Ohio Wanderlust

While perusing Facebook a few months ago I came across an event listing for the Blue Tip Parade and Festival in Wadsworth, Ohio. The parade and festival were founded in 1973 and are annual favorites in town. Like me, you might be asking yourself, why is there a blue tip match festival in Wadsworth? After a little digging, I found the an answer submitted by Michael Schario on the site Roadside America : "Ohio Match Company was one of four Ohio companies that helped move Wadsworth from a coal mining town to an industrial community. Established in 1893, the company made the world famous "Ohio Blue Tip" strike anywhere matches. The company was the largest employer in Wadsworth, employing 1,600 people, more than 600 of them women, but demand for matches declined significantly in the late 1960s when disposable pocket lighters became common. The company closed in the 1980s. The annual Blue Tip Festival every June starts with the lighting of a 17 ft. tall match during th

In our continued quest to seek out local coffee shops, Dave and I found ourselves at Open Door Coffee Co. a few weekends ago. We hadn't set out to find a coffee shop (we actually set out to adopt a second cat, but that's a story for another time) and ended up in Hudson at Open Door Coffee Co. Open Door Coffee prides itself on selling Fair Trade Coffee and home-baked goods. They are located on Main Street across from the clock tower in the old Saywell Drugstore building. Open Door continues to honor the legacy of Saywell's which was in place for 90 years -- by refurbishing several pieces of furniture as well as the solid marble soda fountain counter. The wall on the art is modern and created by local artists. We settled into two leather chairs by the window to enjoy everything we ordered. We decided on a few pastries for breakfast, an Orange Cranberry Scone... and a Cheddar Herb Scone. Unfortunately on the morning we visited Open Door

You read that right -- Yoga with Goats . Yoga with Goats classes started popping up at the end of 2016 and are one of the newest yoga crazes. We previously attended a Yoga with Cats event with adoptable cats (that's how we met and adopted our first cat, Cappuccino), but even if the goats were adoptable, Dave probably would not have let me bring one home. Last month when I read about a Yoga with Goats class starting in Amherst, I knew that I needed to schedule myself in a class, no matter how inconvenient the drive might be for me. Usually Dave alone embarks on weird journeys with me, but this time my former intern, the goat loving 4H alumna Julia, joined us. She educated us on goats and goat etiquette on the drive to Amherst. Goat Yoga classes are hosted by Threads of Wellness, a Lorain yoga studio, but the classes are held at Downs on the Farm, a non-profit founded to give people with developmental disabilities a place to participate in Animal Assisted Activities. The missio