2015 Travel Recap: Cleveland: Cuyahoga National Park and "Christmas Story" House

Aloha and welcome to the latest installment of my painfully overdue series of posts about our wonderful year of travel in 2015.

Here are the previous posts: Hawaii, Gettysburg, New York City, Smoky Mountains/Biltmore, Colorado Part 1 and Colorado Part 2. Next up: Niagara Falls!

 
The first weekend in October last year we took a trip to Cleveland and Niagara Falls. We knew we'd be leaving Ohio shortly (we were only stationed there for three years) and we still hadn't visited Cleveland! We also intended to stop by Ohio Amish country on the way up, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us.

I had sort of an old, run-down, super-industrial city filled with disintegrating factories in mind, but Cleveland was actually pretty nice! We enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a delicious dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Jarrod and I were both pleasantly surprised. After two days in Cleveland, we headed to Niagara Falls, which will have its own post.

Our first afternoon in Cleveland we visited Cuyahoga National Park, mostly because one of my life goals is to visit every U.S. national park. I'm a huge fan of nature and being outdoors, but I'm sorry to say that as far as national parks go, this one was a let-down -- there's hardly anything to it and I have no clue how it lives among the ranks of Yosemite and Rocky Mountain and Big Bend... it really should be a state park. But still, it was fall and the forest offered some lovely colors. And the main attraction, Brandywine Falls, was really pretty. We also "hiked" to Blue Hen Falls, in the upper right picture (I say "hiked" because it was really more of a light stroll through the woods).

"He looks like a deranged Easter bunny. It's a pink nightmare!"

The highlight of our Cleveland adventure was the "Christmas Story" house!

If you're ever near Cleveland and are at all a fan of "A Christmas Story," this quirky attraction is a must-do! It was cheap, quick and fun. This old home -- a real house tucked away in an actual neighborhood -- was used for filming the exterior house scenes in the movie, then quickly sank back into obscurity. But not long ago, someone bought the house, repainted the outside to look just like it did in the movie, and fixed up the inside in a '50s style.

There are TONS of fun replica movie props -- a Red Ryder BB gun, Lifebuoy soap, a Little Orphan Annie decoder pin, and obviously a leg lamp in it's fraaa-geee-lay-marked crate -- and photos are highly encouraged. My favorite part was donning pink bunny suits! There's also a small museum with actual clothes and props from the movie, as well as newspaper articles and information about why the house was awarded its movie role. And of course there's a gift shop, too.

Monday Musings

"He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.... He looks like a pink nightmare!"
-- The Old Man, "A Christmas Story" 

Highlights of the week: It was a super busy week for us! Last Friday through Monday we took a long weekend getaway to Cleveland and Niagara Falls. In Cleveland we visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the "Christmas Story" house and museum. Then we headed over to Niagara Falls, stopping at a beach along Lake Erie on the way. Niagara Falls was gorgeous -- much bigger than I expected!

American Falls -- half of Niagara Falls.

The past couple days were busy again. Friday we went to a concert and Sunday I worked at the library. Saturday we went to an awesome street fair in the next town over with hundreds of vendors selling handmade goods and yummy food. On the way home we stopped for apple cider slushies and walked over to the gorgeous field of sunflowers across from the orchard. We've gone to the Yellow Springs Street Fair (and the sunflower field) all three years we've lived here and I'm kinda sad that we won't be doing it again next fall. But who knows -- maybe we'll be somewhere far more exciting than Ohio!

Reading: I finally finished "The Library at Mount Char" by Scott Hawkins; once I actually had time to sit down and read more than 10 pages at a time, I blew through it. Now I'm reading the newest Meg Langslow mystery by Donna Andrews, "Lord of the Wings." It's a Halloween-themed cozy, perfect for October!

Knitting: I haven't knit at all in the past two weeks! My BlueSand Cardigan is lying in a pile on the coffee table, just begging me to finish it! All that's left is finishing the pockets and weaving in the yarn ends.

Watching: I watched the first episode of the second half of "Outlander," which just recently came out on DVD. I'm so excited to watch, but I kind of want to savor it too! Gosh, that scenery... I also watched "Pitch Perfect 2" this week and was kinda disappointed. I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as the first one.

Listening to: On Friday we went to see Darius Rucker (with A Thousand Horses and David Nail) in concert. His country songs were great, and of course he played a few Hootie and the Blowfish songs, which was really cool. (AND he did an awesome cover of "No Diggity" by Blackstreet. We covered a lot of genres at that concert!)

Eating: On our way home from Niagara Falls last Monday we stopped in Buffalo and ate dinner at Anchor Bar, the restaurant that created buffalo wings in 1964. Now we can say we ate buffalo wings in Buffalo!

Following: A few new-to-me blogs -- The Geeky Knitter and Made in Home.

Looking forward to: A quiet week! We've been so busy lately, and I'm excited to catch up on some stuff around the house, enjoy the beautiful weather, read and maybe finally finish my sweater!

