Last month my husband and I went away for a few days to the Mohican State Park and the adjacent Mohican State Forest. The state park is 1,100 acres and the state forest is 4,525 acres. The park is about sixty miles away in a generally southern direction. The Clearfork Gorge, Mohican river, and hemlock forest provide plenty of scenic opportunities and lovely hikes. I have lived in Ohio for three years now and I am still not resigned to the fact that the state is relatively flat and lightly wooded. It is pretty and much more rolling than Illinois, where I have also lived, but the landscape is not…

Last week my kids and I had a perfect day. I know that is a bold statement but it is true. We were home visiting family and friends and we had a day to ourselves. We wanted to do something familiar and comforting after a stressful few days so we went to Old Sturbridge Village. I have written about OSV many times here. You can do a search if you would like to read more about it. It is a living history museum that I have been visiting my entire life and that I then brought my kids to from the time they were tiny. We always enjoy our visits…

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is the former home of F. A. Seiberling and his family. Sieberling was the co-founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. F. A. Seiberling and his brother C. W. Sieberling turned Goodyear into the largest manufacturer of tires in the world and put Akron, Ohio on the map. The estate was built between 1912 and 1915. Seiberling and his wife, Gertrude, lived there with their family. Yes, I did just include two photos of the library. Would you expect any less of me? Besides, how could anyone possibly resist that bookcase that swings open to, I suppose, a secret room. There wasn’t anyone nearby…

The Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio has been hosting an exhibit of costumes worn in various adaptations of Jane Austen’s works. The costumes are from the collection of British costume house Cosprop Ltd. and include costumes worn in adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Emma. And, yes, the costumes above are those worn by Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to the ball at Netherfield Park. The Taft Museum of Art was built around 1820 as a private home and, according to its website, is now one of the finest small art museums in the U.S. and holds National Historic Landmark status. It displays…

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time is aware of my deep love for Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. There are a few posts about it here, here, and here. You can do a search and find a few others. When we moved away from Connecticut we were all sad about leaving behind a place full of so many memories and a place that makes us all feel calm and at peace. It is impossible to replace such a much-loved place but I hoped to find something similar in Ohio. When my sister and niece were visiting a couple of weeks ago we went to…