Good News Tour

A couple of weeks ago, the house went on a "Good News Tour" on the East Side of Cleveland for our community day. The Good News Tours take you places around Cleveland that are actually very cool and are good things that are helping the city of Cleveland!

Our first stop was at Bootleg Guitars and Basses. Jon, a Cleveland native builds custom electric guitars and basses! One of his guitars was even used as an image on a Great Lakes Beer! The space is pretty cool - his shop is also connected to his apartment. 

Jon made a custom bass for Dave Matthews

Allie found a new friend! 

Second stop: Gotta Groove Records
We learned all about how vinyl records are made. Vinyls are become more popular again, and there are not very many record makers anymore. 

Factory of Gotta Groove Records

Vinyl record making machine

Pieces of vinyl-- what the records are made of.

Super cool floor that is made out of record sleeves, laminated and tiled!

Colored vinyl used as art in the sounding room

Third stop: Negative Space Gallery: a non-profit art gallery.

Wood burning technique

A holocaust memorial art piece that uses the technique of wood burning. It's made out of old paddles.

Anti-gun violence piece that is also made with the wood burning technique.

Fourth Stop: Cleveland Vineyard

Fifth Stop: Africa House (we forgot to take pictures)

Sixth Stop: Julie's building (an apartment building that is dedicated to living simply and often hosts artists)

Our last "official" stop was at Joan Southgate's home. Joan is a courageous woman who walked the Underground Railroad at the age of 73 and wrote a book about her experience: "In Their Path: A Grandmother's 519-Mile Underground Railroad Walk".

After having a delightful visit with Joan, we made an unofficial stop at KoKo's bakery, a Thai bakery with many yummy treats! 

Bacon Cheese Bun

We all learned a lot and despite the fact that we all already love Cleveland, this tour made us love it even more! :)