Wandering with Kay

With all the "sturm and drang" that's been occurring of late, last weekend I decided that I needed to get away from the you-know-what that I was experiencing and go a-wandering to see some of the wonders of flyover country. And I loaded up Miss Ruby and headed northeast. I don't like freeways much because I like seeing the little towns with their shops and that I can just ramble along at a leisurely pace. My days as Mario Andretti are long gone. Heck! Sometimes there are still Burma Shave signs which were a godsend as in playing what we called barnyard poker 'cause you got the 'u' and the 'v' and there are still a few barns displaying Mail Pouch logos.

As I headed north, my first stop was in a tiny village called New Baltimore -- don't blink -- for an cone of homemade ice cream. Serious yum. The challenge, as always was deciding what flavor I wanted but I'm a sucker for their fresh strawberry. It's one of those places that Miss Ruby goes into auto-pilot mode and always stops.

I continued through the little towns that dot the route north enjoying the scenery provided by the farms and other little towns. Our next stop was the village of Hiram, Ohio -- home of one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country and my daughter's alma mater, Hiram College. It's most famous alumni is President James A. Garfield who also served as its president. Poet Vachel Lindsay also attended Hiram. I have a soft spot for this excellent school because it was a godsend for Kate. After not fitting in well in high school, Hiram was the pond where my little girl found a home with the other nerds. I practically had to kidnap her to come home because she loved her life -- both socially and academically -- there so much. This building is typical of the architecture of the buildings on the campus which was founded in 1850.



Here's a not very good shot (sigh) of the central campus:



The college is surrounded by a village wonderful old houses that have been maintained beautifully. It's really a picture postcard town and campus.

I headed north to Burton, Ohio home to a an Amish community so it isn't strange to see buggies along the highway. It's also where a lot of antique shows and flea markets are held. I was glad that it wasn't one of those days because the traffic would have been insane. One of it's interesting points is that the center of town is a traffic circle and in the center of the circle is a lovely park with big log cabin mandated by the city fathers for making maple syrup. Sugar maples abound in the area and maple syrup and candy and other local products as well. I bought a half pint of syrup ($9 -- yikes!), some candy, and a pint jar of fresh apple butter. Below is a photo of the inside of the log cabin and the nice Amish lady who was a font of it's history. (I swear I took an exterior shot but I guess not -- LOL)



The homes around the traffic circle are fabulous examples of Victorian architecture and this one was my favorite:



I'm definitely going back there to check out more of the area -- prolly next summer.

My next destination was to find a little known sight in NE Ohio. It's located on a farm northeast of Burton and I had scanty directions. It's a fifty foot tall statue
of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is one of my favorite saints and I really wanted to see this wonder and much of the work was done by volunteers. The story is here. And yes, I do believe in miracles. I have to because I am one. I never did find it so I swiped the photo below from the 'net. I did stop and ask for directions but after well over an hour looking for it, I gave it up as a bad job. I do plan to try again another time but it was getting late and I wanted to get up to the lake and find a place to stay overnight.



I headed further north and stopped in a little town called Orwell because I was starving and grabbed a sandwich and coffee and a downpour began. I talked to my waitress and she told me rain was in the forecast for the next couple days from there up to the lake. Yikes!!!! My plan was to go to the beach up at Geneva-on-the-Lake to revisit scenes of my misspent youth's crimes and misdemeanors!!! I bought a newspaper and checked the weather and found my information was correct. I was disappointed and I decided that I would head home. So I did. Sigh. There's always next year.

All in all, it was a nice trip and I enjoyed it immensely. I love trips that don't have a fixed destination or itinerary. I'm going to do some more.

Hope y'all are having a great day!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!

Kay