Since the skies and weather today make me think either "another gruesome day in our beautiful city" or "another beautiful day in our gruesome city" (take your pick), I'm posting some shots I took during the Sparx City Hop from Saturday, Sept. 15th.

 

Since they were running trolleys from the Tremont Arts and Culture Festival to other areas (Ohio City, Asiatown, Downtown, etc.), we walked up to Lincoln Park.

 

Looks like the Arts and Culture Festival is hopping:

 

 

 

 

 

We had read that the Mather Mansion at CSU was open for tours so we hopped on that loop. Here's our trusty steed, Lolly the Trolley - the landmark Lemko Hall is in the background:

 

This route wound its way through Ohio City, passing by the gatehouse at Monroe Street Cemetery; it's in need of repair but efforts are underway to fix it up:

 

The Carnegie West branch of Cleveland Public Library; St. Patrick's church is being fixed up in the background:

 

Over at Detroit and West 25th, the Forest City Savings and Trust building; yes, that sign on the left marks the former entrance to the subway station:

 

Stonebridge Towers condo building; from some angles it looks 'interesting' but others, meh:

 

Jackknife bridge in the foreground, Ernst and Young tower under construction in the background:

 

More love for the jackknife:

 

Almost there!

 

Burnham and bike lane in use!

 

Hodgepodge:

 

So would a condo in this building be called a "House of Payne"

 

This is a great angle to show the contrast, but I'd rather it be filled with some housing :-)

 

And what's a photo thread without Key Tower?

 

Rather than take the trolley to CSU, we decided to hoof it and got some shots along the way:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At some point, we realized we needed to grab some lunch - what to do, what to do... WOOHOO! It's the Fired Up! Taco Truck! Their empanadas are to. die. for. :-D

 

We snarfed down the yummy pockets of heaven, err... empanadas and enjoyed the sights around Star Plaza and music provided by Zack and the Bright Lights:

 

 

 

While we had a nice time on the City Hop, there were a few hiccups - on the website, they said that the Mather Mansion was open for tours; we found out that wasn't the case. Making the best of it, we stopped by Trinity Cathedral; I had been in there before but this time there was someone giving informal tours - I had NO clue just how much history there is to this place. It's one of the finest examples of English Gothic styled churches, ever.

 

This is the detailing on the commemorative plaque - this alone has more aesthetic appeal to it than any megachurch I've ever seen.

 

 

 

Darned if I can remember - some of the stained glass windows were given to Trinity; a few date back to the 1400s!

 

 

 

 

 

The reredos is about 18' tall:

 

 

The pulpit - I believe they said this was carved from one solid block of marble; now these things are made from particleboard  :roll:

 

 

 

 

The finials in the choir area were carved individually; no two are alike:

 

 

 

This is a closeup of the altar - the altar itself is cut from *one* block of Pavonosso marble; on top of that is Sienna marble and the block that's embedded here is from the Jerusalem Stone near the site of the Crucifixion:

 

 

 

 

Back outside into CSUville:

 

 

 

Hated to see the Corlett Building demolished, but at least the kids are making use of the greenspace (the guy on the ground made a dramatic dive for a frisbee) - and hey, Zipcars are here!

 

Back along Euclid, passing by the Keith, Hanna and Cleveland Athletic Club buildings:

 

 

 

 

PHB building (Previously Huntington Bank)

 

No naming rights, but Huntington moved west and up in the world:

 

Oh fine, I'll put in a shot of the Terminal Tower:

 

Back over the Detroit-Superior Bridge:

 

Hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice set!

I'm surprised you didn't feel a burning sensation while in that church.

^It's an open and affirming congregation, so not as much as other places where the statues eyes usually glow red.

wow and way to take advantage of great weather.

 

i love the threads like this where it feels like we are going along with you.

I have never set foot in Trinity Cathedral, but now I see I must rectify that. I have been inside a half-dozen large and small cathedrals in England, and Trinity did a great job emulating them. Except for the sharper edges on all the stonework at Trinity (the English stonework had their edges worn down by the centuries), there wasn't much visible difference between the new and the old. And I did not know some of Trinity's glasswork dated from the 1400s. Those Gilded Age industrialists certainly funded some glorious churches (at the expense of their workers).

 

Other than the set from inside Trinity, this was my favorite photo of the thread......