Monday Musings

Highlight of the week: We had a wonderful Sunday! It was the perfect weather for doing something outside -- which was lucky because I was already planning to drag poor Jarrod to the Wool Gathering festival in the next town over, a big event all about fiber arts! We also scoured the fields for our perfect pumpkins and enjoyed apple cider slushies from a local orchard. Oh yeah, and we had a super-healthy lunch of white cheddar cheese curds with house-made ranch dressing. Mmmmmm. Pumpkins, yarn, fried cheese and sunshine. Pretty damn good day!

As for a bad but interesting highlight, some kids set off a stink bomb in the library while I was working on Saturday. I had never experienced the horrors of a stink bomb before -- and I actually initially blamed the rotten-egg smell on a poor elderly gentleman I was helping before we all realized that it was something waaaay worse than mere flatulence.

Reading: I am SO terribly behind on book reviews, but I have actually been doing a lot of reading lately. I finished "War of the Encylopaedists" by Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite (4 stars), blew through "Kitchens of the Great Midwest" (4.5-5 stars, not yet decided), and read a local true crime book called "The Girl on the Volkswagen Floor" (3 stars) about an unsolved murder in a Dayton suburb in the '60s. The book had been circulating among my co-workers at the library with good reviews, but I was a little disappointed in it. At least I read it in a day! Now I'm on to "The Dog Master" by W. Bruce Cameron. I also signed up for R.I.P. X, a fun event centered on reading scary books (mysteries, thrillers, horror, etc.) this fall!

Knitting: This week I finally had a chance to finish sleeve #1 of my BlueSand Cardigan. It went from looking like a wonky vest-y thing to a potentially wearable garment! I got started on the second sleeve last night while Jarrod was watching football. After that I'll have to finish the pockets, sew in a gazillion yarn ends, block and then... I'll have knitted a sweater! I've enjoyed this project so much that I already picked out -- and ordered yarn for -- my next sweater. It'll be Recoleta by Joji Locatelli, knit in Malabrigo Rios in teal.

Watching: "The Age of Adaline." I really, really wanted to see it in the theater but didn't have time. And I'm actually kind of glad I didn't. It wasn't bad by any means, but it definitely wasn't as fantastic as I expected. I thought the movie would be focused mostly on Adaline's "past" lives, but it was really just about present-day. I wanted so much more information and background. We're also still really enjoying "Fear the Walking Dead."

Considering watching: A lot of the new fall shows start this week! I always seem to pick the absolute worst new shows to try, but I'm considering checking out "Code Black," "Quantico," "Blindspot," "The Bastard Executioner," "Limitless," "Life in Pieces"  and "The Grinder" Or maybe none of them... I still have tons of stuff on the DVR to get caught up on -- and as I said, I have pretty much the worst track record ever when it comes to deciding which new shows to watch!

Eating: Young's Dairy cheese curds. De-lish.

Shopping for: Ankle boots. And I'm having a pretty tough time finding some that match the vision I have in my head. I bought five new shirts this week, so my fall must-do shopping is pretty much done other than the elusive booties.

Following: @andrewknapp on Instagram. Processing new books at the library Saturday I came across one called "Find Momo," which is kind of like "Where's Waldo" with beautiful photographs and a cute border collie. Check it out! (Andrew Knapp is Momo the dog's daddy.)

Looking forward to: Making apple dumplings with the fresh Cortland apples I picked up at a local orchard yesterday! Perfect dessert for the first week of fall.

Floral Friday

April showers brought tons of May flowers to our yard and I thought I'd share some of the beautiful blooms on the blog today. I'm excited that our peonies are starting to bloom. They smell sooooo good, and I just love the huge, soft, full flowers. Peonies are one of my favorite flowers -- I actually wanted to have them for my wedding bouquet but they were crazy expensive, so I was thrilled to discover we inherited a row of pink and white peony bushes when we bought our house! (And, as fate would have it, those were my wedding colors. Guess it was meant to be!)

Enjoy the lovely flowers -- hope they brighten your day!

The white peonies are blooming and the pink ones (my favorite!) are almost there.

Lilacs! They smelled delicious. I wish I could share the amazing scent with you through the computer screen!

I love the shape of the iries. The ruffled petals are so pretty!

Do you see a trend here? The people who owned our house before us planted almost everything in white and purple. Booooring! Whenever I create my own garden, it's going to have every color under the rainbow! Still, I can't complain about all the gorgeous flowers they chose, even if they are a bit too monochromatic for my taste.

Happy (Floral) Friday!

2014: My Year in Pictures...

It's hard to believe 2014 has come and gone! It's bittersweet -- it wasn't a bad year overall, but we lost our sweet boxer boy Conan to cancer in March and no matter what other awesome adventures we had that'll be what we remember most about 2014. And it means we only have one year left here in Ohio before our next military move, which is exciting and sad at the same time. I have high hopes for the year ahead and I wish you a wonderful 2015 too! Tomorrow I'll share what's on the agenda for the next 12 months.

Here's a look back at 2014:

 

January: Polar vortex. Brr! On the coldest day, I was bundled up under a blanket by the fireplace in a few layers of clothes along with a hat, scarf and mittens! Our furnace wouldn't get over 64 degrees, but I was grateful it didn't die like some people's!

February: The Broncos humiliate themselves in the Super Bowl. :(

 

March 2: Goodbye, Conan. I still miss you every single day.

