Hayden Run Falls

Sometimes my schedule gets so busy that I don't get the chance to enjoy nature as much as I'd like. If I could, I would spend at least one day a week on a nature trail. When my weekends are filled with other obligations, my desire to spend quiet time outside gets pushed to the back of the line.

Hayden Run Falls is a small hide away that is tucked neatly into little corner of suburban life. I had actually driven by it a number of times and had no idea it was there.

It is located on Hayden Run Rd. just west of the Scioto River. There is a small parking lot on the side of the road. After parking, there is a wooden staircase that led me to a boardwalk. A short walk is all it took to get to the falls. They are not big, but nevertheless, beautiful.

The falls are tucked away in a gorge, so even though they are close to a busy road, I still felt the peaceful energy that comes with nature. It's not a place that I could spend more than 20 minutes in, because it is a small isolated area, but when I don't have a lot of time anyways, a trip here is enough for me to get my nature fix.

Ohio Caverns

Ohio Caverns is one of the most uniquely beautiful places that I have visited. It is known as Americas most colorful cave. There a few different tours offered. My family and I opted for the Natural Wonders Tour. It was about a mile long, & lasted about an hour. This cave is filled with crystal stalagmites and stalactites of all shapes and sizes.

Created by water flowing through the limestone rock. The stalagmites & stalactites are pure & untouched. This part of the cave is named, The Garden of the Gods.

This is the largest crystal in the cave. It is called the king crystal. It is four feet long. It looks like a perfect carrot. The picture doesn't do it any justice. The size and clarity of this is much more impressive in real life.

The entrance to the cave.
It's all about exploring the world around you. You don't have to travel far to see things that are amazing. There are natural wonders all over this great country. It's a matter of finding them. The Ohio Caverns are about a 45 minute drive NW of Columbus. This visit is definitely worthy of a day trip.

Get out and explore your world.

Starliner Diner

Some of the best places to eat are small, local, restaurants, that don't look very appealing from the outside. Well, that is exactly what Starliner Diner is. I honestly would have never noticed it, had not my neighbors recommended it. It is located in Hilliard, Oh. It is not in a shopping center. It doesn't even stand out from the road. I've driven past it a number of times, and never taken a second glance at it. The sign is fairly small. If you're not looking for it, it's easy to miss. The parking lot almost looks like it belongs to a run down car mechanic.
But..let me tell you. This place is delish! Looks are definitely deceiving when it comes to this place. This inside is decorated super cool. It's unique decor matches its unique menu.
My daughter and I decided to visit this place one morning for breakfast. She ordered a traditional American breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I opted for the South West Breakfast Burrito. Being that I am originally from the South West, I often long for all of those authentic flavors. Sadly, I thought that I would never find a place in the Midwest that captures all of those wonderful flavors which I grew up with. So I was ecstatic when I took a bite out of my breakfast burrito. It is covered in salsa verde and salsa roja, and drizzled with authentic crema. Definitely worth every bite.
The decor of the place is pretty awesome as well. One wall, which my daughter called the Wall O'clocks, is filled with unique...you guessed it, clocks! The opposite wall has a celestial theme painted on it. Hanging from the ceiling, is some kind of spaceship looking thing, and a number of disco balls.
I never would have thought that this place was an interesting and yummy place to eat at. I'm glad that I went. So, I encourage all of you to get out of your comfort zones and try something different. You don't have to travel far or spend a lot of money. Just stop by a coffee house that you've never been too, or go to a restaurant that you normally would never eat at. You never know what you might find when you are open to trying something new.

The wall o'clocks

Hiking Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park

My son striking a warrior's pose.

Columbus, Ohio is home to many metro parks, all of which offer a number of wonderful nature trails. For those of you who don't know, I am originally from Tucson, Az. I grew up hiking the many trails of Arizona's canyons, mountains, and valleys. I LOVE TO HIKE, LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I am wholeheartedly grateful that Ohio is home to many hiking trails. I look forward to exploring as many as I possibly can, and of course, writing about them in this blog.

One of the first parks that I have visited, is Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park. It is about a 20 minute drive from Hilliard, which is where I live. It is a large park with over 7,000 acres of beautiful trees, prairies, and trails. There are 17 hiking trails to choose from.


The first trail I hiked is called, Rifle Run. It is a short trail that led me to Big Darby Creek River. Once I saw the river, I absolutely had to walk down to its edge. I found a good sized rock to sit on, took my shoes off, and stuck my feet in the river's cool & refreshing water.

