Cleveland, Ohio--Cheap and Fun. Forget about calories for a couple of days!

Where to find Cleveland's ethnic eats, fruits, veggies, baked goods, etc. Open M,W,,F, Sat. Wonderful old-time style open market. See visitlorainave.com to see all the great architectural features along the street.

Award winning microbrewery! Don't miss it if you love good beer.

Best flan anywhere. Great sandwiches too.

West 25th Steet is an up-and-coming and eclectic shopping district. Won't find any chain stores here! Something Different Gallery (closed Sun. and Tues.) represents hundreds of artisans. City Buddha offers items imported directly from Indonesia by the owner, including furniture, clothes and gifts. Six Steps Down is an independent bookseller. This represents only a few of the restaurants and stores in the area!

Right next to the Rock Hall on the lakefront. Kids love the interactive exhibits. Also has IMAX.

The shrine to rock and roll. Located right at the end of E 9th at the lakefront.

The world-class Art Museum is closed right now for renovation. Bummer! Check the website for more information. Some of the exhibits have moved out into the community.

There is always something going on here, with four theaters under one roof and another across the street. Touring Broadway shows, concerts, plays, cabaret shows...and not at New York prices! If you can get a tour of the historic theaters, all the better. The Wyndham Hotel is right across the street. Maybe you can get a package!

Great indoors and out. There's an old fashioned herb garden and a garden featuring antique roses outdoors. So what if it rains--visit the biosphere that has Madagascar on the bottom and a cloud forest on the top with butterflies. Wow!

More education for the kids! Planetarium, dinosaurs, etc.

Up the Mayfield Road hill from University Circle. Restaurants, galleries and shopping; great walking neighborhood. Busy on Friday and Saturday nights.

Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns have their games in two different stadiums downtown.

Brazilian food. Jazzy!

In the Tremont neighborhood. Eastern European, famous! Find out for yourself about the mother of all comfort foods-the pierogie, hand-rolled dough stuffed with potatoes and cheese (or other things) and topped with sour cream and sauteed onions.

Cleveland has lots of hospitals. MetroHealth Medical Center on the near west side is a Level-One trauma center and a world class teaching hospital. It's where to go for an emergency and all kinds of medical treatment. Notorious for long waits in the very busy emergency room. The world-renowned Cleveland Clinic has an ER but not like this one. The Clinic is great if you are an athlete, voice or dance artist and need treatment while performing in Cleveland; of course, they are best known for cardiology. The University Hospital System in University Circle is well-known too.

There's nothing like this anywhere else that I know about. The MetroParks completely encircle the county. And they are FREE! except for the Cleveland MetroPark Zoo on the west side of Cleveland. This zoo is very cool. It has an Australian habitat with wallabies hopping around in it, and a little train that takes you all around. There's a rain forest dome, giraffes, primates, snakes, fish, big cats and a brand new vet center. Lots of hills and steps so you will get your exercise and walk off all the pierogies you ate at University Inn.