10 Photos You'll Only Understand If You Hail From Cleveland

If you're wondering what a city skyline is doing in Antarctica... step aside, fake Clevelander. We see you. This is what winter on Lake Erie's southern shore looks like, and it's a reality many Clevelanders have come to embrace. We make the most of brutal winters here, embracing fun like sledding and tobogganing.

We Clevelanders are passionate about our teams. We love to root, root, root for the home team... even when they don't necessarily make us proud. After all, who could forget the Perfect Season Parade? (Pictured.) That was the year our beloved Browns won exactly zero games... and we, in odd Cleveland fashion, half celebrated, half protested.

I was recently talking to an out-of-state friend about weird roadside attractions in Cleveland, and I naturally had to mention the Free Stamp. He was flabbergasted... a giant rubber stamp beside City Hall is almost unbelievable. Seeing photos of Cleveland it out of context is naturally bewildering to non-Clevelanders. Why does that thing exist? What is it... what is it doing there? As it turns out, its story is just as strange as the monument itself. It was commissioned by Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) to display at their headquarters at 200 Public Square. The thought was that this sculpture would mimic the shape of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and nod to their act of service, but new management saw the sculpture as a mockery of corporate freedom. As a result, the sculpture was eventually donated to the city — yes, totally free of charge.

To the untrained eye, this looks like a tropical getaway... Myrtle Beach, perhaps. To a Clevelander, this landscape will look familiar. After all, it's a Lake Erie beach! Mentor Headlands proves that sandy shores aren't just an oceanic feature. This is just one of many Northeast Ohio natural landmarks that make this area ideal for a staycation. Why break the bank for a getaway when you can just gas up the car?!

While giant guitars might turn heads in your average city, music-themed features are not out of the norm here in the birthplace of rock and roll. In fact, Alan Freed, the man who coined the term "rock 'n roll" is buried here, resting under a jukebox-shaped headstone. The entirety of the region hides nods to our musical roots, immortalizing locally born rockers and moments in human history alike. If one pesky genre isn't enough for you, you'll be pleased to learn that our city is also the heart and soul of American polka music. That's right... before Weird Al Yankovich was serving up polka to the masses, Frankie Yankovich was perfecting his button box beats over in the Collinwood neighborhood.

Why, yes, that is a cemetery right across the street from our baseball stadium. While this may seem to be an odd city layout choice, it wasn't intentional — Erie Street Cemetery, the oldest standing cemetery in Cleveland, was once at the edge of town. As the city expanded, its bustling streets absorbed this historic resting place. Its unusual location is likely part of the reason this spot is shrouded in legend. One of the most persisting legends actually pertains to indigenous peoples buried here... according to the stories, Joc-O-Sot and Chief Thunderwater were rather displeased with the circumstances of their burials and the pervasiveness of offensive imagery used by the Cleveland Indians across the street. Now that the team is known as the Guardians, locals hope these flustered phantoms can finally get some rest.

Sure, you may recognize Claude Monet's Water Lilies, but an intimate understanding of the paintings is one of the many treats Cleveland provides. The left panel of the massive three-panel Water Lilies, Agapanthus is a permanent fixture at the Cleveland Museum of Art. A few years ago, a special exhibit brought all three paintings together for the first time in decades, and a ghostly Monet may have stopped by to see the display. Next time someone refutes Cleveland's reputation as an artsy city, ask them if long-dead painters of yesteryear are stopping by to visit their local free-to-the-public art museum. Oh, they're not? Didn't think so.

Water and fire couldn't be more different... unless you lived in Cleveland between 1868 and 1969. Over five decades ago, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire for the last time. This infamous event was one of at least 13 documented fires on the Cuyahoga, and it was such a common event that locals didn't even bat an eye. Nobody even photographed the last fire, but that didn't stop Time Magazine from running a feature on it. While the piece was a bit of an expose to the dangers of pollution, it also sparked an era of environmental protections and improved cleanliness.

There's just something about Cleveland sandwiches, isn't there?! From corned beef sammies to high-piled handhelds from Melt, Clevelanders love to make massive sandwiches. And whether they're eaten fresh or snacked on later (as sandwiches this big often result in leftovers), they're always delicious.