Out of Town: Niles, Ohio

Last month, we took a weekend road trip to Mansfield, Ohio.  The driving distance was scheduled to take about 3 hours to cover.  However, I am always too excited and impatient for departure, so we decided to leave early and take our time.  Which was good, since we could not check into our motel until about 3 p.m.  So, we struck off, onto the open highway.  We grabbed some breakfast, and motored our way to the Ohio State Line.

Once we were in the Buckeye state, I decided we should take a little side trip to see a couple of sites and look for a geocache or two.  When I saw a sign for the William McKinley Memorial and Library, in Niles, I knew we had found the perfect sidetrack.

Growing up in Ohio, part of the public school curriculum was a course in Ohio History, during which we learned about some of the presidents who had hailed from our great state.  So I was really kind of excited to see the McKinley Memorial.  I never expected it to be as large, or as beautiful, as it was.  We both spent some time exploring the grounds of the memorial.  We also got to stop nearby at McKinley's birthplace.

We did not have too much more time to spend in Niles, nor did we really have anything else specific we wanted to see.  However, we did take a chance to commemorate our little jaunt with locating a couple of geocaches, one near a giant iron man statue.

As far as nerdy, odd sidetrack trips go, this one was pretty awesome!

See all the photos from our foray into Nile, Ohio, here.

Out of Town: Shawshank Trail

Loyal readers of this blog will know that I kind of have a thing for visiting movie locations.  Since I live in a town that has been used for numerous movie scenes, and since Pittsburgh has become an increasingly popular place to film movies, often I do not have to go far to visit a cool filming location.  But sometimes, we are willing to travel a bit for something extra cool.

Which is exactly why, a few weeks ago, we traveled to Mansfield, Ohio.  Why there, you ask?  Well, Mansfield provided about 90% of the filming locations for the movie "Shawshank Redemption".  And that happens to be one of my favorite movies.  It is within a few hours' drive for us, so off we set for a weekend adventure.

We got to see several different things throughout the area that were used for shots and scenery.  The "road to Buxton".

The tree where Andy buried the money for Red.

The 'halfway house" where Brooks and Red lived.

But the most exciting part was touring the prison.  So many cool things to see, and facts to learn.  Not everything we saw there was movie related, but we did see quite a few places they filmed, like the Warden's Office, the parole hearing room, and the props used for Andy's escape tunnel.

One of the coolest parts was the room they used (in the prison) as the filming location for the interior of Brooks' and Red's room at the halfway house.

Brooks was here.  So was Red.  And so was I.

View all the photos of our tour of the Shawshank Trail here.

Out of Town: Outer Banks (Part 2)

This continues my recap of our wonderful vacation earlier this summer.  Make sure you check out Part 1!

On day 5 of our vacation, we decided to head up north again, this time to visit Roanoke Island.  I had big plans for all the things we would do there, but I seriously underestimated how far of a drive it was.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there, including the ferry ride.  Because we did not want to be away from the dogs too long, we decided that we would spend our time on Roanoke visiting the Elizabethan Gardens.  They were stunning!  We also took some time walking around Festival Park and taking in the sites before heading back to Ocracoke.  If we ever go back to the OBX, I really would consider staying in Roanoke or Manteo.  There is a ton to do and see, and it is not only cute but chock full of history.  We wanted to see the Lost Colony play, but it just was not feasible. (It was so bright that day, and the sky was cloudy, so all my photos look hazy and washed out, stupid white balance.)

Because we had been packing so much into our days, by day 6, we needed a day to just chill. We slept in, and then we walked over to a nature preserve on Ocracoke, called Springer's Point. This is allegedly the area where Blackbeard's treasure might be buried. We did not dig however, we simply enjoyed the view. We went to the beach later that day, and were shocked to find it compl full etely empty. We soon realized why; the winds were whipping sand all around and the water was too rough to venture into. We went out for a little date night for the best meal we had all week, dinner at Howard's Pub. I even got to see a bit of the sunset from their rooftop deck.

  Saturday, day 7, was our last full day of vacation, and we decided to make the most of it. We got up at 4:30 am, and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it. It was simply spectacular. We went back home, and Hubby took a nap, while I walked to a part of the island we had not seen, the houses there were so lovely. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. Which was great, until I realized I had a horrendous sunburn. It made it tough to get a good night's sleep.

  The next morning, it was time to say goodbye. We headed out pretty early, and on our way back up through the Outer Banks, we drove through the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge. Sadly, we did not see much wildlife. We spent the car ride home dealing with two car sick puppies, and my terrible sunburn. Still, it was all worth it.

