Day 2: Cleveland to Chi City

After watching the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in grand fashion, we slept quite well in our Cleveland hotel. We woke up at a respectable hour of 8:30, got breakfast and walked through the surprisingly clean streets of Cleveland to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Located on the shore of Lake Erie, next to the Cleveland Brown's First Energy Stadium, the Hall of Fame is a mostly glass building. We got there right when it opened and promptly received our red wristbands allowing us to peruse the thousands and thousands of artifacts of musical geniuses. We could have spent at least an entire day in the museum learning about Elvis and his philanthropic achievements, or watching endless videos of American Bandstand, but we could only stay for three hours before grabbing lunch at Al's Deli in Downtown Cleveland and starting our journey to Chicago. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH

We stopped just short of Chicago at Lakeshore Dunes National Park in Indiana, which is a popular beach destination. Even though the weather looked very ominous, we sat on the beach for a few minutes before getting eaten alive by flies. Then we climbed a large sand dune with a great view of the lake and incoming storm. The lightning began to strike and we scurried into the car, closing the door as the rain drops started to fall. Drew and I then high-fived to celebrate our amazing timing. We drove another hour before fireworks from the Chicago White Sox game welcomed our arrival. 

Rain over Lake Erie at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Dinner was some classic deep dish pizza. After that we met up with Dan Klein who brought us to a live band karaoke bar called Bub City. Fifteen minutes after we arrived, people started piling into the bar, standing on seats, looking anxiously towards the door. Before long, the Stanley Cup and entire Blackhawks team entered to a huge applause. It was awesome, and was a fitting end to our second day on the road.

NHL playoffs MVP Patrick Kane holding the Stanley Cup.