Goodtime III Cruise, Cleveland, Ohio

We took a two hour cruise aboard the Goodtime III Friday afternoon around the jetty of Lake Erie and up the Cuyahoga River a little past the Flats before turning around. Years ago the Flats in Cleveland was a steel mill but today is filled with restaurants, apartments, and parks. The improvement is fabulous and I took a few pictures of the area as we cruised up the river. The Captain also narrated a story of the area as we cruised. I wish I could remember everything that he said, but I am going to have to get information from the internet instead.

The history of the Goodtime, a family owned and operated business that started its operations in the spring of 1958, has continued to keep alive the name and tradition of providing safe sailing’s of the Cleveland and Cuyahoga River area, and has rightfully become an institution to the city of Cleveland. 

Cleveland is also home to Drew Carey, Halle Berry, Phil Donahue, Steve Harvey, Bob Hope, Paul Newman, Joe Walsh, Dr. Oz, Arsenio Hall and is the birthplace of Rock-n-Roll. When radio station WJW disc jockey Alan Freed (1921-1965) used the term "rock and roll" to describe the uptempo black rhythm and blues records he played beginning in 1951, he named a new genre of popular music that appealed to audiences on both sides of 1950s American racial boundaries -- and dominated American culture for the rest of the 20th century. The popularity of Freed's nightly "Moon Dog House Rock and Roll Party" radio show encouraged him to organize the Moondog Coronation Ball -- the first rock concert held at the Cleveland Arena on March 21, 1952. The oversold show was beset by a riot during the first set. Freed was a charter inductee into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Old Coast Guard Station

Vertical Lift Bridge

The first bridge we came to as we entered the Cuyahoga River is a modern vertical lift bridge. This type is the most popular today, for ease and rapidity of operation and for navigation clearance. A vertical lift bridge operates in much the same fashion as does an ordinary window sash, which moves up and down in vertical guides and is hung from sash-cords that go over a pulley at the top, with a counter-weight at the other end. A vertical lift span is easily recognizable by the high skeleton towers, one at each end of the span. The cables which carry the counter-weights pass over giant pulley wheels, called "sheaves", at each end of the lift span.

The Flats' 20th century heyday as an entertainment destination was short-lived. Three drowning deaths in one month in 2000, along with a city crackdown on fire and health code violations led to the closing of many bars. Patrons becoming scared off due to safety concerns led to a sharp decrease in business. While this was a boon for the redevelopment for the Warehouse District, the area just up the hill from the East Bank, it sent shock waves through the Flats' redevelopment from which it has never fully recovered. Most of the East Bank went "dark" due to the number of businesses that have closed.

In the early 2000s, The West Bank fared better than the East Bank with longtime businesses like Shooters and the Harbor Inn remaining open, and the construction of condominiums at the remains of the Superior Viaduct in 2005. Here is another short history of Cleveland's Flats.

Many years ago the Flats was an industrialized area of steel mills, iron furnaces, rolling mills, foundries, lumberyards, shipyards, flour mills, oil refineries, paint and chemical factories, and other industries. In the 20th century, as industries grew less dependent on water and rail transportation, the Flats gradually lost their concentration of industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Flats enjoyed a new vitality as nightclubs and restaurants sprouted along Old River Rd. and other streets. The nonprofit Flats Oxbow Assn. was organized in 1978 to promote the economic well-being of the area. Today the Flats are an amalgamation of commerce, industry, nightlife, and (since the construction of a series of condominiums in 1983-84) residences.

Detroit-Superior Suspension Bridge

Underneath the Detroit-Superior Suspension Bridge is the Center Street Bridge, which swings open to let the boats through. The first Center Street Bridge was a wooden structure that was replaced five or six times. The present bridge, a steel truss with unequal arms, was built in 1901. There are quite a few bridges in Cleveland and the Flats area.

Lorenzo Carter Cabin

Lorenzo Carter arrived in Cleveland on May 2, 1797 and built a cabin along the Cuyahoga River where he lived with his wife and nine children. He stuck it out in the swampy areas of Cleveland. He made a living trading with Indians, farming, and running the Carter Tavern, which served as an inn and tavern as well as a meeting place. He also ran a ferry service and served as Cleveland's first constable. He died in 1814. 

In 1969 the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River caught on fire. Cleveland's Mayor Carl Stokes dedicated himself to cleaning up the city's waterways. And, thanks to all the attention brought to the efforts in Cleveland, both the 1972 Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came to be.

For over 220 years, the Cleveland Flats generated all kinds of grit - malaria, skirmishes, the thunder of railroads, bootlegging, smoke stacks, fire and sweat equity. Today, the Flats is a symbol of sophistication - private investment, healthy waterways, historic preservation, upscale residences, refined culinary offerings, entrepreneurship and chic nightlife. So, among its bridges, roads, riverbanks and viaducts, the Flats connects old and new; downfall and rebirth; grit and sophistication.

Carter Road Bridge

Iron Curtain Bridge

Jim and I both grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, but did not truly enjoy the city in our young teenage years. We both left home while in our 20s, which was the very early 1970s. At that time we were not interested in history or learning about the city - there were more important things happening in the world. But now coming back to visit, we find so much history and wonderful things to see. 

In my next blog, I will highlight our visit to downtown Cleveland with Gary Jun, a high school classmate of Jim's, who took us on a tour of the downtown Cleveland area.


Quote of the Day: "If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends." ~~ Enoch Powell