Halfway between Cleveland and Columbus you will find this community staple, Ashland-Wooster Drive-In, serving classic favorites and homemade root beer.

In 1957, Barb and Bob Fordyce opened an A&W Root Beer Stand and remained an A&W through subsequent owners Joann and Bud Bemiller (and family) from 1969-1984. But the following year 1985, the A&W franchise was dropped and Ashland-Wooster Drive-In was born.

Shortly before I visited (in July 2021), Steve Bemiller sold the business to Mindi White and Frank Keener. Thankfully, no changes have yet been made to this community staple in Ashland, OH as the new owners are just excited to continue providing excellent food the people have come to love.

They are located just of i71 exit 186, halfway between Columbus and Cleveland, which makes it the perfect pit stop on one of our most frequented routes when driving out of town. When we visited, we were actually on our way to Rochester, NY for the weekend and left before grabbing dinner. So I scoured my save Google maps list of root beer stands and spotted this one on our route.

Upon arriving, the first thing I saw was their sign suggesting their roast beef. Normally I get a cheeseburger and fries when I visit root beer stands but figured I would live a little – I pretty much never get a roast beef sandwich unless I’m at Arby’s. What can I say? There’s just something about drive-in food that always hits the right spot. It’s nothing fancy, but sometimes a classic simple meal is all I need. Besides, you cannot beat the prices.

As for their homemade root beer, it had a low amount of carbonation, was creamy and very vanilla flavored, but not a complex flavor – it’s a baseline solid root beer (which lands at a respectable 3/5). Will definitely stop again en route to our next destination, if needed!

Small town USA has the best diners and Porky’s Drive In found in Mansfield, OH is no exception. Head there for classic burgers, fries, and homemade root beer in a retro atmosphere.

As much as I am resisting fall (because it’s still in the 80s every day), October isn’t that far away which means there will soon be ads circulating for the best haunted house in Ohio – Blood Prison at the Ohio State Reformatory. If you live in the area and that’s something you plan on attending, let me also tell you about a little diner nearby that’s also worth visiting – Porky’s Drive In.

Since 1949 people have been coming to Porky’s for fresh-cut fries, burgers, homemade milkshakes, and their own root beer. They have even caught the attention of the producers of America’s Best Restaurants who are visiting their restaurant in two days time (from the date this was posted)!

While you wait for the episode to air, I’ll give you a little sneak peek to when I visited last fall.

Found along Ashland Road in Mansfield, Ohio, inside you will find the 1950s charm is still going strong. And yes they are other American classics on the menu beyond just burgers and fries, such as fried chicken, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and more.

Like this salad with a generous amount of cheese on top – ha!

We obviously were there for the burgers, fries, and most importantly the root beer. I always appreciate a root beer joint that understands that root beer should not be served with ice. Don’t dilute the magic! Instead their house made root beer was served in as frosted mug the way it was meant to be.

And it was pretty darn tasty as well! I would describe it as creamy with a little zest to it, vanilla, and medium flavor. I tend to prefer more bold root beer but it was a close 4 out of 5 on my scale (keeping in mind that a 3 is an everyday god root beer in my book).

Check out my other Root Beer adventures:

• Ashland-Wooster Drive-In (Ashland, OH)
• Frostop Root Beer Drive-In (Huntington, WV)
• Ohio Root Beer Day Trip (Cincinnati/Dayton area)
• Ohio Root Beer Day Trip, Round 2 (Dayton area)

Five years ago: Monthly Meal Plan: September

Eight years ago: No-Churn Fluffernutter Ice Cream

Ten years ago: Pizza Quinoa Casserole

Right over the border of Ohio in Huntington, West Virginia you will find the iconic Frostop Root Beer Drive-In where they have been serving root beer for over 60 years.

My latest root beer adventure was serendipitous as my path to a weekend trip in WV happened to pass by the Frostop Root Beer Drive-In Huntington, WV.

First a little history.

L.S. Harvey opened his first Frostop Root Beer Stand in Springfield, Ohio in 1926. The biggest growth of Frostop Drive-Ins occurred in the late 1960s, reaching a peak of over 350 locations, with the largest concentrations in the Midwest and Deep South.

Unfortunately, none of the Ohio locations exist anymore – not even the original in Springfield. But you can find it sold at local groceries and retails on occasion. Oddly enough, of the remaining drive-ins there are six in Louisiana, a couple in Mississippi, and one each in Idaho, Indiana, Utah, Illinois, and West Virginia. The Huntington, WV location opened in 1959 and recently celebrated 60 years in 2019.

Frostop Root Beer Drive-In

I quite literally squealed when I first saw the spinning mug on top of the drive-in. Apparently it went under repair in 2019 and was returned 8 months later in 2020. But I digress. While you could eat in your car like every other drive-in, we elected to eat on their patio, complete with a resident cat.

