Category Archive: Ohio

Awesome Things to Do in Mansfield, Ohio

Located in Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield may not be your first choice for a weekend getaway, but there is certainly enough here to keep you occupied. In fact, you may find that there are so many things to do in Mansfield that you’ll need to make a return trip. Mansfield has many claims to fame: it professes to be the haunted capital of Ohio, the number one movie of all time – The Shawshank Redemption – was filmed here, and America’s first working robot, Elektro, was built in the city, to name just a few. While we’re all taking a pause on international travel, and much of travel in general, I’m featuring smaller, perhaps overlooked destinations, that are perfect for a road trip, a slower getaway, or just don’t want to be sandwiched in with a throng of people. Of […]

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Hollywood in Ohio with The Shawshank Trail

In 1982 Stephen King published a simple little novella titled Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.  It was part of a collection of stories and was hailed as a masterpiece.  The novella was adapted for the big screen as The Shawshank Redemption and was a modest hit. . . at least until awards season rolled around when it received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. and catapulted into the stratosphere of top-watched movies.  Many people, myself included, had never heard of the novella until the movie came out, but in the years since it’s release in 1994 Shawshank has achieved nearly cult status. The plot is a simple one:  Young banker (Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins) is convicted, perhaps wrongfully so, for the murder of his wife and her lover.  He is sentenced to two life sentences […]

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President Warren G. Harding Home & Museum

Since it’s President’s Day, I thought a fitting theme for today’s post would be something about one of our Presidents.  There were some obvious presidential choices, but never being one to make the obvious choice, I looked at some that might typically get overlooked.  And that led me to President Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. With a rousing speech from the front porch of his home in Marion, Ohio, Warren Gamaliel Harding launched his campaign for the presidency of the United States.  Historians may argue that Harding was one of the least effective Presidents, but he was certainly an interesting and colorful man, who, right up to his death, led an administration filled with scandal. The Harding Home, located at 380 Mt Vernon Avenue in Marion, Ohio (map) has been restored to its original Victorian […]

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