Cedar Point
Since 1870, Cedar Point, located on the shores of Lake Erie, in Sandusky Ohio, has pleased generation after generation of thrill seekers. The second oldest amusement park in North America, Cedar Point’s longevity has helped to set the standard by which all other parks are judged. Once a popular spot for fishing and hunting, Cedar Point opened with a beer garden, a bathhouse, and a dance floor, making it “all the rage” at the time. In 1892, the first rollercoaster, the “Switchback Railway”, opened to rave reviews. Today, over 3 million people each year flock to this sandy peninsula for thrills and summertime fun. Consistently voted the “Best Amusement Park” Cedar Park is home to more rides and rollercoasters (68) than any other park. A century after introducing the “Switchback Railway” at a heart-racing 25-ft high and 10-mph, the “Top Thrill Dragster”, at 420-ft and 120-mph makes Cedar Point home of the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world.
The sixteen rollercoasters at Cedar Point meet all the requirements of coaster veterans: corkscrews, pretzel turns, “runaway” cars, and triple-loops - all with soaring heights and dizzying spins. Top thrill rides include “Chaos”, the three-dimensional spin, rock and tilt motion, and “maXair” with outward-facing seats and dangling legs, riders are swung in a wild, pendulum, clockwise, reaching 140-ft and 70-mph. Other rides include drops from terrific heights and wild spinning rides in just about any form or fashion. For more laid-back guests, traditional amusement park rides are plentiful at Cedar Point. There are the perennial favorites; bumper cars, carousels (Cedar Point has three), water rides, and a Ferris wheel with a terrific view of Lake Erie from the top. Visitors can ride through the park in the sky via a gondola ride, take a water excursion on the paddlewheel boat, or stroll on the relaxing beachfront boardwalk. And there is plenty to keep the little kids entertained at Camp Snoopy, the petting zoo, or on one of the kid-sized, kid-friendly rides.
Adjacent to Cedar Point is the 18-acre Soak City outdoor waterpark that features more than a dozen water and inner tube slides, an enormous wave pool, inner tube river rides, children’s areas, and more. Cedar Point’s Indoor Waterpark, Castaway Bay, is a Caribbean-themed paradise. Castaway Bay is five stories high, and features palm trees, lagoons, huts, and all the great water slides, a water coaster, wave pools, tube slides, hot tubs, and more wild water fun. If you don’t have a full day but want to get out in the sun for some fun, Challenge Park located next to Cedar Point, offers exciting adventures; the “X-Treme Trampoline”, the “RipCord Skycoaster”, two high-speed go-kart raceways, two miniature golf courses, an arcade, and more.
Cedar point is open daily May through Labor Day and is open weekends September through October. Soak City is open Memorial Day through Labor Day. Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark is open daily year round.
National Pro Football Hall of Fame
The American Football Association was founded in Canton, Ohio in 1920. In the 1960s, Canton residents petitioned what was now the National Football League to open the National Pro Football Hall of Fame in their city. With Canton selected as the official site, the Hall of Fame opened its doors in 1963. Since that time, it has undergone several expansions and is now a complex of approximately 83,000 square ft. This state-of-the-art facility is marked at the entrance with a bronze statue of Jim Thorpe, the first great athlete of pro football.
Primarily, the National Pro Football Hall of Fame honors the great players, coaches, writers, and others of professional football. Anyone may nominate a player, coach, or other category by writing to the Hall of Fame. From these and other nominations, new members are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Board of Selectors, a 39-member committee, mostly of sportswriters, representing the city from each NFL club, six at large representatives, and one member of the Pro Football Writers Association. Three to six new enshrinees may be elected each year. Once enshrined, the Hall of Fame enshrinee is honored in the “Hall of Fame Gallery” and is featured with a bronze likeness. In 2002, the enshrinement halls were expanded from corridors to one massive gallery.
The first exhibition at the National Pro Football Hall of Fame displays a chronological history of pro football’s first century. The “Pro Football Today” exhibit presents the history of all 32 NFL teams. Other top attractions at the National Pro Football Hall of Fame are the “Pro Football Adventure Room”, which provides information on competing leagues, such as the American Football League of the 1960s. The “Enshrinees Mementos Room”, the “Super Bowl” exhibition, and the “NFL Films Theater” (which shows a different NFL action film each hour) and the turntable “GameDay Stadium” (which features NFL Films on a Cinemascope screen) are popular with visitors. The Museum Store is a must-see for souvenir hunters. The Archives and Information Center (AIC), which is open to the public by appointment only, is a comprehensive collection of information pertaining to professional football.
The biggest celebration of the year at the National Pro Football Hall of Fame is Football's Greatest Weekend, held either in late July or early August. The community hosts over a dozen events over the course of 10 days – while the Hall of Fame prepares to enshrine new members and host the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame pre-season football game. The Annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game is played across the street at the Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium, a city high school stadium that seats over twenty thousand people.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is an independent, non-profit organization with a 27-member board of trustees that works closely with the NFL’s Commissioner's Office, the NFL clubs, NFL Films, and the NFL Network. Through these collaborative efforts, the Hall is the primary source for showcasing and educating the sport of professional football. The National Pro Football Hall of Fame is open daily year round and is closed on Christmas.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Celebrating the best of the best, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a state-of-the-art facility that rises above the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. Opened in September 1996, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has attracted more than 5 million visitors. The museum is filled with exhibits, artifacts and costume displays from some of rock’s greatest artists. The exhibits highlight the evolution of rock and roll with displays of each era styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is also civic-minded - public programming includes the popular Hall of Fame Series, featuring a Hall of Fame inductee in an informal Q&A and performance. The annual American Music Masters Series explores the influence of the inductee’s music and how it has created an impact on popular music.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's collection tells the story of rock and roll and the artists that made it a popular genre of music. As the definitive repository of information on rock and roll, the Hall of Fame preserves history. It then interprets the information and uses exhibits, films, interactive computers, and sometimes, the artists themselves, to tell the stories of rock and roll and discover the themes and issues that rock and roll has addressed over the decades. As rock is ever-evolving, so too is the collection. The changing exhibits ensure that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum offer new and interesting experiences to the visitor. The Hall of Fame showcases three particular categories of mementos. Among many items, costumes include Prince’s “Purple Rain” coat and the Beatles’ (John Lennon’s and Ringo Starr’s) “Sgt. Pepper” uniforms. Personal effects include John Lennon’s passport and green card and Jimi Hendrix’s handwritten Purple Haze lyrics. Instruments include Jimi Hendrix’s 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar and Louis Jordan’s tenor saxophone. ZZ Top’s Eliminator Car can be found in the Exhibit Sets category.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explores the roots of rock and roll influence, gospel, and country and blues. Visitors find information on one-hit wonders and long-time classic artists. It features the artists who pioneered rock and roll in the Fifties. And it explores how rock and fashion influence each other. In total, over fifty exhibits tell the story of rock and roll.
Hall of Fame inductees are honored at the Hall of Fame multi-media gallery. Film footage, music, and interviews provide a musical biography of the inductees. The inductees span half a century of music from Elvis Presley to the Beatles, from the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix, from Jimi Hendrix to the Beach Boys, from the Beach Boys to Marvin Gaye, from Marvin Gaye to Elton John, and from Elton John to U2, and all the artists in between. They have left a legacy on the culture with timeless music.
The Rock and Roll hall of Fame and Museum is open daily and is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.