Looking for a fun, affordable weekend trip this summer? Check out Yellow Springs! This cute, hippy town is about an hour drive from Columbus and is filled with things to do. Here are my tips for making the most of your trip.

Where to Stay:

• There is a cute bed and breakfast called The Arthur Morgan House that is the perfect place to stay for a weekend with friends, a romantic getaway, or for business travel. The Arthur Morgan house is on an older property, but the owners have done a great job maintain the historic feel while incorporating great modern updates. The rooms and bathrooms are cute, spacious, and comfortable. There is a lovely garden surrounding the property and a nice porch and living room area to relax in. Best of all, it’s located right near downtown Yellow Springs.

Things to do in Yellow Springs:

• Shopping – If you love to shop take the time to walk around town to visit the unique shops. Many items are handmade and reasonably priced. It’s a great place to get gifts for the people in your life who seem to have everything.
• Dining – There are several dining options and most are casual fair. Peach’s Grill and Ha Ha Pizza are great places to check out. Peach’s often has live music and great drink specials. Try the hummus appetizer; it’s awesome! Ha Ha Pizza hand makes their wheat crust for each order so the wait can be long, but it’s worth it.
• Hiking – This area is surrounded by great parks and hiking trails. Check out John Bryan State Park and the Glen Helen Nature Preserve. If you live in the Cincinnati or Dayton area you can take advantage of the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail, which passes through Yellow Springs on the way from Cincinnati to Urbana.
• Activities for Kids – If you are traveling from Columbus with the kids make sure you plan some time to visit Young’s Dairy Farm. There are many great activities for families and the ice cream is awesome.

If you are still unsure of what during your stay Yellow Springs has a nice Chamber of Commerce that has public restrooms, area maps, and usually a staff member available to answer any visitor questions. There are lots of summer events in Yellow Springs so be sure to do some research before you go. I hope you get a chance to check out this unique town; happy travels!

That is exactly what Tony Castricone is about to do.

On the way to work this morning I caught Tony’s story on the radio about how he was a successful sportscaster here in the Greatest City and suddenly found himself out of a job and in a spot with so many others these days. A spot where you ask yourself. . . What’s next? For Tony Castricone, he decided to follow a dream as a musician, grab his guitar and hit the road. Sounds crazy right? Well . . yeah . . . maybe a little, but you know what they say. Nothing risked, nothing gained. And seriously, you got to admire the guy for putting it out there, going on a journey of uncertainty and doing something out of his comfort zone.

So tomorrow night (June 9th, 2010) at Callahans is the send off and CD release. From there Tony will head off on his 40 day tour where he will play at open mic every night through July 20.

For a full list of the dates and to follow along with his journey check out the 40 day tour blog. You can also help Tony by making a donation or better yet, buying some of his songs on iTunes or Amazon.

Good luck Tony.

All mavens of social media in our own rights, the GCOA Angels have decided to pack up our collective gifts for a road trip. Our mission: to help market great retreats and resorts using our social media networks in exchange for a complimentary night stay. Forging ahead as Weekend Retweat… Michele Savoldi, Kelly Gingery, Cheryl Harrison, Tiffany Eckhardt and Rose Landon chose our first adventure close to home at The Hopkins House B&B in Mechanicsburg, a short drive west of Columbus.

The Hopkins House B&B

The Cooper family welcomed us to the Hopkins House B&B, a lovely historic home that graces the front of the 200 acre Darbyland Farms. The Hopkins family built the home in 1902 on an existing foundation.  The original home built in 1870 was destroyed by a house fire.  Harold Hopkins designed the rebuilt home at a mere 10 years old. This becomes apparent, as it seems designed by a young Harry Potter. The unusually sized windows, built-ins, upstairs den with 20-foot cathedral ceiling, sleeping porches, nooks and crannies are just a few of the unique features that creates a sense of stepping back in time.

The restoration of the Hopkins house has been a family affair since 2006 when Amanda Cooper acquired the property. Amanda’s parents Steve and Nona have been actively involved in the three-year renovation.  The Hopkins House B&B launched their debut during the 2009 Champaign County Home and Garden Tourwith approximately 800-1000 guests.

Our Stay

Upon arriving, Nona and Amanda gave the WeekendRetweaters the grand tour. The entire house would be ours to enjoy for the evening. The Hopkins house makes an excellent retreat for all kinds of groups, such as card clubs, quilting groups, scrapbook clubs, etc. Once checked into our grand retweat, rooms were chosen and we were off to Urbana for dinner. The Hopkins House is surrounded by many great local eateries both in Mechanicsburg and Urbana.

