The Buckland Museum & Cleveland

Since Andrew ~ my hubs ~ and I couldn't take our vacation last year because Ginger got sick, we took the trip we had planned last year this past weekend. It's a was three and a half hour road trip to Cleveland, Ohio. Again the joys of living in Buffalo, NY is that you are close by to some major cities!

We made sure to stop at the Buckland Witchcraft and Magick Museum. I had heard about it when researching Salem a few years back and I knew it was in Ohio. It has since moved from it's original tiny location to a large gallery room with a gift shop attached. We visited about three days after the grand re-opening. So I imagine it's all a work in progress and they are getting settled in like anything else. (I totally understand because I own Cats Like Us and it's changed a lot over ten years.)

You enter through the gift shop, which I highly recommend exploring. They have new and vintage books on the occult, spiritualism, and everything in between along with inexpensive crystals, tarot cards, spell bags, posters, and jewelry.

Admission to the museum is only $7 for 1 adult and includes an introduction from the attendant ~ that in our case ~ just happened to be Steve Intermill the Director of the Museum! Otherwise it is self-guided tour and divided into sections including herbalism, divination, 1960s pop culture and more. There's artifacts, tools, ephemera, and art from leading practitioners in the pagan community. Also, if you have questions ask! There's so much history and information it's hard to pack it into one room.

A little background; Raymond Buckland was the person that brought the Wicca religion to the US. He traveled and collected pieces from the religion which makes up beginnings of The Buckland Museum and there's still more being discovered and added. They have a rotating exhibition space within the larger room that included Buckland's personal tarot cards created by him, so the exhibits stay fresh.

He inspired the robe worn in the Love Witch.

They even have a Lil Bub jar! I spoke with the director about meeting Lil Bub

and when he met her he almost got to babysit her! (Second pic taken from The Buckland Museum)

Overall, the museum is small and charming, it's exactly what I expected. Perfect for anyone like me interested in witches, history, and museums.

Other places of interest we stopped on our little jaunt:

Southern Tier Brewing Cleveland we like flavored beers and fresh cut fries for the win!

Since we are tikiphiles we stayed at the Tiki Air BnB aka Davide's Tropical Paradise, it's definitely kitsch-tastic. Not only is there a stocked tiki bar kitchen, the bedroom is filled with country western singers, there's an "edelwiess" room, and a prayer closet. You kind of just have to see it. I was creeped out by the prayer closet. Reminds me a little too much of Carrie.

Being crazy tiki people we recommend stopping at Porco and Tiki Underground.

For vintage shopping we went to Suite Lorain and Flower Child. Be warned Suite Lorain is JAM PACKED, if you are claustrophobic you may get a little nervous in here. Be sure to set aside time to dig through everything. Flower Child is a little more organized and open, but it does have two floors of great vintage so plan time to look at everything.

Finally, we stopped at The Christmas Story House, or the house that TBS built. Lol. It's the actual house where the movie was filmed, but it's more than that. It's a whole complex. There's four buildings, the house, the Bumpus House that's a bed and breakfast next door, the Museum with photos and props from the movie, and the Gift Shop.