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Travel

exploring Ashtabula Harbor

by Kaylah Stroup August 10, 2021

Special thanks to the Lift Bridge Community Association + Ohio. Find It Here. for inviting us out & sponsoring this post!

Recently Jeff and I were invited to explore the historic Ashtabula Harbor area. I couldn’t hop on the opportunity quickly enough! We’ve been in full-on house renovation mode for nearly a year now so a mini-vacation was definitely in order. One night and two full days was barely enough time here. We squeezed so much in! Here’s a little peek at our trip –

Where we stayed…

We spent the night in the cutest Air BnB! It was a charming 1930s home filled with the coolest decor. Seriously, look at that table made from an old sign! It had a fire pit and the garage had been converted into a summer room. It’d be the perfect spot to rent with a couple of pals. They’re even pet-friendly.

Best of all, it’s within walking distance of not only Bridge Street, the main strip of Ashtabula Harbor, but Lake Erie!

What we did…

Eerie Harbor Ghost Walk! As a lover of all things spooky, this was surprisingly my very first ghost tour! The tour was heavy on the history side of things, as opposed to pushing ghost stories which I really enjoyed. It was neat to learn more about the area with some spooky lore mixed in! Our tour guide was energetic and enthusiastic.

We rented kayaks from Harbor Yak which I cannot recommend highly enough. I love kayaking to begin with but being out on the lake as opposed to in a river is such a rad experience.

Before sending us out into the water they gave us a little rundown of the different things we could head to while out on the water. There is a massive ship docked in the harbor waiting to be scrapped so that was my obvious choice of which way to head. We also made our way out to a sandbar where someone had made a cool little structure out of driftwood.

If kayaks aren’t your jam, Harbor Yak rents hydro-bikes, paddleboards, and canoes as well. You can, of course, go out on your own but they also offer a sunset tour as well as a few other group activities.

Besides having some absolutely top-notch restaurants, the Harbor is also home to many cute shops along Bridge Street. From curated vintage finds to handmade chocolates and of course, locally made art – there is absolutely something for everyone to enjoy. I recommend walking the length of each side of the street in its entirety and popping into each. There are so many neat things to discover.

Pictured below – Farmhouse Vintage + truffles from Marianne’s Chocolates.

Ashtabula County is home to many wineries. Needless to say, a wine tour was a necessity. We visited Laurello Vineyards, M Cellars Winery, and Kosicek Vineyards. I’m going to be completely honest here, I didn’t start drinking wine until maybe a year ago and my taste was quite cheap. What’s up $5 bottles from Target! Visiting wineries 100% changed my tastes. I didn’t realize what I was missing, truly! I had an incredible time learning more about how wine is made, all the science that goes into it, and obviously tasting was fun.

Perhaps best of all, we were chauffeured from winery to winery by Richmond Limo. Y’all, I have never even been in a limo before this. I had SO much fun! Our driver, also named Jeff, was so nice and funny. If you’re looking to safely do some winery hopping without having to choose a friend to be your DD, this is absolutely the way to go. I honestly can’t wait for another excuse to get a limo.

Five minutes away from our Air BnB is Walnut Beach. We went early in the morning and nearly had the whole place to ourselves. The shoreline, covered in small pebbles, is prime for beach glass hunting. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, I hope my love of Lake Erie has been apparent! It’s just so underrated.

Searching for beach glass at Walnut Beach.

What we ate…

Where do I start with food? I seriously ate some of the best food of my life over these two days.

Bascule. Shown above. We were able to try a sample platter of their appetizers which actually worked out perfectly because I don’t know how else I would have been able to choose from their menu. Wasabi shrimp? Confit duck wings? Drunken dates? Gosh, yes, please!! My favorite ended up actually being their roasted cauliflower which are made with a house-made curry powder, eggless aioli, lemon, and EVOO. So tasty! Make sure to save room for dessert too! That’s not even a posed photo of me above – that is literally just a gal STOKED about her chocolate pot de creme.

Briquettes Smokehouse. Shown above. This was the perfect spot to grab lunch after kayaking all morning. They have a beautiful patio but we opted to sit inside to hide from the sun for a bit. Their upstairs seating area has a great view of the river!

Jeff had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on the side. (All their meats are smoked in-house!) I filled up on their buffalo chicken dip. It was delicious! I will absolutely be craving it.

