The Gathering at Chaffee's

The Gathering at Chaffee's
Girard, Pennsylvania
July 27-29, 2012

I took these three pictures at The Gathering at Chaffee’s:

 

 

Draw your own conclusions.

Seriously, it is was a cool time watching bands (including my fave The Stagecoach Robbery), eating moonshine-soaked cherries, doing shots with a nomad, having FREE spaghetti dinner, dancing around, getting down and grooving. 
 

 

Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail

Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail
Between Lisbon & Leetonia, Ohio

It is no coincidence that I made an effort to bike as much as I could this season and the summer of 2012 turned out to be one of the BEST ever.   With the help of websites like Traillink.com and recommendations from friends, Meg and I explored a few new trails including the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail which runs ten miles between Lisbon and Leetonia, Ohio.  The Lisbon Trailhead has nice indoor bathrooms, vending machines and lots of parking.  The Leetonia Trailhead has Porta-potties, a gazebo and lots of information about the trail displayed.   

The Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail, which is a section of the larger, yet to be fully completed, Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway, was our find of the summer.  The path is paved, mostly shaded, fairly flat and very scenic- we rode past old farms, babbling brooks, a covered bridge, even a decorated Christmas tree.  But the very best part is that the highest elevations (still easy climbs) are in the middle of the trail, between miles 4 and 6, so no matter which end you start at, you’re going to be coasting down on the ride back.  Ahhh, what a relaxing way to wrap up a leisurely bike ride!

 

Dennison Railroad Festival- Dennison, Ohio

Dennison Railroad Festival
Dennison, Ohio
June 16, 2012

My sisters and I love a good local festival. We’ll happily celebrate a town’s pride in their strawberries, potatoes or pumpkins. They’re just our thing so when we heard that The Stagecoach Robbery, a local band we’d grown to adore this summer, was playing for FREE at the Dennison Railroad Festival we were so there!

Dennison was founded in the 1860s purely out of the necessity of the railroad. Located on the most direct route between St. Louis and New York City, it thrived as a hub of railroad activity. The influence that the railroad had is still proudly exhibited in the community. The Dennison Railway Depot is a National Landmark. Restaurants have train-centric names. An entire train, caboose and all, is situated in the middle of town. Community pride in the history of their area is evident everywhere you look.

As with just about every other excursion of the summer, Meg and I had such a blast! After walking through the Fun House, we made our way to the Ferris Wheel which remains to be one of the best fair rides of all time. The ride operators let us ride around in circles for like 30 minutes. When we returned for another ride after dark, they let us on for free. How cool is that!

We were at the top of the Ferris Wheel when The Stagecoach Robbery started their first set. We made our way over to the stage, a flatbed railcar used for performances, fair food in hand. We spent the rest of the evening attempting to dance it all off. Stagecoach is awesome like that- you can’t just stand there and listen, you have to move. In a moment of sheer genius we decided to dance in the caboose located right beside the stage. We had a perfect view of the entire band while we boogied. I mean really, how often do you get to dance in a caboose?

Dennison can throw a party! We’ve been to a lot of festivals and this one was a little rowdy and extra friendly. We met John’s dad, a girl gave us high-fives as she walked past while we were dancing, we got a shout out from the band- it was pretty awesome! At the exact moment that the band was singing about a freight train, one actually blew through town and everyone cheered. Dennison loves their trains and they throw a great celebration.

*All photos, except for the caboose, courtesy of the lovely and talented Ms. Alice Coutts- thanks, doll!