Sparky forgot to mention there are other things to do in Ashtabula County, Ohio, besides ride the bike Rails to Trails. How about a Barn Quilt Trail? The Barn Quilts are painted quilt designs. The property owners pay for the materials and then they are painted on the barns. There are more than 100 barn quilts on the trail in Ashtabula County. They are not only on barns, but sidewalls of businesses, at orchards, wineries, working farms, historic sites and residences. If you want to know more about the Barn Quilt Trail, visit barnquiltsashtabulacounty.com.
Another fun thing we did while we were at Lake Kenisee in Ohio, was to visit Brant's Apple Orchards. What a beautiful place! They have over 27 varieties of apples and some ones we had never seen nor heard. Not sure what kind this one was, but it was still on the tree.
Depending upon what week you go, there are varieties rotating in and out in the store. The orchard is open every day except Mondays. The cider was delicious! Be sure to try a cider slushy (and maybe some of their famous cider donuts). They also have Nitaka Asian pears and some varieties of grapes. Yum!
If apple orchards aren't your thing, then there is the Covered Bridge
Driving Tour. Oh, wow! Sparky LOVES covered bridges! There are TWO tours--1.the north & east tour with 13 covered bridges, and 2. the south & western tour with 6 covered bridges. Both tours each cover about 68 miles if you go looking for them all. You can download the map online or find the same information at the Lake Kenisee RV park check in office. This photo below is the Smolen-Gulf Bridge--the longest covered bridge in the U.S. It's 613 feet long.
There are signs to mark an upcoming covered bridge when you are out driving around in the county and the map is laid out in a driver friendly route from one bridge to the next. We had fun driving around looking for some of them. Eldo is not so big into covered bridges, but he is happy to offer his expert navigational skills driving around the county just so Sparky can go see some. What a guy! Sparky thinks the internal construction is very cool.
Anything else you want to add, Sparky? About other things to see and do in the area? Oh, yeah. But you'll just have to come for a visit. There are several state parks in the area, some great little towns along Lake Erie, a scenic drive along Lake Erie, two lighthouses, many many wineries, water sports, culture and more. It's a great area, and we like it so much we are coming back again soon!
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