Cleveland in HDR – The 6th City Collection

Giraffes can grow to 18 feet tall and are the largest living mammals on earth. These two beautiful animals can be found in the African Plains at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

For more info: http://www.clemetzoo.com/animals/index.asp?action=details&animals_id=1045

Today’s Quote: “God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things”. – Pablo Picasso

Spring in Cleveland

Spring time has officially arrived in Cleveland! Normally that doesn’t mean much because it’s still 40 degrees outside along with clouds and rain. This year however is different because it has been absolutely beautiful outside with record setting temperatures. Make sure to go outside and enjoy the weather and the flowers.

Today’s Quote: “Earth laughs in flowers”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today’s photo is of the Center Rd. swing bridge. Built in 1901 by the King Bridge Co., this is the last remaining swing bridge in Cleveland. For more info on this important landmark please visit:

http://www.historicbridges.org/ohio/center/

Today’s Quote: “A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it”. -Oscar Levant

I don’t normally post a photo on the weekends but I thought I would post one of the St. Patricks Day Parade. Cleveland has been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a downtown parade since 1867. It’s one of the largest parades in the country. The crowd is estimated to reach around 400,000 people this year.

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” – Benjamin Franklin

Edgewater Park is in the heart of and has one of the best views of downtown Cleveland. In the summer this fishing pier provides access for anglers, and a concession where food and bait can be purchased.

Today’s Quote: “Always remember that the future comes one day at a time”.- Dean Acheson

It’s Buzzard Day! Every year on March 15^th the world-famous buzzards return to the Buzzard Roost in Hinckley Reservation.

From the Metroparks website: “March 15th is known as the ‘Ides of March,’ but is also internationally-known as the day the buzzards return to their summer roost at Hinckley Reservation’s Buzzard Roost. Grab the binoculars and search the skies with Cleveland Metroparks Official Buzzard Spotter, Bob Hinkle, and Cleveland Metroparks Chief of Outdoor Education as he searches the early morning sky for the first turkey vultures to return for the year. The search begins at 7 a.m. and continues until the first buzzard returns to the roost.”

For more info: http://www.clemetparks.com/events/buzzards.asp

Today’s Quote: “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books”. – John Lubbock

The 100th Bomb Group Restaurant is located directly across from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Therefore, I drive past it every day on the way into work and thought this would make a cool photo.  I have eaten there many times and the food is really good. The thing that makes this restaurant so cool however is its World War II era theme and amazing views of the airport. Make sure you put this unique restaurant at the top of things to experience when you are in Cleveland.

For more info: http://www.100thbgrestaurant.com/100thbg/

Today’s Quote: “Always do right – this will gratify some and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain

Today’s photo is of a winter scene near Peninsula, Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Here is some info from the National Park Foundation’s website: “Though a short distance from the urban environments of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley National Park seems worlds away. The winding Cuyahoga—the “crooked river” as named by American Indians—gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. The park is a refuge for flora and fauna, gives a sense of times past, and provides recreation and solitude for Ohio’s residents and visitors. The park has a rich cultural legacy as well. Remains of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which traveled through the valley in the 19th and early 20th centuries, offer a glimpse into the past”.

For more info: http://www.nationalparks.org/discover-parks/index.cfm?fa=viewPark&pid=CUVA

Today’s Quote:  “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product”. – Edward Steichen

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was originaly dedicated on 4 July 1894 and has recently undergone a 2 million dollar makeover. If you live in the Cleveland area you should try to check it out sometime. In Cuyahoga County, 10,000 of the 15,600 eligible men served in the war, including my own 3rd Great Grandfather Michael Druckenbrod (188th Ohio Vol. Inf.). For more information:

http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SASM

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/04/ohio_and_clevelands_role_in_th.html

Today’s Quote:

Today’s photo is of the Civil War Cannon located inside Gray’s Armory. The Secesh Cannon was captured by Northern troops during the Civil War. The iron barrel with a 3-inch bore was manufactured in 1861 for the state of North Carolina at Joseph Reid Anderson’s Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, VA, and bears the number 1151. It is on permanent display on the ground floor of Grays Armory in Cleveland. The piece may be the only surviving captured Southern Civil Cannon in any Northern City. Confederate cannon in existence in any major northern city. Confederate cannon in existence in any major northern city.

From the Gray’s Armory website: “Since 1837 when 118 brave men adopted the motto, “Semper Paratus,” (Always Prepared) and where chartered in as an independent militia the Cleveland Grays and their friends have made history. From 1792 to 1903 state and federal law authorized independent militias, private volunteer groups that supplemented the official state militia, and served the community in all the ways that the National Guard does today. The Richardsonian Romanesque Revival-style Armory was built in 1893. Within its imposing walls the armory has also made history by hosting Cleveland’s finest events and its people. This included the first concert by John Phillip Sousa and Cleveland’s first Auto Show”.

For more info: http://www.graysarmory.com/

Today’s Quote: “Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”- John Quincy Adams