Jackie Sheckler Finch - Ohio Off the Beaten Path®: Discover Your Fun

An award-winning journalist and photographer, Jackie Sheckler Finch has covered a wide array of topics, from birth to death, with all the joy and sorrow in between. She has written more than a dozen travel guidebooks and had articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers. She has been named the Mark Twain Travel Writer of the Year by Midwest Travel Journalists Association a record five timesin 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2012and is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.

Jackie shares her home with Pepper, resident guard dog and entertainer. One of her greatest joys is taking to the road to find the fascinating people and places that wait over the hill and around the next bend.

Thanks to the Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ohio Historical Society for providing supplemental information and materials about many of the places described in this book. Their cooperation made researching Ohio Off the Beaten Path a productive and enjoyable endeavor.

Im grateful to Tracee Williams, Amy Lyons, Staci Zacharski, Emily Chiarelli, and the friendly and professional staff at Globe Pequot for allowing me the pleasure of revising this book.

Tranquil, stream-fed Chippewa Lake provides the setting for an outstanding country dining establishment, the Oaks Lakeside. Eight acres of tall trees surround this rambling former estate, which rests a stones throw from the water. Railroad industrialist J. F. Townsend remodeled this former farmhouse in 1914, using it to entertain such captains of industry as J. Pierpont Morgan. Townsend dubbed the place Five Oaks for the semicircle of oak trees that graced the front of the home at the time.

Don Casper and Al Hitchins purchased the Medina County property in 1961 and earned a reputation for an innovative menu and an impressive kitchen. In the summer of 2004, Johnny and Audrey Pollizi joined with Dons family to maintain the familys tradition of gracious elegance and outstanding cuisine. Each of the six dining areas has its own distinct character, and the large windows allow a view of the spacious patioa perfect spot for a cocktail or after-dinner drinkand the gazebo at waters edge.

Dinner at the Oaks Lakeside includes dishes such as veal marsala, pan-seared duck breast, dry-aged strip steak with pinot noir sage butter, filet mignon, and grilled chicken spinach alfredo with pappardelle pasta. Seafood fans can choose from rosemary grilled salmon, South African lobster tail, Alaskan King Crab legs, and steamed scampi.

A fine dinner salad distinguishes a quality restaurant from an ordinary one, and an Oaks Classic salad comes brimming with mixed greens, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, citrus vanilla vinaigrette, and Danish blue cheese. A nice variety of appetizers includes baklava brie with orange ginger glaze, thyme, dill crackers and bread styx; herbed truffle fries with barbecue balsamic reduction, and sauerkraut balls with Santa Fe mustard and plum sauce. The lodges luxurious desserts include fallen chocolate souffl with vanilla bean ice cream, pecan and cranberry bread pudding topped with caramel whiskey sauce, and chocolate brownie parfait topped with whipped cream. From the fresh flowers and stylish decor (the lodge has won several awards for interior design) to the culinary expertise, the Oaks Lakeside rates high marks.

The Oaks Lakeside is at 5878 Longacre Ln., Chippewa Lake; (330) 769-2601, (800) 922-5736; theoakslakeside.com. Open Wed through Sat from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sun from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Live entertainment is offered Thur and Fri evening June through Aug.

BEST ATTRACTIONS

Oaks Lakeside

Hickories Museum

Allen Memorial Art Museum

Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Hale Farm and Village

Blossom Music Center

Akron Art Museum

Stan Hywet Hall

Perkins Stone Mansion

John Brown House

Portage House

Kent State University Museum

Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor

Butler Institute of American Art/Arms Family Museum of Local History

Mill Creek MetroParks

The Welshfield Inn

Rothenbuhler Cheesemakers

Burton Sugar Camp

Century Village

Richards Maple Products

Alpine Valley Ski Area

Holden Arboretum

Lake Metroparks Farmpark

Debonne Vineyards

Grand River Cellars

Medina County is also the location of a unique annual occurrenceOhios equivalent of the swallows returning to Capistrano. Each year in mid-March, about 75 turkey vultures come home to roost in trees by the cliffs and caverns of Whipps Ledges near Hinckley. With clocklike regularity, the buzzards have returned to this summer home for more than 150 years. Hinckley townspeople mark the occasion with celebrations on the first Sunday after March 15, when a buzzard breakfast is served.

The architect was Arthur Oviatt; the owner, Arthur Lovett Garford. The result of their vision: one of the finest residences in northeast Ohio, now the Hickories Museum.

Construction on this massive 19-room stone-and-shingle home began in 1894 and cost Garford $100,000. On the large corner lot stand many of the original shagbark hickory trees from which came the name Hickories.

birthplace of aluminum

We have Charles M. Hall to thank for a world full of aluminum siding and aluminum everything else. Born in Thompson on December 6, 1863, Hall moved with his family to Oberlin. Along with a country full of scientists, he had been trying to find a cheap way to make aluminum; Hall did his experiments in an old woodshed while still in high school.

Hall attended Oberlin College, where he continued to experiment. Eight months after graduating, the 22-year-old discovered the process he and the others had been seeking. After a patent dispute with a French scientist claiming the same invention, Hall secured capital from Andrew Mellon and built what became the American Aluminum Company. Hall died in 1914, leaving a substantial bequest to Oberlin College.

Within the walls of the Hickories Museum are Tiffany-style windows, 6 fireplaces, 12 built-in seats, and approximately 60 carved faces. Features are the grand staircase, pier mirrors, a Gothic chapel, and a bull moose head given to Garford by Teddy Roosevelt. An opulent Victorian bathroom as well as a restored master bedroom and guest room can be seen on the second floor.

Garford was a young banker when he hopped on a newfangled high-wheeled vehicle, the bicycle. A rough ride on the bikes hard seat launched a new career for A. L.he invented a padded bicycle seat, which made him a millionaire. His interests would grow to include such diverse items as golf balls, telephone parts, lighting fixtures, and steel; he also became involved in car and truck manufacturing, mining, and publishing.

The Hickories Museum is at 509 Washington Ave., Elyria; (440) 322-3341; lchs.org. Open for tours Tues through Fri, 1 to 4 p.m.; first and third Sat of the month, 1 to 3 p.m. Admission: adults $5, children (ages 13 to 18) $3; children (ages 6 to 12) $2.

Founded in 1917, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is ranked as one of the finest college or university collections in the nation. Cass Gilbert designed the original building; he also designed four other buildings for Oberlin College between 1907 and 1931. The museums contemporary addition, designed by Robert Venturi, opened in 1977.