Wooster & Wayne County, OH (10/25/2014)

Saturday, October 25, 2014
A sunny day, so we decided to take a Driving Tour of Scenic Wayne County, OH, using the directions provided by the Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Things have changed since this tour was designed, which will be noted.

Take US 30 W from Canton through Dalton. Just south of US 30 on Zuercher Road, (take Wenger Rd. south off of US 30 and follow signs) you'll find P. Graham Dunn, maker of laser engraved inspirational carvings. (We saw this on our way back at the end of the tour, and were amazed by how large the "store" complex was. It looked like a modern factory!)
Or you may want to travel the more scenic and historical Lincoln Highway, (watch for the Red, White and Blue signs with the large "L"). (We exited US 30 to follow Alternate US 30/Old Lincoln Highway through Dalton, and were led back to US 30.)

Lincoln Highway route marker

You won't want to miss the bigger than life cinnamon rolls at Das Dutch Kitchen before heading toward Kidron on CR52/Kidron Road.

Das Dutch Kitchen

You had to purchase a pie pan of cinnamon rolls, heavy on the caramel icing. We took napkins and thought to get coffee at another stop to accompany our "breakfast."

It appears the new "in" thing at Das Dutch Kitchen are the Fry Pies

(We would suggest getting the Fry Pie here at Das Dutch Kitchen, and the cinnamon rolls at Troyer in Apple Creek, OH.)
On the corner, stop at Shisler's Cheese for some of the best tasting cheese you'll ever find. (The corner of US 30 and Kidron Road.)

Shisler's Cheese House

Shisler's Cheese Mouse

(They had a lot more than cheese, and no cheese samples and no coffee.)
If it's Thursday, you're in for a special treat. It's auction day in Kidron.
After visiting the famous Lehman's Hardware, where you will find all the non-electrical appliances and equipment used by the Amish, don't forget the specialty shops at the Olde Millstream Plaza. Take home an authentic hand made quilt or a beautiful handcrafted item from the World Crafts Store (behind Lehman's). Don't miss the Kidron Community Historical Society, right on the square in Kidron. (We went to the Historical Society Museum first. No admission fee, but donations welcomed.)

Kidron Community Historical Society building
with a flea market in progress

An unusual drawing of the Lutheran Church in Philipsburg, PA,
by the pastor Anthony Karns Felton

The church is made up of the names of the parishioners,
and the background is done with words from Bible verses

Pot of Flowers quilt (c 1870)

Tschantz (now Schantz) organ, made in Orrville, OH

Out on the street, a large unicycle

Amish horse and buggy coming  to a stop at a red light

(Lehman's Hardware is now more of a general store, or even a department store! With a museum and café!)

Part of the Lehman's complex

Bob sleigh (having two sets of runners)

Nails

Wood stoves

Washing machine

Lehman's had an exhibition of the 3-D wood carvings by Paul Weaver.

The Ole Fishing Hole (after Thomas Kinkade)

Continue your journey by taking Emerson Road (CR 79) W out of Kidron to US 250 W (Dover Road). Watch for slow moving buggies. Travel through Apple Creek where there are wonderful restaurants, unique shops and Troyers Home Pantry, an Amish bakery.
(We decided to save our cinnamon rolls, and had coffee and hot chocolate with a small rhubarb pie for our breakfast/snack. Two state troopers also were having coffee and a snack at Troyer's! The cinnamon rolls here were larger, and cheaper.)
Continue on US 250 toward Wooster. A "must see" is the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and the Agricultural Technical Institute. Enter off Madison Avenue at the main entrance to OARDC and drive through the Secrest Arboretum. In the spring the trees are breathtaking. The Rose Garden is in its prime in early June. (Since US 250 has become a highway, we missed finding Madison Avenue. Kent did not want to go back to see the Arboretum since it was after peak autumn foliage, but the main thing I wanted to see were evergreens. We should have taken a right on Shelby Road before US 250 joined US 83.)

Metasequoia glyptostroboides/Dawn Redwood trees,
the only remaining species of this genus

Actually, the dawn Redwood is not an evergreen, as it loses its needles annually.
Follow Madison Avenue N into downtown Wooster. The downtown is a shoppers paradise with the Everything Rubbermaid Store, many unique specialty shops and a 115 year old department store. After you have shopped 'till you drop, enjoy a delicious meal at one of the wonderful restaurants or coffee shops in the downtown area.
(Said to be a quaint city downtown, Wooster has maintained much of its architecture.  However, the Freedlander's Department Store, established in 1884, was razed in 2009.)

Everything Rubbermaid Store in the Quinby Building (1887)
at 115 S Market Street

Rubbermaid even has camo coolers!

105 E Liberty Street (1890) and 116-120 (1900),
122 (1888), 124, 126, 128 (1900) S Market Street

Children's Arch (2012)

Wayne County Courthouse (1877-1879),
designed by Thomas Boyd in second Empire style

121 N Market Street (1921)

127-147 (replaced Freedlander's) and 117 W Liberty Street

Germania Hall (1878) at 148 S Market Street

We thought to take a lunch break at the JAFB Wooster Brewery, but it only served beer!

