Ohio - A great place whrn it isn't in your way

Ohio has always been that unending state that was always in the way of where we were going or coming back from.  This makes it so surprising that we had such a good time in Southern Ohio.  Using our USA Camping book we found a terrific park, Cozy Ridge.  It is in Carrolton OH, about 30 minutes east of Canton.  We had planned to stay only 10 days before moving on.  The rates are great, Brady has a great piece of woods to run in, the owners and permanent renters took us in like family.  Seeing no reason to go we extended our stay to 26 days.  We are sold on the landscape here.  It is full of winding roads, hills, farms and little towns that pop up out of nowhere.  However, when we were pulling into this area our GPS forgot we were pulling a 5^th wheel and choose to take us via the most scenic route possible.  At one point my mild mannered superhero said “NO, I am NOT going down that road”.  GPS happily recalculated and poof we did get to our desired destination.  Lesson learned. 

The town of Carrollton is as warm as Cozy Ridge.  We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce and came away with fun material from a great cheerleader for the area.  For days we had fun busying ourselves with little trips. 

Located in the town square is the home of the “Fighting McCooks”.  The father, Daniel McCook and his nine sons all fought in the Civil war.  The home is right in the town square and has been lovingly restored by the historical society. 

Carrollton has a Ben Franklin 5 and dime store from 1932 complete with creaky floors.   One of the things that makes this store touching is the owner.  John Ashton.  He opened his store with a loan from his sister.  She took all of her money out of the bank so that he could buy the franchise.  One week later the banks collapsed.  She would have lost her life savings.  John and his wife Evelyn built his store by giving back to the community.  The store is still very strong and is still giving back.  The couple have past away and the daughters have opened the family home as a 20^th century novelty center. “The Ashton House Museum” is not only a great piece of mid century architecture it is filled with family possessions of a lifetime.  Also, John kept one of everything from the store.  The curator changes displays and furniture several times a year and have many things that have not been on display yet. ( The Ashtons also have letters and every receipt for everything they purchased). This was a fun day.

Have you ever gone to lunch and had it last until dinner time?  Welcome to the Bluebird Farm Estate.  We drove down a winding bumpy drive for about a quarter mile.  On the right are county hiking trails, a toy museum in a barn and a 130 year old farm house that is the restaurant.  We walked in to a farm kitchen with stone fireplace, corner cabinets and old china.  To the left there was a small sign that said “please join us upstairs”.  The décor is so true and honest.  It is easy to believe nothing has ever changed.  The upstairs dining room leads to the enclosed sun porch.  Then you can continue to the patio.  Everywhere you look there are amazing gardens and waterfalls.  We started chatting with the owner and before you know it we are getting a complete tour of the near future wine tasting room located is a pre civil war barn (so cool).  He took us to the banquet room above the toy museum with adjoining vacation apartment.  The suite over looks yet one more garden used for weddings. Everything was so beautiful and effortlessly complete.  Across the river the Bluebird also has a band shell they use throughout the summer.  I’ve gone on enough but as you can see this I really think this is a great spot with no detail missed.

Our intention was to go to Dover to see Warthers Carvings (self taught carver{spose to be very cool}[ we’ll see it some other time]}) . After getting there Les and I decided we did not want to spend $30.00 for the experience.  So we did a little Bing search drove through downtown Dover and found The “American Gas Pump Heaven Museum”!!!  This is a by appointment only stop.  We were lucky enough to catch the owner on sight.  For $5.00 we saw one of the nicest collections of Americana we have seen.  As the story goes…... The owner is a lifetime collector and his wife wanted to reclaim their home, Thus, a museum is born.  What was fun about this crazy place is every piece had story.  The owner had a passion for collecting, restoring and telling yarns.  I was given a treasure hunt check list.  I confessed when I was missing one item the; Bermuda Bell.  With great joy the bell was sounded and its story was shared. For my efforts I was presented with a brand new set of Jacks.  Winner!!!

The common thread every one of these places had was employee, volunteer, owner passion.  It made you feel better knowing those people around you loved what they were doing and loved their home.

We went to the Football hall of Fame in Canton.  It is a nice complete history of football and its players.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been on our list for years.  Check!  There is tons of road construction (destruction) in Cleveland right now.  Now armed with two forms of GPS we easily found our way.  First impression is Wow.  Bright blue sky, white caps on Lake Erie and this shining glass pyramid.  We used the parking garage and had to walk through the science museum (it is currently closed for reno.  If the museum is half as interesting as the main floor “I’ll be back.)  R&RHoFame the name in itself says it has a lot to tackle.  It is so easy to spend the day reading bios, playing with trivia computers and looking at the STUFF.  Very cool day.  “No Pictures” turned out to be ok.  Les and I were able to focus on personal R&R memories and say “Hey – did you know this”! 

We spent much of our time walking in the woods, swimming in the huge pool, riding our bikes on the rails to trails systems.  Basically we just enjoyed the little town of Carrollton. Now, they may not have a Walmart but they do have a Dollar General Market!  Yeah!! – It is a Dollar General with a grocery store!  Genius!

Just off from the Conotton Bike Trails we found Rumley.  The birthplace of General Custer.   This is a tiny town, in the hills with a very nice road side memorial on the Custer family property and this crazy cool flower in the neighbor’s yard.

Friday we are pulling up stakes.  We are going to see my friends Dawn and Jessica.  They are going to be students in a Liz Graves gaiting clinic.  Dawn is the neat lady who now owns Axel the rock star horse.  It should be a great horsey weekend. 

23 SEP 2011