Touring the Town, Trolley Style!
Another successful trolley tour is in the books! This one was sponsored by the fine folks at the Westlake Porter Library in Westlake, Ohio.
If you haven’t heard me go on and on about the tours before, they’re based on my Pepper Martin mystery series. Pepper’s a Clevelander, born and bred, and that’s where the first three books of the series are set. Our trolley of 38 riders joined me to check out some of the places Pepper visits in the books.
We started at Lake View Cemetery (it’s called Garden View in the books), final resting place of such luminaries as President James A. Garfield, John D. Rockefeller and Eliot Ness. The trolley riders were especially impressed with the Wade Chapel (designed and built by Louis Comfort Tiffany and featuring a window that knocks visitors’ socks off). We also paid tribute to Garfield, who was assassinated just three months into his presidency.
After that, a stop in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood where riders got to take time for lunch and sample the wonderful cuisine. More than a few of them returned to the trolley with shopping bags in hand. There are some wonderful galleries in the area, too.
We drove by a number of other places mentioned in the books, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lake Science Center and the Hope Memorial Bridge where in book #2 (“The Chick and the Dead”) Pepper almost meets an untimely end. Our last stop was the West Side Market where riders got to take time, stroll and buy fresh produce, meats, cheeses and vegetables.
It was a great afternoon, and it’s always fun to spend time with readers.
(If you live in the northeast Ohio area and would like to schedule a trolley tour, email me:
casey@caseydaniels.com.)
Riders get on Lolly the Trolley at the Garfield Memorial.
Just one of the many interesting and architecturally incredible mausoleums at Lake View. Is it any wonder that Pepper can find so much to do at a cemetery that’s very much like this?
There is a memorial market to Eliot Ness (of Untouchables fame) nearby. His ashes were spread on this pond a few years ago by a Cleveland Police helicopter.
