When I read about Loudonville’s Winterfest, I had visions of frozen snowflakes gently falling from the sky, cool ice sculptures, people walking around with rosy cheeks, and warm drinks to fend off the cold. For those of you who know me and my obsession with snow, this was going to be the perfect festival! Well, Mother Nature played a trick on me. It was over 50 degrees today! What a mean joke.
We drove to Newark to pick up Aunt M. Then we ventured up to Loudonville. What a cute little town. I love small towns in Ohio. It is so easy to imagine how life would have been like 100 years ago.
We at lunch at the Hanover Diner. The food was tasty, the desserts looked amazing. After lunch, we walked through the town. It was hopping with people. We walked through an old log cabin that had furnishing from the late 1800s. I was floored when the docent said there was an upstairs! I would have never guessed by looking at it. He said that is where the kids slept. The chimney went through the middle of the cabin, thus sending heat to the second floor.
We then watched a gentleman carve some ice sculptures. It was amazing. He did it all free form. He was also really great with the kiddos that were observing him. He was really talented. There was a swan with a heart, a fish, a penguin, a kangaroo, and a snowman
There were also ice sculptures outside the businesses in town to go with the theme of the store. They were really cool. Well, they were cool before they started melting because it was over 50 degrees!!! No, I am not salty about that or anything.
Once we finished walking through the town we headed to Mohican State Park. I love this park. It is so pretty. It would have been fun to go hiking, so we will have to return. We visited the Gorge Overlook first. I can’t believe all the pops of green. Oh wait, it is because it is still over 50 degrees outside…Well to be fair, there were a ton of pine trees.
We passed the fire tower and the Hubby said that he would climb to the top. I handed him my camera and he climbed the 7 flights of stairs to the top. He was able to snag some great photos.
The next stop on our tour of the park was the Covered Bridge. I love this type of bridge, there is just something about it. There was a bit of fog coming off the water. The water also had some ice on it. I think Mother Nature is a bit drunk.
Our last stop in the park was the Memorial Shrine. I expected something religious, but in fact it is the State of Ohio’s official memorial to Ohioans who were killed in all conflicts from WWII to the present. We found the names of my great uncle, Buddy, and the Hubby’s great uncle, Richard. That made the day. Those two gentleman’slives, like all those on the list, were cut too short. They may be gone, but they are not forgotten.
We headed back to Newark on a Scenic Byway called Wally Road. There were a ton of camping places, canoe liveries, and places to tube. (Note to self for when it is warmer.) It was so pretty to drive along the river. The funniest part was when a flock of geese crossed our path.
I just listened to the forecast, we might get an inch of snow tomorrow evening. It is a day late for our winter festival adventure 🙂
The Adventure List 