Cedar Point opened for the 2012 season on May 12. There are several new additions this year. Among them is the new Fast Lane admission, a higher admission ticket that lets you beat the long lines for popular attractions. (A good idea, perhaps, if you only have one day this year to spend at the park. However, the Fast Lane admission is just one way to beat the lines at Cedar Point.) Also new this season is Luminosity, a nighttime show debuting June 8; Dinosaurs Alive!, a new attraction, located on Adventure Island, that features 50 animatronic, life-like dinosaurs; and Dragster H2O, a new racing slide at Soak City, the Cedar Point water park.

For more about Cedar Point, see:

• Cedar Point Visitors Guide
• Cedar Point Discounts
• Cedar Point Roller Coasters

It's almost beach time! Escape to one of the scenic and sandy beaches along Lake Erie this summer. From the mile-long Headlands Beach, just outside of Mentor, to the sandy resort strip along the Cedar Point Peninsula, Lake Erie has a number of affordable waterfront spots.

Particularly convenient is Edgewater Park (pictured at left), just west of downtown. Not only does it have 900 feet of white sand, it offers one of the city's best views of the downtown Cleveland skyline.


^{(Photo Courtesy of Ohio Dept of Travel and Tourism.)}

Ohio has more than 70 Indian mounds, burial sites of the Adena and Hopewell tribes--the "mound builders"--who inhabited central and southern Ohio from roughly 3000 BC until the 16th century.

Many of these sites are open to the public, including the dramatic and fascinating Serpent Mound (pictured above). Some even have museums and visitors centers accompanying them. Visiting Ohio's Indian mounds makes an interesting and educational summer weekend sidetrip from Cleveland.

^{(US Gov't Photo)}

The Cleveland Browns have announced their 2012 schedule. It includes match-ups with the San Diego Chargers, New York Giants, and Buffalo Bills as well as contests against division rivals Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Baltimore. See the entire 2012 Cleveland Browns Schedule.

^{(photo of Cleveland Browns Stadium © 2006 S. Mitchell; licensed to About, Inc.)}