Richmond Heights, OH
Cleveland's legendary corned beef sandwich since 1964. The lunch line out the door is part of the experience. The corned beef is hand-cut, piled absurdly high. James Beard Foundation "America's Classics" award winner.
Cleveland's east-side corporate aviation airport. Significant business jet traffic — many of the major Northeast Ohio companies (Sherwin-Williams, Progressive, Eaton, Cliffs) base aircraft here. Less crowded than KCLE or KBKL, with full FBO services. Quick drive to downtown Cleveland and to the Cleveland Museum of Art's University Circle area.
Just southeast of the Lost Nation field spreads one of the largest arboreta in the country. The Holden Arboretum covers 3,600 acres of forest, wetland, and cultivated garden in Kirtland, with more than twenty miles of trails and some 9,400 kinds of woody plants. Two signature features reward anyone who likes a view from above: the Murch Canopy Walk, a 500-foot elevated loop sixty-five feet up in the treetops, and the Kalberer Family Emergent Tower, a 120-foot wooden tower from which, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Lake Erie. Opened in 1931, it anchors Holden Forests & Gardens, among the largest public-garden organizations in the US.
The actual house used as the Parker family home in "A Christmas Story" (1983) — preserved in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood as a museum, complete with the leg lamp in the front window. Renovated to match the film's interiors exactly. The Christmas Story Museum across the street has original props including Ralphie's Red Ryder BB gun, the bunny suit, and Randy's snowsuit. A pilgrimage for fans. Cleveland is only 10 minutes from KBKL — this is an easy add to a Cleveland day.
One of the most spectacular GA approaches in the Midwest — Burke Lakefront sits literally on the edge of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (an I.M. Pei design from 1995) sits right at the waterfront, the Browns Stadium next door, and the Terminal Tower (1930) and Key Tower anchor the skyline. The Cuyahoga River winds through the Flats neighborhood. Approach over the lake with the city rising in front of you. The Cleveland National Air Show takes place at KBKL each Labor Day weekend.
NASA Glenn sits right next to Cleveland Hopkins (KCLE); you can see it from the south side of the field. It started in 1942 as the NACA Aircraft Engine Research Lab and is still NASA's main center for propulsion and power, work that's gone into everything from the Space Shuttle to the Mars rovers to the Artemis Moon program. The research site itself isn't open to the public, but the Glenn story is told at the Great Lakes Science Center downtown.