In my previous blogs, I’ve talked about my favorite aspects of living in a small college town like Oberlin: the quiet nights, clear skies, familiar faces, and walkability. As much as I’ve fallen in love with the small-town charm of Oberlin, though, I’ve also had some amazing experiences venturing out into the neighboring areas. I’ll often drive to nearby towns like Elyria or Amherst with my friends to satisfy late-night Taco Bell cravings, shop at a mega-mall, or go to an ice-skating rink during Christmas time. Since I’ve gushed so much about the actual town of Oberlin, I thought it would be nice to extend some appreciation to places outside our beloved college town, especially my trips into the nearest big city, Cleveland!
The first time I visited Cleveland was during freshman orientation week, on a trip we call “Connect Cleveland.” This is an opportunity for new Obies to explore the greater surrounding communities in Northeast Ohio. Each freshman travels with their first-year seminar group and Peer Advising Leader on an adventure through Cleveland specifically geared towards their seminar topic. For example, my first-year seminar was about Italian Immigration and Cinema, and we got to go to Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood to check out some museums and get some yummy Italian pastries! After we explored Little Italy, we met back up with the rest of the freshman class to wander around University Circle and visit the Botanical Gardens. It was such a fun experience and a great way to feel more situated during my first weeks at college. I also have some great memories bonding with my fellow classmates; I remember a spontaneous jam session emerging during a moment of downtime, with students tapping on walls and clapping along, “Lemonade Mouth" style! Very Oberlin.
I’ve also been lucky enough to see a few concerts in the Cleveland area. Freshman year, I took my roommate and close friend, Anna, to see Greta Van Fleet play in Rocket Arena. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re a Led Zeppelin-esque rock group with some really great bangers. Our seats were in the way back of the arena, but the music was incredible! It was one of my first memories with Anna (who, by the way, is still my roommate) and I look back on it so fondly. My sophomore year, I went back to Cleveland for a concert, this time at the famous House of Blues! It was here that I saw one of my favorite artists from childhood perform, none other than Owl City. It was crazy nostalgic to see him sing Fireflies and be transported back to my 6th-grade self. My friends teased me a bit for that one, but I have no regrets.
Finally, my friends and I made quite a few trips into Cleveland this year to see a Cleveland Guardians game. My friend Juliet is a huge baseball fan (they even have a baseball podcast on Oberlin’s radio station!), so we love driving into the city and catching a live game every once in a while. Most recently, we surprised Juliet with tickets to a game for their birthday and took a big group of people along. According to my baseball-educated friends, this game was a pretty important one for World Series seeding, but I was more interested in the fact that it was Dollar Dog night—hot dogs for only one dollar! I stayed reasonable with a total of 5 hot dogs throughout the game, but a few of my more committed friends were able to get 8 or 9 down. The car ride back to Oberlin was a little queasy, but it was worth it for the memories. Plus, the Guardians won that game in an exciting playoff-clinching walk-off! The crowd went wild, of course, and my voice was hoarse the next day from cheering. What a night!
And so concludes my short list of favorite trips into the city. I’m heading off to Ireland next semester for a study-away experience, so I won’t have any more trips into Cleveland for a while. Hopefully I’ll have some good stories from my time abroad to share, though! Until next time...
