CLEVELAND, Ohio - With one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record, we NEED summer. More than ever, we need to get out, embrace and enjoy every moment, ice cream cone and outdoor concert possible this year. We earned it, and then some.
Last month we published "The 2014 Hot List: 100 things to do in Cleveland this summer." Each week, we'll be adding to the project with smaller lists created from the guide. Read on for 10 ways to embrace the great outdoors.
1. Soar into summer on a Goodtime III Super Hero cruise. (No 6)
2. Experience the Bard in the great outdoors at the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, featuring "Romeo and Juliet," "Voodoo Macbeth" and "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," through Sunday, Aug. 3. (No. 7)
3. Be WOWed by the sight and sounds of Wade Oval Wednesdays -picnics and concerts on the greens in University Circle- June 11-Aug. 27. (No. 11)
4. Spend a beachy Happy Hour with Edgewater Live, the new Thursday-night Happy Hour concert series at Edgewater Park, beginning June 12 with the Breakfast Club. (No. 12)
5. Let your kids - and their imaginations -run wild at Preston's HOPE, the all-abilities playground at the Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland, 26001 South Woodland Road, Beachwood. (No. 15)
6. Think outside the blocks when the Cleveland Botanical Garden presents "The Nature Connects Lego Brick Experience" through Sunday, Aug. 24, with dozens of larger-than-life, nature-inspired sculptures. (No. 25)
7. Watch a sunset from one of the lakeside swings at Lakewood Park. (No. 26)
8. Pony up for a family day at Lake Metroparks Farmpark, 8800 Euclid Chardon Road, Kirtland. (No, 31)
9. Make Tuesday musical at a Holden Arboretum Summer Garden concert, June 17-Aug. 5. (No. 32)
10. Feed a horse -or goat or pig or chicken or sheep -" at the 48-acre Stearns Homestead in Parma, a working farm right in the city. (No. 63)