Ohio Wanderlust

Our favorite coffee shop is Tree City Coffee in Kent. We frequent Acorn Alley and never get tired of their coffee. We stopped by this past weekend for some coffee and treats as a way to jump start our Sunday morning. Tree City has a blackboard out front which rotates quotes, drawings and coffee specials.  The decor inside is pretty industrial, we've never actually sat inside Tree City to drink our coffee, because the tables are usually full by the time we get there. Don't worry though, there's plenty of outdoor seating nearby if you don't want your drink to go. You place your order after the delicious case of pastries.  Like most coffee shops, you pick-up your order in a different place to keep the line moving. There is fruit/vegetable infused water available for sipping at this end of the bar if you're parched while waiting for your coffee. Just after Tree City there are steps which lead up to an outdoor patio, this plaza ...

Throughout the summer Stan Hywet in Akron has been hosting an exhibit entitled Bloom! which features glass sculptures created by artist Craig Mitchell Smith.   The sculptures have been on display throughout the Stan Hywet gardens since June 2nd and will continue to be displayed until September 20, 2015. You can see the sculptures during the day for the price of admission at Stan Hywet or you can attend their Twilight & Flashlights event August 27, & 28 and September 3 & 4 from 7pm-11pm, with the last admission at 10pm. During the Twilight & Flashlights event all of the sculptures from the Bloom! exhibit are lit up and if you arrive early enough, you can even see the sun set while you conduct your self-tour of the grounds and sculptures. At the Twilight & Flashlights event there is live music throughout the grounds, self-guided tours of the mansion's first floor and refreshments available for purchase. We attended the Twilight & Flashlights event...

Tulipán Hungarian Bakery is located in Wooster, a brief walk from the Wayne County Common Pleas Court. There are several other cafe's and shops located in this area as well, it's a popular location for people to visit during their lunch hour. Tulipán is owned by Elizabeth Lakatos who emigrated from Hungary, bringing with her traditional family recipes. Her daughter Lilly helps to manage the shop as well.  Aside from pastries, Tulipán offers coffee, breakfast and brunch items. Rolled omelettes, soups, open-faced sandwiches, and crêpes are served all day.  I'm pretty jealous that Dave has such a wonderful lunch location so near to his work. I'm not in the Wooster area often, but since Dave works downtown he's been exploring the surrounding restaurants and shops. He thought Tulipán looked interesting and offered to take some photos and purchase some pastries for us to try for Ohio Wanderlust. Dave came home and gave me the full report about his exper...

Dave and I have talked about wanting to go to the Serpent Mound for a few months now, but since it's 3.5 hours away from where we live, it didn't seem like it was a feasible weekend option for us. Since we were already in Hocking Hills this past weekend, we decided to make the slightly over an hour trip from Hocking Hills to Bratton to see the mound. There are multiple theories as to who built the Serpent Mound and why it's there, but so far excavation and science have yet to definitively prove any of the theories. Something I wasn't aware of is that the Serpent Mount does not contain artifacts or human remains like most other burial mounds which were built by Native Americans in Ohio and other locations. There are artifacts all around the area, but none actually in the mound. When you arrive at the Serpent Mount you are required to pay a parking fee ($8.00). When we paid the fee we got a chance to look around the museum and gift shop. In the museum there was ...