20 Things That Are Weird Everywhere Else Except Cleveland

By Scene Staff on Sun, Aug 11, 2019 at 11:49 am

We all love our city for a multitude of reasons. However, there are things that are just unique to Cleveland, which are totally normal here but elsewhere would seem very strange. Here are some of those things. Don't judge us.

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Tailgating

The Browns may be 0-12, with no chance for the playoffs for the whatever number year in a row, and it may be 20 degrees at the beginning of December, but that won’t stop the Muni Lot from being filled for tailgating before a Browns game. If you thought this happened at every NFL stadium, go to a road game (except in Buffalo, they go hard.)

Photo via Scene Archives

Stadium Mustard

If you have a strong opinion on Stadium Mustard vs. Ballpark Mustard, well, you’re a Clevelander.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Relying on Public Transportation

Yes, other cities actually do take public transportation to get places, reliably.

Photo by Sam Allard

Our River Used to Catch on Fire

Yes, we’re sick of all the stupid fire jokes too. Here’s the thing though - these jokes are usually terrible, and wrong. The jokes usually start off wrong by saying that the lake caught on fire. Real Clevelanders know it was the Cuyahoga River. Also, it happened multiple times. And, the 1952 fire helped create the Clean Water Act, so take that.

Photo via Scene Archives

Our Basketball Team Used to Play In The Middle of Nowhere

Tell someone not from here that the Cavaliers used to play at an arena 30+ minutes from downtown in the middle of cow fields and they’ll look at you like you have two heads. But that was really where the professional NBA team from Cleveland played their home games from 1974 to 1994. As you can see in the picture, it was really in the middle of farmland.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Putting French Fries on Sandwiches

Whether it’s Polish Boys or panini’s, we throw fries on our sandwiches. So what?

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Making a Bagel Into Pizza

Cleveland's Frickaccio's was one of the earliest purveyors of the pizza bagel, tempting none other than President Obama, who stocked up on the bagels before heading back to the White House.

Photo via The Pizza Bagel Lady/Facebook

Everyone Knows Our Iconic Local Commercials

‘Garfield 1-2-3-2-3, Garfield 1-2-3-2-3’, ‘Universalllll Winnndoows Direct’, ‘I’m Bob Serpentini, Serpentini Chevrolet’, ‘The Ganley Man Cannn’, ‘Discount Drug Mart saves you the run-around’, ‘I-X-Indoor-Amusement-Park.’ We know you sang or said all of those. Don’t forget Tim Misny and Elk and Elk. And every Clevelanders’ favorite, ‘Liberty’s in Solon, Maple Heights, Brunswick, Parma Heights, Vermillion, hummmmmmmmmmm.’

Photo via Scene Archives