaker Heights and on bigger lots. The museum is next to a sprawling synagogue complex.

The museum featured a traveling show from Philadelphia's Jewish Museum about Leonard Bernstein. There was a lot about his family history, an explanation about the music, and his life as alternatively an openly gay man, and a husband and father of three children. What moved me, was his political advocacy for humanistic causes, and his abiding love for Israel. Politics today are so much coarser, and Israel has made itself much harder to love since those days.

I stopped in the gift shop and bought a new kippa for Joe, and a copy of Roz Chast's 2013 graphic memoir, both funny and sad, about her parents in their old age, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" I noted to the woman working there that they had a hardcover version of Parts One and Two of Art Spiegelman's Maus. She had never heard of it, and I told her she had to read it. That may have been my one good deed on this trip. I asked her why the trees were bare in Beachwood and there was snow on the ground, when that didn't seem to be the case in most of Cleveland, where there were plenty of colorful leaves out and no snow. She told me that this was the beginning of the "snow belt" more west than south of Lake Erie, extending up to Buffalo, and that it was colder and snowier than central Cleveland. Who knew?

I got back to the hotel, not close, around sunset, napped for a time, and found, online, a diner to the west of where I was staying in another suburb. I thought about finding a movie or something, but crashed back in the room.

Sunday was warmer, but more difficult. I thought I was cool, missing a home football game in Morgantown. I didn't note that the Cleveland Browns were playing Sunday afternoon. I explored some of the old industrial areas west of downtown, saw some little coffee places popping up, and nearer downtown, a neighborhood of new apartment buildings and some factories renovated into loft-type apartments. I saw young people walking their little dogs, electric scooters for rent littering the sidewalks and other signs of young up-and-coming inhabitants. Thee was even an LGBT Center. I snapped a few shots, but as I crossed the Cuyahoga River into the city center, it became difficult to navigate and impossible to park, because of the impending football game. I gave up and headed back to the'burbs.

I couldn't find anyplace to eat that interested me, and finally lunched in a Subway in an old treeless shopping center. I stopped into a grocery store for fresh fruit. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as the name implies, follows the river, but there is also a canal from the days before the railroad came, with a few old inns and remnants of the canal. Although the area is flat, the river is in fact in a valley, and although just over the hills there are factories, warehouses, and houses, the valley itself is remarkably preserved. I walked the trail along the canal about 1.5 miles each way. I came back to the hotel and slept, then went to dinner at the Ohio-based chain restaurant near the hotel. It was better than that chain usually is.

The weather forecast for Monday was dire, although it was relatively warm (40 F.) and sunny in the morning. It was supposed to hit 50, then start raining, and, by 3 P.M., snowing, a lot, with possibly a foot of accumulation and temperatures falling to 15 F. overnight. The hotel let me check out a day early. I went looking for a few historic houses in Independence and Parma, where I also found Sheetz, where I got gas for the trip home. There was a historic house listed at an address on a lake in the far southwest corner of Cleveland, so I went there and found two late nineteenth century mansions ( I never did see the lake). It was starting to rain by then, and I headed to Westlake, a suburb on Lake Erie almost in the next county. I went there because there was a Nordstrom Rack, and I am a sucker for bargains on clothes. It was in a development like The Grove in Los Angeles, kind of Disney-looking, only with three and four-stories of apartments upstairs, parking on the streets and much larger. The layout was confusing, as was parking in the garages, but I made my way to Nordstrom and bought a shirt, pants, underwear, socks and a belt. There were some fancier brands than other stores, but I think T.J. Maxx is as good, and cheaper. I went looking for a place to eat. I picked a noodle place (closed) and then a Chinese place (also closed). There was a chicken place, but it was all spicy, which I didn't' want, and a pizza place, where I said to the greeter that I couldn't eat a whole pizza and she snapped back "Well, we don't sell it by the slice," and walked away. By now it was getting colder and raining, and I wondered why this outdoor shopping area was built in a cold, snowy place. It would make sense in Southern California, but not here. I stepped into that ubiquitous coffee chain and had a bagel and hot tea. Next door was Graeter's ice cream from Cincinnati, deserted. I stopped in for a scoop. The proprietor told me there were now two branches in Cleveland, the other in a development like this one in Beachwood, and that, while it was mobbed in summer, it was slow November to March. I asked him if he thought all the apartments were rented and he said that in this part of the development, more expensive than some of the others, he didn't think so.

By now, it was approaching 2 P.M. and the snow was to start at 3. I was at the northwest end of Cuyahoga County, heading south and east to get home. It was pouring down rain. I got through town, and soon the weather cleared and, by the time I got to Morgantown, it was 60 F. and sunny. I was home for dinner. It snowed a bit overnight Morgantown, and the temperature dropped suddenly down to 30, but unlike in Cleveland, there was no accumulation. I enjoyed being in a large metropolis with a diverse population, and I would like to go back and see more.