The root beer is made daily, using their original recipe which infuses 22 flavors and is cold-brewed in batches at thirty-six degrees. Personally, I think it’s a good classic root beer. Not much carbonation, creamy vanilla, and a medium flavor, making it a solid 3/5 on my rating scale. Which I will remind you, a 3 is a good score – a classic standard root beer.

As for the food, their mozzarella sticks were the favorite item ordered. They were so flavorful you didn’t even need the marinara dipping sauce. The cheeseburgers and fries were again good classics that definitely hit the spot for lunch on our road trip. And all priced super affordably. Even a t-shirt was only $12 so you know I had to get one.

Unfortunately, I failed to realize while I was there that three other root beer stands were the area: Midway West Drive-In, Farley’s Famous Hot Dogs, and the first Stewarts Original location. Fail, but guess it just means I have to go back!

One year ago: Chocolate Stout Pudding Shots

Three years ago: Chicken Enchilada Dip

Four years ago: Fall Leaves Butter Cookies

Seven years ago: Swag Bars

Eight years ago: Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken

Nine years ago: Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Ten years ago: Beermosa

Take an adventure with me as I travel West and slightly NW from Columbus for another Ohio root beer day trip to the Dayton area and Marysville!

Similar to my first root beer day trip, this adventure totaled 4.25 hours of drive-time but only 4 stops instead of 6. Also similarly, not all were root beer stands, including one brewery and one pizza restaurant!

Ohio root beer day trip, round 2:

• J&E Root Beer Stand
• Warped Wing Brewing Company
• B-K Root Beer (Troy)
• Benny’s Pizza

As is my MO, we hit up the furthest location first, and looped back around to Columbus. Again, I don’t normally review non-bottled root beer but I’ve been bending the rules for these adventures. To remind you of how my rating scale works, a 3 is good, not crazy amazing but good, and that’s my baseline to where I assess each root beer, going up or down on the scale based upon more specific characteristics. Got it? Good!

And we’re off! The first stop as you can tell from the map was…

J&E Root Beer Stand

You might be asking, why didn’t we go there on our last adventure? We did in fact stop in Dayton last time, but they had yet to reopen for the season. Voltzy’s Rootbeer Stand is another located in Dayton that we have yet to visit, but they are temporarily closed after the owner passed away (sincerest condolences). But back to J&E.

The J&E Root Beer Stand is labeled as a “hot dog joint” and serves homemade root beer, but there’s more to their menu than just that. With reasonable prices you cannot go wrong. We ordered the mini corn dogs, double cheeseburgers, and fries. Unfortunately I forgot to ask for the root beer without ice (iykyk), but thankfully we drank it fast enough to not let the ice melt too much. It was creamy and similar profile to A&W, which is makes it a solid 3 classic good root beer.

Our second stop was…

Warped Wing Brewing Company

But it’s a lie! If I had known they existed I would have stopped here as stop #2 based on their location on our route. But I didn’t discover that they made root beer until shortly after our journey. However, I have since acquired a six pack of their root beer so I am including it on our day trip list anyway!

The root beer was creamy but had a little zesty bite from the bubbles, medium carbonation and flavor. I’d give it a 4!

The location itself is a microbrewery in a historic, industrial building with a tasting room offering creative beers & tours. They have been testing their housemade root beer for a few years now but it was only available on draft. After seeing a growing demand they finally decided to bottle it starting just last month July 2021! They also hope to expand to other flavors soon.

P.S. Apparently it has hit Columbus markets as well.

P.P.S. While writing up this post I also found out about Wot-A-Dog Drive-In located just NE of Dayton which has homemade root beer. And while Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop (originally from Pittsburg) was on my radar in Chillicothe, there are several other locations such as Troy, Miamisburg, and Middletown near Dayton. But there’s also one near Cleveland and I have to travel up there soon anyway.

But our actual second stop was…

B-K Root Beer

There are a lot of B-K Root Beer Stands in Ohio, including another location just north of the Troy location I visited in Piqua. After a quick Google search, apparently it is an independent chain of drive-in fast-food restaurants, located in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The B-K stands for “Bergerson & Kenefick” and the first location was Wabash, Indiana in 1940. To be honest, we thought their logo was suspiciously similar to A&W and assumed it used to be one, at least the location we visited.

Random tidbit: they sold the “BK” trademark to Burger King in the late 1980s but later abandoned in 2016. However for some reason they were denied re-registering the trademark in an effort to support the remaining 35-ish locations.

Either way I had their cheeseburger and root beer – and remembered to ask for it without ice. It was also creamy and tasted very similar to J&E’s root beer, so again a solid classic root beer of 3/5.