Rennick Meat Market. Shown above. Rennick was actually our last meal of the trip. Nearly everyone we talked to at different spots around the Harbor listed Rennick as their number one spot to eat. I was definitely looking forward to it, and I had very high hopes… which were completely blown out of the water.

This truly may have been the best meal of my life. Each item we ordered was, without a doubt, the best version of that thing that I’ve had. If (no, when) you visit, definitely make sure to order the caramelized onion dip and the fried brussels sprouts. Also worth noting – our leftovers reheated beautifully. I don’t think that I’ve ever been so pumped to eat leftovers.

We also grabbed coffee at Harbor Perk and a decadent cupcake from Little Charlie’s Bake Shop! I’ve, sadly, reached the age where sometimes things are too sweet so normally giant cupcakes like this aren’t something I’d go for. Jeff is a peanut butter addict though so we had to try their peanut butter cup cupcakes. Y’all, I did not want to share. It was perfect. The frosting isn’t overly sweet so I could have easily finished one on my own (and probably wanted another!)

Ashtabula Harbor is a hidden gem! It may not show up at the top of lists of places along the lakeshore you must visit yet but it’s truly only a matter of time. They have everything – beaches, history, culture, incredible food and lots of wonderful shops!

abandoned route 66 trading post

by Kaylah Stroup November 26, 2019

It’s blowing my mind that I still have photos from June’s roadtrip that I haven’t sorted or edited yet. We stopped so many places and saw so many things that trying to tackle the photos in one chunk, or even a couple, was just too overwhelming. Admittedly, five months is a really long time for me to sit on photos no matter how many there were. The upside is that its been a really fun way to relive the post and it satisfies a little bit of my travel urge. Jeff and I are currently trying to save for a house so I’m not quite sure when the next time we’ll be doing something like this will be. I mean, I never quite know since we’ve been known to plan trips like this in less than a week soooo…

We spotted this abandoned structure from the freeway not too long after getting into New Mexico. If you recall, we were driving from Phoenix, Arizona back home to Cleveland, OH. A thirty-hour drive – not including any stops! New Mexico and Arizona are neighboring states which means we had not been on the road too long at all. Although we were both excited to check out all sorts of things on the drive home, I guess I had thought maybe those stops would happen a little bit further into the thirty-hour drive to break up the time.

BUT the building looked too good to pass up even from a distance. We hopped off the freeway and went to go check it out. It was well worth the stop! Although fairly small, it had lots of different things that grabbed my attention. The safari wallpaper, the nearly completely collapsed ceiling, the murals on the exterior! It was fantastic.

Be sure to check out the video near the end of the post for a tour!

Perhaps just as exciting as stumbling upon this excellent stop by accident was realizing that it actually has some pretty cool history. The building that is standing here today was finished in the spring of 1954. Claude Bowlin, who owned and operated Bowlin’s Old Crater Trading Post, was not only a well-respected merchant but operated such a successful business that he expanded, opening five more stores along Route 66. Although he catered to a lot of tourists, he made it his mission to educate those passing through about local tribal cultures.

In 1973, the trading post suffered the same fate as many other buildings along Route 66 and was closed shortly after the interstate opened. The owner enjoyed a few years of retirement before passing away. His widow sold the property with a stipulation in the deed stating it only be used for religious purposes. That’s how in the 1980s & 90s this building was used as a bible school and church. In 2006 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Spots like this are my absolute favorite. I don’t know why or what the big draw is for me but waking up early in the morning, grabbing a coffee and stumbling upon gems like this with my favorite person in the world is my perfect day!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

abandoned diner

by Kaylah Stroup November 14, 2019

Last summer my pal Allie blogged about an abandoned diner she explored in Arizona. Check out her post here. She was road tripping around an area I’m fairly familiar with (She was actually in the area for my wedding!) so when I saw her post I was confused about how it was something Jeff and I had never been to over the years. A little further into the post and I realized we’d driven by it time and time again but always missed the exit. Had we known that there was an abandoned diner, we may have made it more of a priority but it was always like “Oh, what was that? Looked cool. We passed it though… maybe next year!”

Needless to say, after seeing her post, it was number one on our to-do list next time we were in the area! Although it was on the way home, it was something I looked forward to basically as soon as we set out on this roadtrip!

It did not disappoint!

I’m truly not sure what else to say about this place. It’s pretty straight forward, ya know? It was a diner and now it’s abandoned. This was my first restaurant of any sort so it was all new and fun for me. The two things I liked the most was the signage inside with prices and the booths, of course!

