“Wait… you’re here on holiday? Really? In Cleveland?” For the first time this evening, Erin is almost rendered speechless. Since she came to sit in the row behind me at Progressive Field – with her friends, Mark, Linda and Shanice – her baseball commentary has been incessant, like a foul-mouthed auctioneer’s.
We started chatting when her friends – themselves loud, proud and delightfully unfiltered Clevelanders – apologised for being overenthusiastic. Upon hearing my accent, they assumed I must be in town for business, visiting friends or lost. When I explained I was on holiday, they looked at me like I had just arrived from the planet Krypton.
Then they lit up. Their disbelief that I had chosen Cleveland as a holiday destination rapidly melted into a full-throated campaign of Midwestern hospitality. By the third inning, they’d adopted me entirely – pointing out players, offering me nachos and teaching me their team’s anthems.
They hooted with glee when a T-shirt was launched into the stands by a mascot and – with a flutter and a thwack – landed directly in my lap. It bore the logo of Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team: the Guardians.
“It’s fate,” said Mark, waving a cheese-covered tortilla chip at me by way of a salute. “You’re a Guardian now.”
The team’s name is in homage to the Guardians of Traffic – hulking Art Deco sentinels who, with carved resolve, have watched over Cleveland’s motorists on the Hope Memorial Bridge since the 1930s. For cinephiles, however, it’s near impossible to hear the word ‘Guardians’ without thinking of Guardians of the Galaxy – the comedic, sci-fi Marvel film franchise that James Gunn directed to stratospheric heights.
On the wings of this success, Gunn has now taken the reins to Superman. His reboot will form the first chapter of the DC Universe’s Gods and Monsters arc. If previews are to be believed, Gunn’s take on the Man of Steel will inject a much-needed dose of mischief and magic into the overly solemn world of DC’s most famous boy scout, with whimsical comic-book cast additions like Krypto the Superdog ensuring it will share the same mix of humour and heart that made Guardians such a breath of fresh air in an increasingly stagnating genre. In a neat bit of symmetry, he’s also brought the Man of Steel back to the place where he was born – not Krypton, but Cleveland.
In the 1930s, a pair of teenage misfits named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster dreamed up a square-jawed alien with superpowers and a sundial-sized moral compass. They lived in Glenville, a working-class Cleveland neighbourhood, and scribbled stories and pictures in notebooks at night. The result? The world’s first true superhero. Superman wasn’t just invented here – he was infused with the ideals, contradictions and steel-belt grit of this underestimated city. He represented the hope and honesty of its best citizens.
“Here’s David Corenswet, who’s playing Superman, right outside this building,” said my super server, Tina, over breakfast in the Hotel Cleveland. She deftly topped up my coffee with one hand while holding her smartphone screen in front of me with the other. “I took this picture through these windows,” she added, nodding towards Public Square through sun-streaked glass.
The photo showed the actor performing a feat of strength, his cape billowing in the breeze as he heroically lifted a set piece while two crew members bore its true weight off-camera. Like the baseball game, it’s all about teamwork.
Outside, the real-world Metropolis showed it was similarly mighty. Standing in Public Square, where the intricately crafted Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument rises like some noble, steampunk relic, I tried to picture the Man of Steel landing on its pinnacle, cape rippling, eyes scouring the skyline.
It wasn’t difficult. With its heroic scale and indomitable architecture – all Art Deco lines and cinematic magnificence – Cleveland already looks the part. The city’s architecture is likely why Gunn chose it as a backdrop for filming. It doesn’t just resemble Metropolis – it inspired it.
It’s not hard to picture a blur of red cape darting between these towers, or Clark Kent adjusting his tie in the reflective glass of The Arcade – America’s first indoor shopping mall.
Opened in 1890, it is now a grandiose filming location for the new movie. Dubbed ‘Cleveland’s Crystal Palace,’ the building is so historic and magnificent that, when I visited, I watched a wedding rehearsal unfold here.
Under its gilded balconies and its 300ft-long vaulted skylight – made from 1,800 panes of glass – the family shone in their vibrant saris and tunics. A few blocks away, Heinen’s Market sells groceries beneath a frescoed dome that once belonged to a bank. Even a trip to the supermarket feels grand in Cleveland.
From here, I strolled a little down the road to visit the second floor of the Cleveland Public Library, which houses a modest but moving tribute to the Man of Steel’s humble beginnings: early sketches, yellowing comic strips and letters from Superman creators Siegel and Shuster themselves.
There are even signed photos of Kirk Alyn, the first actor to portray Superman on screen in 1948, back when the cape flapped like a grey curtain and the special effects involved more string than CGI.
Afterwards, I explored local neighbourhoods and stopped for a plate of Palestinian mujaddara for lunch – conversely eaten in Little Italy. Then, later, Mexican tacos with a view of the ballpark. The next day, in Hingetown, it was Polish pierogies – stuffed dumplings served with sour cream, a Cleveland signature.
I didn’t sample the same cuisine twice. Cleveland is home to an astonishing number of cultures, and their culinary legacies crisscross the city.
Palestinian, Italian, Lebanese, Mexican, Polish, Korean. Cleveland is a city of guardians: of stories and traditions passed down in bakeries, barbershops and whispered in the hushed reverence of museums.
Over in University Circle – an elegant neighbourhood where culture is the only currency – the Cleveland Museum of Art is completely free, and includes masterpieces by Rodin and Turner, plus ancient African and Egyptian relics.
Just around the corner, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History houses dinosaurs, a moon rock and – its most popular exhibit – a taxidermy of Balto: a heroic, real-life super-dog famous for saving the lives of the people of Nome, Alaska, by delivering the diphtheria serum to them.
What makes the museum extraordinary, though, is what lies outside it: over 12,500 acres of natural land is under its protection, stretching beyond city limits, all part of an ambitious conservation project to preserve native species and combat invasive ones. Clevelanders, like their most famous superhero, take their responsibilities seriously.
Yet the city never loses its playfulness. At Edgewater Beach, families walked dogs, rode scooters and kite-surfed across Lake Erie, despite the brisk spring breeze. From the sand, the downtown skyline shimmered across the water.
I expect, too, you could have heard the roar of the crowd in Progressive Field when – crack! – a Guardians batter finally sent the ball soaring over the outfield – a white blur rising through stadium light, as if blasted skyward by a Kryptonian uppercut. A home run that, for a few glorious seconds, flies faster than a speeding bullet. Erin watches the ball disappear into the nighttime skyline with her mouth agape. For only the second time this evening, she is speechless.
We lost, of course. But Cleveland didn’t seem to mind. This is a city that understands the long game, that stories are richer when they include struggle, that charm matters more than polish. In some cities, losing a game is a civic crisis. In Cleveland, it’s a punchline told over pierogies and shared beers.
Need to know: Cleveland
Getting there: You can fly to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport from the UK, connecting in Dublin and clearing US immigration while still in Ireland. Otherwise, it’s best to fly via Cincinnati or Washington Dulles.
Getting around: The main sights of downtown Cleveland are walkable. We would recommend using ride-share services to get out to the airport, Little Italy, Gordon Square Arts District and the University Circle.
Best time to go: Winter can be very cold, while spring and autumn are changeable and chilly. There’s no need to worry about high-season crowds in summer though: there aren’t any – yet.
Where to stay: The imposing, impressive Hotel Cleveland (hotelcleveland.com) has recently been fully refurbished and is perfectly situated right on Public Square.
Further information: destinationcle.org
Images © Dreamstime; James Draven
