Warrior Dash 2012- Ohio II

Warrior Dash- Ohio II
Clay's Park- North Lawrence, Ohio
August 25, 2012

My third Warrior Dash experience was the best yet- not only did Joanna complete it with me again but our younger sister Megan also took part.  To top it all off, we also ran the Dash with our great friend Keith.  We’d had a very dry summer and this year’s course was nowhere near as muddy as previous years but there were plenty of water obstacles and a lot of climbing- our kinda Dash.   I can’t wait until next year!

Ohio Day Trip- The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail: From Bikes to Canal Boats

The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail:  From Bikes to Canal Boats
Akron to Canal Fulton, Ohio and Back
August 19, 2012

Steven has been my go-to guy for all things outdoor recreation related.  Although we’ve known each other since high school, it is really a mutual love of outdoor activities that brings Steven and I together.  We spent our summer hiking around the MetroParks, kayaking area canals, lakes and reservoirs and biking sections of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, a multipurpose recreational trail that stretches more than 100 miles from Cleveland into Amish Country. 

One of our most eventful excursions was a spur of the moment, 40-mile ride from Akron to Canal Fulton, Ohio and back.  This included a recently-completed section of the trail that I had yet to ride.  The trail goes over a floating bridge, beside the canal, through a tunnel, into wooded areas and along the Tuscarawas River with some particularly scenic sections featuring wildlife or remnants of the canal locks.  It is also a little hillier than other sections of the Towpath Trail but nothing too strenuous.

There are many restaurants to choose from in Canal Fulton.  We decided to grab lunch at Oser’s Dairy & Deli on Canal Street.  We enjoyed eating our sandwiches and sodas at the lunch counter and indulged in a little ice cream for dessert- we figured we’d ride it off.

 

Steven and I once went hiking and ended up in a 28-foot canoe singing traditional French fur trapper songs so it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that we might end up on the St. Helena III ($7/pp), a horse-drawn replica canal boat depicting the typical vessel used to transport goods and people along the canal in its heyday.  It was a leisurely 55-minute ride up the canal listening to a guide fill us in on a brief history of the area and the canal era.  I think we both got into the nostalgia of the time and were convinced that being a canal-boater must have been a pretty sweet gig.

The ride back to Akron was fairly quick- storms had developed through the afternoon and we were pushing it to make it back between squalls.  The ride north into Summit County is generally uphill and the gradual climb and fast pace made for a good workout at the end of the day.  Conversation with Steven is never dull and that section of the trail offers scenery and history with just a little bit of heart-pumping incline- a great way to spend the day.

The Grape Escape- Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

The Grape Escape
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
August 17, 2012

It is difficult to describe what transpired on the wine train- partly because it is hard to find the words to adequately explain the mayhem and also because I’d had a lot wine.  What I can say is that when we boarded our coach class train car at the Boston Mills Station, people were quietly chatting amongst themselves and when we got off we were wearing fake mustaches, Mardi Gras beads and glostix.  The atmosphere inside the train car went from subdued to roaring within two glasses of wine and things only got more frantic as we worked our way through the five wine selections paired with unique food dishes prepared by a local caterer.  Liz, our main server, worked us up into a frenzy with her playful ribbing and zany attitude.  Gentlemen wearing buttoned-up collared shirts started joking about threesomes and getting flashed.  Little old ladies got a little frisky and out of hand.  I believe I laughed for about 2 straight hours.  It was wild and crazy and a total blast!

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!

Sister Trip- An Afternoon in Columbus/ An Evening at Tribal Connection

Sister Trip
An Afternoon in Columbus
An Evening at Tribal Connection Music Festival
May 12. 2012

I’ve tried unsuccessfully several times to recap our recent weekend trip to the Columbus area. I’ve just been having trouble coming up with the words to convey the kind of amusement that we have on these excursions. Fun has a way of finding me and Megan. We can turn a series of random events into an extravaganza of excitement.

We started the day rolling around in money and it just got better from there. I’m not exactly sure where the idea originated but before leaving for our fun-filled day in Columbus, we decided to ‘make it rain’ with about a hundred $1 bills. We had such a great time throwing the cash into the air and letting it shower down on us, laughing hysterically and posing for pictures. That comical diversion set the tone for our entire day.

We found a hula hoop lying in a parking lot as we walked to the North Market- of course, we were thrilled! Awesome groundscore! The North Market (59 Spruce St.), an indoor bazaar of produce vendors, patisseries, international and specialty food stores, offers many scrumptious selections but alas, we’d had breakfast at the hotel and picked up only a few pastries.

 

As we made our way up High Street into the Short North District a couple of boisterous gay guys stopped us to tell us we were looking good. This was about the third time that day that either or both of us had been complimented. We were feeling pretty awesome! We reluctantly turned down the guys’ proposal to be their zombie brides in the annual Zombie Walk parade later that day and set out to see a few of murals in the thriving artsy neighborhood by following a walking tour of the area.

There are so many eclectic little shops in Short North. We spent a little time shopping for vintage clothing and home items at Flower Child (989 N High St.), browsing high-end clothing at bargain prices at Savvy on a Shoe String (13 W 1st Ave.) and looking at jewelry and other accessories at Substance (783 N High St.). We stopped at Wine on High (789 North High St.) to peruse the bottle selection and have a glass at the upstairs wine bar. We were very disappointed to see that the bar didn’t open until later that afternoon but the gallant owner of the establishment said he was happy to run upstairs to pour us a few glasses of wine. We very much appreciated the effort and were quite pleased with ourselves- we may not be the kind of chicks that close down a bar but we’re certainly the sort of girls that get a bar opened for them.

I’d seen a feature on Sugardaddy's (11 East Gay St.) on a Food Network show ages ago so we were very excited to check out what all the talk is about. Basically, Sugardaddy's produces the most mouth-watering brownies and blondies ever. Several options to choose from made it hard to make our final picks and we each walked out with a few varieties.

At the Topiary Park (Town Street & Washington Avenue) we saw someone that was either an actor performing a moving monologue or a total nutcase flipping out. Still, the garden was a lovely spot to sit and relax a little.

We’d wanted to eat at Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace- who wouldn’t want to eat at a place with that name- but there was a large crowd surrounding the door, we were starving and decided to find a place in the German Village, a stop we make on every Columbus trip. We’re German girls, we LOVE German Village. As soon as I saw the sign for Olde Mohawk (821 Mohawk St.) I knew it was the place for us- upscale pub food, cozy atmosphere, great service. We had a delightful time!

After following a walking tour of German Village, we decided that we were beat and headed back to the hotel. We still had a big night ahead of us. As we pulled up to the Marysville Hampton Inn, we saw a helicopter sitting on a flat trailer in the middle of the parking lot. Megan and I eyed each other, asking the unspoken question- should we jump on this helicopter? We decided against it.


 

Our last destination was the Tribal Connection Music Festival, the event we’d planned our whole weekend around. We were there to see Waterband but The Stagecoach Robbery stole the show. While we sat on the hill listening to Waterband play, Meg and I were compelled to move as soon as we heard Stagecoach’s groovy guitar. We danced the night away with friends we’d met up with that evening, watching fire dancers and hula hoopers illuminate the night.

The hotel pool area was closed, the lights were off and the water glowed blue- it was too inviting not to spend a few minutes doing cannonballs into the pool and basking in the comfort of the hot tub after a crazy night. Megan and I had declared that this summer was going to be the best ever and this day was the perfect kick-off to months of fun!