Afterwards, I went to the parks Nature Center, where anyone can look at the reintroduced Bison that live in the park. From there, I jogged on the Darby Creek Greenway trail. This trail is probably the parks most used trail, because it curves around the area where the bison live. I jogged a mile through restored prairies, a wooded area, and to the Cedar Ridge Entrance. Then, I jogged the mile back to the entrance of the Nature Center.

These wildflowers were as tall as me.

I could have spent all day at this park. It is beautiful, but I had to get back home and fulfill my motherly obligations. When I got home, I told the kids that they had to come with me the next time that I went. They agreed to accompany me the following week.
One of the most intriguing trails in this park, is the Ancient Trail Loop. It leads to an ancient Indian Burial Mound, which is more than 1,000 years old. I'm also a HUGE history nerd, so this is the trail that I HAD to take my kids on.
The trail itself begins in a wooded area. It leads to an open prairie, which used to be an ancient Indian village. The burial mound sits on the Eastern edge of what used to be the village. It is believed that this is where the tribe buried their leaders.

A Native American Burial Mound.

After encountering the Indian Mound, the trail continues to loop around what used to be the village. It is now an open field of wildflowers. It is an easy trail to hike. It is 1.9 miles from start to finish. My favorite part of the trail was walking through the wild flowers.

 If hiking isn't your thing, there are other activities in this park. There are many picnic areas. There is the river that one can use to go fishing. There is canoeing, kayaking, and hunting. In the colder months, people use the trails to go cross country skiing, which I can't wait to try. If your interested in finding out more information, visit www.metroparks.net.

Big Darby Creek River

A Visit to the Ohio Statehouse

The atrium.

The Ohio Statehouse was built 176 years ago. As a self proclaimed history nerd, I must say that it is always cool to walk around "old places," as my son would say. We took the kids on a tour of the Statehouse. The tour is free. The architecture is beautiful. And The history is amazing.

Abraham Lincoln once walked these halls. After he was assassinated, his body was brought here so that people could come by and pay their respects. This piece of information was particularly important to me because I have an interracial family. Without President Lincoln, I may not have the wonderful husband and beautiful children that I have.

I enjoyed looking at the art that is displayed throughout the building. But if I'm being completely honest, the kids didn't really like it. It was boring for them. After the tour, I asked my daughter what she enjoyed most, and she said, "I like that the walls are pink." I asked my son what his favorite part of the tour was, and he said, "Nothing, it was all boring."
I guess that it's safe to say that this would be a worthwhile tour for adults who like art, architecture, and "old places." Nevertheless, I'm glad that I took my kids. Hopefully one day they'll be able to look back on this experience with appreciation.

Olentangy Indian Caverns

Earlier this year I drove up to Delaware County for one of my sons track meets. On my way there I saw signs that read Olentangy Indian Caverns. My daughter was in the car with me. I told her, "Ooh...We have to go there!" She rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, whatever mom." Just a couple of weeks ago I finally managed to drag my kids to go check this place out. I looked up the address online, punched it into my phone, and made the 30 minute drive up there. My children are 13 and 11. They weren't too excited about going. To be perfectly honest, they whined and complained the entire drive up there. Neither of them had ever been in a cave, so I thought that this would be a neat experience for them. I knew that the whining would be worth giving them the opportunity to say that they have been in a cave.

After arriving, I parked the car, and we walked up to a small gift shop to buy our tickets. I was glad to find out that they offer a military discount. The young lady behind the counter told me that it would be about a 20 minute wait for the tour to start. By this time my kids attitudes improved a little. I knew that once I got them there, they would enjoy it. We decided to walk around the grounds. There is plenty to keep people occupied while you wait for the tour to begin. There is a miniature golf coarse. There a some nature trails. They have a troft set up for kids to pan for gold. My kids are too old to search for fake gold. It was too hot and humid to walk on the trails. The miniature golf looked a little lame, so I didn't want to spend the money on it. But the grounds itself are pretty enough to enjoy while you wait, so we decided do just that. We walked around for a little bit before we sat on some big white rocking chairs that were on the gift shop's patio. I was surprised at how many people were there. We saw 4 large day care groups, and there were about 20 people who ended up being in our tour group.