Mall inside the Terminal Building, downtown Cleveland

Civil War Monument, Public Square

Bronze relief of nurses in the Civil War, inside the monument

Lincoln Freeing The Slaves, Civil War Monument

Former May Company Building, Public Square

University Hall, Cleveland State University

Masonic Hall, 1921

Cook Building, now apartments

Woodland Cemetery

East Boulevard Apartments

former Armory at Case-Western Reserve University

At Case-Western Reserve

Glidden House

Hay-McKinney House, now part of the Cleveland History Museum, 1916-1919

La Salle Theater, 1927

Wildwood Park on. Lake Erie

Blue Arrow Records

The Temple-Tifereth Israel, Beachwood

Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood

South Brooklyn Historic District

Temple-Bradley Company (now apartments)

American-Roumanian Daily News

new apartments west of downtown

warehouses becoming apartments and rental electric scooters, west of downtown

Richman Brothers Building

bridges across the Cuyahoga near downtown

crowds waiting for the football game

Cleveland State University

Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Canal Exploration Center, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Ohio and Erie Canal, 1820s and 30s Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Wilson Feed Mill, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Fuller-Bramley House, Independence, 1856

Henninger House, Parma 1849

House next to the Whitney House, Berea

Whitney House, Berea, 1870

Chautauqua County, New York

This was different. On most of my monthly trips to a new county, and this was the sixty-ninth, I've picked the week when the weather was going to be at its best. Now that I'm on City Council in Morgantown, I don't have that luxury. Also, Joe and I are going to Key West at the end of the month to my nephew's wedding, and I thought it would be good to leave a week to be back in Morgantown before heading off again. The forecast for Chautauqua County, in far western New York on Lake Erie, the United States' border with Canada, was for snow. A lot of snow. Still, the roads are all Interstate and there are no mountains to cross, unlike driving to Virginia, for instance, so I figured it wouldn't be hard to go 230 or so miles. And generally, it wasn't.

My first stop was a rest stop on Chautauqua Lake near Mayville, the village that is the county seat. I  met David and Joanne, an older couple staffing the tourist center there, and they told me about the Luci and Desi Museum and Chautauqua Institution, closed for the winter, but a gathering place for intellectuals. Lucille Ball is from Jamestown, the largest city in the county. I told them I look for synagogues, and they told me that Chautauqua, when it's open, has two Jewish centers, and they found a synagogue online in Dunkirk, the second largest city, on Lake Erie, with twelve members. I had found a Reform synagogue in Jamestown with thirty members. There is also a mall, a Wegman's (but no Whole Foods) and forty-nine places on The National Register. So I had enough to do.

View of Lake Chautauqua from the rest stop on I-86, which is also Old Route 17, Wednesday, afternoon

My motel was located just outside the city limits of Jamestown. I got to town about three and went downtown to check out what was there.

The Wellman Building, Jamestown, 1897

Downtown Commercial Historic District, Jamestown. This is the Jamestown Hotel, from 1924

Main St., Route 60, Jamestown

Luci and Desi Museum, Jamestown

I drove back to the motel and crashed for at least an hour. Leafing through the motel's notebook, I found an ad for a Chinese buffet, located just south of the Erie Railroad overpass on Main St. Just a block south of downtown, in what looks like a flood plain, there are newish stores: a chain restaurant, drug store, and a medical walk-in office. The food at the Chinese place was good, but both the hot and cold foods were room temperature, except the hot tea and the cold ice cream. It was snowing when I left the restaurant.

I stayed up arranging my day for Thursday. The National Weather Service posted a "Winter Weather Warning" for Thursday, starting at three P.M. and extending to Saturday evening. I thought about going home the next morning, but decided to stick it out.

Thursday was cold, ranging from 21 to 31 F. and there were snow squalls alternating with bright sunshine most of the day. I had six places on The National Register to find in Jamestown, plus the synagogue, before heading off to the rest of the county. I skipped my alternate day water pill. I knew it would be too hard to have to pee every twenty minutes.

Euclid Avenue School, Jamestown, 1911, enlarged 1920

Lakeview Avenue Historic District, mostly 1890s

Jamestown National Guard Armory, 1932

My search for Jamestown's synagogue was fruitless. The building, behind the armory, is now a church. It's possible that the synagogue still meets elsewhere. The future of Jewish life in small towns is not good.

Erie Railroad Station, Jamestown, 1931. Wikipedia says the last passenger train was in 1970. It is used as a bus hub and, according to a sign outside, will be renovated as a performing arts center.

Partridge-Sheldon House, Jamestown, 1850-67, enlarged 1880. Porter Sheldon was a US Representative after the Civil War

A view of downtown Jamestown from the south, near the Partridge-Sheldon House

Governor Reuben Fenton Mansion (1863) now Fenton History Center, Jamestown

It's 26.5 miles up NY Route 60 from Jamestown, at the south end of Lake Chautauqua, to Fredonia, near Lake Erie. The Commons is a two-square block park along Main Street (US 20) in the middle of town. North of there is a campus of the State University of New York. Fredonia is one of the more prosperous looking towns in the area.