Verde

Verde located in Urbana’s historic downtown treated us to an amazing complimentary dinner. We were thrilled to try samples of their fresh, organic menu.  We started with fresh hummus served with hot peta bread, sampled the Turkey Ruebun panni,  Greek salad, quiche trout with aspagrus, crab cakes with thousand island dressing and capers, celery root soup, apple grannysmith parmessan onion salad and a “to die for” chocolate mousse.  To top it off, there was a wine tasting that evening as well.  Verde is just another little gem to be discovered!

Back on the farm

After settling into the B&B, the evening was spent chatting about movies, social media, plans for the future and whatnot. We finally called it a night when a waving porch flag got our imaginations working overtime. Cheryl poetically tweeted: In the dark of night (& haze of wine) our charming B&B has turned into a haunted mansion @cbusimpressions @kellygingery @tiffanyeckhardt 11:02 PM

The Dawn

We were awakened to a beautiful sunrise and the aroma of breakfast cooking. The morning also revealed Tiffany the winner of a friendly competition between herself and Cheryl for foursquare mayorship of the Hopkins House. (Winning by five minutes)  Breakfast was served using ingredients from local merchants, such as the coffee, eggs, herbs and sausage.   A perfect farm-like breakfast!

First successful mission

The Weekend Retweats First Successful Mission: The Hopkins House and Verde will be hard to top. Weekend Retweat already has a couple destinations in mind. There is so much to do in Central Ohio. We’ll just have to retweat it one weekend at a time.

 (Maybe next time Bos will be invited)

The New York Times just posted an article to their website, which will appear in the Sunday New York Times Travel section, about the Short North neighborhood of Columbus. Highlighted spots include the Wexner Center for the Arts, Milk Bar, Mahan, Tasi’s Cafe, pm gallery and Jeni’s Ice Cream.

You can read the entire article here.

Do you think Columbus is one of the top destinations for art? I do! And apparently so does American Style Magazine, because Columbus is listed as one of large cities for favorite U.S. destination for contemporary art! Our neighbors to the north and south – Cincinatti and Cleveland – are nominated in the mid-size city category, so show them some love, too!

Vote here!

(And if you need more incentive to vote… one lucky voter will win a $500 travel certificate! But who wants to leave the Greatest City of All, anyway?!)

 There is no doubt that Columbus is the greatest city of all, with events, places to see and talent!  One aspect that I love about Columbus is that it is centrally located to so many great road trips.  It’s the greatest city in a great state!
In the mood for a road trip this Saturday, September 26th?  Head about an hour west to Urbana, where there will be activities for all ages.  Complete with a performance by Small Town Sleeper.
 
The day will start off with the 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off at 10:110 am.  Serving chili around 2:30 pm.  At 1:00 pm the 209th Hoopla Parade will proceed down main street through the downtown.  This family fun parade features the Antioch Shriners with their little choppers, cars, clowns and everything that makes them fun!
 
6:00 pm Small Town Sleepers will take the stage.  I can’t say enough about these small town boys!  They are as real as you get and proud of their small town roots.  The band recorded their debut “Conversations” for the indie Upper 11 Records in 2006, then hit the road.  Despite seeing the world, touring with the Idol star Daughtery, and recording with legends, Urbana native Troy Brown, Springfield native Derek Snowden, West Liberty native Will Greider, and Colorado transplant Dann Burd give the impression that they are just as excited to perform for their hometown, even arranging carnival rides for this performance. 

As much as we love our great city of Columbus, sometimes it’s nice to get out for a day. If you’re looking for something fun and different to do, you should consider taking a drive out to Buckingham Orchards in Sunbury, OH for a day in the country picking apples. Located about 30 minutes north of the city and a perfectly nice drive, you’ll arrive at a pristine orchard ripe for the picking.

I went recently this past weekend myself and had a blast. Being a bit early in the season and an overcast day in August, my fiance and I were the only people in the orchard. We were given a basket and told to make sure we tasted the tree before we picked and that we could eat our fill of all the apples we wanted. And when we were done, we were to bring back our basket to be weighed and it will be .90 per pound.

Buckingham Orchards spans many acres and has thousands of trees with tons of varieties of apples. Being the only people in the orchard it was quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. We saw deer running through some of the trees and wild turkeys grazing. There is also a pond in the middle of the orchard which would make a great picnic spot if you wanted. There is no rush and you can spend your entire day there if you’d like.

