The seventh part of our Virginia Trip 2023

Our back roads trip from Berlin, OH. to Kent, Oh. was supposed to be our shortest travel day. It was short in miles but...

The day started in the 'wrong' direction because we had to go out of our way to Guggisberg Cheese to get a little more Swiss cheese  - it is just so good! Then we headed in the correct direction and  stopped at 77 Housewares - I wanted some white dish towels and sure enough, this Amish shop had them. When we got there, there was one buggy and one bike. Shortly after there was another buggy and two vans of Amish - a very busy place!

A few miles further, in Mt Hope, we stopped at Lone Star Quilt Shop. In addition to quilting fabric, they had LOTS of dress fabric that the Amish and Mennonite ladies use. They also had some wood furniture that was beautiful - there was a Singer Featherweight table that was absolutely gorgeous.

I did find a piece of wide backing and some Glide thread.

We headed on to Ashery Country Store, an Amish bulk food, deli, and produce store. It was large, and fun to see. We found some of our favorite "old-fashion" candy and a couple of oatmeal whoopee pies. I wanted to buy local produce - it all looked so good especially the tomatoes and corn and peppers and zucchini...

After lunch in Akron, OH, we had our first detour on this trip! When we finally got back to the normal route, we were beyond Ohio Star Quilts so we decided to leave that store for another time. We were in the middle lane of traffic with a funeral procession in the right lane. We were moving with the traffic when the left lane ended and all of a sudden the middle lane was a turn lane so we turned. The GPS rerouted us and we kept hitting closed streets. It was a lot of detours for one day! 

We arrived in Cuyahoga National Park and drove north to the Boston Mill Visitor Center. Cuyahoga National Park, established as a national recreation area in 1974 was re-designated as a national park in 2000.

This park does not have an entrance fee. There are residential areas and towns within the outer borders of the park. Many roads and 3 Interstates cross the park.

We spent some time with a volunteer that worked with the rangers. He helped us decide what we wanted to do. I changed my sandals to sneakers and we headed back south to Beaver Marsh. We had passed the turnoff earlier as we came north through the park.

"Humans and beavers turned this site back into a marsh in the 1980s. Volunteers organized by a local Sierra Club removed cars and materials from the former business site. About the same time, beavers flooded the area by building a dam across the Ohio & Erie Canal. The waters awakened long-dormant seeds of wetland plants – a stunning example of nature recovering an area if given a chance." - NPS

We walked on the old towpath for the canal. 

It wasn't very far to the marsh. There were a few flowers

and water lilies.

We saw this heron.

The path was rather busy with walkers, runners, and bicyclists. We talked to a few different people. A father and his two young sons were telling us about a large snapping turtle so we went looking.

We also saw a midland painted turtle but I couldn't get a photo of it. Our day was quite sunny by then and I took this photo in the marsh.

We headed north again and stopped at the Everett Covered Bridge.

 

Everett Covered Bridge ... "played an important role in the transportation system of its time. Local histories emphasize the role of the Ohio & Erie Canal. With the canal, farmers could ship products to Cleveland and beyond. But to get to the canal and other local destinations, people needed functional roads. ... " Everett Covered Bridge was built around 1877. "Everett Covered Bridge was repaired at least twice after major damage, first caused by the 1913 flood and then by a truck in 1970. Then in 1975, rushing water from a spring storm lifted the bridge from its sandstone abutments and deposited the wreckage into the stream bed below. The community, rallied by the park friends' group (then called Cuyahoga Valley Association; now called Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park), began raising funds to rebuild the bridge. School children, local citizens, private organizations, and governmental agencies all joined hands to secure money for the historically accurate reconstruction, completed by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1986." -NPS

The trail to the bridge was short and well maintained.

Foot traffic is allowed on the bridge so we walked through to the other side and this is the view looking back.

We decided it was time head to our rental in Kent, Ohio and our short travel day ended about many hours after it began. 

It was a good day and nice to spend most of our travel day out walking!

Life is a journey, enjoy the trip. 

Aim for the sky, but move slowly, 

enjoying every step along the way.