I'm still basking in the glory. A 6-day trip full of Stars, Moon & Sun. My last planned traveling adventure for a while, because I need a break from all the fun that I’ve been having. Or, so my wallet says.
This was a trip to Cleveland, Ohio. “Cleveland?”, you say? Yes, indeedy. Cleveland. A few years ago, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland landed on our radar, so Rob and I worked on a plan to visit it. We wanted to see the exhibits about ‘our’ people… you know, Rockers. But then, the pandemic shut down everybody’s everything, so we didn't go. This year, 2024, we started re-hatching a plan to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Simultaneously, I discovered that this year's NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four Championship Tournament was being held in Cleveland in early April. My sister and I had tried to go to the tournament last year when it was in Dallas, Texas, but things didn’t work out, which you can read about here, 37 and Counting. >>Explanation of Final Four: Cream of the crop college basketball teams play in the March Madness tournament for a few weeks until they whittle down to the last four remaining teams. Those four teams make the trip to the destination for the Final Four Championship Tournament which, this year, was Cleveland.<<
As Rob and I considered the possibilities of planning this trip, I discovered that the much-hyped American Solar Eclipse of 2024 would be passing through Cleveland that very same weekend. Seems the stars were aligned, and all signs pointed to a trip to Cleveland, Ohio.
Lest you think I am made of money, I wheeled and dealed and got my hands on tickets for the basketball tournament many many months ago (before prices skyrocketed). My team, the University of South Carolina Gamecock Women’s Basketball Team, was having a very promising, undefeated season, and many predicted them to do well in the end-of-season tournament. So, I took a chance and bought tickets for the Final Four Championship Tournament for my sister, daughter, husband, and me, knowing that I could re-sell them if our team did not advance to the Final Four. We made refundable arrangements for travel and hotel (out in the suburbs, away from the downtown area where prices were inflated). Refundable, because during the lead-in single-elimination March Madness basketball tournament, one doesn’t know if their team will make it to the Final Four Tournament until 4 days before the Final Four tournament begins. Talk about stress for the fans who plan to travel!
Our team did make the Final Four, so our trip was on! We headed to Cleveland, my sister and I driving, my husband and daughter flying. In the car, we attempted to take pictures of the ‘Welcome to’ signs for each state as we drove in. Do you know how hard it is to snap pics from a moving car? LOL at the pics we took.
Seven states, then back home to Georgia.
*****STARS*****
While basketball was heavy throughout our trip, during our non-basketball moments we visited the long-anticipated Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where we feasted our eyes on the STARS who were represented there. Great exhibits for hundreds of Rock & Roll legends (378, per Wikipedia). Had it been a little less crowded and a little quieter (big SolarFest event going on at the museum), we would have lingered a bit. But, we saw a lot, learned a few things, and enjoyed our visit, even if it was a short one.
The Final Four Championship basketball games that we saw were incredible. We watched sports STARS like Caitlyn Clark, Paige Bueckers, Aziaha James, Kamilla Cardoso, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and other teammates battle it out on the court. Before the final championship basketball game, we were invited to a downtown Cleveland hotel to cheer our Gamecock team as they boarded the bus to ride to the arena. We had a blast high-fiving Coach Dawn Staley and all the players as they headed off to prepare for the final game.
There was much fanfare surrounding Iowa’s phenom basketball player Caitlyn Clark, but our Gamecocks were STARS of the show, prevailing by beating Iowa and winning the tournament! University of South Carolina was crowned the National Champions!!! With an undefeated season! The Final Four Tournament was an absolutely fantastic experience! We were completely blown away by the excitement and the energy in the arena. We were also excited to find out later that the TV audience for the highly anticipated women’s basketball championship exceeded the viewership for the men’s championship which was held a day later. Women’s Basketball rules!
How exciting to be there!
*****MOON & SUN*****
Later, after we recovered from the basketball euphoria, my husband and daughter left for the airport to catch their flight home. Meanwhile, my sister, a seasoned sky-watcher, and I set our sights on the Total Solar Eclipse. If you live under a rock somewhere, you might not know that a Total Solar Eclipse occurs infrequently, when the MOON passes in front of the SUN and blocks the sunlight, causing darkness, lower temperatures, and all kinds of interesting side effects. We, together, had experienced a Total Solar Eclipse in 2017, which you can read about here, The Eclipse. It was such a great experience, we were hungry for more. This time, we had a map marked with the line of totality for the eclipse, but, rather than commit to a viewing spot, we decided to just wing it, head out early in the morning, and look for the clearest skies near Cleveland that would put us in the path of totality. So, we started driving southwest.
After a few hours, we stumbled upon a small town with a big presence along the highway. It was Wapakoneta, Ohio, the hometown of Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to set foot on the MOON. Relying on intuition, we hustled over to the Armstrong Air & Space Museum and joined a few thousand others on the sprawling grass around the museum. So many people with their telescopes and safety sunglasses. It was a very festive atmosphere, and, it turns out, with its clear skies and wide open view, one of the best places to view the eclipse along the entire North American path of totality. When the eclipse peaked and the MOON completely covered the SUN, the throngs of people broke into a cheer that rivaled the basketball championship crowd. Try as I might, I didn't have the right camera equipment to capture the magnificent eclipse in all of its glory. But, I saw it with my own eyes.
We had so much fun getting our science on and marveling at the Total Solar Eclipse. It was an almost out-of-body experience, watching the Heavens above and contemplating Man’s relationship to the Universe.
Speaking of nature at its finest, we had the most bizarre range of weather during this trip. Which made packing a real challenge. We experienced sleet, snow, rain, heavy winds, flooding, as well as 80F deg. heat (26C). My sister suggested that the only thing we hadn’t seen was fire, but I reminded her that the Fire Alarm went off in the hotel at 4:00am, waking everyone and causing all kinds of confusion, so that should count for something. (Kitchen mishap, no worries, go back to bed.)
This entire trip was a big exciting rush. Experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. So much happened, and our emotions were running high. Excellent, simply excellent. Now it’s time to get back to my regular life and settle down a little. Fit into the normal ole routine. But if you hear of something fun that’s ‘bout to happen, give me a shout, k? I’m in. Well, maybe. Financially Responsible Me says I better take it easy on the monies. Pssst... Fun Me says to have your people contact my people...I'm ready to go!