Day 2.1: Cleveland Rocks (More Than We Thought It Did)

For our first full day of the trip, we did one of our favorite things: sleep in. But despite that, we still managed to leave the room ahead of schedule for our lunch reservations at Michael Symon's Lola. Even though we got there about 45 minutes early, they had plenty of available tables.

It was every bit as good as our dinner there from two years ago. Madison was anxious to try the Mac n' Cheese, which she loved, but didn't place at the top of her "best ever" list (I'll have to get her to do a post on that).

Afterwards, we strolled down to the 5th Street Arcade, which was really cool, but most of the shops were closed. Since it's Monday, this had us confused. We would have explored downtown some more, but it was raining and we'd accidentally left one of the umbrellas in the car.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed by the Federal Reserve, which also has the Money Museum. Entry is free, so we decided to check it out. The building itself is beautiful -- constructed during the 1920s I think. The security is understandably tight, but the museum itself is great.

The various exhibits teach you all about the history of money, checks, and banking in the U.S. My favorites were one where you learn to recognize counterfeit bills and the sniper ports over the main entrance. We would have stayed longer, but we managed to get in only 30 minutes before closing.

Then it was back to the hotel to grab our checked bags and car. The rain was starting to pick up, so we were ready to hit the road. We realized, though, that by sticking to Downtown, Cleveland has charmed us. We'd definitely like to come back when it's warmer and see much more.