Monday, May 21, 2007

Trip to Ohio

Our nephew, Justin, graduated from Kent State University on May 12th. It was a wonderful day and weekend and we are very proud of him. Terry and I was given a tour of the campus and to the memorial for the fallen students of the May 4, 1970 campus demonstrations. It was very touching to walk thru the paking lot where cement columns surround the spot where the 4 students were killed. This is an incredible school and campus.

In the afternoon, we drove our neice to the other end of the state of Ohio to Ohio University - Athens where we had a tour of Jenna's campus. It is just like a quaint New England town. Lots of red brick and hills and wonderful older buildings. Jenna is a freshman, but she has chosen a great school.

On Monday, Terry and I went to Wooster, Ohio to the Pine Tree Barn where we met a friend from 15 years ago. We both lived in Tampa at the time - she and her family moved to the Cleveland area and Terry and I had moved to Minnesota, then to Miami, then to Palm City, Florida. Wooster is about 1/2 way between where my sister, Jean, lives and where our friends Linda and Dave had moved. Dave did not make it due to work obligations. The Pine Tree Barn is a large furniture, gift, Christmas store with a lovely cafe inside. The cafe looks out over the valley - great food and a lovely setting. After much talking and looking around the store Linda headed back home and Terry and I took a quick side trip to Lehman's Hardware Store, this is where the Amish shop for tools and supplies, it was great. There were washing machines with the rollers on the top for squeezing out the water after washing - this machine uses a gas motor no electricity. Great tools, interesting toys for the children, food products, and pottery.

We decided to take the back roads to my sister's house and it was so beautiful driving through the hills and valleys and farmlands. Everything was lush and green. Great older homes in the small towns some with large wrap around porches, gardens, laundry on the clothes line. Some of it was definately a step back in time.

On Tuesday, Jean, Terry and I drove into Holmes County, where there is a large Amish population. Stopped in Charm, Ohio (don't you just love the name) we had lunch at a wonderful Amish restaurant and of course there is a wonderful quilt store just down the street that I had to just drop in to visit. (I have been here before) After some poking around Charm we headed to Berlin where there are tons of little shops and eateries - a bit commercialized. Fun but I perfer some of the smaller towns. On the way home to Jean's I drove by the Longenberger Basket administration building which is in the shape of a Longenberger Basket - huge basket!!!

On Wednesday we returned home to Palm City and laundry and multiple e-mails!!!

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Hi Roberta, and welcome to the world of blogging! I think you will enjoy this, and for some reason it's easier than writing in a book. I enjoyed reading about your recent trip, and you and your family look like such a nice group of people.

Talk to you soon,
Nancy

Nancy said...

P.S. Roberta - I forgot to say your Hibiscus is absolutely GORGEOUS!

Nancy

Heather said...

I love your new blog!! I live in Ohio and Charm is one of my favorite places!!
Heather

Solstitches said...

Hi Roberta,
I plan on being a regular visitor to your blog.
You've already made a great start.
I enjoyed seeing the pictures of you and your family.

Margaret

Heidi said...

Welcome to blogging Roberta! You picked a wonderful name for your blog.

Thank you for letting me remember all the great spots back home in Ohio. You went to a few of my favorite places. Lehman's (I always go find Amish kids I would love to 'take'home with me ~ LOL!), Berlin (my biggest fav), Charm, etc.. It sounds like it was a really nice trip all round.

Rachel V said...

Hello Roberta,

I'm so glad you decided to start a blog! I will bookmark and come back often. Can't wait to see some pictures of your stitching up!

Rachel