The final stop was…

Benny’s Pizza

Fun fact, it started out as a Frostop Root Beer stand. Although the first location of the franchise opened in Springfield, OH in 1926 and is still headquartered in Columbus, OH there are sadly no locations left in Ohio. But you can find it bottled and for sale around town.

I wish Benny’s Pizza was located just a little bit closer to Columbus. It’s an incredibly lively setting with a huge patio, a bandstand, and an outdoor bar. When we arrived, a band was indeed setting up and people slowly trickled in for what looked to be a fun evening. Unfortunately we had other plans so we did not stick around. But we did enjoy the complimentary popcorn, Hawaiian pizza, and house made root beer!

The person who referred me to Benny’s Pizza for their root beer assured me that they know what’s up and don’t serve their root beer on ice, so I didn’t request it, but unfortunately it was. So I removed it haha! Once cleansed of ice, the flavor was creamy with a hint of anise and low carbonation – 4/5! Great way to end the day.

After all that, I already have my next Ohio root beer day trip planned! Actually I have most of the rest of Ohio planned, and in the end all my routes will turn into what looks like a flower with Columbus at the center. Check back to see my other adventures!

Three years ago: RumChata Root Beer Float

Six years ago: Sassy Shirley Temple

Seven years ago: Blueberry-Cherry Buckle

Eight years ago: Healthier Cookie Dough Fondue

Nine years ago: Goat Cheese Ricotta Gnocchi with Walnut Thyme Butter Sauce

Love root beer? Come take a ride with me to SW Ohio for an Ohio root beer day trip! Includes stops at root beer stands, one of my favorite grocery stores, and breweries.

Back in March I planned the best Ohio day trip – at least in my opinion. We drove 2 hours south to Cincinnati on the hunt for root beer (also check out my other root beer day trips: Dayton Area Round 2).

I have been compiling a list of root beer stands in Ohio over the years and after being cooped up for a year finally decided to start crossing some off the list. Lucky for me, there happened to be a concentrated amount of them in and around Cincinnati.

Totaling 4.5 hours of drive-time we hit up 6 spots on my list in just one day. Not all were root beer stands, but root beer was involved and consumed at each stop.

Root Beer in Ohio:

• 50 West Brewing Company
• The Root Beer Stand
• Jungle Jim’s International Market
• Jolly’s Drive-In
• Rivertown Brewery
• The Rootbeer Stande

We decided to hit up the furthest spot first, and work our way back home to Columbus, filling ourselves with not only root beer but also tasty eats as well. Now, I normally only review glass bottles of root beer on this blog of mine. But I am willing to bend the rules from time to time. As a refresher to my rating scale, a 3 is a good review, not crazy amazing but good, which is where I start every review process and then it either moves up or down from there based upon various characteristics. Alight, shall we?

So if you are following along with the above map, the first stop was…

Fifty West Brewing Company

Fitting that we would start with a brewery that is named after U.S. Route 50 which stretches across the entire country from Ocean City, Maryland to Sacramento, California. What a road trip that would be. While they are obviously a brewery at heart, lucky for me many breweries also make their own root beer! So we pulled into their beer garden, ordered a cheeseburger and some cold root beer to start the day.

The root beer at 50 West had a good amount of carbonation, resulting in both good fizz and foam. It was creamy, with a medium flavor profile. Definitely good and one I would drink again, but not ruffling any skirts. Solid 3/5.

And of course we paired it with their classic double cheeseburger. Highly recommend!

Our second stop was…

The Root Beer Stand

The root beer at this stand in Sharonville has been made on site since 1957 and has received recognition as the best root beer in Cincinnati. But they are also known for their footlong cheese coneys. So I will give you one guess as to what we ordered to pair with our root beer at this stop.

We sipped on their root beer (which you can also buy by the gallon) on their outdoor picnic area. It had a lot of vanilla flavor, but wasn’t very carbonated and reminded me of A&W. Which is also a solid classic 3/5. But funny story I didn’t know they started as an A&W Root Beer Stand until after I made that assessment!

Also, their no-frills cheese coney made me think of the Ohio Sate Fair, which made me sad that it’s closed to the public this year.

Next up…

Jungle Jim’s International Market

I’ve visited this magnificent foodie wonderland many times before, once while exploring all that Butler County has to offer, which is why I knew it had to be part of our trip, because they have an entire aisle dedicated to root beer!

Despite stopping here any chance I get, it never fails that I find something new, both in general and in root beer. This trip I picked up 4 new to me root beers including AJ Stephans butterscotch, Chumlee, Manhattan Special, and Das Nubs Belch Krieg.

