Cleveland as a tourist destination? Not for lunch.

I admit I have been lax as of late. At first I wanted to keep the post for the Cleveland Chapter for Architecture for Humanity up on top at various feed sites with the hope of collecting the most viewers possible.

Secondly I have been busy, packing, looking at places, playing with toys, etc. Also I have been taking the time to meander about the town. Just yesterday Bradley over at Design Rag and I decided to try to see if the Rockhall would be a good place to grab a quick bite for lunch. We were figuring that since it is a nationally known icon for the city that it would only make sense that certain parts of it would be open to the general public in order to foster the Rockhall as more of a public city icon, to integrate it into daily life so as to increase it's perceived importance. As we strolled down East 9th (Rock and Roll Avenue) with the view of the clear blue lake coming more and more into view we passed vendors hawking their lunch wares (Urban Grill? I think that is what it was called. Smelled AMAZING!) we joked "Wouldn't it be just like Cleveland to have a great iconic center where you couldn't even grab lunch without paying the ridiculous entry fee?" or "How silly would it be to have a center designed for tourists that wouldn't let visitors grab a delightful meal when even the banks have their sidewalk cafes open to the public!". Oh we laughed and gaffawed as we crossed the gigantic Key Plaza eager to see what luncheon delights awaited our discerning palettes. Oh what wonderfully punny plates would they offer? Hall and Oat(meal)? Some Cranberries? A bowl of Raspberries? Maybe even a veggie cheeseburger in paradise? Alright, enough of that.

So Bradley and I finally arrived within the doors of the infamous Rockhall. Directly to our left was the admissions table and to our right was the gift shop which you could easily access without entering the actual museum. We breathed a collective sigh of relief. If they would lay the gift shop outside of the 'pay' area then one could only infer they would have been so generous with the cafe.

They weren't. I don't know how to succinctly sum up our search for the cafe. We wound up in the museum, past the admissions booth, without paying. Probably due to them setting something up. We didn't care, we were hungry. So we went to the information booth and asked.

I feel bad but I started laughing loudly when told we had to purchase a ticket to spend money in their cafe. The girl was nice and even offered us a map or list of events or something. Bradley and I couldn't understand. Why would a nationally recognizable operation not even allow for the chance that one (selling the city or whatever to an out of towner) would only have time for a quick bite and would use the opportunity of having access to such a grand institution as the perfect launch pad to showcase some of the regions amenities? Who the hell planned that mess out?

At least the Great Lakes Science Center has an openly accessible cafe where one can grab a bite and sit out on the pier or the Key Plaza in front of the Rockhall and gaze back at the city whilst pondering such incongruities.