After West Virginia, we moved on to Ohio for the next leg of our journey. The Cleveland SE KOA Holiday in Streetsboro functioned as our base of operations. Streetsboro (and the surrounding area) was so stinking cute! (This KOA was also the home of the Pig Rock.)
Our first point of interest was Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Unlike some national parks, Cuyahoga Valley is spread out over a wide area. The visitor center we visited was at the trailhead for the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail which is popular among cyclists. Not having travel bikes, we walked a portion of the trail before moving on to the Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail. The Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail is an easy walk. Water levels were low so Brandywine Falls was rather small during our visit. (Pro tip: Waterfalls are directly impacted by the amount of rainfall in the area so, if water levels are low, the falls will be smaller. I know this seems obvious, but people still write reviews complaining about things like that.🙄)
The “24 hours of A Christmas Story” marathon on TBS/TNT is a Christmas staple at our house. After attending the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church, we go home and begin prepping the monkey bread and pigs-in-a-blanket for Christmas morning; we always have the marathon on while we work. We couldn’t be in the Cleveland area and not visit the House from A Christmas Story. (Tour tickets must be purchased online.) The tour was fun and we were given plenty of time to roam around and take pictures. The tour includes the small museum containing a lot of props from the movie and a wall of fan art. Of course there is also a gift shop where I bought a few stocking stuffers. (The house next door has been turned into the Bumpus House bed and breakfast.)
Kenn even found a pretty park for us to visit – complete with a “Cleveland” sign perfect for pictures, LOL. It was a nice place to sit and chill for a while. It was also my first view of Lake Erie.
We meet so many wonderful people when we travel. There are always others willing to take photos for us (like the one above) and we do the same for them. Many times this turns into conversations about where everyone is from and where we have traveled, etc. There are plenty of good people in the world.
What are your holiday traditions? Do you watch A Christmas Story?
Linda Lou's Life 
What a fun post! The waterfall was pretty even with less water. You and Kenn are a cute couple. And the house tour looks so fun! Yes, there are so many wonderful people in the world. It’s easy to forget that when your view is what’s on the news. Thanks for your post!
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It’s definitely important to stop scrolling and interact with real people. Thanks for stopping by!
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You were just an hour from us. You two are hilarious in the house. It’s funny because you have seen things I haven’t, and I live close!
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I didn’t realize you live in that area. Now you’ve got some “new” places to visit!
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We do watch “A Christmas Story.” Always makes me laugh.
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The lines “Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense.” get used in conversations frequently – usually in regards to cats.
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LOL. Here it’s “I can’t move my arms!”
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Yes, “A Christmas Story” is a holiday staple for us! We visited the house when we were in Cleveland, but sadly, the museum had already closed for the day. I blame the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, which ate up most of our day.
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There was a lot of fun stuff in this post Linda. I have not been to Cleveland since I was young and we lived in Canada and drove there for my grandmother to visit a shrine. The water levels are low everywhere due to not only drought conditions but this incessant wind we have been having since Spring. Today and tomorrow winds are 40-45 mph.
I might be the only person alive who has never seen “A Christmas Story” but I know there are catchphrases like “you’ll shoot your eyes out” when the boy wants a BB gun. I knew about the fishnet leg, only because many years ago a coworker’s father passed away and a group of us girls went out for dinner, followed by a visit to the funeral home to pay our respects. In the casket was a miniature fishnet leg. I was a bit aghast at seeing this and nudged one of the girls and asked if they knew the significance – no one did, but said it was from this movie and they’d explain in the car. Just then Eileen, our coworker, came over to acknowledge us and said “in case you were wondering about the leg, this was my father’s favorite movie so I got this lamp for him for Christmas, but we just used the leg here.” (Okay, got it.) I have no traditions at my house now that I am alone and have no family members. I used to spend the day after Friday decorating – with a small house you have to find places to tuck items away while Christmas items are out, but I don’t do that now. It’s a quiet holiday, but that’s fine too.
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