I have spent a lot of time trying to determine what my favorite part of the trip was, and I have come to the conclusion that there was not favorite part.  It was all amazing, every last second of it.  I am so happy that Hubby and I had such an amazing week.  While we are not the kind of people to go to the same place every time, and we like to have variety in the trips we take, I do hope someday we return to the Outer Banks.  We had an amazing time, from the car ride there, to the ocean knocking me down (quite a few times), to eating dinner at our beach house.  I would not change a minute of it, not even the sunburn.

Feel free to check out my photos from the whole trip here. There are many really great pics, but a word of warning, there are over 1000 pictures total!

Out of Town: The Outer Banks (Part 1)

I cannot believe I put off writing about our vacation for over a month now.  I guess I did not want to come to terms with the fact that it is over.  Also, that is the same reason I am citing for still having sand in the trunk of our car.  I am splitting it into two posts, so that it won't be as long or as picture laden.

Since we started dating, Hubby and I have been fans of taking small extended weekend trips, but had never gotten to take a big vacation.  Partly, this was due to the fact that Hubby was never able to get a week's vacation in the summer time.  Last yer, however, Hubby changed positions at work, which meant he was only competing with a few other people for vacation availability.  He was able to get a vacation time in June, so off to the beach we went!

I volunteered to do all the driving on the way down.  I was so excited to go, we actually left an hour early.  We loaded the bags, put the dogs in the car, and off we went.  Our destination was Ocracoke Island, which meant 14 hours of driving, a 40 minute ferry ride, then a short drive down the island to our beach house.  We actually arrived several hours early, but I called the reality office and told them we were going to be early.  They let us check into our house 5 hours early, so that really gave us half a day extra, which was so awesome.  We spent that first day unpacking, exploring the island, grabbing some dinner, and then, we went to the beach.  I had not set foot on these shores in 12 years, so it was good to be back!

The next day, we got up, ate breakfast (we ate most of our meals in), and headed out for a busy day.  We went to Teach's Hole (the Blackbeard museum), the Preservation Society Museum, the Visitor Center, and the British Cemetery as well as some family cemeteries, explored the streets and shops, and ended the day with an amazingly romantic sunset cruise.  The island is so quaint, and full of history.  It is necessary to take a ferry to access it, and most people either walk, bike, or ride golf carts to get around the island.  I just love it there!

On Tuesday, we ventured north into other areas of the Outer Banks.  We took the ferry to Hattaras, to visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum, the Hattaras Lighthouse, the Bodie Lighthouse, and the Pea Island Nature Preserve.  Back on Ocracoke, we also visited the wild pony pens, and of course the beach.  We actually took the dogs to the beach that day, and they were unimpressed.

Wednesday morning was a pretty exciting start to the day.  I had decided to go para sailing.  Hubby opted to stay shore and watch.  The rest of the day was really low key.  In late afternoon, we went to the beach, just to walk and take some amazing pictures.  Like the big kids we are, we spend some time writing in the sand, and admiring some sand sculptures.  We stayed on the beach and watched the sunset.

So that is a brief summary of the first half of our vacation.  I cannot even put into words how wonderful and relaxing it was.  I loved the fact that we stayed in a beach house, which felt so homey.  We were able to cook healthy foods, snuggle up with our dogs, and just relax.  Out internet was not working at the house, which was a blessing in disguise, because we really just got to unplug.  Stay tuned to hear about the rest of the trip, and feel free to check out my photos from the whole trip here.  There are many really great pics, but a word of warning, there are over 1000 pictures total!

Out of Town: Flight 93 Memorial and Quecreek Mine, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Last weekend, we took another day trip to a part of Pennsylvania.  This time, we opted for Somerset County.  My original intention was to just go for an hour or so, but we ended up being there for nearly 5 hours.

The main thing that drew us there was the Flight 93 Memorial, in Shanksville.  The Memorial is at the actual site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.  As most people know, this flight was part of the terrorist attacks on America, and terrorists originally intended to crash this flight into the capital.  When the passengers realized this plot, they decided to try take the plane over from the terrorists, and during the struggle, the terrorists crashed the plane into a field in Somerset county, killing all those on board.  These incredibly brave men and women sacrificed their lives, while saving the lives of so many others.

The memorial site is still quite young, and in the process of being developed into a beautiful park.  Many parts of the park are undergoing tree plantings and landscaping.  Their will be 40 memorial groves, with a walking path, the creation of a visitor center, and reforestation and landscaping of the grounds.  I expect that, when finished, it will be quite lovely.  As it is, the portion that is now open is incredibly moving and touching.  There are large informational panels explaining the events that day,

a large marble memorial wall with the names of all those who died,

and a small center where people can leave their thoughts as a lasting tribute.

