Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio

Ledges Trail

Cuyahoga Valley

We spent 5 days in the Cuyahoga Valley which lies in north-central Ohio between Cleveland and Akron.

We started off in Cleveland. We found a place to store the rig for a couple days, jumped in the truck, and headed to the city. There, we booked a hotel room at the Kimpton, which was a great location (and they allow dogs - big and small). The main reason for us to check out Cleveland was to see Benson Boone in concert. We must have been one of the oldest couples there, but Benson didn’t disappoint. He has a Freddy Mercury vibe about him and was very charismatic on stage. We had a wonderful time! (Nothing like spending a couple of hours listening to a few thousand pre-teen girls scream their heads off!!) While in the city, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Whether you are a huge lover of music or just enjoy a walk down memory lane, they have lots for you to see and do. Of course, they have an impressive collection of memorabilia (anyone remember Lady Gaga’s metal unitard??), great videos going back to the 30’s, and even a room where you can try out your skills on the instrument of your choice. (We got to live out our fantasy of being drummers in a rock band! Sadly, the fantasy quickly turned into a nightmare as we realized neither of us have any drumming talent whatsoever!) If we could have changed one thing about our visit, it would have been to be there with our beloved George Raby, who is the biggest music afficianado we know. We can only imagine the joy in his eyes as he took in all his favorite musicians….and we know he killed it on the guitar!! We saw several other highlights (see photos below) and overall found Cleveland to be a really great place.

Our other big reason for visiting Ohio was the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (our 20th national park!). This is a relatively new national park, but is certainly worth the visit. The big draw is the natural beauty of the place. We had several great hikes to park favorites like the Ledges, Beaver Marsh, Brandywine Falls, and the Great Falls of Tuttle Creek. The Ledges and the Great Falls were our favorites. The Ledges consist of massive, 240-million-year-old Sandstone rock formations. Over the millennia, they have split and eroded creating a stunning landscape and an amazing hike! The Great Falls are, as you probably guessed, a set of waterfalls on the site of a long-lost community that once featured a grain mill, multiple saw mills, and an electric power plant.

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

You maybe asking yourself “who is Stan Hywet and why does he have a hall and gardens”. We wondered the same thing! It turns out the Stan Hywet isn’t a who, it is a what. Specifically, it is the former home of the co-founder of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. (Apparently Stan Hywet is Scottish for Stone Quarry which was the defining feature of the property when he bought it.)This house is definitely worth the stop if you are in the area. We were very impressed and honestly liked it better than the Biltmore Estate…which is saying something. This place is amazing!! As an interior designer, Christina was blown away by the craftsmanship, innovation and sheer beauty of this home. The estate was completed in 1915 after 3 years of construction. The style of the home was Tudor Revival (think 16th century England..you know, Henry the 8th.) which made the home seem much older than it actually was. To give you an idea of the size of the home, it is over 64,000 square feet (roughly the equivalent of a football field) and has 23 bathrooms, 18 bedrooms, 23 fireplaces, and 3 elevators. The size though is not the most impressive aspect. It is the detail in the construction and furnishings that boggle the mind. The home is rich in wood paneling almost all of which was hand carved on site. It has molded plaster ceilings, unimaginable trim detail, and a huge array of tiles of all materials. In one room, the pattern in the ceiling matches the pattern in the chandelier while the colors in the wall paper are mirrored by the flowers in the garden right outside the windows. It seems nothing was left to chance. The home had all the modern utilities including indoor plumbing, gas, electricity, telephones, and an internal vacuum system. The house also had a version of an intercom system. You could push a button in any room and a light and number would appear on a panel in the servants quarters. This would alert the staff as to whom needed assistance. The music room was 2700 square feet. The wife of the Goodyear founder, Gertrude Penfield Seiberling, was an accomplished opera singer who used the room to showcase her talents and entertain guests.The room contains an Aeolian pipe organ and several other antique musical instruments. The organ still works and they actually played it for us. It was impressive! We could go on and on about the gardens and all the additional buildings on the property but we want to leave a little for you to discover.

We were both pleasantly surprised by how much we liked this part of Ohio.