A Few Days in Western Ohio

A Few Days in Western Ohio
Toledo, Dayton & Cincinnati, Ohio
September 4-8, 2013

It never fails that if I have some big event going on over the weekend I will surely have a major project to complete for work that week.  And so it was the week before my sister Megan and I were to travel to Dayton and Cincinnati for a Girl’s Weekend.  Luckily, the shift I had for a three-day afterhours project enabled me to enjoy a little of Toledo, Ohio during the day.  I decided to visit a few of Toledo’s free attractions: the Toledo Botanical Garden and the Toledo Museum of Art.  I had a wonderful time at each.  My favorite section of the Botanical Garden was the herb garden with its savory and sweet-smelling plants, interesting water feature and intimate touches like a sundial and ivy-covered arch but each section was gorgeous.  I found couples picnicking, families wandering around the pond, single souls lounging in the shade garden.  I quite enjoyed my afternoon stroll around the property.

The Toledo Museum of Art boasts that it is one of the top museums in the country and I believe it.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I was impressed with the solar panels that provide shade covering for cars, and as it turns out, combined with more solar panels on the roof of the museum, provides enough energy for the museum to be entirely off the power grid!  They allow non-flash photography of their diverse collection and feature a sculpture garden outside and a separate glass museum across the street. This museum is world class, in my opinion.

I arrived home from my business trip to immediately pack up for weekend.  Megan and I were heading to the Dayton area to participate in the Tour de Donut in Arcanum, Ohio.  I’d biked the full 32-mile Tour de Donut with Joanna last year; this year Megan and I completed the 16-mile course.  But, we did not just finish it.  Even though we got there late and started several minutes after everyone else, we rode like the wind and placed very well for a couple of recreational riders with comfort bikes- 13th and 14th out of 120 women in the race, 41st and 42nd overall!  What an exhilarating feeling! 

After the race, Megan and I headed out to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, a free attraction with a whole lot of wow-factor.  I expected to see some planes and hoped to see some helicopters.  I did not think we’d see huge hangers full of thousands of airplanes and other flying devices from time periods ranging from World War I through the Cold War and Space Program.  I could spend days trying to take it all in! 

On Sunday Megan and I headed south to Cincinnati for another much-anticipated event- trapeze class at the Cincinnati Circus Company ($45/person)!  We had a little time to kill before the class so we did a walking tour of Eden Park, striking grounds overlooking the Ohio River.  Then it was time to fly.  Our class ranged from girls about the age of 5 all the way up through a dad who was probably in his early 40s.  We didn’t spend more than a few minutes for quick briefing on safety and some procedures before were lined up to climb the ladder and try our first flight!  Really, climbing the ladder is the scariest part of the whole thing.  Everyone from the main instructor on the ground, to the people up on the platform were encouraging and supportive.  After a simple initial first flight, we were able to try different tricks as we felt comfortable.  Neither Megan nor I got our backflip dismounts but I’m sure we’ll be great at it the next time!  Two of the 9-year-olds were able to achieve transfer catches!  I had a fun time just falling to the net, then forward flipping out of it and onto the ground.  Taking the trapeze class with the Cincinnati Circus Company was the highlight of the entire weekend! 

What a crazy week!  Everything from strolling through tranquil gardens and taking in fine art to competing in a cycling race/donut-eating contest and dangling from trapeze while floating through the air- a crazy week full of amazing experiences!

Update:  In 2014, I spent several months on another project in Toledo and was able to spend even more time exploring the Art Museum, Botanical Garden and many of the area Metroparks. One of my favorite attractions was the Toledo Zoo which had the Penguin Beach Exhibit. Everyone knows I LOVE penguins!

A Few Words about Rootwire

A Few Words About Rootwire
Logan, Ohio
August 2-4, 2013

Rootwire Music & Arts Festival had the potential to be an amazing gathering with beautiful, peaceful people interested in a feeling of community and togetherness.  Unfortunately, there was an unsavory element that invaded the space and ruined the experience for many festival goers- the police presence that made a mission of petty busts of hippies with small amounts of marijuana and paraphernalia.  I’m all for a safe festival environment- one free of heavy drugs.  But the majority of the violations issued that day were related to a natural-grown, unprocessed plant found to have numerous medicinal properties which is legal in some states.  I understand that, like it or not, marijuana use is currently illegal in Ohio but this is a time in which that tide is turning and I am willing to stand up and say that it is time to reform the marijuana laws in this country.  My experience at Rootwire only made me more focused on what I can do as an individual to make that happen. 

Still, the festival itself pulsated with a sense of creativity and livelihood.  Everywhere I turned I saw an art installation or a group meditating or a couple dancing in a world all their own.  The lineup of bands was pretty awesome!   I connected with everyone in my festie phamily in attendance and made some unique new friends.  I shared a closeness that was tantalizing and exhilarating and raw.  I’ve learned that if I want to live a life full of experiences, they all won’t be good ones.  The bittersweet truth is that some of the best experiences we have in life are intertwined with some of the worst but those make us stronger and bring us closer.

Be There Festival

Be There Festival
Warsaw, Ohio
August 2-4, 2013

Sometimes the vibe is just right!  That’s exactly how I feel about the Be There Festival.  From the moment I picked up my friend and we started our journey through picturesque Amish Country landscapes toward the small family farm where Be There was held, everything had a rose-tinted quality.  Rolling fields dotted with hand-bailed mounds of hay, stately barns adorned with weathervanes, Amish children riding bikes- we pointed out and squealed over scene after scene.

When we arrived we were warmly greeted and I could just feel it- the vibe.  As my friend and I were setting up camp, he motioned to our neighbor and said ‘I think I know that guy.’  Within 5 minutes of arriving we’d met the first of the people we superbly enjoyed our wild weekend with.

There’s this big hill on one side of the property and as we eyed it up we became determined to climb it.  Just a few minutes later we were conversing about philosophy at the peak of the steep incline looking out over the farm and the festival below.  Yeah, I get that by now I sound pretty nostalgic about all this but I’ll just say it- what an enchanted place the top of that hill was!

The night went on and we enjoyed the lineup of bands and just wandering around the property.  By now more friends had arrived and although this was one of the smaller fests I went to this year, it was just so welcoming.  The intimate atmosphere encouraged everyone to engage.  Even though it was steadily raining, we all remained at the stage or one of the community fires enjoying the good company.

All my siblings arrived the next day to enjoy our favorite band, The Stagecoach Robbery, play an afternoon set.  I walked back to camp and asked all my new friends to come up and check out this awesome band.  They obliged and found themselves jamming out to Stagecoach's funky grooves minutes later. 

We gathered a large group and climbed the big hill again that night.  We felt like we were higher than the tops of the fireworks they set off below.  That hill has a contemplative quality and we sat and talked about everything.  Through the darkness we witnessed shooting star after shooting star draw across the sky. 

I was blown away by a late night set of the band Arpetrio, an electronic band out of Knoxville, Tennessee.  They were my new-band discovery of the weekend!  I spent hours around the fire with my sister and brother and probably about 75 other people just enjoying each other’s company.  Throughout the evening everyone I spoke with said the same thing I was thinking- that they experienced a special closeness with their fellow festival-goer at this gathering.  The best festivals are those in which lasting friendships are developed and nurtured.  That’s what makes the vibe just right!