Ohio Weather

Ohio is not known for having great weather.  Does any state really have great weather?  The south is warm in the winter and boiling in the summer.  The coast has hurricanes.  The north has snow.  California has earthquakes.  The Midwest has tornadoes.

Ohio is famous for its snow and rain - just like that Bowling For Soup song "Ohio".   It's true, it really is.  I live in eastern Ohio, near the middle of the state and we are surrounded by hills.  The hills often mean that bad weather passes us by.  While my area always gets the dreaded "s word" each winter, Cleveland and around Lake Erie is the area that gets hit the hardest.

Rain is another story.  Spring is our rainy season and I think April and May 2011 it rained so much that I never went outside those weekends.  We always get a summer storm that knocks our power out, then around October/November we get more rain.  We have now entered another rainy season.  This time, I think it is because of Hurricane Sandy that recently hit Jamaica.

I'm not a meteorologist, but how can a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean make it rainy in Ohio for a whole week?  We are nowhere near the coast.  Right now, it is in the mid-40s and cold and rainy and it will remain that way for another week.  Temperatures will probably be in the upper thirties at night.  I am getting cabin fever already! 

Internet Problems

Living in the country has it's advantages (quieter streets, fewer neighbors, being surrounded by trees) but sometimes it just sucks.  Living in the country also means having very few choices when it comes to internet service.  My choices were dial-up (heck no), satellite, or Verizon MiFi.  I have the later.  While it has never worked as well as cable internet that I had in my last home, it hasn't given me too many problems until last week. 

I have only been able to connect to the internet for about five minutes a day for the last week.  I was told it was a problem in our area and to wait it out.  It drove me crazy not to have good internet for a week, because I am an internet addict.  My only salvation was that I could still use the internet on my phone.  Thank goodness. 

I got a new internet hot spot in the mail yesterday, which of course, is when the old one started working again.  Grrrrr.  Anyway, I am only mentioning this because I have a lot of posts I will be adding in the next few days and not all of them are current.

Here's hoping I don't have any more problems.  :)

A Busy Day in Amish Country

It was such a nice temperature today - 64 degrees, bright and sunny.  My mom and I seemed to have a the same idea as many people, and we wanted to spend the day in Amish Country.  Every store was packed with people and I think I counted ten tour buses.  It is prime leaf peeping season after all. 

This was not our first visit, as we usually go several times a year.  But if it is your first visit, here are some facts.  Amish Country is mainly located in Holmes County, on the eastern side of the state.  There are many farms, crafts, wineries (which is funny to me since the Amish are very religious), restaurants, and tourists galore.  The towns to look for are Sugarcreek (the Swiss Village), Walnut Creek, Wilmot (in Stark County), Millersburg, and Berlin (the busiest).  The Amish people themselves tend to stay away from the tourist areas, so you may not see very many. If you are making the trip, I would recommend going on a week day or at the very least going early in the morning when it is not as busy.  Have lunch before noon if possible and don't go a Sunday - everything is closed.  Also, not all cell phones will work in the area.  My Verizon phone works fine, AT&T has some luck, but I don't think Sprint or prepaid phones will work.  Just a warning.

So, our day started at 10 am and our first stop was Breitenbach Winery.  We aren't big wine drinkers, but we haven't been in there in a long time.  We didn't find anything of interest there, but by the time we left, the place was packed.  I even heard a band playing behind the building.  But, it was time for us to move on to another place.  Normally, our next stop would be Berlin, which is the furthest away, and then work our way back toward Dover.  This time, with everything being so busy, we skipped it.  Berlin is the busiest town and the most touristy.

We stopped in Walnut creek and went to Coblentz Chocolate.  Oh my gosh, their chocolate is the absolute best!  I bought some chocolate caramels and chocolate cashew clusters.  Across the street and is Carlisle Gifts.  Didn't buy anything here, but I always love to visit.  They have very cute decorations for the home, and I found a really cute snowman family for my house.  The bottom floor was filled with Christmas trees!  Love it!  I know it's only October, but I am so excited!!!  Anyway, by now it was 11:30 and we were really hungry.  Just across the street was der Dutchman.  This restaurant fills up fast and it was almost full by the time we got there.  There were probably 100 people waiting to get in when we left, plus a lot of tour buses just pulled up.  Good luck folks!  The food was good and I got a much-needed Mountain Dew (Happy Juice). 

Next was a stop at Tis The Season, a year-round Christmas store.  Much busier than normal!   I was on the lookout for some new Christmas ornaments, but everything was so expensive.  Oh well, I guess I will have to get some at Target or something.  I have to say, this store is magical!  If you are on the top level looking down, it just looks like Christmas.  I am really curious how many trees are in that store. 

One of the cool things about Amish Country, is that the tourists mainly stay on the main roads.  But, stores are tucked in everywhere, and if you look around, you might find your new favorite store!  Just off the road, near the Christmas store is a cool place call the Berlin Craft Mall.  It is full of unmanned booths, selling wreaths, handmade furniture, candles, bulk food, paintings, and decorations.  It's really neat and the prices are a lot better than you would find at some of the fancier stores.  I bought a cute snowman there last year for like $12.  Just up the hill from the Craft Mall is a cool little kitchen store called Ms. Gadgets.  They have the best fudge, but I made the mistake of buying too much last year and letting it go to waste.  This year, I bought 12 cookie cutters, bringing my collection to 12.  :)  They had the most shapes I have ever seen

Even though we skipped some of our favorite stores this trip - The Gift Barn in Berlin, the Dutch Valley Gift Shop near Sugarcreek, and my favorite little secret bulk food store, it was a pretty successful trip.  On the way home, we passed Walnut Creek Cheese, a place we have long since given up on because it is always so busy. We had to laugh as we passed because it was twice as busy as normal.  Maybe next time, we will be able to explore more find a cool place we have never been before.

Atwood Fall Festival

Last weekend, I made my yearly journey to the Atwood Fall Festival, located in Mineral City, in both Carroll and Tuscarawas counties.  The festival is held annually the first weekend in October, when the fall colors are at their peak and it is just warm enough to spend the day outside.  Arriving to the festival early is optimal because it is the place to be and it gets very busy. 

My mom and I got there around 11 am and we were already hungry for lunch!  Luckily there are food stands everywhere.  I got a super healthy lunch of nachos and mountain dew from a stand run by a church group while Mom got a sloppy joe.  I also had to stop and get my dessert at a stand that sells homemade ice cream that they make right in front of you.  I highy recommend the reese cup ice cream.  My mom wanted a piece of pie from the Pie Wagon  - pecan and also very good.  There were so many other options for food, but hey, it was the weekend and junk food just sounded great. 

Next up was the craft tents.  Each one was packed and full of interesting things to buy.  I saw some awesome Halloween wooden lawn decorations that I probably would have bought if I had the room.  Most of the crafts are Halloween or Christmas decorations, but I also saw furniture, fudge, and cornhole games for sale.  And the crafts aren't just confined to the tents.  Atwood

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  Ever been to Ohio?  If you haven't, you are seriously missing out!  There are so many fun things to do here and that is why I have created this blog!

Did you know that Ohio is that seventh most populated state in the country?  That's pretty awesome considering its size.  Why do so many people live here?  We have big cities, small towns, natural wonders, great shopping, Lake Erie, Amish Country, tons of rivers and lakes, friendly people, and many beautiful drives.  Interested in visiting?  Sure you are! 

Guidebooks are okay, but you need an insider.  Someone who has checked out the attractions, made the drives, and told you what to do and what to skip.

So join me!  We are going to have such a great time, you'll never want to leave! :)