I’ve only tried two of those four thus far. Das Nubs Belch Krieg root beer was creamy, smooth, and not too fizzy with medium flavor. Another one that’s a good 3/5.

The AJ Stephans butterscotch was an improvement, with nice butterscotch flavor, creamy and smooth, not too fizzy, and sweeter than a normal root beer but not overpoweringly so. Really good 4/5. (The regular AJ Stephans root beer I rated a 3/5 in the past)

After a break from eating, we were ready to go for stop #4 at…

Jolly’s Drive-In

Jolly’s is actually one of Butler County’s oldest restaurants! Since 1938, Jolly’s Drive-In (A&W) has been serving Hamilton and Fairfield communities with their delicious food.

Their root beer (which I presume based off their signs is actually A&W) had good carbonation and a medium flavor profile so it’s no surprise that it came in as a 3/5.

But again, you pair a standby good root beer with a drive-in cheeseburger and fries and you will not see me frowning.

Our fifth overall stop, but third in Butler County brought us to…

Rivertown Brewery

We could have ordered a root beer from the bar, but we decided to take ours to go once we realized they actually canned their root beer! Four pack to go, yes please (and extras to share with my friend Mark, The Root Beer Aficionado).

But of course we drank one in the car. It was creamy, with caramel and a slight anise flavor, but medium body of flavor overall and medium level of carbonation. That caramel kicked it up to a 4/5.

Little did I know that in addition to their taproom, they are also a full-service BBQ eatery! Clearly we are going to need to plan a second trip sometime.

I would have liked to hit up J&E Root Beer Stand (again also in Butler County), but at the time they were closed. So we ventured up to Dayton for our last stop on our route…

The Root Beer Stande

Unfortunately, despite having the largest menu of the day, their kitchen was backed up and we didn’t want to wait 45 minutes for food, so we only got a root beer here. While I promptly forgot to take a picture of. Never fear, it was a plain styrofoam cup.

Their house made root beer had medium carbonation but fizzy (think Barq’s but better), with vanilla flavor and a bit of a birch tang/bite. And another 4/5. Not a bad way to end the day.

Other spots I would have liked to hit in the Dayton area was Voltzy’s and J&E Root Beer Stand but they were closed at the time. But in about 6 hours we hit up two breweries, three root beer stands, and one of our favorite grocery stores! We shared 5 new root beer, 2 burgers, 1 chili dog, and took home 4 new bottles to save for later. Oh and a cool t-shirt and sticker. I call that a win.

More root beer in Ohio:

• Ashland-Wooster Drive-In (Ashland, OH)
• Dayton Area Day Trip Round 2
• Frostop Root Beer Drive-In Huntington, WV
• Porky’s Drive In Mansfield, OH

Looking for root Beer in Columbus, OH?

Here’s a list of places I have found that don’t require leaving Columbus:

• Ohio Pop at Punk Pigs, The Ohio Taproom, The Hills Market Downtown, Outerbelt Brewing, Kenny’s Meatwagon, Porketta Food Trailer, Ajumama Food Truck, and 451 Spirits.
• Parsons North High Brewery makes their own root beer and has it on tap (you can even get it as part of your flight).
• Rocket Fizz has an assortment of root beer and other flavored pop, but also nostalgic sweets.
• Elevator actually makes my favorite root beer I’ve had thus far in Ohio. Although the brewery location shut down, they only had the root beer at the restaurant and they still carry it!

And while I know I just listed a bunch of places that don’t require driving very far, another favorite of mine that is worth the drive just for one stop is Market Street Soda Works in Newark, OH! They have an incredible bottle selection and have a couple on tap as well.

Where are your favorite spots to get root beer? I am always on the hunt, especially when I travel, so let me know where I should head to next (in and especially outside of Ohio)! After all, I have been known to plan an entire trip based on root beer (looking at you Seattle). In fact I am tentatively scheduling an adventure up to Wisconsin in 2022 ;-).

Six years ago: No-Churn Roasted Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Ice Cream

Seven years ago: Slow Cooker Beef Tacos

Eight years ago: S’mores Jar Cake for One

Ten years ago: Skillet Chicken with Peppers and Peanuts

What are some of your favorite dishes to order when dining out? When that’s not an option here’s a list of great copy cat recipes!

While I am all about dining out to support local businesses (especially right now), sometimes it’s not an option (monetary restrictions, unfortunate closures, location). So with the help of many of my food blogger friends, I have put together a great list of copy cat recipes from some of your favorite spots! I’ve included restaurants with both national and regional locations. See the list below to click over to a specific area or browse the entire list! 

