Tuesday, July 1, 2008

BC Interruption Travel Guide: Cleveland

We kick off a new five part series profiling Eagle destinations in 2008. We will attempt to put together a rough travel guide for each of the destinations that the football team will find themselves this fall. If you have yet to attend an away football game, try to get to one this upcoming season - they are a lot of fun.

We start with Cleveland, Ohio, the location of our season opener with the Kent State Golden Flashes. What better place to spend your Labor Day weekend than on the majestic shores of Lake Erie watching another yet another college football season begin?

Opponent: Kent State Golden Flashes
Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008
Kickoff: 7:05pm

Getting There

Distance from Chestnut Hill, MA - 633 miles, about 10 hours, 2 minutes
Distance from Brian - 466 miles, about 7 hours, 44 minutes
Distance from Jeff - 775 miles, about 12 hours, 8 minutes

What's that? Oil prices got you down? Flights are currently less than $300 between Boston and Cleveland for the weekend on kayak.com.


Things to see and do

Baseball fans? Need to cross the Jake Progressive Field off your list of MLB stadiums visited? Want to see two of the most underachieving ballclubs of 2008 square off? The Seattle Mariners come to town for a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians. Friday's game is a 7:05pm start, the Saturday game is a 3:35pm start (the FOX game of the week), and Sunday's game is a 1:05pm start.

Member of the Dawg Pound? Get to town early and catch the final preseason tune-up for the Cleveland Browns as they face the Chicago Bears in a good, ol' fashion midwestern showdown. Did you wonder why our game with Kent State was moved from Thursday night to Saturday night? I think we have an answer.

Cleveland Rocks. Cleveland is also home to the I. M. Pei designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Running through September 28, there will be a special exhibit chronicling baseball as a popculture phenomenon for you sports enthusiasts.

Polish Festival. Throw back some kielbasa at the Annual Polish Heritage Festival, held at St. John Cantius in nearby Ohio City. The festival will be held through September 1.

Taste of Cleveland. The 12th annual Taste of Cleveland runs from August 31 - September 3. Free admission on August 31 from 11am - 5pm. Fight that morning after hangover by sampling some of Cleveland's famous ... pierogies? (Is Cleveland famous for any type of food?)


Famous Clevelanders, BC Interruption version

Packing Checklist
  • Superfan shirt to show your school colors
  • Bugspray to ward off the evil midges that stole Game 4 of the ALDS (bitter still? extremely)
  • An empty stomach, especially if you plan on stopping by A Taste of Cleveland the next day

For More Information

Know something going on in Cleveland that weekend that we missed? Attending the game? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Go BC!

Next week we will take a look at Raleigh, North Carolina, for our October 4 date with Tom O'Brien and the Wolfpack.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Even though Clevland is a great city, it does not hace a college town feel. I would rather save my money and probably go to UNC (a great southern college town) or FSU (a great college football town).Also,UNC or FSU will probaly be a closer game than Kent State.

Erik said...

I went to a wedding in Cleveland once and had a great time. I was early-mid 20s, and I felt like a Rockefeller there. Happy hours up the wazzu! The dollar went for miles in Cleveland. Also, we found great roofdeck bars, patio bars by the river, and other fun restaurants and bars for eating, dancing, and cheap HH pitchers. Rock N Roll HOF was fun enough. Its right next to the Browns Stadium.

I can see one of the North Carolina trips being fun for a golfer, or FSU fun for ogling coeds, but this Cleveland trip would be worthwhile for anyone with the cash and free time.

Joe Bags said...

I'm going, arriving early Friday afternoon as I hear the happy hour specials at West 6th and the Flats are unreal. The Hyatt is $99/night, well worth an extra day of partying on your Labor Day weekend.