Ohio - With Pictures

My mom's mom lives in Ohio. At least once a year she would fly out to Utah to see my family. When I was 14 me, Lindsey, and Emily were able to fly to visit her. We were completely spoiled!!!! During the 9 days that we were in Ohio we ate out at restaurants, went out for ice cream every night, went to several tourist destinations, and we even went to an amusement park. The trip was a once in a lifetime event and so that meant we splurged and bought 3 disposable cameras (gasp!) So that is why there are pictures in this post.

Before we get started I have to say that I really really really regret not writing about the 9 days in my journal. The main reason I regret it is because I don't remember what order we did anything in. School started the day after we got home and I just never had time to write down what had happened. Emily wrote it all down and I have always (for like 12 years) meant to borrow her journal and write down the order of everything we did. She lives in Rexburg and her journal is either there or in a box somewhere in my parent's house. I really should have just taken the hour and written in my journal. But oh well, here is what I do remember.

Here we all are at the Cleveland Airport. I don't remember what was in the bags. When Grandma came out to Salt Lake she always had a present for us when she got off the plane. So it makes sense that she would have a present ready for us when we arrived.

Grandma lives in Akron, Ohio only a few blocks from the house she grew up in. She knows the owner of the house and so we were able to walk through it. This is the front porch. Grandma's parents owned this house while she was growing up. Later they sold it and moved to Florida. Then several years after that they moved back and bought the house across the street from this one. The current owner of the house says that he remembers watching my Great Grandpa, go out in his front yard to "hunt the weeds."

As we drove around the neighborhood Grandma would point out houses. "There is where we lived when I was born . . . my grandparents lived in that house . . . this is where our meat market was . . ." and so on. I was stuck by how much of my family's life had been lived in such a small geographical area. Of course Grandma hasn't always lived in Akron. She was in Kansas when my mom was born and she lived in Indianapolis for over 25 years too. She moved home to Akron to take care of her mother and brother. Her mother died and after the estate was settled there was enough money to fly us girls out for a visit.
At one point during the trip we drove out to Amish country. We drove over some hilly roads to get there. It was fun to feel our stomachs rise in our chests as we went over the hills. Once we were in Amish Country we saw lots of horse drawn buggies. We also saw lots of people who were dressed in old styles of clothing. We couldn't take their pictures though.

At one house were bought a wall basket from a family. It still hangs up in my parents house. The same day that we went to Amish Country we stopped at a store that always sells Christmas decorations. We stopped at another store that sold lots of pewter stuff. Somewhere we bought yogurt covered pretzels and became instantly addicted.
Another day we toured the Harry London Chocolate Factory. We were able to see how people make chocolate.
The tour ended in the gift shop and we could help ourselves to free "Buck Eye" Chocolates. They were chocolates with peanut butter balls in them. Emily loves peanut butter and chocolate so she had a great time eating those buck eyes.
One of the coolest things we did was go to Geauga Lake Amusement Park. We spent the whole day there and rode lots of roller coasters and other rides.
The best roller coaster was the Serial Thriller. We went on it twice. I had never been on anything bigger than the Collosus at Lagoon so this ride was amazing to me. It is the type of ride where you hang in a seat below the track. This is a movie of what it is like to ride it. I especially loved the cork screw part.
Here we are at the end of the day. We look pretty tired. (The dark circles under my eyes are from where my mascara smeared after a water ride.) That night we stopped at Burger King on the way home. It was the first time I ever ate at Burger King and I have loved it ever since.

Another Highlight of the trip was going to Kirtland Ohio to see the Kirtland Temple. At the time we went about the only thing to see in Kirtland was the temple which is owned by the Comminty of Christ (RLDS church). A few months after we visited, the LDS church started building up a lot of things in Kirtland. Three years later when my whole family went to Ohio we went back to Kirtland. On that trip we were able to see Newel K Whitney's store, a saw mill, and several other sites that had either been restored or recreated.

It was interesting to go on a tour through the temple with a tour guide that was not LDS. Basically everyone on the tour was LDS and so we would ask things like, "Isn't this where Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey?" And the guide would say things like, "Well, there are accounts that that happened here, but we don't have any evidence."
My Grandma is no longer active in the church so it was nice of her to bring us to Kirtland. We were very impressed by the beauty of the temple.
Another religious place that we visited was Concordia Lutheran Church. My Grandma was married in this church. We went to a worship service there with her, her brother, and her cousin. It was very interesting to be somewhere that had so much family significance. My mom's family was Lutheran up until my mom was nine. Then the missionaries knocked on her door. My grandma invited them in because she had heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the rest is history.
Grandma loves antiques. We were able to go with her to a flea market where she sold, among other things, old toys. We enjoyed helping her set up her tables and merchandise. In the back ground of this picture you can see my Grandma's brother Alan. My Grandma lives with him and takes care of him.
On another day we went swimming at the Nauditorium. ( I told you we were spoiled.)
We went to a place called Hale Farm and Village. They recreate how life was like on the frontier. In this picture you can see Jake. He was Grandma's high school boyfriend. They were dating again at the time we came to visit. He helped with the spoiling. He bought me the pink shirt that I am wearing the the Geauga Lake pic. He also paid for a lot of the ice cream that we ate. He was really neat to get to know. Ultimately he decided that it was too soon after his wife's death to be dating again, so he and my Grandma didn't stay together. I'm glad that he was a part of our family for the brief time that he was.
I'm not sure where this picture is taken I think it was also at Hale Farm. We have other pictures of us standing in front of another random church that was just on the side of the road on the way to Amish Country.
Here I am with something I never would have had to wear in school - a dunce cap.
There were a few things that we didn't get pictures of. We went out to eat twice at a place called Rocco's Pizza. It was an arcade as well as a pizza place. I played PAC Man while Emily and Lindsey played some crazy game where their computer characters ran through money.

I wish we had a picture of the beds my Grandma set up for us. The attic of her house was all one room. She had two twin beds and I think a cot set up. We took turns with who got to sleep in each bed each night.

It was such a great trip. For the first time in my life I really felt connected to my mom's family. I'm glad I have great memories of spending time with my Grandma.