NATIONAL | ANN ARBOR, MI | COLUMBUS, OH | COROLLA, NC | DALLAS, TX | LOS ANGELES, CA | MEMPHIS, TN | NASHVILLE, TN | NEW ORLEANS, LA | NEW YORK CITY, NY | PHOENIX, AZ | PITTSBURGH, PA | ROCHESTER, NY | ST. LOUIS, MO | SEATTLE, WA

You’ll never run out of games, thrilling rides, exhibits, and fried food to eat at the Ohio State Fair.

The 2019 Ohio State Fair started this past Wednesday and I’ve already gone twice! There’s so much to see and do every year, both new and old that I missed from previous years, so it’s never a bore. Speaking of new things, my first visit was primarily focused on all the new fried foods available this year because it’s the state fair and there’s no limit to what they will deep fry.

The first item I sampled was the deep-fried mini gummy burger. You know those little gummies that look like a burger? Well dip them in batter and fry them. At first I worried it would be a gelatinous mass in the center but I was pleasantly surprised that it was gooey and reminded me of a jelly filled doughnut. And if you’re into food pairings, it went well with the Fretboard Reba strawberry blonde ale.

Next up were the pork butt tots. What’s not to love about crispy tater tots topped with delicious pork butt? Nothing unusual here, just plain deliciousness (paired with Debonne Unoaked Chardonnay).

The most unique new food award goes to the maple sriracha bacon mini doughnuts. I admit that I don’t think I could eat a whole order by myself but they are worth a try. And the kick from the sriracha went well with the Ferrante Grand Rivers Valley Gerwurtraminer.

I was most excited for the flamin’ hot cheeto corn dog! I have been known to coat things in cheetos and this is one I had not tried yet. While I didn’t think it was particularly spicy, I still enjoyed the hint of cheeto in the batter. This hot-dog was paired with The Vineyards at Pine Lake Vineyards white wine. Side note: did you know 98,370 corn dogs were sold during the 2018 fair?

Are you a funnel cake person or a fried dough/elephant ear person? I grew up with fried dough but either way they are both fair food staples. And this year you can get flavored funnel cakes! I tried the mint grasshopper and caramel maple bacon. I’m not the biggest fan of mint grasshopper in general but I heard from people who are that they loved the funnel cake. Obviously I was more partial to the caramel maple bacon and especially loved the Madtree Shade blackberry tart ale that was paired with it. Probably my favorite combo of the day.

Previously I shared one of my favorite items – the fried buckeyes. But this year they stepped it up a notch further by wrapping them in bacon first! I have to say I might like this version better than the original. The crispy salty exterior is the perfect contrast to the sweet creamy peanut butter center. I would say these need to be around more than just for the fair, but it might be best for my waistline to keep it the way it is.

After stuffing myself with all the new food, I managed to still have room to grab some of my favorite stand-by items as well while checking out the rest of the fair. Heck I love the pork loin sandwich and pulled pork so much that they actually hired me to take photos for them in previous years and they are in fact on display! I was super giddy to see that the quality held up when blown up to poster size.

There’s so much great art, beautiful animals, rides, and information to absorb that there really is something for everyone at the fair. Other than the food, I stuck to the animals and exhibits this year. I met several farmers and talked about how much love and effort goes into taking care of their animals, saw day old piglets and calves actually born on the fairgrounds, and learned about soybean farming and how it not only benefits other farming industries, but its by-products can be used as a greener alternative to petroleum (such as foam padding, lotion, antibacterial gel, etc).

I did go on one ride, the skylift, because I never had before! I’ve gone skiing so it wasn’t exactly novel but riding one while warm out was! And of course checked out the butter cow and new 2019 butter sculptures honoring the NASA Apollo 11 astronauts. What is on your list to do at the fair this year? If you want to know more about what is offered at the fair you can check my post from 2016!

Two years ago: Reese’s Puffs Toffee

Four years ago: Lavender Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Five years ago: Roasted Pear, Parmesan & Spiced Pecan Salad

Six years ago: Potato Nachos

Eight years ago: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispies Treats

Fairfield County has more than just a cute town near the Hocking Hills. And after a day of exploring there is no shortage of delicious restaurants to refuel!

I already told you everything we did during our stay in Lancaster, OH, but just as important is what we ate! We started our day at Square 7 Coffee House for an early morning pick-me-up. Bob enjoyed a coffee while I sipped on a refreshing smoothie, and we shared a muffin. Square 7 is a non-profit social purpose enterprise (located inside Art + Clay on Main) serving traditional Italian style coffee, smoothies, pastries, and sandwiches. They also have Amish-made chocolates.