I’ve talked about this before but there are certain buildings that just kind of resonate with me more than others based on previous experiences. For example, I’ve never worked in a factory so abandoned factory, while big and exciting, doesn’t give me the same feeling as an abandoned school – somewhere I spent many years. Of course, it’s not the same school I went to but it’s very easy to see the similarities between the schools you grew up going to and basically any other school.

All that to say, it’s easy to picture myself sitting here. I’ve eaten in enough diners, a lot of which don’t look too much better. It’s a funny feeling to walk into a place like this and so easily be able to imagine the patrons and folks who worked there.

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

Until next time, Arizona!

Slug Bug Ranch

by Kaylah Stroup October 30, 2019

One of the very last stops on June’s road trip was Slug Bug Ranch… and what a grand last stop it was!

Slug Bug Ranch is a mere 35 minutes from Cadillac Ranch which I had the opportunity to visit with my parents last summer. Picture last summer’s route as the letter ‘T’. We drove up the center of the letter. Cadillac Ranch is to the left side of the top of the T, and Slug Bug Ranch to the right side. Although not too far out of the way, it would have been starting the main haul of our trip in the wrong direction so we decided to only hit Cadillac Ranch. To be honest, I assumed Cadillac Ranch would be the better choice anyway since it’s definitely the more popular choice.

Wrong. I mean no shade to Cadillac Ranch. We had a great time there and I wouldn’t trade those memories for a thing but wow, Slug Bug Ranch was AWESOME.

Slug Bug Ranch’s main attraction is five Volkswagen Beetles, buried hood-down in the ground. Just like Cadillac Ranch, they’re covered in layers and layers of paint. Even the ground, plants and spiderwebs nearby are covered in paint.

The Crutchfield family who owned the Longhorn Trading Post and Rattlesnake Ranch (pictured a handful of photos below) built Slug Bug Ranch as a way to gain a bit of attention when a huge corporate Travel Plaza popped up on the opposite side of the interstate. They figured with something this fun and eye-catching they’d be able to stay in business. Sadly, their plan didn’t work and only a year later they were forced to close. Judging by the amount of paint, travelers still find their way here all this time later.

We arrived right as the sun was beginning to set. There wasn’t a soul around except us. It was perfect.

More than that, I had no idea there were other abandoned structures there. Two small homes, the trading post, and a gas station plus a handful of other cars are on the property. We went there expecting to spend ten or fifteen minutes shooting some cars but ended up staying until we could no longer handle the ravenous mosquitoes. We explored every nearly every inch and had a blast doing so. This road trip had a ton of amazing stops but this might have been one of my favorites.

Longhorn Trading Post and Rattlesnake Ranch. Check out this shot from 2006!

Sunset behind an abandoned truck in Texas

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag. If cars half-buried in the dirt are your thing, check out International Car Forest of the Last Church.

abandoned Fort Courage, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup October 8, 2019

Throwing it back to June’s massive road trip again today. Check out the bottom of this post for links to previous posts.

After relaxing at The Wigwam (aka heaven on earth!) Jeff and I started our long drive home from Arizona. Just over 2,000 miles. 30 hours without factoring in any stops! Our friend, Jake, who we had taken the first half of the trip with had a business trip that he’d be flying off to from Phoenix so it was just the two of us heading back to Ohio.

The idea of that drive home seemed a bit daunting but I was excited to cover some new ground. If you haven’t gathered the fact that the journey is just as/ if not more important than the destination to us then uh, you must be new here! Hello! Nice to meet you!

The first eleven or so hours would all be fairly familiar territory. The route is one we’ve driven a handful of times but that’s totally cool by me because we always seem to find a new place or two to stop each time.

Like this place! This is a spot that has caught my attention every single time we’ve driven past it but we were always too late to get off at the exit. The first time we drove by it, it caught my attention but I don’t think I fully realized it was abandoned. It just looked like another huge business off the highway, probably selling dusty old trinkets. The next year, when we went by it again, I knew it was abandoned but of course, we didn’t have time to get off at the exit.

This year though? It was a priority. I had a pretty good idea of what we’d be getting into and I was determined to actually make it there. I marked it on the map and let Jeff know far in advance where the exit was.

Fort Courage was far beyond my expectations!

