Top of the charts — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

CLEVELAND, Ohio — You've already been to a Hard Rock Cafe where you probably saw a few autographed guitars and outfits from various rock bands. So why bother with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Well, there are about 55,000 square feet of reasons to visit this homage to the music that drives parents crazy. Here are some of them:

1. Location, location, location. Cleveland is not often considered the top of the destination heap, but it's where disc jockey Alan Freed of WXEL-TV (and later WINS radio in New York) first coined the term, "rock 'n' roll." And this is the state whose lawmakers voted "Hang on Sloopy" the official state song to honor its native sons, The McCoys.

For members of the LDS faith, Cleveland is just a half-hour's drive from the Kirtland Temple. If your teens complain of feeling "churched-out" after a couple days of touring historic Kirtland sites, give them a break with history from a more rowdy point of view.

When I visited there with my family in June, we found that the Hall of Fame was a pleasant 15-minute walk from the Embassy Suites where we were staying, although a shuttle bus provided hourly transportation to and from the museum.

The Hall of Fame rises above the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland's North Coast Harbor. It's next to the Cleveland Browns Stadium, if your timing is right to catch a football game. It's also next door to the Great Lakes Science Center, which offers more than 340 interactive science exhibits and a six-story-tall Omnimax theater.

2. Everybody's there. Where else can you find tributes to Bob Dylan and Bobby Sherman; Michael Jackson and Jackson Browne; Jim Morrison and yodeler Jimmie Rogers; Paul McCartney and Les Paul; Christina Aguilera and Christine McVie — all co-existing under one roof? There's everyone from wannabes to has-beens to real legends. Older fans may enjoy the "early influences" such as Hank Williams or Buddy Holly. My 15-year-old daughter, Amy, liked the costumes worn by current stars like Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Justin Timberlake in a special section on teen idols (although she said the mannequins "kinda creeped me out.")

Youngsters are surprised to find out that the songs on today's advertisements, like "Lime in the Coconut" and "Daydream Believer," were actually top hits back in their parents' (or grandparents') heyday. A word of advice, though: parental advisory signs warning of "mature themes" are posted in several places.