Cozy, Cold & Simply Cool
By Marie Elium
Life-wise and season-wise, it’s a tricky time.
Our get-up-and-go urge is strong but easily sidelined. Best intentions give way to cranky hips, family obligations and lousy weather.
Plus, what’s there to do, anyway?
We can’t fix bones, relationships or the weather, but we can help with a lack of imagination. Here’s a roundup of things to pass the upcoming winter months: Cozy activities, cold ones and cool stuff. Grab a Tylenol and a coat. It’s time to restart your get-up-and-go.
We reached out to an expert in finding fun things to do: Cleveland Traveler editor Amanda Williams. Her suggestions are in italics.
Cozy
Explore steamy Rockefeller Park Greenhouse & Botanical Garden. Small but captivating, this Cleveland-owned greenhouse on East 88th St., shakes those gray-day blahs with a stroll around the plants and seasonal displays. Follow up with lunch in Little Italy. One suggestion: Guarino’s. rockerfellergreenhouse.org., guarinoscleveland.com
Heat up at Akron Glass Works. Try your hand at flameworking (sounds hot), glassblowing, glass fusing and other artful endeavors: Akronglassworks.com. Another one to try: Glass Bubble Project in Ohio City.
Play bocce, gawk at mosaics at Stone Mad Pub. The drinks and food are terrific, too, at this Gordon Square Arts District pub, but what makes it special are the hand-blown chandeliers, bathroom mosaics and indoor bocce court. stonemadpub.com
Wander through Visible Voice Books (Tremont). Local independent bookstores always give off cozy vibes, but Visible Voice Books also offers a few unique dining/private browsing options. They have a “Brunch and Browse” session on weekends where you can enjoy brunch and mimosas and private shopping time in the store, a dinner version, plus a new afternoon tea version during the week.
A purrfect place: Affogato Cat Cafe. Also in Tremont, Cleveland’s only cat cafe is always a fun spot to spend some time in the winter. The cafe is home to adoptable cats, and you can book a timeslot to go and play with them (adoption not required; you can just go in to play with kitties).
Try the Wyne Tasting Bar. There are lots of great wine bars around Northeast Ohio, but we love this one in Cleveland because it has these great wine-tasting machines that allow you to taste a bunch of different wines at your own pace in one place.
Cold
Try snowshoeing at West Woods Nature Center in Geauga County. Bring your own, or borrow snowshoes from the Geauga Park District. Watch its Twitter and Facebook pages for updates. Cleveland Metroparks offers an in-person guide at the South Chagrin Reservation. The best part? No dramatic tumbles. geaugaparkdistrict.org, clevelandmetroparks.com
Measure snow for the National Weather Service. We’re not kidding, and neither are they. The National Weather Service is looking for volunteers to measure and report to the Cleveland NWS each morning and evening when it snows. The data is used to help make forecasts and issue warnings or advisories. Want to learn more? Email [email protected] with the subject line “Snow Spotter Volunteer.” Include your name, address and phone number; Rick will give more details. You can find where people are most needed at weather.gov/cle/Snow_Observations_Volunteer.
Explore frozen waterfalls. If you’re going to bundle up and take a walk, why not see something interesting when you get there? Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park drops 60 feet and is accessible via a boardwalk. Brandywine Falls is located at 8176 Brandywine Road. Another good one is in the Cleveland Metroparks Bedford Reservation. Head to Viaduct Park and follow a loop trail to The Great Falls of Tinker’s Creek.
Chill with Igloo dining. While this isn’t an outdoor activity, but outdoor-adjacent, several restaurants across Northeast Ohio put up plastic igloos for dining during the winter. These are usually equipped with a small heater and sometimes seasonal decor and are a fun way to enjoy “outdoor” dining in the winter months. Go to clevelandtraveler.com/heated-patios-cleveland for an updated list.
Feed birds at Brecksville Reservation Nature Center. This Cleveland Metropark usually has their “Hand Feed a Chickadee” program running on weekends in January and February, where you can go hand-feed cute birds with a naturalist.
Just Cool
Discover the quirky & delightful Castle Noel. Trust us, leave the little ones at home for this place; it’s geared to the nostalgia-loving crowd. From Cousin Eddie’s camper to Cindy Lou Who’s bedroom set, plus every childhood toy you can remember, Castle Noel off Medina’s Square is just plain fun. Go ahead and take the slide at the end if your knees can manage it; splurge for the photo and create a Christmas memory. castlenoel.com
Walk down the block and eat at The Farmer’s Table. Don’t forget to visit the market there, too. thefarmerstablemedina.com
Step back in time at Lehman’s. Here’s a good way to spend a couple of hours (plus travel time to Kidron): Wander around sprawling Lehman’s hardware store in Amish Country. Family-owned, the store carries “products you probably thought they quit making years ago.” To get an idea of what you’re in for, visit lehmans.com.
See the best rock art in Ohio at Hartman Rock Garden. We stumbled across this fabulous and free (donations welcome) rock garden, a visionary art environment by self-taught artist Ben Hartman in Springfield near Dayton (yes, that Springfield). Every intricate building was constructed between 1932 and 1944 with concrete, metal and other found objects. Open year-round, his creations fill the backyard of a house in a quiet neighborhood. Read about the garden and the artist at hartmanrocks.org.
Dive into history at James A Garfield National Historic Site (Mentor). Visit is the home of President James A Garfield, which is also home to the first presidential library established in the United States. Free guided tours are offered daily.
Visit a unique museum. We know about the Rock Hall and our excellent art museum, but Cleveland has some cool small museums, too. Including the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick (Old Brooklyn), House from A Christmas Story (Tremont), and Museum of Illusions (downtown Cleveland).
