“I found your name on the Positively Cleveland website and wondered if you could help me. My family and I would like to visit the Cleveland area next month, and would like some assistance on family activities.” Steve (Erie, PA)

I think you’ll find that Cleveland is a very family-friendly destination.

In town, I’d start at North Coast Harbor. There, at the end of East 9th (or Rock and Roll Boulevard) you’ll find Cleveland Browns Stadium, Great Lakes Science Center (which includes an Omnimax theater), the Steamship Wm. G. Mather Museum, the USS Cod and the International Women’s Air and Space Museum. North Coast Harbor is also home to the one and only Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum . . . so leave enough time. There are plenty of dining options in the museums there, but you can also eat a meal downtown. Depending on the age of your kids, you might like the Hard Rock Cafe at Tower City and both the House of Blues and Pickwick and Frolic on East Fourth Street. The upscale Constantino’s Market on West 9th Street has sandwiches that are “grab and go” and the Sixth Street Pizzeria and Waterstreet Grill downtown also have kid-friendly fare.

Other cool Cleveland stuff for kids and adults to enjoy:

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo + RainForest

Lolly the Trolley tours of the city

Malley’s Chocolates factory tours

Big Fun (a retro toy and collectible shop on Cleveland’s east side)

b.a. Sweetie Candy Company (and its retro candy warehouse)

A Christmas Story House and Museum (devoted to the cult classic holiday film shot partly here in Cleveland)

PlayhouseSquare (Catch a Broadway blockbuster!)

NASA Glenn Visitor Center

A little further east, but still in the city is University Circle, one of the most densely populated square miles of arts and culture in the nation. Even if an orchestra concert isn’t on your kids’ lists of things to do, you can take in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Botanical Garden (it has a children’s garden outside and butterflies in its permanent glasshouse exhibits), the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS). The WRHS includes Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, perfect for kids who like cars and planes.

Speaking of cars, you can park your car once and walk the circle from museum to museum. There are discounts available if you go to multiple attractions. Just a short distance from those facilities is the Cleveland Children’s Museum. That’s really a hands-on facility designed for younger children.

If you continue on east, you can milk a cow or maybe even make ice cream at Lake Metroparks Farmpark or hike around Holden Arboretum. The Lake County Captains, a minor league team, has a very family-friendly stadium less than 30 minutes east of Cleveland.

To the south there are even more attractions appealing to families. You can ride the vintage rails of Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad through the park. If you leave at the Independence station, you can have a lunch (with great cheese fries and a shake) at Yours Truly, down some saucy wings at Quaker Steak & Lube, have a burger at Champps Restaurant and Bar or some southern cooking at Hoggy’s Restaurant. Once on board, you have a lot of choices. You can stop in the little village of Peninsula and shop, rent a bike at Century Cycles and ride around or have lunch there at Fisher’s Cafe or The Winking Lizard. If you choose to continue on the train, you’ll head to Akron (about a 30-minute drive south of Cleveland). Akron has an outdoor living history museum filled with blacksmiths, potters, glassblowers and costumed first-person interpreters called Hale Farm and Village. It also has Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, the former home of rubber baron and Goodyear co-founder FA Seiberling. Stan Hywet (technically pronounced “stan hee-wit,” but referred to as “stan hew-it” most) is a 65-room historic mansion on acres of gardens. And, in downtown Akron, there is the newly-expanded Akron Art Museum, Inventure Place (the inventor’s hall of fame) and the stadium for the minor league Akron Aeros.

If you’re up for daytrip outings, then I have a few more ideas.

Snoopy! (Credit: Cedar Point Amusement Park)

To the west there is Cedar Point Amusement Park, a family outing “must” in my book. Big kids will love the rides and small kids can visit Camp Snoopy and other child-friendly areas of the park. You can take the relaxed Miller Ferry or the super speedy Jet Express to the Lake Erie islands and explore either either Put in Bay or Kelleys Island (Incidentally, I was at Kelleys Island recently and I recommend both the fresh Lake Erie perch taking a trip around the island to see the natural wonder that is the glacier grooves.) Or, something I hope to try out this summer is the Goodtime. It’s a narrated cruise that leaves from Sandusky, Ohio and hits both islands.

Miller Ferry on way to Put in Bay. (Courtesy of Miller Ferry)

Sandusky, incidentally, is home to some great indoor waterparks–Castaway Bay, Great Wolf Lodge, Maui Sands and Kalahari Resort. In downtown Sandusky there is a small, but cool Merry-Go-Round Museum. And there is Ghostly Manor, a top-ranked year-round “thrill and chill” center that includes an XD 3D Theater, a haunted mansion and a roller rink. There’s plenty of kid-friendly fare in Sandusky, but my parents will tell you that their favorite Americana grub is Chet & Matt’s Pizza off of E. Strub Road by the mall.   

Obviously, I could go on and on. Maybe you should start building your itinerary by checking out this page: www.positivelycleveland.com/visiting/things_to_do/family/. That’s probably where I should have sent you in the first place! –Samantha Fryberger