During our Ohio Road Trip, we attempted to check off lots of roadside attractions and “worlds largest” attractions. This lead us on an adventure to Columbus, OH to see the Worlds Largest Ping Pong Paddle.
The worlds largest ping pong paddle is located inside Pins Mechanical: Columbus.
We were heading to another attraction and decided to stop here first. From some of the pictures I found online, it appeared to be on the outside of the building. Come to find out, it was actually inside the restaurant. This was around 10:00 and they don’t open until 12:00.
We went to our next stop and decided on our way back see if we could get someone to open the door for us to just take a picture and be on our way since it was only 11:30. To our surprise, we were allowed to go inside and take some pictures.
All the employees were really nice and we couldn’t thank them enough. We told them what our trip was about that they thought it was a neat experience. We didn’t get to try their food but if we had time, we certainly would. The employees enough made our short time there a pleasant one.
If you are in Columbus, OH, stop by. You won’t be disappointed.
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McKinley Street, the shortest street in America. Located in Bellefontaine, Ohio stretches a whopping 15 feet long. Yes, you read that correctly. This street is only 15 feet long. Once holding the record for the shortest street in the world, it has now been replaced with a street in Scotland. However, McKinley Street still stands as the shortest street in America.
The street is so short, it can fit all in one picture without using panoramic.
Also located in Bellefontaine, sits the oldest concrete street in American. Crossroads are Street Ave and Court Ave. this concrete street was founded in 1891.
We enjoyed reading the historical signage along the road.
We found an OHIO historical marker.
Of course we had to get pictures of us on the oldest concrete street in America.
Another view of the street.
We loved being able to find all these cool spots along our trip!
A place I have been wanting to visit for literally decades. My parents best friend played a VHS tape for me of Cedar Point when I was around 10 years old and I immediately fell in love with the park and always wanted to go. People asked me why I didn’t fight the kids on wanting to go to Ohio for their summer vacation and, well, this is the reason. It was the perfect time to cross an item off my bucket list. I am an adrenaline junkie after all.
I purchased our tickets in advance as well as our fast lane passes. Since we only planned for 1 day in the park, I wanted to get the most out of it. We also brought along with us our refillable water bottles that we use for King Dominion (our local cedar fair park) hoping that the free refills would also apply here and they do. This made for a nice surprise. The cups are around $15 and it is free refills every 15 minutes for the entire season! We also purchased the all day dinning plan but I feel it was sort of wasteful. We ended up only eating lunch and then while the kids were finishing up their last ride of the night, I got everyone pizza and pasta.
One tip I have learned over the years because of our local amusement park and going to other parks is to join some facebook groups to learn tips and tricks of the parks.
We started our day at Ocean Motion since it was the first time ride we came to.
After this, we made our way to Gatekeeper. This is such a fun ride that literally goes through the gates of the park.
Next we went to the first kiddie area so Taylor could ride some rides. Izzy wasn’t feeling well so we were able to get her some fluids and she was able to relax while Taylor rode on some rides, having the time of her life.
Thanks to our fast lane pass, we were able to experience a lot of the rides the park had to offer.
Blue Streak – such a fun, old wooden coaster
Cedar Creek Mine Ride
Corkscrew – this was a ROUGH coaster
Gemini
Giant Wheel
Iron Dragon – this ride made my heart happy! It reminded me so much of The Big Bad Wolf. A coaster I grew up with.
Lake Erie Eagles
Magnum XL-200
Matterhorn
Maverick
maXair
Millennium Force
Monster
Peanuts 500
Power Tower
Raptor
Rougaru
Skyhawk
Snake River Falls – you get drenched
Steel Vengeance
Wild Mouse
Windseeker
Woodstock Express
During our time in the snoopy kids area, we got to meet some Peanut’s characters and clearly everyone needed cheap psychiatric help!
One really cool thing Cedar Point offers is the beach. You can exit a back entrance to the park directly onto the beach. The day before we tried to dip our feet in Lake Erie but unfortunately, the beach we picked, closed as we were feet from the water due to an approaching storm. We took advantage of this opportunity while at the park to dip our toes in Lake Erie.
We also got some pictures of the park at sunset from the beach.
We ended our night with a literal bang (fireworks).
The park is beautiful at night with all of the lights.
Here’s to a good night after a fantastic day and hoping for everyone sleeps well!
Thank you Cedar Point for your hospitality and adventure. We look forward to it again in the future.
Our first stop of the day is Marblehead Lighthouse. Built in 1821, this lighthouse is the oldest continuous operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes.
We attempted to climb the lighthouse. We got there a little before it opened and by the time it was due to open, there was lightening in the area and we couldn’t climb it.
The kids got to play in the water and on the rocks for a little bit.
It was also neat to see Cedar Point from the lake. I’m glad we went there the day before since the weather was not in our favor today.
If you are in the area, check out the lighthouse. It is worth a visit.
Surprisingly, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, is one of the most visited National Parks in the United States. This came as a shock to Blake and me since it was in Ohio of all places. Turns out, the park doesn’t charge for admission and is located near a lot of residential areas.
We started our visit by going to the visitor center to get more information on the park and see what the best hiking trails for views and of course, waterfalls. The kids also got their Jr. park ranger books to complete.
The National Park has a railroad that goes through it and you can take a train ride through the park. We, unfortunately, did not have enough time to take the ride.
Our first hike is Blue Hen Falls via the buckeye trail from Boston mill. The beginning of this hike is across the street from the visitor center.
