So in the fall of 1998, we moved to Cleveland for law school. But before that we had to decide to move to Cleveland–and difficult decision to make, even for Oklahomans.
In fact, I was looking at 10 different schools, and I asked Holly to rank them by where she’d want to go for 3 years. Cleveland ranked 10th, dead last. But somehow we decided to make a trip to Cleveland to see what was what before really going somewhere else.
And the trip started off pretty bad. Our connecting flight was at least 3 hours late taking off because there was no flight crew. I recall sitting at the gate just looking out at the dark plane.
That delay got us into Cleveland after 2 a.m. We had reserved a rental car but hadn’t made hotel reservations. I had figured that we’d drive to the University Circle area (where the law school was) and find something. So we drove from the airport on the west side of town, by downtown and Jacobs Field, and exited at the signs for University Park, which took us through Roosevelt Park.
To this point (at 3 a.m.), everything looks great. But at the intersection of Mayfield and Euclid, we made a terrible decision. We turned east onto Euclid, which immediately enters East Cleveland. For those who don’t know–and we had no idea at that moment–East Cleveland was not where we wanted to be. Holly was, rightly, nervous, maybe even scared.
Somehow we got to a Days Inn somewhere further south–it might have been the first non-hourly motel we saw. We probably considered returning directly to the airport and returning home. But we got up the next morning, toured the law school, looked for a house to buy/rent, and learned about Cleveland.
Excitement is rental car in front of nondescript law school building
Or a house that we considered buying (we didn't)
What would become our first home in Cleveland Heights (terrible owner lived on the other side of this duplex)
A nice bridge in Roosevelt Park that might lead you into East Cleveland; beware
Downtown skyline from the lake; funny thing is I would end up working at the building on the far left
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame always made sense being in Cleveland
So despite the initial missteps, we decided on Cleveland and were happy we did.
[Originally posted February 18, 2010]
My first trip to CWRU also had a nervous-stomach-inducing wrong turn. We relied on mapquest (or whatever mapquest-like online direction giver existed then) and it gave the most direct, though not the best, route. Turns out it was through Hough.
We finally had to flag down a police officer for help. The subtext of his directions was “welcome to the big city, country boy.”
Were you riding a bicycle at that point?
I think almost everyone’s first trip to the Case results in a surprise visit to . . . an area that you didn’t really want to visit. The university is nestled right up against Hough (to the west) and Glenville (IIRC, to the north), with East Cleveland to the east. The roads are a snarl, with confusing intersections and plenty of opportunity for wrong turns.
When we visited, the first time I had ever been there (Frances had interviewed for her job, so it washer second visit), I wondered why the department put us up in a hotel REALLY far from campus. After the first day of the visit, and our drive down Cedar, I realized WHY.
Does Trench ride a bike?
Bug, I’m sad you forgot.
My first granola-headed year at Case I did without a car. I had a mountain bike (with baskets), and that’s how I got around. Along with public transportation. And a pied.
The funny thing is, Chris gave me more rides when I had a vehicle than when I didn’t.
I miss you guys. Those are so entertaining in comparison– My dad and I came in from the countryside, and we laughed the whole way about how I could make my own practice just on the basis of various felonious relatives. Because neither of us could think of a better route, we drove down Euclid on purpose. The administration matched us up with Erin Peterson and her dad for the day, and Erin was wearing a suit. We both left with the impression that I had been admitted by accident and would soon be crushed by a properly attired army of unfreckled people with boxes of master’s degrees in their closets.
Chris, I’m so happy that you and Holly moved it out of tenth. I don’t know why you guys were kind enough to include me, but I’m pretty sure that the brontosaurus ribs are still in there.
Tyler didn’t bother to take me to Cleveland until we moved there. I think I cried every day for a year. When the tears dried up, I really settled in. I remember when I saw on the news that a manager at the Aldi’s on Euclid had been shot, I was so excited to know that there was an Aldi’s closer to me than the one I had been shopping at. Perspective is a wonderful thing.
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