After shopping around town, we enjoyed the most delicious BBQ in Lancaster at Bob’s Backyard Barbeque for lunch! We wanted to sample everything so we ordered a 3 meat platter with pork, brisket, and chicken, with sides of broccoli salad, corn casserole, and mac and cheese, smoked wings with house made potato chips, and the Ultimate Brisket Sundae which consists of corn casserole, brisket, sauteed onion, diced tomatoes, Lancaster sauce, and BBQ remoulade. While everything was mouthwatering, I think the smoked wings were my favorite, with both the flavor from being smoked and a crispy outside from finishing them in the fryer. I went ahead and signed up for their loyalty program while I was there – every adult meal purchased earns 1 point and after 10 you get one for free! If Lancaster is somehow too far for you (but seriously, it’s not) they have a food truck that you can find around Columbus!

Before heading off for a hike, we stopped for a quick cookie from Four Reasons Bakery & Deli. I don’t think I could call myself The Spiffy Cookie if I pass by a cookie bakery without at least trying one! I did spy another bakery called The Confectionery but they were so popular they sold out and were closed hours before their regular business hours. Clearly need to go there first thing next time.

After a couple easy hikes to burn off lunch, we swung by Double Edge Brewing Company located back in the heart of historic Downtown Lancaster for some pre-dinner beer flights – to no one’s surprise the raspberry sour was my favorite. This brewery is also part of the Route 33 Brew Trail which I’ve also been meaning to do (I keep saying it, but next time). While there was a food truck on site, we had other plans for dinner.

Once our mini beers were emptied, we headed to Cherry Street Pub for dinner! Between the flatbreads, pierogies, burgers, salads and more we had a very difficult time choosing what to order. They are known for their aptly named “OMG! Pecan Chicken and Waffles” so we had to order that, the “Quita Gouda” burger served over a salad, and while we were tempted to try substituting pasta in a mac and cheese with pierogi (seriously!) we kept our cool and stuck to just a side of pierogi. The manager, Gabe was also great to talk to! We learned that all of their meat for the burgers is ground fresh by an old school butcher shop in town Bay Food Market and that Buckeye Lake Brewery makes a cream ale just for them. He also made us want to come back for brunch the nest day (or if not most definitely the nest time we are in town). After learning we like to hike, he also told us we should come back for the EGGS hike in June. After a lengthy hike like that we would definitely need to come back to Cherry Street to refuel.

Even though we didn’t really save any room for dessert after the dinner, we always find room for ice cream and ended the night at Nancy’s Scoops. Nancy wasn’t around for us to thank her for making such delicious ice cream but we thoroughly enjoyed what we ordered: peanut butter cookie dough ice cream for me, and an s’mores arctic swirl for Bob.

For breakfast the next day, we took advantage of the complimentary buffet offered at our hotel, hotel but we saved room for doughnuts from Donut World. We had hoped to take advantage of their drive-thru, in order to bring them on our hike to the top of Mt. Pleasant, but the weather had other ideas as it was raining (that didn’t stop their customers as they were crazy busy). Instead they made a delicious treat to enjoy on the car ride home to Columbus!

Where are your favorite places to eat in Lancaster? Tell us because if we missed something we will be sure to hit it up next time!

For even more ideas, check out these posts from other bloggers that have visited Lancaster:

• 7 Favorites of Fairfiled County by Sweetly Cbus
• Family Weekend Getaways in Ohio – Fun Things To Do In Lancaster With Kids by Lakes and Lattes
• Donut World by Breakfast with Nick
• Quick Pint: Rockmill Brewery by Breakfast with Nick
• Things to do in Lancaster with kids – What Should We Do Today?
• Three Perfect Days Exploring Lancaster, Ohio by Columbus Date Night Guide
• Traveling the rt. 33 brew trail by Foodfest Adventures

Looking for more weekend adventures in Ohio? Check out my other OH travel posts:

• Daytrip to Athens, Ohio
• Butler County – Things to do
• Butler County – What to eat

Two years ago: Eggs Benedict Breakfast Tacos

Three years ago: Hard Root Beer Burgers with Blue Cheese and Crispy Onions

Four years ago: Baked French Toast Boats

Five years ago: Breakfast Casserole Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers

Six years ago: Strawberry Lemonade Rice Krispies Treats

Seven years ago: Malted Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Live near Columbus, OH and need a quick weekend getaway? Fairfield County should be on your list as it has something for everyone!

While I obviously love exploring Columbus, there are plenty of places just outside the city that are on my list as well. For example, under an hour away is Fairfield County which has been labeled as a fun and intriguing destination for people of all ages and interests, with various unique experiences, events and attractions. With an eclectic beer and wine scene, 12 museums, outdoor adventures, and 17 covered bridges (the most in Ohio), there’s a great mix of adventure along with small-town charm. And with that comes plenty of events, festivals, and programs such as The Barns Bridal Social & Crawl, Friday Night Bandstand Concert Series, and the Route 33 Brew Trail featuring 6 craft breweries. Naturally I had to check it out for myself.

