Alright, took a little jaunt out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park last weekend and today I stopped by the Terminal Tower observation deck. And yeah, I had that d@mn camera with me  :roll:

 

Out to Peninsula we go:

 

And of course, starting off with lunch at the Winking Lizard - love that they kept the signage from the 'Nite Club' days:

 

Alright enough of that foolishness, over to the Towpath Trail we go - en route is the Cuyahoga River. The current was a little heavier since we had record rainfall this year.

 

One of these days I'll do the sightseeing train:

 

Cuyahoga once more with feeling:

 

And onto the trail:

 

Remnants of one of the locks - hard to believe that these (and the subsequent trading routes) were responsible for Cleveland's initial boom.

 

 

 

 

There are rough trails connecting to the Towpath, but since it was a bit muddy we stuck to the paved stuff.

 

 

 

Great Blue Heron:

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the Towpath crosses marshy wetlands so they built a boardwalk over it:

 

 

 

Wooly bear! Where's Dick Goddard when you need him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woollybear_Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was as far north as we were going to get that day - Ohio Turnpike bridge pylons in the distance:

 

 

 

 

 

Past peak color, but still beautiful:

 

 

A nice sunset to take us back to Cleveland:

 

 

 

The next day's weather forecast called for crisp, clear skies so I decided to head over to the Terminal Tower observation deck. See the round antenna/dish thingy? Just below that is the observation deck level:

 

A few shots from street level before I go up:

 

 

 

 

 

Okeydokey, here we are!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction well under way for the casino welcome center:

 

 

Ernst and Young tower under construction:

 

For those who haven't been in a while; the deck has been nicely restored:

 

 

From background to foreground - broken bridge (West 3rd lift bridge closed for 5 months), rusted bridge (current Innerbelt bridge), new bridge (replacement Innerbelt bridge), and a solid, perfectly fine bridge (Lorain-Carnegie). I think the saying goes "they sure don't build 'em like they used to!"

 

 

I'm not sure if the building on the horizon is the new HQ for Eaton or the Ahuja Medical Center for University Hospitals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginormous wind turbine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No ore freighters today, just a tug and barge:

 

 

The big dug-out area is where the Cleveland Cold Storage building used to be; cleared for the Innerbelt construction.

 

 

West Side Market:

 

 

The square-ish structure in the center isn't a new group of townhomes, it's one house!

 

 

 

 

 

Shaker Square:

 

 

Ugly building, but it has great views:

 

 

 

 

Back down to street level:

 

 

Over to Cliff Drive:

 

 

 

Back toward downtown:

 

 

Requisite stop by the Columbus Road bridge:

 

 

Hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

You would post a photo thread when I do. Anyways...another wonderful set of photos, thanks for sharing.

Nice.  I love it when MayDay sneaks in an "urbanohio" billboard into one of his photos!  LOL

Beautiful.

 

I've read that cattails are edible, but I don't know what parts, how they're prepared, or in what season.

Awesome - as is usual.

Does the UrbanOhio Building have its own airstrip now?

I'm really kicking myself for never having been to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This looks great, and I'm glad they preserved those canal locks, since Ohio seemed to have dominated that era. I've also heard one of the state's best waterfalls is located in this park. Cleveland is blessed to have such a nice wilderness area so close to the city (and Lake Erie to boot).

May Day you sure do know how to handle that camera of yours.  In one of the panaroma shots from the Terminal Tower you can clearly make out the graffiti on top of the old Warner and Swasey Building on 55th and Carnegie which must be 2-3 miles away.

 

All the pics are great.

Excalibur photos!  These photos make me want to take a trip to the Cuyahoga Valley soon!  They also show how Cleveland still has great urbanity left to it- I wish more people realized it.

Really beautiful shots in there, but I don't totally understand how Cuyahoga Valley recieved National Park designation...it looks nice, but not worthy of being a National Park IMO.

Really beautiful shots in there, but I don't totally understand how Cuyahoga Valley recieved National Park designation...it looks nice, but not worthy of being a National Park IMO.

 

Former Congressman Ralph Regula got it designated. It's now in the top-ten most visited national parks in the country. Helps having it surrounded by 3 million people.

 

OK, I cannot figure out in which direction we're looking here:

 

 

 

And is that the new Eaton headquarters I'm seeing poking out of the top of the hill? If so, they sure do have a nice view of downtown from there -- where Eaton's old white men can see where they should have stayed to keep young, diverse talent:

 

that top photo is shaker square.

that top photo is shaker square.

 

Oh, that dump.

 

(already ducking from someone throwing his at me)

You always take the best photos of Cleveland.

Great pictures as always, I miss those fall colors! Now as an outsider looking in, I never fully acknowledged how downright surreal and lonely the streets look  :cry: Where are people, at the mall? in the basement watching tv?

That Lincoln Electric turbine shot caught me off guard.  I know it's zoomed but just hadn't given much thought on how it would look from that vantage point.