Our little town of Berea is a railfan "hot spot", seeing well over 100 CSX and Norfolk Southern freight trains a day. The beautiful and historic Berea Union Depot hasn't had any passenger service in over half a century, but is in great condition and houses a pretty good restaurant by the same name. Weather permitting, you can dine outdoors and see the trains during your meal. If you don't eat there, they still allow railfans to use their parking lot to set up chairs and watch the trains, just park at the end that's far from the restaurant. The Metroparks' nearby Rocky River Reservation is gorgeous and has a paved hiking trail that is flat enough to push a stroller. There is a nice playground a mile or so away at Coe Lake Park in downtown Berea.
Unfortunately I can't recommend riding RTA's Red Line during the pandemic. The City, County, and RTA itself all have mask mandates, but none of the three entities do anything to enforce them on the Red Line. The Blue and Green lines have better mask compliance and should have plenty of space apart from the AM and PM rush hours.
If you have someone willing to pick you up at Lakefront Station in the middle of the night, thank them profusely! If not, I recommend being one of the first passengers off the train so you can claim one of the two or three taxis that wait outside at train times. Lyft and Uber drivers are few and far between at those times, and can't always find the station even with GPS.