Square 7 Coffee House was our actual first stop upon arrival for a quick bite, but it is housed by Art + Clay on Main which is where our non-food adventures began. Art + Clay is an accessible art studio featuring Paint Your Own Pottery, Canvas Painting, Wet Clay Instruction, Wheel Throwing Studio, and Summer Art Camps. Many of their teachers are artists themselves so you will learn techniques rather than just how to paint a piece of pottery. And you will need all those techniques because they are constantly getting new pieces, I’ve never seen such a variety! I love these types of places but I don’t frequent them often because usually I run out of items I want to paint, but that would not be a problem here. In fact they have many regulars, some of which come from over an hour away! If we had more time I would’ve liked to paint something.

We also learned that outside of just painting, they offer many events including live music on Fridays from 7-10pm with their most popular artist being Kelly Vaughn. People are welcome to bring wine and beer to sit and relax while listening to the music. Another is Sensory Sensitive Sundays where they use low lighting, offer noise cancelling headphones, and even modify the coffee house menu to reduce noise by not offering espresso on Sundays and using an ultra quiet blender. It seems like there’s something for everyone at Art + Clay.

A Season In Time

Rustic Gals Boutique

Sparkle and Rust

Miss Molly’s Mercantile

We then leisurely wandered around the surrounding shops in historic downtown Lancaster. There were so many cute shops and we found some unique finds along the way. Some cute shops with home decor, clothing, and more included A Season in Time, Rustic Gals Boutique, Sparkle and Rust, and Miss Molly’s Mercantile – the last which which houses 37 vendors, all local to Lancaster except for one: Brother Veterans from Pataskala of which 100% of their proceeds goes to Wounded Veterans. We bought a vintage camera and some cups at Tracie Lynn’s Collections to match a vintage punch bowl I recently found, perused the books at the The Paperback Exchange under the supervision of the Feline ambassadors Dickens & Webster, admired pretty adornments at Ava Jewelers, ventured into the Emerald Phoenix Mystic Boutique (where we were greeted by yet another friendly feline), and lat bu not least the Keller Market House which is a fresh and local food market along with other locally made goods and workshop offerings.

Tracie Lynn’s Collections

The Paperback Exchange

The Paperback Exchange

Ava Jewelers

Emerald Phoenix Mystic Boutique

Keller Market House

After lunch we headed to the Sugar Grove Region of the Hocking Hills to Rhododendrum Cove. It was a quick 1.2 mile hike to the top with a view through the trees of the Hocking River Valley to the east. The horseshoe shape of the ridge supports a significant chestnut oak community with Virginia and pitch pine, sourwood and a well-developed heath layer of mountain laurel, blueberry, deerberry, and state listed flame azalea. On the cooler north facing slopes is an environment better suited to eastern hemlock, black birch and another state listed member of the heath family – rhododendron. As a result this is one of the largest native populations of rhododendron in Ohio. But with spring arriving a little later this year the rhododendrums were not yet in bloom but it was still a peaceful hike that we basically had to ourselves. Parts of it reminded me of the Split Rocks at Camp Oty’Okwa that we explored last year.

On our way to our next hike, we stumbled upon Flight of the Hawk Park along the side of the road and couldn’t resist stopping to take a look. This 6-acre sculpture park houses life-size metal sculptures of Ohio’s native wildlife including turkey vultures, wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, and a red-railed hawk. Every piece was created by local artist Ric Leichliter.

Flight of the Hawk Park

Our next hike took us to Alley Park, offering over 7 miles of diverse trails featuring 3 lakes, 3 ridge lines, in 340 acres of beautiful woods. Not much into hiking or want to take it easy? Stick to the lower trails. But for a slightly more difficult hike, we decided to climb to the top of the two ridge lines and hiked back through the hilly terrain, hoping to catch a glimpse of the eagles that recently returned to nest. We were not so lucky but we still enjoyed the views of the area. My favorite was actually upon first arriving, seeing the lodge across the water. I felt transported somewhere far into the mountains and not just outside of Columbus.

Alley Park – Lake Loretta

Alley Park

Alley Park – George Hutchins Bridge

After a fun but tiring day, we were glad to crawl into bed at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites. We at first felt kind of ridiculous getting a hotel less than an hour from home but damn was it nice to not drive home at the end of the day. Also to not have two cats and a dog disturbing said sleep.

Before we left on Sunday we had planned to catch a beautiful view of Lancaster at the top of Mt. Pleasant in Rising Park, but with the rain it was not so pleasant and we headed home with a reason to come back and explore more.

What are your favorite things to do in Lancaster? Tell us because if we missed something we will be sure to hit it up next time! Next up is the recap of what we ate.

