The Great Lakes Science Center

On the Cleveland lakefront, and flanked by Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the The William G. Mather Maritime Museum, is Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center. The GLSC opened in the summer of 1996, and focuses on science, technology, and the Great Lakes environment. It is highly interactive, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the science and be entertained as they learn. The GLSC also includes an OMNIMAX Theater , which projects IMAX films on a huge dome-like screen, making the experience almost like being there, except much bigger than life. The entire museum is a fun place to be for both adults and children.

Thanks to Insider Perks - who has been doing some very nice Cleveland videos lately - here is their short video highlighting the Great Lakes Science Center.

Great Lakes Science Center




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Cleveland Museum of Natural History

One of my favorite places to visit in Cleveland is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Located in the University Circle area – a hotbed of museums and culture – this museum offers a look into the natural history of the earth and the stars.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History opened in 1920. The driving force behind it was Harold T. Clark, a Cleveland lawyer and philanthropist. The museum’s first headquarters were in a business office in the Lennox Bldg. at E. 9th St. and Euclid Ave, but in 1922 the museum moved many of the displays to the former Leonard Hanna mansion on Euclid Ave. But, having more displays than it had space, and with the Hanna house being affected by highway construction, a newer facility – which is also its current home – was constructed in University Circle. Between 1958 and 1961, the museum opened 5 interconnected units located at the current 1 Wade Oval address, directly across from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The museum is filled with all sorts of natural wonders, covering specimens and displays of archeology, paleontology, geology, mineralogy, botany, wildlife, and astronomy (which includes a planetarium). According to Wikipedia, here are some of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s most famed attractions:


Extensive examples of Late Devonian Cleveland Shale fish.
Nine hundred monkey and ape skeletons, and more than 3,100 human skeletons (the Hamann-Todd Collection).
The only specimen of the small tyrannosaur Nanotyrannus lancensis.
The holotype of the Haplocanthosaurus sauropod.
The most complete mount of a Coelophysis bauri.
The remains of Balto the sled dog.
An extensive mineralogy collection that includes a moon rock and the Jeptha Wade gem collection.
Replica skeletons of Triceratops and Jane, a juvenile tyrannosaurid.
Multiple mastodon and mammoth specimens.
A cast of an Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, an early hominid affectionately dubbed Lucy.
A new T-rex skeleton that is now on display.

It is a great place for adults and children to learn about the earth’s past, and about all the living things that have inhabited it over the years. My personal favorites from the museum are any exhibits having to do with rocks, minerals, and gems - and the gift shop, of course.

Here is a brief but very interesting video from Insider Perks that will give you some of the highlights of this fine museum.








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All Things Cleveland, here.

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, a part of the Western Reserve Historical Society and located in University Circle, is a showcase of the history of air and land transport vehicles. It includes airplanes, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and spacecraft. It was founded by Frederick Coolidge Crawford, president of Thompson Products (later named TRW). Crawford collected vintage automobiles, and also was very involved in aviation, being instrumental in bringing the NASA Lewis (now called NASA Glenn) Research Center to the Cleveland area.

His love for aviation and vintage cars, and his understanding of the historical importance to these vehicles led to establishing the Thompson Auto Album in 1937. In 1963, he turned over his collection to the Western Reserve Historical Society and worked to raise funds to house the collection. The building that now houses the collection is named in his honor.

While it’s great to see these vehicles in person, below is a short video “tease” to give visitors an idea of what awaits them at the museum. According to Wikipedia, here are some of the items currently in the collection:

Its eclectic collection of classic vehicles include a replica of 1890s Cleveland main street, antique carriages, early Harley Davidson motorcycles, a Willys Custom Sedan, and a P-51 Mustang racing plane used in the National Air Races. The oldest car in the collection is a 1897 Panhard et Levassor; the most modern car in the collection is a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser concept coupe. As of 2009, the museum has 34 cars that are more than 100 years old, the largest such collection in the world. One of the rarest cars in the collection is an aluminum bodied 1932 prototype Peerless designed by Frank Hershey, which was never put into production and was the last passenger vehicle made in Cleveland.


Further information on the museum can be found on the Western Reserve Historical Society web site for the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.


Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum



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All Things Cleveland, here.

Cleveland's Museums: New Tourism Videos

After getting a bit motion sick from the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism video contest winners from a few weeks ago, someone was kind enough to give me a heads up about some more professionally done videos highlighting some of the great things to see and do here in Cleveland. In fact, I learned something new from watching these videos prepared by InsiderPerks.com - I never knew that we had an International Women’s Air & Space Museum right here in town.

Please take a look at these two videos that were prepared by InsiderPerks.com covering the International Women’s Air & Space Museum and Cleveland's other museums. Both videos are very well done.

You can also find out more about the International Women’s Air & Space Museum by visiting iwasm.org , which is “dedicated to the preservation of the history of women in aviation and space and the documentation of their continuing contributions today and in the future."


International Women’s Air & Space Museum
Burke Lakefront Airport




Cleveland’s Museums





Check out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information,
All Things Cleveland, here.

Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Winners

Positively Cleveland has announced the winners of the “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Contest.” The two winners and the runners up are below. In all honesty, the videos for the winners made me a little motion sick (too much camera movement).

The contest was held in response to an unfunny YouTube video posted by local comedian Mike Polk titled “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video” which I can’t put here because he uses an expletive in it that I don’t think my blog sponsors would appreciate. Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s not even funny?

Anyway, here are the winners and runners up (I actually liked 2 of the runners up better than the winners).


Winner #1


Winner #2


Runners Up








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All Things Cleveland, here.

LeBron James and Kobe Commercials

As the Cleveland Cavaliers continue their way through the NBA playoffs, Nike Basketball has continued their very creative ads that portray Cleveland’s LeBron James and “some other basketball player” as puppets. There was a new commercial just recently released, so I thought I would include the new commercial, plus the other two already out there for the enjoyment of Cleveland Cavs fans. Here they are - and here's hoping the Cavs go on to win!


LeBron/Kobe Unstoppable Game Tape


LeBron/Kobe Chalk Video


LeBron/Kobe Three Rings Video




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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo 2009 Dinosaur Exhibit

”Positively Cleveland” recently visited the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to provide a “behind the scenes” look at the construction of the 2009 Dinosaurs! exhibit. This exhibit will feature species of dinosaurs never before displayed at the Zoo, such as the Edmontosaurus, the Compsognathus and the Cryolophosaurus. The latter is often referred to as the "Elvisaurus" because its large crest resembles the hair of Elvis Presley.

The exhibit will be open from Thursday, May 21, through Sunday, September 13. Admission to Dinosaurs! is just $1 per person with regular Zoo admission, and is free for Zoo members and children under 2. You can obtain more information on Dinosaurs! Can be found at this link for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.


Dinosaurs! 2009 At The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo




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All Things Cleveland, here.