Road Trip: BonBon Pastry, Museum of Contemporary Art & Cleveland Botanical Gardens - Cleveland, OH

It’s hard to believe – I’m finally finishing up the posts from my trip to Cleveland. I’m still astounded by all that Cleveland shared with me! The girls at Positively Cleveland were so fun and hospitable. On our last day – they didn’t let up at all – it was more food & fun.

First up was BonBon Pastry & Cafe – another “must see” for foodies. We were there for Sunday brunch and were planning on it being our last meal in the city – and we would not be disappointed.

It took a lot of willpower to not just pick that giant cinnamon roll plate up and bring it to my table. Seriously – does that not look amazing?!

Our Columbus blogger tried this Vanilla Bean French Toast and yes – that’s corn sprinkled on top. I was a little scared off by it but he loved the sweetness of the corn and said it was fantastic!

I have been looking into hash recently because of the Hashcapades site – soon I’ll be finding someplace in Cincinnati that serves up some hash (any ideas? let me know) – so when I saw a Corned Beef Hash on the menu at BonBon – I had to try it.

This corned beef hash wasn’t like the kind that came out of a can in the 80s – this had brussels sprouts, peppers, onions, mushrooms and a fried egg. Now when I saw “fried egg” – I thought there would be a fried egg on top. Um no. There is a brown sphere on the top of the plate – it’s like a soft boiled egg that is fried!

While I love all the ingredients – I didn’t love this hash. The corned beef was really dry and it was all in need of moisture or a sauce. I can’t wait to explore the Hashcapades cookbook and find one to make myself!

While we were all stuffed from brunch – the Cleveland girls said we had to try their Cinnamon Sugar Donuts served with preserves, house-made chocolate sauce and sweetened mascarpone. These were light and airy little donut holes and were delicious! It was perfect to have a sweet treat after the rich brunch.

Why Should You Go? The pastries alone are drool-worthy and the brunch has a lot of unique offerings you just don’t find every day. It was a great brunch spot for sure.

Next up – voted on by the city – was the Museum of Contemporary Art.

It’s a giant mirrored building – so we couldn’t resist capturing a pic of the whole crew. It only took about 5 tries. 🙂 Admission is $8 for adults or free for members ($55/year).

I thought I liked contemporary art. I didn’t really love this gallery though – there wasn’t a lot of art there and what was there – was a little more contemporary than I can handle. For instance – a cell phone on a pedestal. There was a phone number to call and (if you were lucky) the phone would vibrate and move around when it rang. When I called – it just stood there. #thisisart?

I did love their gift shop though! Seriously – check out those purses!?! They’re like cartoons come to life for your arm! They weren’t extremely practical or affordable – but man they were cute!!!

They’re a line called Jump From Paper (duh) and they were all in the $100 range – but wow – seriously – they are so fun!!!! It’s amazing how they don’t look real!

After the “art” – we headed to the Botanical Gardens to round out our visit. It’s much like Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati but the outside area is much larger. Admission is $9.50 for adults or you can purchase a membership for free admission (and other perks) for $65/year.

We all loved exploring the indoor gardens and seeing all the unique plants and flowers the rain forests had.

We also got to see quite a few animals – which I loved of course! These huge turtles were fun to watch and pretty active.

Then there were the butterflies – I have to say – this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. They are so delicate and beautiful – and hard to capture in a photo!

Guessing the “eye” is a camouflage technique for these delicate creatures – they’re really kinda freaky – but I couldn’t stop observing!

There were some areas that were just FULL and I kept trying to capture shots of them but they’re quick! Anything blue was so beautiful – it just stood out so much! Oddly enough I’ve never been to the Butterfly Show at Krohn’s – I think I’ll have to go for sure in 2014.

The outdoor area is huge and is like a huge playground with all sorts of little huts and decks and ponds – its stunning! They have floral areas from all over the world that you can walk through as well – so fun.

I had to get a close up of these – they were so happy!!!

And we all enjoyed that Corinne was so short she didn’t even have to duck to get into the kids area! haha.

Everyone makes fun of Cleveland – but you know what – it’s not that bad. After a long weekend – we were definitely #HappyinCLE.

If you’re looking for a weekend getaway – don’t ignore our friends to the North! I ate a lot of awesome food and had a blast exploring the city. Here’s a refresher of our visit:

Cleveland Pt 1: noodlecat – Cleveland, OH