On September 14, we finally made it to the Ohio State Reformatory. The word is that it is a haunted location. So I can officially cross visiting a haunted location off of the bucket list.
I didn’t see anything but I did smell chicken noodle soup. There was no chicken noodle soup anywhere. In the room used for entertaining guests of the prison – not the prisoners- I felt really cold in the area by the stage.
There are ghost tours of the prison. We’ll have to do this some other time. If you want to see what other activities there are at the Ohio State Reformatory, visit their website- The Ohio State Reformatory
Eva kept pointing at something in the chapel. I could not hear what she was saying at all. I think she saw a bird or something like a bird.Eva thought she saw something move when she got a little further down the way. I felt really cold while taking this picture. This room was used for entertaining special guests.
Everybody, this was the year! We finally made it to the Ohio Renaissance Festival!!
For at least 20 years, I’ve been trying to go to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. During the last 3 years, the chances to go were so close but somehow kept slipping through our fingers. We had the gas money and tickets but no free time at the same time.
I had a dream about this dress shop. I’ve never seen this place before except in a dream. Deja vu. My kid dragged me away before I was transported to a different time.
There were contortionists.
We saw a joust. Kind of . . .
People played Red Rover.
Other shenanigans
We saw a pirate eat fire.
We found crystal dragon eggs a.k.a. geodes. My kid is into rocks and crystals. This was one of her favorite things at the festival.
Although, we missed seeing Queen Elizabeth I and didn’t dress up, we had a great time at the Renaissance Festival. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait 3 years to go again.
Save 25% off adult and child tickets at the 30th Annual Ohio Renaissance Festival August 31 – October 27, 2019 when you use PROMO CODE usfamily19 Queen Elizabeth and over 100 costumed characters welcome you to step back in time to the days of chivalry and royalty. Celebrating Thirty Years of Magic in 2019, the Ohio Renaissance Festival offers a time traveling experience for all ages. http://www.renfestival.com.
I received tickets from the US Family Guide in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
The last time that we went on vacation was in 2014. We’ve taken day trips occasionally but not too many overnights far from home. It’s not because we didn’t want to but the bank account was saying “No way dude. Stay home.”
So this year, we went to Hocking Hills State Park to see the caves. There are about 8 caves or waterfalls to see. We made it to two: Whispering Cave and Old Man’s Cave.
If you go, wear comfortable and sensible shoes. We climbed up and down stairs and slippery rocks, plus mud. Between the two caves, we walked about 2.5 miles and none of it was in a flat area. Save the flip flops for the beach. Next time, I’m wearing hiking boots for sure.
The original plan on my birthday was to try standup paddleboarding. The other plan was to lay in bed, take cough medicine and watch Dexter. Since the kid and the boyfriend were home and I wasn’t feeling tooooo bad, we decided to go to Put-in-Bay and possibly try kayaking.
It was a pretty good experience. I would do it again but I really love being on the water.
Hopefully, I can get my own kayak by next summer. Life jackets too. Safety first you guys! Don’t go out on the water without life jackets.
If I were going to do anything differently, I would
Take water shoes. The rocks by the shore are slippery. Getting back on to the shore was the most difficult and hilarious thing about the trip.
Remember suncreen.
Bring a waterproof pouch for a phone. Something that floats too. My phone almost took a dive into the lake.
I’ve always wanted to go to The Butterfly House on Put-in-Bay. So we finally went last week. We wanted to stay longer but they said, “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay.” I’m paraphrasing.
Since the lost bucket list fiasco a few years ago, I keep track of my bucket list here: Bucketlist.
There are fewer tears so it’s been helpful to keep it online.
P.S. On a side note, it’s Friday so check out the stuff over at BuzzFeed.
A few weeks ago, I read an article about the waterfall at Brandywine Falls at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. So I dragged Lucas along. Not really, he drove. I just had the plan and the directions.
It was totally worth the drive to see the waterfall. There are also hiking trails if you’re into that sort of thing. I was excited that I could count it towards my exercise plan.
If you want to learn more about Brandywine Falls, visit this site.
Originally, I was going to ride a mechanical bull. Unfortunately, I don’t live close to one and I ran out of time.
So a lot of time has been spent researching bucket list goals that start with the letter M. I didn’t have a goal that fit the bill so I added one at the last minute. My bucket list is always changing. I might never finish everything but that’s ok. Last year, I didn’t do one thing on the list and it was a little disappointing. Hopefully, there will be more time this year. I’ve already done more this month that I did for the entirety of 2016.
My daughter wanted to wear matching t-shirts. In public. We found the perfect shirts. The hardest decision was to figure out when to wear them – to a party or to glow bowling. We wore them to Lucas’ surprise birthday party. He was surprised by the actual party and that my kid wanted to wear the same shirt as her mother out in public.
So here we are in our matching “Let’s Get Weird” shirts. Twinsies.
If you want to see my list or start your own, visit Bucketlist.org
