Travel and Dine Ohio

I never knew that there are many covered bridges still standing in Ohio. Last year my husband and I decided to visit as many covered bridges as we could on our Ohio road trips. We visited 5 of them last year since we started later in the summer. We have also limited ourselves to original older bridges, not the rebuilt ones at this time. There is a rebuilt one very close to us here in Findlay Ohio near the Riverbend Park. We have nothing against rebuilt bridges we just wanted to make the older ones our first priority.

Ohio has over 130 covered bridges. Ashtabula county has 18 covered bridges We have not visited these yet but are planning to soon. Ashtabula county has a covered bridge guide: Ashtabula County Covered Bridge Guide for a self-guided tour or you can take a shuttle tour from The Lodge at Geneva On the Lake. Union County also has a Union County Covered Bridge Trail. These and others can be found online. I printed out a list of the covered bridges in Ohio from this site: Dalejtravis.com Also whenever we are in a new area I do an online search to see if there are any covered bridges near me.

First we visited the Historic Swartz Covered Bridge in Wyandot county. This bridge was built in 1880 and is located on County Road 130 in Wyandot county. There is a historic marker on US 23 traveling southeast from Upper Sandusky directing you to this bridge. Another bridge in Wyandot County is the Parker Bridge. It is located on Everhard Rd Upper Sandusky Ohio. We were able to drive across both of these two bridges.

The Swartz Bridge

The Parker Bridge

Another bridge that we visited last year was the Historic Mull Covered Bridge. You can not drive across this bridge but there is parking and an area to picnic here. There is also a historic marker and a painted sign depicting the history of covered bridges.

To dine near the Mull Bridge The Tackle Box 2 located at 420 Sandusky Ave Fremont Ohio It is known for its burgers and seafood.

The other two bridges we visited last year are in Logan County. The Mccolly bridge was built in 1876 It is located on County Road 13 Washington Township, Logan County Ohio. We drove across this bridge. We also visited the Bickham Covered Bridge 7500 C 38 Belle Center Ohio. This bridge was built in 1876. You can also drive across this bridge.

The McColly Bridge

These are the ones we have visited so far as we plan to continue our quest to visit all the bridges in Ohio.

Village in Wood County along the Maumee River

Historic Grand Rapids has something for everyone. Located along the Maumee River about 15 miles southwest of Toledo Ohio, you can walk along the old canal tow paths, you can shop or dine in the downtown area, you can boat or kayak on the Maumee river or you can fish the river known for the walleye run in the spring.

The Miami and Erie canal was located along the Maumee River and can be seen there today along with the towpath and remnants of some of the locks.

Mule pulled canal boat rides are still available for a glimpse to the past. You can also chose to walk along the former tow paths which are now home to many flowers and garden sculptures.

Another historical feature of Grand Rapids is The Isaac R Ludwig Mill, a restored working water-powered grist located across the river from Grand Rapids You can still watch grain being ground there today.

When visiting Grand Rapids, I always have to check out the local shops. The historic architecture lends a picturesque atmosphere to the downtown area. The unique shops include: antiques shops, book shops gift shops and clothing shops. There are also candy and ice cream shops. These were always my children’s favorite when they were young.

Miss Lily’s is one of Grand Rapids restaurants. We have enjoyed a meal at Miss Lily’s in the past but this time we decided to go to The Dairy Bar. We have also visited Snyder’s Pizza on another trip to Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids historic Fire Department and Town Hall

Another thing we like to do at Grand Rapids is boating. We usually launch our boat at Mary Jane Thurst0n State Park. Mary Jane Thurston is a 105 acre park with camping picnic sites and boating. The boating area has a very nice bathroom facility. The picnic area have rustic shelter houses and there is electric sites and primitive sites for camping

The boat launches at Mary Jane Thurston State Park

The office, restrooms at the boat launch

Boats docked on the Maumee at Mary Jane Thurston State Park

Today since my husband doesn’t walk much yet after his accident we stopped at the Dairy Bar on Front street in Grand Rapids. This dairy bar sits right on the river as you enter the town from the east and offers a wide variety of sandwiches, sides and many kinds of dairy treats. Mike had a hotdog and I had a chili dog. We also had to try their milk shakes, which we decided were very good. I’m sure we will be visiting Grand Rapids again soon.

