My First Trip to Cleveland: Rock & Roll and A Christmas Story

I just got back from an extended trip to Michigan to see my family for the holidays, but Detroit isn't the only place I visited!

I've been to Ohio quite a few times in my life (mainly trips to Cedar Point in Sandusky), but I had never been to Cleveland. A few years ago, I found out the city was the home of the house from my favorite Christmas movie of all time, and I've wanted to go ever since. My hometown is only about 2 hours and 40 minutes from the attraction, so I convinced my mom to go with me for a day trip on the day after Christmas.

The only problem? Driving nearly three hours for one attraction is a little much. We wanted to add something else to the itinerary. How convenient that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is only ten minutes away!

Our first stop of the day was the Hall of Fame, and we went RIGHT when it opened. I cannot recommend that enough! We had a lot of the place to ourselves, which made for an extra awesome experience. We explored all the levels of the Hall of Fame in about two hours, and that includes a trip to the gift shop and lunch in the cafe. Seeing clothing and instruments and hand-written lyrics from some of the biggest rock stars of all time was SO cool. Definitely worth the trip!

The second place we visited on Cleveland adventure was the main reason that I wanted to go. It's home to the house from A Christmas Story!

The majority of A Christmas Story was filmed in Cleveland back in the early 80s, and it was officially released back in 1983. In 2006, the home used for the movie opened as a tourist attraction after being "lovingly restored to its original movie appearance." The cool part is that you can use all of the props in the home for your photos, since none of them are the original pieces! If you want to see actual props from the movie, you can pop right across the street to the museum, which is included in the price of your ticket.

Before we left, we obviously had to pick up some souvenirs at the gift shop right next to the museum. We also took a peek at the outside of the Bumpus House, which can be booked for overnight stays.

Here are some photos I took at both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Christmas Story House: