Ashtabula, OH

Two years ago (Egad! Has it been that long?), we met Caveman of Ohio in Pearisburg, VA while taking a break in town from the Appalachian Trail. We saw him periodically over the next couple of months, but ended up hiking with him pretty much every day, towards the end. Since that time, he's been to Pittsburgh a number of times. We had heard lots of stories about his hometown, but had never been there. So, we made the drive up to Ashtabula last weekend. If you've met Caveman when he's been in Pittsburgh, you probably know him as Michael, however, I just can't seem to break the habit of calling him by his trail name. (I can assure you the name is no reflection on his personal hygiene or manners, which are very good.)

Highlights from the trip include the longest covered bridge in the world, which towers above the Ashtabula River. The interesting thing about this bridge, other than its length, which is impressive, is the fact that it was built very recently, and made to withstand the weight and height of large trucks. You can learn more about the bridges of Ashtabula County if you go to the Covered Bridge Festival.

We also made a stop at Geneva on the Lake, where we spent an embarrassing amount of money trying to win a giant stuffed monkey. We never did earn enough tickets, but I used my well developed bargaining skills to talk the arcade manager into giving it to us anyway. We also ate a ton of food, including the best donuts ever at the Madsen donut shop.

And of course, there's the lake. It was unseasonably cool, plus the amount of industry to either side of the beach made us not want to go swimming. Nonetheless, there are some very nice beach parks in Ashtabula! We immediately wanted to move there, for the slower pace, lack of traffic, and pretty views of the lake. Until I remembered that the lake makes lake-effect snow, which puts Pittsburgh winters to shame, and is probably not something I want to deal with.

But the best part of the trip was getting to meet Caveman's mom. I love meeting people's families and seeing all the little mannerisms and customs they share. Caveman and his mom fed us so much food, we had to take a day off eating when we got back home. And I think there is definitely a family resemblance between them.

There was so much to do in Ashtabula that we had to save some for the next trip...Underground Railroad Museum and Nature Museum are on the list. Plus, we'll definitely be going back for more donuts.