McComb, Ohio 45858

Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014 – The world’s largest operating steam locomotive has been making its way across the United States as part of the celebration of our nations 250th anniversary. If you get a chance to see it, it is worth the time.

A couple years ago we decided to move into a small town in Hancock county Ohio about 7 miles from Findlay Ohio where we lived before. Our little town that we have adopted doesn’t have a lot here, we have a dollar general, two gas stations, and a pizza shop and not a lot else. Who would have thought that we would have the world’s largest steam engine going through our village, but we do have train traffic, and we happened to be on the route for this large engine.

I havent been posting for quite a while. At the end of January my husband had an accident and had a bad break of his femur. He spent over two weeks in the hospital and then spent another three weeks in a rehabitation facility. He is still not getting around like we were used to but hope to be getting there soon so we can continue our travels around Ohio.

Schedule — Big Boy 4014 Tour

Last weekend this amazing train engine and cars made its way through our small town of McComb Ohio. We did not have to go far to see the Big Boy, it came to us. It did not stop here but that did not stop the visitors from coming here to see the huge engine We were able to park near the farmers elevator. I was surprised that we had such a great spot to see it.

Note the cars on the other side of the tracks to get an idea of the scale of this large engine.

We had quite a crowd of viewers for our small town. The engine and train cars that followed was a very impressive site. The engine never slowed down as it was going through town but the crowd didn’t seem to mind at all.

The train will come back through town again on July 14th I plan to be there to watch it again.

Just a couple of the cars the engine is pulling,

I hope we can soon get back to traveling Ohio and finding some of the wonderful places that our state has to offer. We love finding small out of the way places to eat and experience different foods, though my husband is quite a picky eater. I love to find historical sites as well as other places to visit and have been turning my husband into someone who likes to experience the great historical places Ohio has to offer as well all the other wonderful sites. Hope to be adding another post soon.

26929 Cummings Road

Millbury Ohio 43447

We recently spent a fun Sunday visiting this car museum in Millbury Ohio in Wood County Ohio. My husband is a car guy and he was very excited as soon as we entered the building. We were told that the owner has been collecting cars and trucks for years and decided to build the museum to share his collection with the public.

The first room we entered had the Delorian from Back to the Future, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and the Batmobile. Also Herbie from Love

The next room had rows of tables and chairs a self-serve snack bar and many of the candy, cigarette dispensers from years ago. There were also juke boxes. Not everyone will remember when candy and cigarettes were sold from dispensers everywhere, but I have to admit I’m old enough to remember those. There is room after room of cars, trucks, gas pumps and other memorabilia.

This is such a fun place to visit whether you are a car person or you just love to visit memories of a time gone by. The music played in each room is different depending on the period of the vehicles We had a great time.

Just an update to our moving to a new home and village.

We are delighted to be in our new home. We finally got moved at the end of December 2024 and are enjoying our new life here in our home. The previous owners did a lot of remodeling already, so we didn’t “have” to do anything to settle in. Now the fun begins as we make our house our own. We didn’t even need to paint as the colors they chose were compatible with our furniture. Almost all of the boxes are unpacked, and we are just organizing things. In the meantime as we were moving into our new home, my husband was diagnosed with some health problems and has through a number of tests and he just recently finished treatments in Columbus Ohio. We are looking forward to a complete recovery for him as we start a new chapter in our lives.

We plan to resume road tripping through Ohio this spring and renew our sampling of Ohio’s many small towns and cities and Mom and Pop type local eateries.

491 South Main Street Mt. Victory, Ohio 43340

Travelanddineohio.com

Mt Victory is a small town with many antique shops just south of Kenton, Ohio, on State Route 31 in Hardin County. We pass through Mt. Victory often on our way to Columbus, as we prefer Route 31 as a back way to Columbus.

The Plaza Inn is located at the southern end of Mt. Victory. It’s a quaint little restaurant and bar with homemade food. We love to eat at the Plaza Inn. They have a breakfast buffet from 8am to 10:30 am on Saturday and Sunday. They also have a full breakfast menu.

