Ohio

(Chow) Down on the Farm Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Sandie Young One farm, six tables and one big sausage frenzy were just the start of the Bob Evans story — the quintessential farm-fresh fairy tale. Now sold in grocery stores and with a spin-off franchise, the family-friendly chain has grown to nearly 600 restaurants serving arguably the best-tasting breakfast food there is. Now that’s a reason to celebrate. Revel in the delicious success at the 41st Annual Bob Evans Farm Festival, held at the Bob Evans Farm in Bidwell, Ohio , October 14–16. The three-day festivitie...

Imagine That Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Sandie Young A child’s idea of a fun afternoon might include endless cartoons or a muddy game of kickball, and it probably doesn’t include the act of learning. But children and adults alike can expand their knowledge without sacrificing the fun during an entertaining and interactive visit to the Imagination Station in Toledo, Ohio . Your little brainiacs will enjoy intellectual activities in Imagination Station’s seven unique Learning Worlds. Each area has a specific scientific specialty, created for the dual purpose...

Nothing Boar-ing About It Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Betsa Marsh One moment merry teenagers are somersaulting down the church aisle, the next the Three Wise Men are making their stately progress toward the altar. The Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival in Cincinnati is a raucous, moving mix of hijinks and grandeur, telling a tale right out of the Middle Ages. Cincinnati’s Christ Church Cathedral has been offering the free Boar’s Head Festival as its annual gift to the city since 1940, the 600th anniversary of the festival. This Boar’s Head tradition originated at Queen’...

Bike to Basics Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Becky Linhardt “You’re in the middle of the colors, which blur past when riding — orange, yellow and brown. You can almost feel the color because you’re so immersed in it,” says Meredith Erlewine, co-owner of Athens Bicycle. “Honestly, we have so many beautiful things out there, in all seasons.” “Out there” is on the mountain bike trails at Lake Hope State Park in McArthur, Ohio , where more than 23 miles of hard-pack, single-track dirt mountain biking trails climb up and shoot down the rolling hills, bounce across nar...

Time for Two Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Betsa Marsh When couples long for a bit of cozy seclusion, few places deliver like the venerable Grinnell Mill Bed & Breakfast in Yellow Springs, Ohio . No one stumbles upon the Grinnell — you have to be looking for the bright red building down a little country lane. If you and your partner cycle up on the bike trail from Cincinnati or Columbus, listen for the Little Miami River bubbling just beyond the property fringe. Inside, the grand old building is just as private. Innkeeper Donna McGovern welcomes guests t...

The Play's the Thing Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Kelly Fordon What do Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Jim Backus and Dustin Hoffman all have in common? Sure, they’re famous actors, but each of them has also performed on stage at historic Rabbit Run Theater , a horse barn turned playhouse in the village of Madison, Ohio . Rabbit Run Theater is one of only a few converted barn theaters in the United States, and has been providing exceptional theatrical productions — from adult dramas to family-friendly comedies — in northeastern Ohio since 1946. A little theater with an ...

On the Boardwalk Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Amber Matheson Families, children and workers harmonize in a cacophonous jumble of sunburnt skin and ketchup spills at one of Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio’s most iconic pit stops, Eddie’s Grill and Dairy Queen. The open-air joint — with a walk-up hamburger counter and barstools so close to the sidewalk you might accidentally trip and find you’ve just ordered a sloppy joe — has catered to throngs of summer tourists for more than 50 years. Decorum is out the window, and old-fashioned boardwalk fun rules the long lazy days in...

Fly Away Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Betsa Marsh School kids typically read about the Wright Brothers, those innovators who gave the world modern aviation from a Dayton bicycle shop. Textbooks and websites are fine, of course, but how would they like to see pieces that the brothers actually touched? All it takes is a visit to the Early Years Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in the brothers’ own hometown of Dayton, Ohio . The Wright 1909 Military Flyer was the first military heavier-than-air flying machine, sold to the Signal Corps f...