Get Away

Downtown Cleveland’s TALL SHIPS Festival is off to a rousing start with a Parade of Sails, live music and much maritime merriment. This four-day waterfront festival is a wonderful experience for families to enjoy live entertainment, historical exhibits, food, beverages and, yes… board the Tall Ships! Join in on the fun along Lake Erie through July 14. https://tallshipscle.com/

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Ahh, summertime! Finally, you can take an evening to get out of the city, unwind among rural hills to the strains of live music while sipping wine, tasting delicacies and maybe even MarketPlace shopping, all at your leisure. Welcome to the Thursday Night Music Club at Hale Farm & Village.

The first event in the series will be 5-9 p.m., June 20 with Zach Freidhof and CLE Urban Winery. Then, once a month through October 25, Hale Farm & Village will welcome the region’s top musicians, along with a different featured winery or brewery. Presented by Café 1810, these evenings provide opportunities to enjoy the beauty of the Cuyahoga Valley and Hale Farm after hours.

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If this is your first 3-Gen holiday, think carefully about how much of your own space you will want, especially if the grandchildren are very young and things could get hectic and noisy. Will you enjoy being in the thick of it or prefer to dip in and out and have your own space to retreat to? ...

What makes a hero? Is it physical strength or is it the courage to use the strength we have for good? In each of us, there is a hero. Inside, we are strong enough, brave enough, and courageous enough to make choices that lift others up. Sometimes, we must even lift ourselves up first so that we can help someone else. ...

Cleveland gets all the attention, but just a few miles down the road is a great city with a fine art museum, its own minor league ball team, an extraordinary mansion, Ohio's only national park - should we go on? Oh, that's right, it's got a nice zoo that has not only interesting animals but some lovely gardens, too. Akron, my friends, is a terrific city to explore. Check it out. You'll like what you see. ...

Cleveland Metroparks has plenty of parks to explore in winter, but our region's county parks have a lot going on, too. Start your tour in Geauga County, which has a full slate of outdoor (and free) activities this winter. ...

I’m suspicious of any activity that requires a signature on a liability waiver.

I’ve gone years, in fact, finding plenty of things to do that don’t require a waiver. I’m rethinking that. Northeast Ohio has had an indoor recreation boom recently, and the activities look like a lot of fun.

Trampolines, rope courses, climbing walls, indoor cycling. All are great winter-busting activities and don’t require layers of clothing and boots better than the ones I already own.

Here are a few places to try, either with some friends, alone (if you’re self-conscious) or with a grandkid or two.

Play: CLE is an indoor adventure park in Avon with the added bonus of serving both food and alcohol. It’s got a zip line, a rope course and a climbing wall. playcle.com

Sky Zone in Boston Heights offers an indoor trampoline park with ladders, climbing walls and other activities. skyzone.com

Zip City in Streetsboro has an indoor zip line, a trampoline park, a ropes course, a Ninja course and two Ninja laser mazes. zipcityusa.com

Ray’s Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland is open October through April. Don’t have a mountain bike? Rent one there. The course is user-friendly for folks of all skill levels. raysmtb.com

The Golf Dome in Chagrin Falls has an indoor driving range, mini golf and batting cages. thegolfdome.com

Get Air Cleveland in Middleburg Heights is just what it sounds like: a trampoline park with foam pits, trampoline walls and other indoor adventures. getaircleveland.com

Marie Elium fell off a mini-trampoline in middle school and hasn’t been on one since.

 

 

 

 

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If you watched any or all of the 249 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s — or still catch reruns — consider a visit to Mount Airy, N.C. Griffith, who plays Sheriff Andy Taylor in the show, grew up in this small town and used it as a model for his series.

 

While the show exists only in reruns today, parts of the town are happily stuck in the past. Just six and a half hours down Interstate 77 you’ll find an entertaining getaway that makes the most of its connection to Barney, Aunt Bee, Opie and the rest of the gang.

 

Glimpses of the Past

 

During our visit, we slept in the retro, pragmatic and clean Mayberry Motor Inn at the edge of town. Keep in mind, this is a flashback to simpler times, and the motel appropriately small and historic. Rumor has it the owner sometimes dresses up as Aunt Bee while working the front desk.

 

The best start to visiting the town, after a good night’s sleep, is the Squad Car Ride. While we waited our turn in the Ford Galaxy (the fleet consists of ’62 ’63, ’64 and ’67 models) we checked out the replica of Wally’s Service Station.

 

Inside the historic corner building, we took turns posing in the jail cell and propping our feet on Andy’s desk. Definitely Facebook moments.

 

For our ride, we perched on the vinyl backseat and cranked down the old windows. Riding up and down the streets, we learned about the man and the show. We saw places that Andy Griffith/Andy Taylor frequented such as Floyd’s City Barber Shop and The Snappy Lunch.

 

After getting the lay of the land, we slid into a small booth at the 94-year-old The Snappy Lunch diner for North Carolina’s official pancake-battered pork chop sandwich.

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