Visitors can hike the trail a total of 2 ways. Out and back or out and back with a portion of a loop trail. The kids did the full out and back and we did the half loop trail. A portion of the trail is along the road, which made this hike pretty interesting. Our total hiking time was 1:23:23 with an average pace of 33:31. Length – 2.49; Elevation gain – 440 feet. The trail leads to a beautiful and unique waterfall.
Next up, is our hike to Brandywine Falls. What a big change from this morning’s sunshine, the weather decided we needed to get wet for this hike. The Brandywine Gorge Trail is a very easy hike. Our total hiking time was 52:50; distance – 1.58 miles; elevation – 210 feet and is a loop trail. The trail is fairly wide and easy to hike. Around the falls there is a boardwalk with stairs and lots of viewing points.
Once you arrive at the falls, you walk over the top of them via a bridge with lots of signs that say to stay off the rocks. Unfortunately, people do not listen to this warning, and we watched someone on the rocks with their parents standing on the bridge.
We made our way down the falls to the viewing platforms for views looking up at the falls. We were told the water level was down and the falls were not as powerful as they can be. It was okay for us, as they were still beautiful. It was a very wet hike back to the trailhead due to the rain. This also made the stairs slippery. We were super proud of Taylor. She climbed up all the stairs by herself.
Once we finished hiking Brandywine Falls, we went to a local gift shop called Trail Mix. This gift shop is located near the Peninsula Train Depot for the park and carries National Park merchandise. It is a cute shop with local treats as well.
Our last hike in Cuyahoga Valley National Park was the Ledges Trail. We were running out of time to complete the entire 2.5 mile trail so we decided to do a smaller loop portion of it. We all agreed that we wish we had a lot more time for this trail. The ledges are incredible and a lot of fun. Every time we had a slight curve in the trail, the rocks around the bend were better than we ones we passed.
We ended up hiking 1.77 miles; 135 feet of elevation gain; moving time 1:08:39.
We also found the BAT CAVE! Not the Batman on but a real bat cave. The bat cave has bars up like a jail cell to prevent humans from potentially spreading White Noise Syndrome to the bats. It was interesting to learn about.
If we ever come back to Cuyahoga National Park, I would love to complete this trail and wander around more to really take in all of the rock formations.
Before we left the park, we made one final stop at the Everett Covered Bridge. We accidentally interrupted a photoshoot that was going on at the bridge. Because of that, we took a few pictures and left.
Before heading to our hotel for the night, we stopped to grab dinner at a restaurant called Creekside Restaurant & Bar located in Brecksville, OH. https://www.creeksiderestaurant.com it was located inside a mall type area. It was rather interesting. The food however, was outstanding as were the desserts. I regret not taking more pictures but it was a long day.
A Christmas Story House – located in Cleveland, OH (3159 W 11th Street)
We unfortunately missed the last tour of the evening but fortunate enough to catch the lamp light still shinning through the window of the house. We also caught the tail end of one of the tours and stood off in the distance to hear a little bit of what they were saying. I wish we could have taken the tour and go inside the gift shop but it was still cool the see the house.
Located in Cleveland, OH – 601 Lakeside Ave. E, and mere blocks from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, stand a the world’s largest Rubber Stamp.
The stamps measures 49 feet long x 28 feet tall and weighed 70,000 lbs, made of aluminum and steel was created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
Located in Gordon Square – Cleveland, OH at the intersection of Lake Avenue, Detroit and 75th street sits the Giant Paddle Ball that stands 14 feet tall.
This is the next stop on our trip around Ohio and seeing the many oddities the state encompasses.
Although the weather was less than ideal, we made the quick stop for some pictures. Unfortunately, Ari wanted a different “trip” to the paddle ball and gripped on one of the screws on the bottom and scraped her knee up. Despite the injury, it was a fun stop along our Ohio road trip!
After a library visit to check in for the Summer Reading Program, we saw the sign that the Norge Depot was open. Taylor has always wanted to stop by the Norge Depot and we decided to head over.
The Norge Depot is open Saturday’s from 10-12 and Sunday’s from 12-2.
We walked inside and were instantly greeted by the sweetest couple that happily welcomed us and would answer any questions we had. They told us about the museum and where we could find various thing.
We went to the right side of the museum first where a Thomas the Train play set was and Taylor didn’t want to stop playing
Thomas the train movie was also playing for kids to enjoy.
We explored the room and discovered many interesting railroad items
Next we stumbled upon a phone booth (none of our kids, especially Taylor know anything about phone booths other than the one at Busch Gardens. Taylor thought it was awesome.
Phone Booth
We ventured over to the other side of the museum and it has a lot items from the past and details of the history over the years. has a lot items from the past and details of the history over the years.
Inside the museum is also a large model train display.
After touring inside the museum, we went outside to check out the train car.
The train car was locked so we couldn’t go inside.
As we started to walk away, the gentleman from the museum came out and asked us if we would like to see inside the car and happily unlocked it for us.
He told us the car is over 100 years old and when they obtained the car, the floor was rotten and most of the ceiling was missing. They have done a lot of work to the car, with all new flooring and ceiling. Putting a bathroom in and stripping the walls of the lead based paint. All of the repairs will hopefully be done within the next year. They have hopes of opening the train car to use for birthday parties.
It was really neat getting to go inside the train car.
We had a fantastic trip to the Norge Train Depot and will definitely return.
I hope you all have the chance to check it out as well! Local historical spots need our support!
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