Along the walkway, there are benches, and places where people have left a variety of items in memorium.

It was odd knowing that, as we were there on that gorgeous day, in this beautiful park, we were at a place where such tragedy occurred.  We have visited battlegrounds and memorials in the past, but this was so different, because this was something we had lived through.  I am sure many of the young children there has a much different experience, seeing this as mere history, but for us, this was our life.  It was humbling and emotional.

When we left there, we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel, a few minutes away.  The chapel was closed by the time we got there, but even the grounds themselves were lovely and heartbreaking.

Just a few short months after the nation was rocked with the 9/11 tragedy, Somerset was once again in the national spotlight, as 9 miners were trapped in the Quecreek Mine.  Over five days in July 2002, efforts were made to rescue the miners, until, miraculously, all 9 miners were rescued.  It was an incredibly inspirational story of faith and mankind helping each other, at a time when we so desperately needed it.  The site has been transformed into a monument to celebrate and remember the story of the rescue.

As someone who has a coal miner in our family, this was an incredibly chilling site to visit.  The bravery of these miners, and the determination of the rescuers is hard to comprehend.

As you can imagine, we were pretty emotionally drained, and we spent the two hour drive home talking about what we saw, what we remember from these events, and simply trying to process the gravity of both situations.  I plan on returning to both sites again someday, to see the progress that has been made and to spend more time reflecting on what happened, and the mercy of the God that saw us through that time.

I took a lot of really amazing and touching pictures that day, so feel free to view the rest of the set here.

Out of Town: Gravity Hill in Bedford Pennsylvania

It is not unusual for us to wake up one weekend morning and decide to go on a day trip, usually bringing the dogs along.  So, when I suggested to Hubby that we travel to Bedford PA to visit Gravity Hill a few weeks ago, this request was not that unusual.  Now, Gravity Hill is just a spot, on a county road, where, for a few minutes, you can defy gravity, and your car will roll uphill with no assistance from any person, just gravity doing a crazy trick.

Since this was a pretty far trip to take, just for that one spot, we decided to visit Gravity Hill in conjunction with a driving tour of several covered bridges in the area.  We picked a beautiful day for our outing, had we thought ahead a little more we probably would have done some geocaching in the area.  Luckily there are two other driving tours in that county, so I bet I can talk Hubby into going back with promises of geocaches to be found in historical places!

The tour took about 90 minutes give or take (we had a slight set back due to a road being blocked with a traffic accident).  We got to see some really pretty bridges, and enjoy the beautiful day.

  Most of the bridges were well maintained, but one of the last onse was covered in grafitti, which I personally found pretty interesting.

And who can forget the whole motivation for our visit, Gravity Hill. Well, it literally is just a spot marked on a road, where, when you put your car in neutral and take your foot off of the brake, your car rolls uphill. Pretty interesting, and just another example of the strange things you can sometimes find in Pennsylvania.

View the rest of the photoset here.

Out of Town: Fredonia

A few weeks ago, when the leaves were just starting to turn, I began my annual lament that our area does not get the vibrant color changes like some areas do.  It is my dream to drive to the Adirondaks or Catskills to see the leaves change color, and some year we will.  But since both locations are about a 7 hour drive for us, we will have to plan and schedule in advance to get the vacation days.  In the mean time, this year we opted for a one day trip to a part of New York a little closer to home: Fredonia.

There is no specific reason we chose to visit Fredonia.  We just woke up one morning, and I said, "let's go to New York".  Hubby agreed, and we found a pet friendly inn that was within a 4 hour drive for us.  We called, and got their last room, packed some clothes and the dogs, and off we headed.

 The drive on highways would have been less than 3 hours, but we like to avoid major highways on leisure trips, particularly with the dogs, so we got to see gorgeous sights along the way.

Finally, we got to the inn and it was adorable!

 Our room was so charming!

Hubby and I settled in, fed the dogs, and went exploring.  We only had a couple of hours of daylight left, so we drove along Lake Erie,

went to Lake Erie State Park,

then watched the sunset in Dunkirk.  Finally, we headed to dinner.

After we ate dinner, we headed back to the inn.  We had dessert in the inn's restaurant, and I said to Hubby, "this feels like we are on a date", to which he replied "who says we aren't?".  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

The next day we got up and headed out.  Our trip to New York was a short one, but enough to satisfy me for another year of leaf peeping.

More pics from our trip and the drive home can be seen here.