When it was time for our tour to start, we met our group and our guide underneath a flag pole that sits in the middle of the grounds. Our tour guide led us to the museum, which was a one room brick building. The entrance to the cave is underneath this small museum. The cave itself is fairly small. The tour lasted about 40 minutes, but the history of the cave fascinated me. It was inhabited by the Wyandote Indians until the early 1800's. They were known by European settlers as, "A strong and fierce people."

The staircase that leads to the cave.

According to Ohio History Central, they defeated an expedition in 1782 that was led by Colonel William Crawford. He was captured by the Wyandote and burned at the stake. The Wyandote were originally from southern Ontario before they were driven south into Ohio by the Iroquois. They remained in the Ohio region until the mid-1800's. They used this particular cave for shelter. I googled they Wyandote and found out that The Wyandote Nation is still strong in Oklahoma. The small museum that sits above the entrance to the cave houses a number of arrowheads that were found in the cave. The largest room in the cave is named, The Indian Council Room. It has a large flat rock in the middle of the room that looks like a table. It is believed to have been used as a work bench, because that is where most of the arrowheads were found. The first white settler to enter the cave was J.M. Adams. He found the cave in 1821 by accident when his ox fell into it.

The tour begins with a fairly steep descent into a big, dark, damp, hole. The deepest part of the tour is the Indian Council Room, which is 105 feet under the museum. There are many passages and rooms through out the cave, many of them are still unexplored. The idea of unexplored rooms adds mystery and wonder to a place that already holds a lot of historical value. There is a small room in the cave where small, or baby stalactites and stalagmites are beginning to form. They are only an inch or two long. This was interesting for me see. I have been inside of Tucson's Colossal Cave, where the stalagmites and stalactites are anywhere from 2 feet to 6 feet, so I enjoyed seeing them in their beginning stages. The passageways of the cave are tight and narrow. I found myself having to take deep breaths and focus on relaxing, because I felt a little claustrophobic. The floors and stairs are wet and slippery. There was a small boy in our group who did slip and fall, but he wasn't hurt. There are plenty of handrails installed throughout the cave. I would suggest that you use them. There are also lights installed on all of the passages that the tour takes you through. The inside of the cave offers a cool relief from the summer heat and humidity. I can see why the Wyandote used it for shelter in the summer months. Though we were in a dark and muddy hole, it was a refreshing break from the mugginess that waited for us when we got out of the cave.

Descending into the cave.

The Indian Council Room, & my daughter.

Overall we enjoyed it. At the end of the tour I asked my kids what they thought. They both said that they liked it, they were glad that I brought them, and that it was cool. (Yes! Score for mom!) I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there. It's not a place that you can go to more than once, but it is worth the trip. If you are looking to get the kids out of the house and do something different, than this is a good place to go.

Why Ohio?

I am a military wife who has been living in Ohio for six months. I have been married to the military for fifteen years. My family and I have been stationed in California, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, and now Ohio. Every time that we receive orders to move to a different state, the first thing that I want to know is, "What is there to do in the new place that we are getting ready to call home?" When I found out that we were moving to San Diego, California, the first thing that I thought of was, "The Beach!!!" Arizona is known for its beautiful hiking trails and amazing sunsets. When we lived in Georgia, I spent a lot of time in Savannah's down town historic district. When I told people that we were moving to Florida, everyone said, "Disney World!" When people found out that we were moving to Oklahoma, they responded with, "oh...tornadoes."
Every place that we have lived in is known for something that is unique to its own state. When I found out that we were leaving Oklahoma for Ohio, I didn't know what to think. I couldn't associate Ohio with anything cool or special. I quickly got on the internet and began researching the state of Ohio. I soon began to get super excited because of all of the neat things that I was finding. Ohio is an amazing state with a lot of great experiences to offer. It has caves, beaches, hiking, trendy neighborhoods, historic neighborhoods, festivals, amusement parks, and the list can easily continue. I almost feel like Ohio is one of this great countries best kept hidden secrets.
I soon created my own Ohio bucket list. I have spent my summer dragging my kids to a number of different places that I want to see. In the short six months that I have been here, I have already seen a lot. One of my friends recommended that I start a blog on all of the neat stuff that there is to do and see in Ohio (thanks Paulette). So here it is, my Ohio blog.
I am slowly falling in love with Ohio. I look forward to sharing all of my Ohio adventures with you. I hope that if you are from Ohio, I can help you appreciate all that your home state has to offer. If you have recently moved here, like me, I hope that I can get you excited about exploring all of the neat things that are here. If you have never been here, maybe I can convince you to make a trip out here.