I finally made it! I made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. This felt like the perfect culmination of all my previous music trips. This stop was filled with validation, education and an array of artifacts, some of which absolutely astounded me.

The pyramid shaped building contains 6 floors. I knew that in order to not rush, to learn and absorb, I needed two days. The best way to achieve this was to get a membership. I’m so glad that I did. It is a grand museum.

The first day I made a stop at each display. Reading, absorbing, realizing how rock and roll music history stretches so wonderfully across the United States. How the cities that I visited were precisely the moments, the locations where music history was started or made.

The first exhibit I stopped in was the “Roots of Rock” highlighting the blues, gospel, R&B, country, bluegrass and folk. Ahhh, Memory Lane. Some of the memories returned from my time in Memphis. And some of them were memories as a child growing up, there was a lot of folk music in my house. I watched videos of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sam and Dave, Buddy Guy and Hank Williams. As the video clips played I knew this museum was going to properly revere the music I loved so deeply.

Next, I stepped into the Elvis exhibit. Again, I went back in my mind to my trip to Memphis, to Graceland. I noticed at Graceland, there was a lot of collaboration between the two museums. Some artifacts were on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and vice versa. I realized that I would like to go back again to Graceland. I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it.

The “Summer of Love Turns 50” section made me wish I was alive and old enough to appreciate music in 1967, and consequentially in 1968 and 1969. Those were very rich years in terms of music history. There were times of great change, new sounds and big risks. I considered myself very fortunate that my parents played a lot of the music from that time. While I might not have been alive, it was definitely heard in my formative years.

I got a huge kick out of the “Cities and Sounds” area. I knew there had to be an homage to Detriot, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. There were also sections on Memphis and our pals across the pond, the Brit Rockers. The Memphis once again, had some lovely artifacts. I promptly took a picture of Carl Perkins outfit and sent it to my friend Don. He was very pleased. Of course I took in all that there was for Seattle. The Sounds part walked me through one scene that I have an appreciation for, yet not a vast amount of knowledge- Punk Rock. Apparently, Punk Rock was one of the first rock genres where women were welcome and made a name for themselves, and still do to this day. What I thought I knew and was confirmed is that British Punk Rock and US Punk Rock are very different. From time to time I have read a couple of punk rock biographies, yet I still feel like I don’t know enough.

The nod to Muscle Shoals stopped me in my tracks. I never expected to have chills in a rock museum. Yet, there I was, standing in front of wreckage pieces from Otis Redding’s plane. Goosebumps and my hairs all stood on edge. While many know that drugs and alcohol do not mix well with rock musicians, neither does airplanes. I am still astounded that Otis was a mere 26 years-old when he tragically died. Twenty-six!

The Legends of Rock and Roll exhibit was again the fun of seeing unique artifacts. The Prince part showed a 3.5″ floppy disk (yes, floppy) with instructions on how to properly write the Prince symbol when he changed his name. How does this place secure such an artifact? And who is willing to surrender such an interesting piece. For those legends still alive, how do they decide they no longer want to hold onto a dress or a hat or a pair of boots? I guess in some ways musicians are like us. Some things purely clutter the closet and some things simply have to go.

Probably one of my favorite parts, the area where I stayed at least a good 45 minutes had to be the “Rock & Pinball” display. YES! I received a few coins and play the KISS machine and The Who machine. AC/DC, Aerosmith and Guns ‘n Roses also got a coin from me. I didn’t play them though they did have Elvis, Beatles, Alice Cooper and even Dolly Parton machines. I am a pinball fan – I am not very good, I do have fun. I resolved to put ‘get a pinball machine’ on my bucket list.

The display that showed the new and upcoming artists was fantastic. There is nothing like seeing my rock goddess heroine, Lzzy Hale’s leather jacket and guitar on display. I know that she and her band Halestorm will one day be inducted.

The final exhibit I enjoyed was the Rapper’s Delight. Rap has always held a spot in my musical tastes. I got such a kick out of seeing Grandmaster Flash’s mixer and cap. Seeing Run DMC’s eyeglass frames and ADIDAS shoes. And of course who doesn’t think it great to see Flavor Flav’s Clock? I sure did!

I saw all this and so much more on Day 1. My brain was properly full and well, happy too. I was there from open to close 10-5. I still had much more to see.

The next day I promptly went to the upper level floors. I read about the backstage stories. Saw some of the roadies’ gear from different tours. And wished that show ‘Roadies’ would have gone into a second season.

The third floor was probably my favorite. It was the inductees’ homage. There are four ways a person can be inducted into the hall of fame: Performers, Ahmet Ertegun Award(behind the scenes,) Early Influence and Musical Excellence (innovation.) I spent a couple of hours on this floor. I spent time reading about the recent inductees: Nina Simone, Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I painstakingly decided who should receive my vote for the 2018 class. Fun thing was, it was also general election day.

A video display allowed me to scroll through different induction ceremonies. Quite by surprise I found myself in tears watching some of the video clips. In that very moment, I realized what music really means to me. All of my trips, all of the cities were validated in that single instance.

To further validate my feelings, watching the Power of Rock short film fueled my excitement and happiness. I know I was grinning from ear to ear. The scenes, the moments all spoke to me. Wondering how does a group pick who will actually talk about them. Or which former members are permitted to perform. Then there is the ever awkward moment of certain members not showing up because the feuds are that deep and that lasting.

“Rock on TV” were the exhibits on the final three floors. As I said, it is a pyramid shape therefore the floors do naturally get smaller. I had a great time remembering some of the TV shows, reading and watching some clips from the Ed Sullivan Show, Bandstand and Soul Train. The top floor was completely dedicated to MTV. Now my kids think it is some lame station. When I was their age, it was THE STATION. Granted you wanted to vomit if you saw the ’99 Luft Balloons’ video again. Yet, MTV was so revolutionary, controversial and downright creative. All the things that have brought us to the 21st Century.

My favorite MTV artifacts were a toss-up between Cyndi Lauper’s red dress from “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and Tom Petty’s extremely large top hat in “Don’t Come Around Here No More.” Both videos were great to watch.

The trip was terrific. It was hard to leave. Even harder to get through the gift shop. I am so glad I was able to go and get to spend two days. The clerk at the gift shop asked if there are any other cities I’d like to visit. Two that I can definitely think of – Detroit to visit the Motown Museum and Minneapolis to go to Prince’s Paisley Park. Stay tuned. Maybe someday I will.