Fort Courage was built in the 1970’s to replicate the fort from the TV show “F-Troop”. Reviews left on their page reveal that they really didn’t have very much in way of F-Troop merchandise (probably because they weren’t officially affiliated!) But thanks to the sales of miscellaneous travel souvenirs and the ever needed snack, they managed to stay in business for quite a while.

On the property, there was a gas station, large gift shop, Pancake House (dude, it was awesome. I have photos for another day!) and a whole bunch of buildings that would later become apartments.

We were unable to get into all of the buildings but still had a heck of a fun time wandering around what was open. Approaching the buildings behind the main gift shop, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At the time I didn’t know that those were abandoned apartments. It didn’t take long to figure it out though. They were packed full of things. It’s like one day everyone just up and left!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Fort Courage is for sale! $995,000. 57 acres and boasts “no competition on an 8 mile radius” Buy it and be just a short trip from me over at Two Guns!

ghost town – Winton, WY

by Kaylah Stroup September 4, 2019

Throwing it back to June’s massive road trip again today. Check out the bottom of this post for links to previous posts.

After a short stop at a neat old cemetery and some ooh-ing and ahhh–ing at wild horses, our next stop was the ghost town of Winton. Just to reiterate, we really went into this trip with basically no plans at all. The general idea was that we were going to drive to Phoenix, Arizona and that we’d be taking interstate 80. Beyond that, we didn’t have any stops planned. While that sometimes leads to missing cool stuff, it’s also just really fun to accidentally stumble upon places.

I managed to find Winton while searching for ghost towns near where we were right before losing service. We really had no idea what to expect as we drove twenty some minutes out of our way down a bumpy dirt road but Winton at least sounded like it was worth checking out.

The road progressively got worse and worse until we finally spotted the ruins of a building. The road leading up to the building was far too deteriorated for our rental car so we pulled off, parked, and grabbed our camera gear.

Rusted out old car half buried in the dirt in the ghost town of Winton, Wyoming.

Established in the 1920s, Winton was a small mining town with roughly 700 residents of all different nationalities. The mines closed in 1952 and that began the downfall of the town. Over the next few years residents began moving to nearby towns. Sixty odd years later, Winton is little more than ruins. There are a couple of standing buildings, only one with a roof (that I personally saw) but the majority of what’s left is rubble.

When we first pulled up, I was a bit disappointed. From the car I could only see one building and it was covered in scribbles of spray paint. I think at this point I’ve made it abundantly clear how I feel about vandalism on ruins. Go paint something else! It felt like a long drive out there for something like that. Still, it was something to photograph and somewhere to stretch our legs.

As we began to explore I realized just how awesome Winton was. There was far more than meets the eye initially. More ruins than you could shake a stick at! I have no idea how long we were there but it felt like every few minutes we were discovering a spot where a building once stood.

We explored until we were too hungry to go on, leaving knowing that there was still lots left to discover. I love leaving a place wanting more. It gives me an excuse to come back, and makes everything feel a bit more magical and mysterious.

Until next time, Winton! xoxo

*My souvenirs from Winton. A penny, a marble, an old nail + an instant photo.*

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Mansfield Reformatory

by Kaylah Stroup August 19, 2019

The weekend before last, Jeff and I were spending our normal quiet Saturday morning in our favorite neighborhood coffee shop, as we always do. We had been there a few hours already. He had ignored my ‘I’m done when you are’ cue. (Me shutting my laptop, in case you’re wondering.) So I just figured he was getting a lot done and wanted to stay and work longer.

Because the coffee shop has a pretty good flow of good boiz (dogs, for the layperson) coming in all the time, I basically look up every single time the door opens. One such instance, I looked up and saw someone vaguely shaped like my best friend. It’s bright toward the door, and dark where we were sitting so I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure but I stood up at attention anyway.

Jeff had invited her and her crew out to celebrate my birthday. Two things make this especially cute. One – the week before, my actual birthday, I actually cried because I really wanted Elycia there. I was bummed we had failed to make plans. Two – earlier in the morning, while at the coffee shop, I jokingly asked Jeff “When is Elycia getting here?”

I only cried a little but it warmed my heart big time! Jeff ran home to speed clean the house, something he had planned all along since he knows how important it is to me to have a clean house for guests. After Elycia and her family got coffee we headed off to the rest of the surprise plans for the day, visiting The Mansfield Reformatory. It’d been a few years since my last visit so I was super excited to go back, especially with my friends.

