Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:
Top 10 Things to do with Families in Iowa-Check out Jody's list of fun things to do in Iowa with your kids at Trekaroo. So pretty much everyone enjoys ice cream, and the "ice cream capital of the world" makes this list as well as plenty of other fun eats, arts and history sites that everyone will love!
Geauga County Amish Tours-We've driven through Geauga County multiple times, but it was nice to stop a while with Mike via this post on his OHventures blog to enjoy a few of the simple pleasures of Amish country and hop over the county line for a visit to the general store at Mesopotamia (I love the clove-flavored hard candy I've gotten here over the years!).
Quirky Attraction: RV Hall of Fame-Dreaming of taking an extended road trip via a tricked out RV? Visit the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana to see some roomy rigs and to learn more about this lifestyle and way of traveling. Check out Scott's story at the Quirky Travel Guy blog.
Positively Futuristic-You may know that I'm positively a sucker for a good story about a car museum or collection of another other sort of vintage vehicles. Check out Maureen's story about this collection of classic cars in Chicago, Illinois. The Klairmont Kollection includes over 300 cars with some of them sporting some really cool colors! Check it out at the Positively Tuesday blog.
Smith Cemetery State Nature Preserve-Come along with Bob as he explores a remnant of Ohio's Darby Plains prairie that is also a 19th-century pioneer cemetery. This one-acre preserve in Madison County is a particularly nice place to see prairie wildflowers in bloom as well as learning a little about the history of the area. Check it out at the TrekOhio.com blog.
U.S. Grant Home in Galena, IL-Mel is a bit of a history buff and enjoyed her visit to President Ulysses S. Grant's home in Galena, Illinois. The Grants settled in Galena at the onset of the Civil War in 1860. Grant returned to the town after commanding the Union Army and accepting Lee's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia in 1865. The grateful folks in Galena gave Grant this home and many of the furnishings that still remain here now. Read the story at A Little Time and a Keyboard blog.
Chicago History with the Late Gene Wilder-I remember reading the Erik Larson true-crime tale that took place in early Chicago during the 1890s (The Devil in the While City), but here's a version of the tale that I did not know existed. The folks at the Chicago Architecture blog tell us that the Gene Wilder narrated a documentary film about Chicago's "White City" during 2005. Be aware that I also found it on YouTube and Amazon Prime, as well as on DVD you can purchase at Amazon. I also remember hearing that director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio plan to bring the tale to theaters as a movie, but I've yet to hear that it is anything but "in development". Check it out at the Chicago Architectural blog.
Déjà Vu Tuesday: The Carole Lombard Mystery-True-life mysteries and movie stars of the Golden Age are always interesting subjects for me, and here's a classic cold-case mystery concerning Jane Alice Peters...the Hoosier actress better known as movie star, and wife of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard! Lombard died nearly 75 years ago in a plane crash in Nevada while she was raising money for a War Bond tour. Lombard was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and a story at the Historic Indianapolis blog reports that she may have slipped away from the War Bond tour for a quick trip home to Indiana and a meeting with a well-known palm reader who allegedly foretold her then-imminent death. Check out Libby's story (and the original query from an author to her that sparked this blog post) at the Historic Indianapolis blog.
Cuyahoga Valley: Ohio's Only National Park-Explore Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park with Amanda as she lists some of the must-do trails and sights to see We've been to the park a few times, but we've yet to check out the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad trip as Amanda suggests,. Her list also includes a few of our favorites like Brandywine Falls, stopping for a meal in Peninsula and walking a bit along trail along the Towpath trail. Check it out at A Dangerous Business blog,
How to Take Better Vacation Pictures-Sherry shares some of the best images from her travels, along with a few simple tips about composition that you should keep in mind as you point your camera and look to create some of your own memorable travel images. According to Sherry, all the fancy camera equipment in the world won't help your photos if you fail to keep a few fundamentals about composition in mind as you compose your shots. Simple ideas like The Rule of Thirds, looking for leading lines in your scene and perspective can greatly improve your photos. Read all about this, and see some great travel images, at Ott's World.
August is a popular time for travel among many folks as many have and try to get some last trips in returning to school or work. I find myself with an out-sized list of travel stories to share this month, so check back here next week as I post a second list of Midwest travel story links for August!
Meanwhile, I always like to hear about any other favorite Midwest stories or blogs you think I might like to check out!
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Always enjoy your wrap-up posts. Learning a bit more about history and where to visit helps me plan my travels.
Posted by: Gretchen Garrison | September 07, 2016 at 03:17 PM
End of the summer means I'll have a double batch of wrap-up posts--look for part 2 of this month's travel links tomorrow :)
Posted by: Dominique King | September 07, 2016 at 04:10 PM