Friday March 7 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum

Well, it is a heat wave in Cleveland today, temperatures between 31 and 55 degrees F. I headed out after breakfast with only TWO layers on today and with bare arms!! LOL, the natives must have thought I am mad!

I walked down the street to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What an interesting place. I think fatigue has finally got to my brain, it was almost too much for me to take in but I still enjoyed it.
The introductory film was very interesting in terms of what came before rock and roll and how it developed. There are lots of videos of different artists as well as interactive listening exhibits where you can listen to a variety of artists. 

There are many displays with notes about the artists as well as clothing they wore and instruments they played - lots of guitars of course!! 

The music studios are not forgotten either so it is a real journey into music both past and present. On display are Janis Joplin's Porsche and Elvis's custom made motor bike!!

I did not realise there was such a backlash against this type of music in the US, that was very enlightening and it must have certainly been interesting to live through those times. 

I did not realise that Ice-T who is now a star of, grrrr, is it "SVU" or one of those other shows like that? It seems odd for him to be starring in a cop show given his background!

Talking of cops, I am making these notes in a Starbucks and three of them just walked in, but only to get coffees!! Phew, did not like the sight of those guns they were wearing! 


There was also a large police presence at the Casino as I walked past, not sure if this is normal or not!

Back to the rockers!!

All the legends of Rock and Roll were represented, to name a few - Chuck Berry, Elvis, Rolling Stones, Beatles, The Supremes, Jim Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and so on to name but a few. 

There are so many other names I have never heard of as I never really hit music until late in my teens. This was the early days of the Beatles and then of course there was Flower Power and all that!! 

Being brought up in the UK I was more interested in local artists such as Cliff Richard, Dusty Springfield and so on in those days.

There is also an area where all the different city sounds and scenes are portrayed with Detroit being high among these, so different today for that city. 

I went up to the fourth level and there is a very interesting exhibit - Pink Floyd: The Wall. The comments on it are very enlightening! On top of the wall there is a cartoon character, as taken from the escalator!!

I looked down and saw the store below, they must almost have every CD that has been produced!!! I also took a photo of where I walked down to the end of E 9th Street!

I returned to my hotel and saw grass, yes grass, even though it was brown!! After a sandwich for a very late lunch I then headed out to explore a wee bit more. 

I missed Euclid Street but I know where I went wrong so will go there tomorrow. I am looking for a postcard of Cleveland, such a simple thing I know!! Then i remembered the other Starbucks I saw previously so headed for that and a cup of coffee!!

The Civic Centre is a strange mix of monuments.statues and high rises all mixed up together! It is interesting though and I will take a few photos tomorrow.