JAFB Wooster Brewery at 120 Beall Avenue

Just a few blocks from downtown are the ever changing Wayne Center for the Arts and the Wayne County Historical Society, complete with an 1873 schoolhouse, mercantile shop and much more.
(We actually came here earlier when we missed the turn for the Arboretum.)

Wayne County Historical Society at 546 E Bowman Street
(you need to park at the shopping strip next door)

Pearce Mill (Shreve, OH) grindstone

Firehouse of Relief Co No 4 (2005 from 1888 design)

General Mercantile Store (mid 1900s),
was moved here from Fredericksburg, OH

Schoolhouse (1873), moved here
from Dover Road at McCoy Road in Wooster

Wayne County Historical Society general view

Beall-Stibbs Homestead (1817-1819), the oldest
surviving residential structure in Wooster

The Ohio Light Opera performs at the College of Wooster during the summer. A Gilbert & Sullivan operetta may be the perfect finish to an eventful day in Wayne County. (It was not opera season. Performances are at Freedlander Theater at 329 E University Street.)
Just east of Wooster on US 30, you'll find The Cat's Meow Village, maker of the two-dimensional wooden building and accessories. Visit the "Mewseum", make your own piece and relax in Casper's Cafe. (Our mobile phone GPS and Google could not find this place. Later we found out it is located at 2163 Great Trails Drive, about a half mile south of US 30, southeast of Wooster.)

The southern route takes you S on SR 3 (Columbus Road) to Troutman's Vineyard. Relax with a picnic and one of their award winning wines. Return on US 3 to SR 226. The Pine Tree Barn is just ahead. You'll be treated to a restored 1868 barn housing a year 'round Christmas store, fine furniture and a gourmet luncheon restaurant. Continue S to visit the shops of Shreve, including a quilt shop and Des Dutch Essenhaus, where you can eat in an Amish buggy. Return to US 30 via SR 226 and SR 3.
(We skipped the southern route of this drive. Instead we drove east on Bowman Street, which became US 585 N/Akron Road. Half the road was under construction, and fortunately it was one way in the direction we were headed.)
We stopped at Ramseyer Farms at 3488 Akron Road where a huge Fall Festival was in progress. Ramseyer Farms is the home of the Ohio Corn Maze.

Ramseyer Farms truck

Pumpkin saw-horse and buggy

Corn fields and fall activities

Ohio Corn Maze

This year the maze is a Mystery Maze, rather than the State of Ohio.
Ramseyer Farms mostly grows potatoes. Most of the crops we saw during the drive were either corn, or what Kent correctly guessed were oats.

The northern route follows SR 585 N to Smithville where you can enjoy the Shops of Buchanan Place (now everything is under the auspice of The Barn), featuring a general store, gift & collectibles, and a toy and game store. The adjacent Barn Restaurant is a renovated 1937 dairy barn. You'll love a relaxing stroll around the lake after dinner. (We did finally have lunch, at The Barn. The buffet downstairs was more popular than the menu restaurant where we ate.)

The Barn Restaurant

Just up the road is the Smithville Community Historical Society, where you can see cloth being manufactured on a 100 year old loom at the Mishler Weaving Mill. (The buildings were closed when we arrived.)

The old Rush Webner horse and carriage barn (late 1800s)
was moved here and restored as a blacksmith shop

The Sheller Log House (mid 1800s) was moved across E Main Street
in 1929, then moved here in 1993

Bell Tower with bells from
Georgetown Seminary School #2 (top)
and Geyer Chapel in Green, OH

Carriage Barn (late 1800s) once used as a horse stable
for the Portage Trail stagecoach

Lightning rod on the Lydo Barn (1840s)

Unidentified equipment (grader? snowplow?)

Historic Church of God (dedicated 18670,
1929 B&O Caboose and Smithville Train Depot

Follow SR 585 S to Back Orrville Road/CR 23 into Orrville. The Orrville Railroad Museum is open on Saturdays and has occasional train excursions. Across the street is the Orrville Historical Society. (Once we reached Orrville, Back Orrville Road curved to the left into S Crown Hill Road. We followed signs to the Museums, turning right on W Market Street to Depot Street.)

Orrville Union Depot (1868)

Pennsylvania Railroad cabin car (c 1942)

Orrville Historical Society in the Ludwig Building

The Toy and Hobby Museum, on Hostettler Road, will bring back fond memories of the toys you had as a child. (It's address is 531 West Smithville Road, which we now see is a road parallel to Hostetler. We didn't find it. We did find the J M Smucker headquarters off N Main Street at One Strawberry Lane.)
On the way out of town, we saw some track cars/speeders, usually former track maintenance cars.

Continue on SR 57 S/S Main Street that becomes Wadsworth Road, and just before you reach US 30, you'll see The J M Smucker Company Store & Café, the wonderful store brimming with your favorite products and flavors. You'll find gift baskets, gift ideas, and delicious products to sample - all in a beautiful timber frame barn. Enjoy a snack at the new café.

J M Smucker Company Store and Café (1999, LEED Gold Certified)

J M Smucker Company Store interior

J M Smucker includes so many other brands now, that the store had only this back section for Smuckers.
We returned to US 30 towards Canton, then took back roads towards Akron before taking the highway home.