MoTW---The Prestige
Day two and we're up bright and early, ready for the Rock And Roll Hall
of Fame in Cleveland, OH.
Got there about an hour before they opened, so we found nearby parking
for $10 and headed to the wharf.
Past the Coast Guard base we went and, luckily, we obviously weren't on
high alert since the few bodies wandering around didn't seem to be in
alert mode so I felt good and safe.
Hey, we could have parked on the wharf for 8 bucks!!?? What the fuck??!!
TOTAL BULLSHIT!! Oh well, it's vacation, what am I going to do.
Pretty calm down at the wharf, a couple guys fishing, a couple large
dead fish with no eyes lying there and there, the eyeballs must be tasty
indeed, maybe it's a bird delicacy.
Wandered around the wharf, saw a huge boat. Big. I'm always in awe at
the size of airliners and freighters. They don't look too big from far
away, but up close they are absolutely fucking humongous.
Wandered up to the Hall of Fame, pass the little skateboard park that
was absent of any hang tenners or whatever the youth call them these
days.
A small line waiting to get in, no big deal. Checked out the oversized
guitars placed here and there, the woman took a few pictures, I politely
declined when she wanted to take a picture of me in front of one of the
guitars, Didn't make her too happy, told her that there's a picture of
me on the refrigerator that's good enough, she didn't agree since it was
a picture of me walking away, but I won since I wandered over to check
out Johnny Cash's tour bus which wasn't open for tours yet, but I was
happy just looking at the exhaust pipe which was pretty cool looking for
some reason.
Doors opened, the line wandered in. Another line to purchase tickets,
also a chance to have your picture taken in front of a mural depicting
the outside of the Hall of Fame (I think). Woman wanted it, I didn't. I
won yet again.
Handed over the credit card and after the $40 charge was approved, we
had out tickets.
Downstairs we went, since this was the entrance to the actual displays.
Sadly, no cameras allowed into the display areas, but the woman got to
take pictures of Billy Joel's motorcycle, guitars from various members
of Lynyrd Skynyrd and I think she took one of Roy Orbison's Corvette.
She asked if we needed any pictures from the Grateful Dead guitar
display, told her (in quiet tones to not offend anyone) that I find the
Grateful Dead to be a bit boring, but she could take picture if she
wanted. She didn't. I don't know if I can take that as another victory
or what.
The camera was turned into the coat/camera check-in area and then we
headed to the entrance doors to the museum where we handed over our
tickets and were rewarded with yellow bracelets that we were forced to
wear. Just to lighten the mood I asked the bracelet guy if it would be
painful when he put it on cause that's the kind of guy I am.
Finally we had the proper clearance and onward we went.
I can go into everything we saw, but that might get a bit boring to
some. Suffice it to say, we were in the museum for almost seven hours
and it was worth every penny.
From the Queen display to Eddie Van Halen's red guitar to the dog shoes
that George Clinton wore on the Atomic Dog Tour to a white jumpsuit worn
by Elvis in '73 (I though he was fat then, but the jumpsuit looked a bit
tiny) to a letter from Madonna back when she was in college, everything
was worth the trip, time and money.
Some truly amazing artifacts are on display there and I highly recommend
that anyone interested in music make the time to take a trip out to
Cleveland. A lot of time and effort was put into each and every display
and no matter how much or little you know about music, I guarantee
you'll walk away with a lot more knowledge and a better appreciation of
all types of music.
Anyhoo, stopped at the overpriced store and bought a couple mementos
including a shot glass and then we were off, heading to Fishers,
Indiana.
Drove and drove and drove and when we stopped at a rest area I noticed
that I was getting the shakes. Decided that this was a good time to find
a hotel and find one we did, about 30 minutes from Fishers.
Unpacked the car and then drove over to a nearby Flying J truck stop
where we picked up some stuff to eat, went back to the room, ate and
then crashed.
COMING NEXT: The Final Day
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