Being a little chilly last Sunday, there were hardly any bees in the orchard which is something you’ll want to look out for if you go. They don’t bother you because theyreally just want the fruit that has fallen but people with bee allergies should proceed with caution.

Don’t forget to bring cash or checks as the orchard does not take credit or debit cards. You can also buy things like syrup, jam, honey, baskets and other products at the small store. You can also pick blackberries when they are in season. Orchard hours are weekly 10am-6pm and Sunday 12:30pm-6pm. They are closed on Wednesdays and holidays. They have no website so if you have any questions you’ll need to call the orchard at 740-965-2427. For a bit more information and directions you can check here.

Feel free to email me as well if you are looking for a fabulous applesauce or apple crisp recipe. After walking out with 23.5 lbs of apples, I have become an apple cooking wiz. Enjoy and have fun!

Ok maybe its not in Dresden anymore but that is where it all started for the hand crafted baskets of Longaberger. Now headquartered in Newark Ohio Langaberger is still a family owned company ran by Tami Longaberger, daughter to Dave Longaberger and granddaughter to J.W. Longaberger who started making handcrafted maple wood baskets in the early 1900’s. The Longaberger company is known as the premier American basket maker and every piece is crafted here in the states. From the Greatest City heading east on route 16 there is no mistaking the Longaberger headquarters that resembles a giant basket.

I recently took a trip to Longaberger Homestead and Basket making experience in Frazeysburg, Ohio. Of course I knew about Longaberger baskets and how much collectors love their baskets, my mom just happens to be a huge fan of their perfectly crafted baskets. So of course I brought her along. But to be honest I was not overly excited that I was having to get up at 7:00 on a Saturday to make a trip an hour east when I could be catching up on sleep and laying around the house. Although as soon as I passed that big basket on the side of the freeway I started to think this might not be so bad after all. Its kinda like seeing a roller coaster off in the distance as you approach Cedar Point.

Making a Basket

Once we all arrived and checked in we went to the make a basket area, where we picked from a couple different shapes. You get to pick a couple of accent colors and some bling (decorative accents) to make your basket unique. Now you might think it would be hard to remain macho while making a basket but to be honest making a basket is more like wood shop than doing crafts in home economics.

Don’t worry if you don’t think you can make a basket, they team you up with a pro. In my case Justin was my master basket maker and made sure I did things right. In the end my perfectly constructed, hand crafted Longerberger basket with a Blanton twist emerged. What do you think?

Time for some Home cookin

More than just baskets

And after spending the day at Longaberger Homestead I would definitely recommend going and making a basket and taking a tour. Especially on a nice warm August day in Central Ohio.

If you’re looking for an Independent Consultant to buy some fabulous Longaberger baskets from, Heather Chilcote Would be more than happy to help you.

In Celebration of Woodstock’s 40^thanniversary…get in touch with your inner-hippie by taking a short road trip to Yellow Springs, my favorite hippie town!

Like Woodstock, Yellow Springs feels like a little gem in the middle of corn fields.  From Columbus head west on I-70 towards Dayton then exit 52A to merge onto US-68 toward Xenia.  It is about an hour drive from the Greatest City of All.

The artistic benches, murals, unusual shops and music in the air gives this village it’s hippy vibe .  Hiking, Biking,  Music, Art, Shopping, Food ….so much to do!  And it’s pretty laid back to just walk around.

To get one with nature….Hiking is remarkable in Yellow Springs.  John Bryan State Park and the Glen Helen have beautiful trails.  A word to the wise,  the Glen Helen is remarkable but not highly marked.  Still worth the effort. 

Don’t want to hike?  Load your bicycles… The Yellow Springs Station is an excellent location to hop on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, get visitor’s information, use the public restrooms or have a picnic.

Yellow Springs has become a favorite stop for bikers…motorcyle that is.  Peaches Grill has even gone so far as to create motorcycle only parking.  Along with Peaches, Ye Olde Trail Tavern & Restaurant is another hang out for the roadsters. 

Vintage clothing, old records, jewelry, pottery, art, incense, hacky sacs, hammocks, books and well anything “hippie” can be found strolling the clunky funky privately owned stores in the village.  Kudos to Yellow Springs for keeping out the big boxes!

Hungry?  Who could resist pizza at Ha Ha pizza (great name!)  or a gourmet lunch at The Winds?  Great wine selection at the Emporium and Underdog Café and the Wind’s Wine Cellar.  After that get your caffeine fix at Dino’s. 

And for the music scene….my favorite hippie… Hard Core Hippie sings about his Yellow Springs.  It says it all!

Yellow Springs