He visited Cleveland solo, and it surprised everyone

solo travel – When a work conference brought him back to the U.S., he finally visited Cleveland—alone—after his wife, Cece, had repeatedly declined. The solo trip pushed him into new conversations, late-night surprises, and even a long day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had sat on his bucket list for years. Each time he suggested Cleveland as the next vacation stop, his wife—Cece—said no.

They usually traveled together and had made their way to plenty of places across the US, but Ohio’s biggest city just didn’t interest her. So when a conference put him back in the US this spring, he didn’t try to bargain. He added a few days and went anyway—solo.

He didn’t expect the trip to go better than it did. When he returned home, he had two badly made souvenirs in tow, and a new certainty: you don’t need to skip a place just because your partner doesn’t want to see it. “When nobody knows you, it feels easy to say yes to new things,” he says.

In a new city, he found social doors easier to open than he thought they would be. He wasn’t often on stage, and he had done some acting in university, but none since. Still. the Cleveland Public Theatre offered him an entry point—an “open mic” night where local writers brought new screenplays for audience members to perform.

At home, he says he would never have gone. In Cleveland, nobody knew him, and he didn’t want to spend the night alone in his hotel room. The event started, and he was given a part in one of the first readings. Before the lines were read, the writer explained the scene had been written for someone “considerably younger” than him.

He joked—he dropped his script on the floor and walked off. The room laughed and cheered. Free wine probably helped, too.

At one point, the writers mentioned something that landed differently once he was already there: Cleveland has the second-largest theater district in the country after New York City. Walking in, he admits he might have been scared off if he’d known.

By the end of the night, he’d spoken with most of the room and left with local recommendations. Traveling alone reshaped the schedule, not just the mood—he spent more time connecting with locals than he would have if he’d been traveling with others.

At the West Side Market, he met Tom, who had run the same fish stall for many years. Fifteen minutes later, he was walking with Tom to Tom’s friend’s brewery for a 10 a.m. beer.

After that early start, he went to the Glass Bubble Project, a glassblowing studio near the market. With Cece, he says, he would have stayed on the safe side—admiring the finished pieces and leaving. Instead, he decided to make her tequila glasses.

The owner watched with “a mix of horror and amusement” as he worked. He hadn’t realized how many steps glassblowing requires, or how often he’d come close to burning his hands.

Later, he chased food tied to his family’s past. He went looking for the cuisine his Polish grandparents grew up on, because Cleveland has a strong Polish heritage.

His theater buddies had pointed him to Larder, a local delicatessen and bakery. Jeremy—the owner—worked with koji and fermentation techniques he didn’t understand. Still, the food tasted like something close to what his grandmother used to make, even if it arrived in forms he almost recognized.

Jeremy was closing when he arrived, but he let him sit down anyway. He poured a celery seltzer with apple-cider vinegar and dill-pickle syrup. among other things he says he was too polite to ask about. It sounded awful. It was one of the better drinks he’d had. Jeremy’s chefs pulled up chairs, and the conversation stretched long after the doors were supposed to shut.

With Cece—or his kids—he says they would have been back at the hotel hours earlier. In his telling, the trip his partner wouldn’t take didn’t just become tolerable. It became worth it.

Then came the day he’d flown for in the first place: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He finally found himself inside, and the feeling was mixed—because it was also the one place he wished he hadn’t visited alone.

He spent most of the day taking far too many photos to show Cece and his in-laws, the real musicians in the family. When he reached the interactive rooms, he played drums and guitars out of tune and without rhythm, constantly thinking his family should have been there.

Still, when he looked back on everything, he was glad he came to Cleveland and finally stopped by the museum. He doesn’t pretend solo travel made him forget what he wants most. He still prefers traveling with family.

But he won’t put a city on hold just because they aren’t interested.

Cece, he says, actively encourages him to travel solo—possibly because she likes having the house to herself. She still gets something out of it either way: a souvenir.

The two glasses he crafted made it home in one piece. They’re uneven, proof—he admits—of why he failed art class. In his defense, he says he also felt like he was nearly on fire at several points while making them.

Cece will drink from the glasses. It’s as close as she’ll come to visiting Cleveland—unless the screenplay he read at the open mic night gets picked up. “I just need makeup to help me look young enough for the role,” he says.

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