They also have a supper buffet with fried chicken, fried fish, salisbury steak, noodles, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, and a full salad bar.

Inside the Plaza Inn is the Dealership Bar, which is a full bar with food specials, and craft beers. The decor is automobile memorabilia and advertising.

The Plaza Inn is also has an air strip. It fun to see a small plane fly in so its pilot and passengers can come in to dine. It’s not unusual to see a couple small planes parked beside the Inn.

The Plaza Inn and antique shops are not the only attraction in this area of Ohio. The area north of Kenton and South of Mt. Victory between Rt’s 309 and 31 is home to one of Ohio’s old order Amish comunities.

We really enjoy driving through Amish country and this area is not commercialized as some Amish communities are.

Pfeiffer’s Station General Store at 19950 County Road 144, Kenton Ohio, is a great place to visit in this area. We went home with homemade cookies, some bulk spices, and a pie. It was wonderful, the cookies didn’t even make it home.

I have not posted to my travel and dine site for a bit. We are buying a new home, and it has been very stressful. First, we had to be pre-approved before we could even begin to look for homes. This is the way things are done these days. It’s been many years since we bought a house, so we went to a couple ‘different lenders to find the best deal for us.

Once we found the lender, we wanted we were able to start looking at properties. We had a price limit to stay within, so I searched and searched online for homes in our price range and found some we wanted to check out. We found a realtor when my husband called about one house, but it had sold before we got a chance to look at it. She started looking for homes for us and i continue my online search. I would call her, and she would call me whenever we found one we liked.

It’s much harder to be house hunting now than in the past. We found one house we really liked, and we made an appointment to see it. Then our realtor called us the night before and said the owner had accepted an offer. One house down. We went to see another house but barely made it in the front door. The smell was terrible, and the floor seemed to be coming apart from the wall. We looked at a couple other homes that looked great on the outside but WOW! The interiors were back in the 50’s or in dire need of an updating and cleaning. Then we did see one with a great kitchen and a bedroom on the main floor with a bathroom attached. Just what we wanted. The garage was only one car, but my husband wanted 2 or 3 car garage but as they say on house hunters, we kept it on the list.

We also looked at another one we liked in another nearby town that was nicely redecorated and had his two-car garage. We also kept it on the list. So, we decided to go ahead and make an offer, but the one had accepted an offer the day before. So, we made an offer on the one with the great kitchen

The owner declined our first offer, but they did counter. We were able to accept t their counteroffer. Hurray!!! We had a house.

Now for the next part.

Our lender also required an inspection I picked an inspector that was on the list that our realtor. When we got the report, he had picked out many issues. While some of these were a safety issue others were not an issue at all. He noted knob and tube wiring in the attic. This wiring had been disconnected years before. It just was not all removed. Another is a small step on the side of the house that we planned to take away already. Some things were actually safety issues such as a railing on the front porch. But the sellers were wonderful, and they agreed to take care of everything on the list.

We next had to get an appraisal done. We got good news there. The house appraised out above what we were paying. Now we just need to get to the closing.

In the meantime, until we have closing and get the keys i have been packing our entire life it seems. I have been getting boxes from the dollar store, boxes from my work, boxes from friends, boxes from family who had just moved and i am filling them all. I try to keep it to smaller boxes for most things. Boxes I can lift myself. I like to move some of our collectibles and other items myself in the back of my SUV.

The other issue is the holidays. We won’t be in before Christmas now and we already missed Thanksgiving. I always host Thanksgiving for my children, and we usually host Christmas for both my children and my husband’s children. I miss not this year. Next year–LOOK OUT– I will go overboard with decorating. But I need to get back to my travel and dining posts

LuLu’s at the Lake

Travelanddineohio.com

Indian Lake Ohio has been our go-to spot every summer ever since Mike and I met. For several years we did not even own a boat, but we would go and visit the lake and dream about owning our own boat. Well, our dream did come true, and we were able to purchase a boat. While we sometimes take the boat to other lakes we always seem to come back to Indian Lake as our favorite. The grandkids get a kick when we can boat up to a restaurant and dock to eat. They also love tubing and playing on the beach.