March: A soggy, cold weekend in Philadelphia. (More pictures here.)

May: A fantastic trip to Smoky Mountain National Park! (More pictures here.)

 

May: The Indy 500!

June: Jarrod does the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience I bought him as a gift. Not surprisingly, he had the fastest lap time of the day. I was a proud wife! :)

June: A weekend getaway to Hocking Hills in southern Ohio to celebrate our six-year anniversary. Here we are on our hike to Rock House.

July: We meet up with Mom in Indiana to visit relatives! I was thrilled to show Jarrod around northern Indiana Amish country where my parents grew up and where I spent so many summers as a kid visiting my grandmas.

July: The NASCAR truck race at Eldora Speedway in western Ohio.

August: The Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago with Jarrod and my brother, Andy. A fabulous three days of concert craziness, plus deep-dish pizza, the art museum, the Hancock Building and an architecture tour. (Tons more pictures from our awesome trip here and here.)

August: My best friend Katie visits and we go to the Mansfield Reformatory where "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed. (More pictures here.) (As my feet are crammed into slippers and I'm snuggled under a heated throw, I can't help but stare enviously at our flip-flopped feet!)

August: Red hair, with help from Katie.

October: Mom and Dad visit and get to experience the mouthwatering fare at Schmidt's Sausage Haus in Columbus.

October: Back to the Smoky Mountains for a long weekend to celebrate my 29th birthday! Horseback riding in the mountains the day of. Best birthday yet!

 

 

Halloween: I wear my Hermione costume to work at the library. Approximately 50% of patrons (and some co-workers!!!!) think I'm wearing a graduation gown and my costume is "graduate." WTF, people?!

November: Thanksgiving with Grandma in Indiana and my first time having fried turkey, expertly prepared by my Southern-boy husband. Nom nom nom!

December: Best. Christmas. Tree. Ever. This baby is 9 1/2 feet of pure splendor. We haven't been able to bring ourselves to dismantle it yet.

December: The not-so-ugly ugly sweater. (I thought it was pretty tacky... nobody else did! Sigh. Sometimes I feel like I can't do anything right!)

And those are some of the highlights of my year! What memories will you hold onto from 2014?

Exploring Ohio: Glen Helen Nature Preserve

What could be better than taking a meandering stroll through the woods, breathing crisp fall air, crunching on dried leaves, enjoying the stunning hues of fall foliage, all while being graced by some elusive Ohio sunshine? My parents were here for a few days earlier in the week and we had a great time exploring Glen Helen Nature Preserve in the nearby (wonderfully eccentric) village of Yellow Springs, Ohio.

 

This pretty little waterfall was the most picturesque sight we came across, though the entire area is pretty. Doesn't it just look lovely surrounded by fall leaves?

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Yellow Spring. It gets its name from the orange-y yellow coloring caused by iron. (Reminds me of that impossible-to-get-out red dirt that is everywhere in Hawaii!)

 

 

These bright leaves remind me of Mountain Dew!

 

Natural picture frames are the best! :)

 

 

I wish we'd discovered Glen Helen sooner, because it was possibly the prettiest, most scenic and relaxing place we've visited so far in Ohio -- and it's right down the road! I'd love to go back and see how it changes with the seasons. I imagine wildflowers in the summer and frozen waterfalls in the winter!

Exploring Ohio: The Mansfield Reformatory (filming site of "The Shawshank Redemption")

From the outside, you'd never guess this chateau-like Victorian structure is actually a historic prison! The Mansfield Reformatory was open from 1896 to 1990. It's hard to believe prisoners were still housed there 25 years ago... it's pretty dilapidated!

"The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed at the prison and it was pretty cool to see a few film sites from the movie. A cell block movie set was constructed in a nearby warehouse because they wanted the cells to be facing each other across a hallway, but the rest of the prison scenes from the movie were filmed at the Mansfield Reformatory. Parts of "Air Force One" were filmed there too!

 

 A peek at the warden's quarters.
 

So many different layers of paint and wallpaper! Kind of a pretty tableau. It's so strange to think about a family living at the prison.

 

 This room was used as the warden's office in "The Shawshank Redemption." Above is the warden's safe, and below is his desk.
 

 

"Brooks was here. So was Red."

 

And now we start to get to the creepy stuff. You can see why the reformatory is popular with ghost hunters!

 

This block held 1200 prisoners in 7x9 cells.

 

 

This room was set up like it would've been for prisoners, but most of the cells were dark and empty with just metal springs for beds, peeling paint and toilets and sinks in various states of disrepair. There was a bit of an eerie air to the cell blocks, especially when you imagine all the awful things that must have happened there.

 

 

A bit of irony. There's no exit for the prisoners!

 

In case my job at the public library doesn't work out...

 

This is the prison's original cell block. Eventually these were considered the cushy accommodations given to favored prisoners because the cells were slightly bigger.

 

Katie with Andy and Red.

 

This is the movie prop tunnel that Andy climbed through to escape.

 

And we'll end on this pleasant note, a replica electric chair. It gave me the willies -- and it wasn't even used for any executions!