Fredonia Commons, Fredonia

Fredonia Post Office, on the Commons, 1935-36, a Works Progress Administration Project

Fredonia Town Hall and Opera House and the United Methodist Church, Fredonia Commons

On campus at SUNY (State University of New York at Fredonia)

Dunkirk, the second-largest town in Chautauqua County, is just up the road from Fredonia on the border of Lake Erie. Much of the lake is inaccessible, with industrial uses, businesses and parking lots. There is a city park on the lake. I used to work at Social Security in Miami with a young man of Polish heritage who was from Dunkirk. I saw some buildings with words in Polish  and a polish community center in Dunkirk.

Temple Beth-El , Washington St., Dunkirk. They have a webpage on meetup.com, not updated since at least last summer, that shows eleven members

School Number 7, Dunkirk, probably 1920

Coming back down Route 5 along the lake I spotted a combined Tim Horton's and Cold Stone Creamery. Joe and I breakfasted at Tim Horton's in French-speaking Canada, and so I was surprised that the young woman at the register spoke English and said "What can I get for you, Honey." I'm not used to being called "Honey." I had a gooey chicken fajita wrap, with bad fries in a cup (edible drowned in ketchup) and a Diet Coke. I hear that Diet Coke rots your brain, but it goes well with fast food.

Point Gratiot Lighthouse. As you can see, the grounds were closed. This is the office with the lighthouse, still in use, behind it, 1875, on Lake Erie in Dunkirk.

Lake Erie from Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk

The road into Lake Erie State Park, Brocton, with the bathhouse on the right

Brocton "Welcome" Arch, 1913

It started to snow on the way from Brocton to Westfield, adjacent towns along Lake Erie.

Barcelona Lighthouse and keeper's cottage, 1829, Westfield, now owned by New York State

Coming back to the center of Westfield, which is along U.S. 20, from Barcelona Lighthouse, the snow was coming down "fast and furious." I parked behind Main St. and ducked into the café pictured here with the "open" flag. I had a cannoli and herbal tea. I didn't realize they closed at two. I got there at five of. The snow stopped for awhile, or at least slowed down enough for me to walk around. Westfield has more National Register listings than anyplace else in Chautauqua County. It was once called "Portland" and was an early port and grape-growing region. If it had not already been so late, and the weather threatening, I might have explored more of the town.

E.Main St. Historic District, Westfield

One-time headquarters of Welch's, Westfield. Lake Erie is a major grape-growing area

Town Square, Westfield, part of the French Portage Road Historical District

an early 20th Century block on East Main St., in Westfield

The McClurg Museum, an 1818 mansion, Home of the Chautauqua Historical Society, Westfield

I headed south east from Westfield back in the direction of Jamestown, to Mayville, a village, and the county seat. By this time, it was 3 P.M. and the promised snowstorm showed up.

Chautauqua County Courthouse, 1907, Mayville

Sign bragging about how much snow they get, across the street from the Courthouse, Mayville

I thought I would check out the Chautauqua Community, a resort that has concerts and lectures throughout the summer. It is just south of Mayville and has many historic structures. Although the road by there is along Lake Chautauqua, the snow was coming down so hard that it was impossible to get a clear view of the lake. I passed it by on the way to Lakeview, the western suburb of Jamestown, where there is a traditional enclosed mall. I stopped in to see what was there, and to get out of the weather. They have a Bon-Ton (same company as Elder-Beerman in Morgantown), Penny's and Sear's. There an Office Depot with an outside entrance, and some restaurants that can be entered from inside or outside the mall. Many storefronts in the mall are empty. I stopped in FYE, where I (still) buy CDs in Morgantown, and I bought the new Grammy CD, a collection of songs nominated for Grammys. This gives me an opportunity to see what the latest (last year) music is, and I usually upload it to my antique IPod shuffle to listen at the gym.

I noted the location of Wegman's near the mall and went back to my motel to nap for an hour. I went back out to Wegman's for dinner, where it is now $9.99 a pound for the food bar. I spent $!5 on greens, broccoli, a little piece of salmon, and fruit, trying to eat healthier than I did for lunch. I was back in the room early to catch up on email and social media. There was a party in the next room, which kept me up a bit. I tried to watch some of MSNBC and CNN, thinking I would get smart commentary, but on one of them was an interview with a steelworker and his father, both inarticulate, praising the President's tariffs on imported steel. There were also commercials for medication and cars. I confirmed for myself why I don't watch television at home.

I was out before nine Friday morning in near white-out conditions, drove back to the courthouse in Mayville, then to Morgantown. The weather cleared up at the Pennsylvania line near Erie, and there was less and less snow on the ground as I headed south. I was in Frankin Park, at the north end of Allegheny County, not far from Pittsburgh just past noon. I know there is an Eat 'n' Park there, and my friend Matthew, who I met in New Orleans in 1973, lives nearby. I called him, and since he is unemployed, he came and met me for lunch. It was good to see him again. Schools in Monongalia were closed because of snow Friday. It didn't seem so bad when I got there around three in the afternoon.

Like most of the smaller places I visit, it seems the best days of the area are in the past. The little old towns are pretty, and some have upscale stores, but most don't. Chautauqua Institute is famous, and I know people from all over go there for a week or so in the summer. I'm sure it's beautiful outdoors by the lake in the summer. I perversely enjoyed navigating around in the snow. Go figure!