For even more ideas, check out these posts from other bloggers that have visited Lancaster:

• 7 Favorites of Fairfiled County by Sweetly Cbus
• Family Weekend Getaways in Ohio – Fun Things To Do In Lancaster With Kids by Lakes and Lattes
• Donut World by Breakfast with Nick
• Quick Pint: Rockmill Brewery by Breakfast with Nick
• Things to do in Lancaster with kids – What Should We Do Today?
• Three Perfect Days Exploring Lancaster, Ohio by Columbus Date Night Guide
• Traveling the rt. 33 brew trail by Foodfest Adventures

Looking for more weekend adventures in Ohio? Check out my other OH travel posts:

• Daytrip to Athens, Ohio
• Butler County – Things to do
• Butler County – What to eat

Three years ago: Caramelized Apple & Onion Kolaches

Four years ago: Vegetarian Breakfast Enchiladas

Five years ago: Raspberry Tequila Sunrise

Seven years ago: Dulce de Leche Brownies

Eight years ago: Homemade Salsa

WEDDING POSTS: DIY Wedding Gifts & Decor / Rehearsal Dinner at Bleu & Fig / The Spiffy Wedding Highlights / Not Invited Party / Honeymoon in New Orleans

Neither Bob nor I have a whole lot of vacation days from work, and after many other events earlier in the year had a limited amount of time off remaining for ourselves when it came to our honeymoon. At first we didn’t think we would be able to take more than a 3 or 4 day weekend away. So we made the most of it and planned our honeymoon a few weeks later over Labor day weekend to get that extra day off. But first where would we go? We had a lot of ideas but ended up going with the one with the cheapest flights – New Orleans!

Prior to going, we got a long list of suggestions from many friends and coworkers who had been recently (I hadn’t been since I was about 12 so obviously not much help to my 33 year old self). While I was trying my best not to go Type A and plan things to do for once, I did still give in to at least sorting all the suggestions into part of town, so when we would find ourselves in that area we could consult the list for things to do and more importantly eat.

We stayed in the lower garden district in a cute AirBNB that was a short walk to the train cars and on the same corner as a bus stop which made getting around town very convenient. We did walk around our own neighborhood a couple times but for the most part found ourselves in the areas surrounding the French Quarter. Regrettably we did not pack the right attire to dine at Commander’s Palace which was recommended by more than one person and just so happened to be withing walking distance of our place.

We went everywhere including a tour of the St. Louis Cemetery Number 2 where the VooDoo Queen Marie Laveau is buried (and eventually Nicolas Cage), saw live jazz at several places including Preservation Hall, went on a ghost hunting cemetery tour, and visited the Old New Orleans Rum Distillery. We ate everything including benedict flights at Ruby Slipper Cafe, beignets at Cafe Du Monde (more than once), and table-side bananas foster at Brennan’s. And our course we drank hurricanes, monsoons, and Lafitte’s VooDoo Daiquiri (aka purple drank).

Our favorite food spot was Cochon Butcher as we ended up going there twice. Our favorite live music was at the Spotted Cat, and really enjoyed the night market that pops up in an alley next to it at which I got glitter spread on my face in the spirit of Southern Decadence. Bob made fun of me but he’s not one to talk while wearing a Batman Hawaiian shirt (granted we both own Reptar shirts that we may have worn the day after our wedding when we went to see The Smashing Pumpkins).

Speaking of Southern Decadence, we had no idea this event was going down this weekend until we got there. And the best part? Two of my friends from Memphis happened to be in town for it! So we met up to watch the parade and partake in the festivities. Bob got hit on more than he ever has in his entire life and it was hilarious watching him play along.

Thankfully other than the random spurts of rain there were no actual storms that hit except right after we left. Talk about lucky timing! There were a lot of people that we met that had planned on staying longer but caught early flights home to get out before the storm hit. Meanwhile the locals were staying put and hitting up the liquor stores because it was just a storm not a hurricane.

As much fun as we had, by the end our feet were super tired of walking everywhere. The one time I didn’t bring out the type A and plan things would’ve definitely benefit us if I had because we wished we had planned some excursions on a boat in the swamp or something that didn’t involve being on our feet. Regardless, 5 days in New Orleans was definitely long enough and we were glad to be home, even if it meant going back to work. It also helped subdue the end of vacation blues that we had scooped up cheap flights to Italy in May 2019 before we went to New Orleans. My travel bug has rubbed off on Bob already and I’m loving it!

One year ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Buckeyes

Three years ago: Harvest Cobb Salad

Four years ago: Pumpkin Spice Greek Yogurt Mousse

Five years ago: Chocolate Pumpkin Pancakes

Six years ago: Halloween Brownie Roll Out Cookie Sandwiches