In a recent "Impulsive Traveler" article in the Washington Post, reporter Maryann Haggerty makes the short seven-hour drive to Cleveland, where she discovers that the city is no longer strangled by its "rust belt."

Using the Ohio City B&B J. Palen House as her home base, she beholds the glory that is Great Lakes Brewing Co., Flying Fig and the West Side Market. "It's huge," she notes, "vastly outsizing Capitol Hill's beloved Eastern Market. It's sparkling clean, putting Baltimore's Lexington Market to shame. And the variety! Pasta, sausage, cheese, pastry, pierogies, tamales, meat, meat, meat."

Other stops on the C-Land Express included the Bruce Springsteen exhibit at the Rock Hall and sloppy Polish Boy sandwiches at Freddie's Southern Style Rib House.

Breaking News: Haggerty enjoyed her visit so much that she rerouted her return trip to include another stop on the North Coast.

Read all the juicy details here.