Sadly, last March, Indian Lake was hit by an EF3 tornado that caused a lot of damage to areas of both Lakeview, Ohio and Russell’s Point Ohio. Three people died in the storm, that left so much destruction in its path. Twenty people were injured also. The rebuilding and recovery will take some time, but Indian Lake residents and business will make a comeback. I took quite a few pictures of the destruction at the lake but chose not to post them out of respect for the tornado victims.

There are many businesses open now, and we visit and shop and eat at the businesses there and will continue to do so. There are many restaurants open for business and a few more working on rebuilding.

One of our favorites is LuLu’s at the Lake. It is a fairly new restaurant at the lake. They are located at 156 E Main Street, Russell’s Point. During the early days after the tornado, when there was so much cleanup to be done, Lulu’s fed the workers who volunteered to help with the cleanup. They have a comprehensive breakfast menu. The waffles are great! They also have sandwiches and salads, and this LuLu’s location serves alcohol also. Other Lulu’s locations are Lima, and Bluffton.

The Galilee Lutheran Church 301 Lincoln Blvd., Russell’s Point is always accepting donations for tornado victims.

I will talk about other Indian Lake restaurants in another post. And stay posted for updates on Indian Lake rebuilding also.

17 Church Street, Shelby Ohio 44875

Travelanddineohio.com

Glen’s Surplus, 14 E Smiley Ave. Shelby Ohiom44875

At work one day, a friend and coworker told me she was going to Glen’s Surplus to do some shopping over the weekend. Obviously, I was curious. So, I asked her about Glen’s. She said they have everything.

We just had to check it out, so about a week later we decided to make a road trip to Shelby, Ohio. Shelby is in Richland County, about an hour away from us in Findlay. But of course, we took the “scenic” route, so it may have taken us a little longer. They do have everything. They have the usual items, hardware, tires, tools, military surplus items, but if you keep going further into the store, they even have wallpaper surplus, holiday decorations and household items. We found a few things we needed and some we didn’t as well but had fun looking.

After all that shopping, we, of course, were hungry. So, we went in search of somewhere to eat. My phone listed a couple interesting places, and we chose Paul’s Drive In.

As soon as we walked in we knew we would enjoy it here. They atmosphere is 50’s – 60’s Rock and roll It was great. They have dinners – Shrimp, Chicken tenders, fish, spaghetti, and clams. Salads and soups, Wings, and burgers. And they have ice cream.

Of course, we had to try the ice cream too. The food was great. the atmosphere fun, and the ice cream topped it all off. It was a fun day.

We really need to back here soon, This little diner was a fun place to visit.

Travelanddineohio.com

Mike and I are water people. We love the water and have a boat that we love to take out on the water. Every summer we go up around Lake Erie and on our last drive up (without the boat this time), we drove up to Port Clinton and then along the coast to Marblehead. As an artist, I love this area.

The lighthouse at Marblehead is over 200 years old and the site has been designated a state park. The keeper’s house is now a museum and the grounds are beautiful. A great place to picnic and watch the boats out on the lakes. I enjoy taking photos here that I can paint later.

Lakeside Ohio has an annual art show and is a beautiful private community along the shore of Lake Erie. Founded by the Methodist Church which still uses it for the annual conference. While they are a private community, they have events all summer and have cabin and cottage rentals. There is a campground as well.

Marblehead is just to the east of Lakeside and has a vacation town, almost a Key West, atmosphere with small shops and dining all along East Harbor Road. We have stopped at a few of the small restaurants here in Marblehead, but today we decided to eat at Netty’s a hot dog stand. Netty’s serves chili dogs, hot dogs, French fries and root beer. My husband believes he is a great judge of hotdogs, and he declared Netty’s to be great tasting dogs.

They have a beautiful setting there under the trees and you can’t miss the orange painted building. They do not have indoor seating but have picnic tables under the large awning in front and more out back under the trees. They also have plenty of parking.

Of course, we could not drive through Port Clinton without stopping at Cheese Haven. We had to get our favorite cheese spreads and crackers. I also stock up on my favorite Lake Erie wine. They also have meats and fish and candy and many kinds of cheese.