The Great Lakes Science Center was disappointingly small, so I took the extra time to do a bonus round at the neighboring Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I’m not big on music, but I do have the Rolling Stones and The Beatles CDs in my car – both these bands were prominently featured.
As you walk along the exhibits, you’ll be treated to a mish-mash of ear candy from Let It Be to Hotel California. There’s an excellent interpretation of the relationship between music and the Civil rights movement and the moral controversy that rock and roll played throughout the 1950s and 60s.
I like how the museum organized music by place and period to help put the progression of modern popular tunes into context. It starts with the early influences of blues and gospel before eventually getting to rap and hip-hop. At the end of the tour, there was a special exhibit on The Beatles and the guitars and clothes they wore for famous recordings.
The actual Hall of Fame is upstairs on the third level with an explanation of the categories and the induction process followed by golden names on a black wall for every year since 1983.
The $30 price tag plus parking is a little steep, and it is missing a Hard Rock Cafe in the museum canteen, but where else are you going to see all this paraphernalia in the city that birthed the term “rock and roll?”