Mansfield Reformatory, also known as Ohio State Reformatory, is a historic prison that’s actually open for tours. The reformatory opened it’s doors originally in 1896. After 94 years, it eventually closed in December of 1990 as the result of a prisoners’ class action suit citing overcrowding and inhumane conditions. In it’s time it housed over 155,000 men! It has the largest free-standing steel cell block in the world, six tiers high.

In 1995, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society was formed. Their goal is to restore the facility to its original state. Although the building still resembles an abandoned one, they’ve made great strides since opening the prison up to tourists. The smell of fresh paint was apparent during our visit and dumpsters full of debris were visible through some of the windows.

The history of this place is super interesting but I’d venture to say a lot of people that visit are probably just there because it’s where parts of The Shawshank Redemption were filmed. I mean that’s super exciting to me! Jeff and I watch that movie all the time. It’s one of our absolute favorites. Even if you’re not a fan though, the prison is still an incredibly fun spot to poke around.

Olive being dragged away to her prison cell. Her crime? Being too cute.

Visit The Ohio State Reformatory’s website for more information on the building + on the available tours. Ghost hunts, y’all, ghost hunts!

2019 road trip video!

by Kaylah Stroup August 13, 2019

As you’re probably aware, since it’s all I ever blog about anymore, back in June, my husband Jeff, our friend Jake and I went on an epic roadtrip. We drove from Cleveland, OH to Phoenix, Arizona, spent a few nights at a resort, then drove home a new route. It was an incredible trip!

Related posts;

Jeff and I go to the desert every year but we normally fly. This was a whole different ballgame! It was a blast to see so many new places.

My original plan was to make videos about each place we visited but once I got home and looked at my footage, I realized I didn’t shoot even close to enough video to do that. I wasn’t too happy about the idea of condensing the trip into one video but I started working on it anyway. About halfway through, I really started to love it and now, it’s one of my favorite things ever. We’ve watched it about a million and a half times already.

14 states, literal days driving, ghost towns upon ghost towns and a ton of special memories all jam packed into six minutes and thirty seconds.

I ended up borrowing some footage from Jeff so that I’d make an appearance in the video too. He shot individual videos of a lot of the places shown in my video so I’ve linked as many of those as YouTube would allow in this video. Keep your eyes peeled if there’s a place you want to see more of, chances are I’ve blogged about it (linked above) or he made a video! You can find Jeff’s channel here. His video of the abandoned motel in Arizona is my favorite.

Video shot with the GoPro Hero 7 Black. Definitely one of the best purchases I made this year!

Twin Arrows, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup August 12, 2019

Twin Arrows Trading Post in Arizona. Old Rt 66

20 minutes west of Two Guns lies the ruins of the Twin Arrows Trading Post. Just like Two Guns, we’ve been making annual visits here since 2014. Somehow in all those years, I have yet to dedicate an entire post to this place (although it’s definitely shown up in its fair share of posts, like here, here + here) but here we go today…

Sometime in the 1940’s a business named the Canyon Padre Trading Post was established. It did modest business but was never all that popular. In 1955 a new family took over, added two giant arrows, and renamed the business Twin Arrows Trading Post, the business flourished! Eventually, a Valentine Diner and gas station were added as well. It was a popular spot for travelers to stop, fuel up, stretch their legs and grab a bite to eat.

Just like the case with so many other businesses along old route 66, the construction of interstate 40 was the kiss of death for Twin Arrows. The business switched owners a handful of times before finally being shuttered in 1995.

It’d be nineteen years after it closed until I finally got to visit. I’d seen the spot in various movies including my all-time favorite Forrest Gump* but not with my own eyes until 2014. Our first visit, the trading post and diner were almost completely sealed up. Windows and doors were still boarded. Over the next couple of visits, small sections of the property became more and more accessible. Our most recent visit? Wide open! Every window and door inviting us inside.

Similar to Two Guns, Twin Arrows seems to be experiencing a very quick decline. I don’t have a ton of photos from my first couple visits but enough to be able to see that we managed to get it right before it was completely covered in graffiti. I’m glad I have those photos because it’s honestly hard to imagine it in a state other than the one it’s in now.

These days, the building seems to get a new look quite often. When we visited last year, the morning of our wedding rehearsal, a good portion of the exterior was painted blue. (Fourth photo down in this post!) I appreciate the latest paint job making it look a bit less obnoxious and of course, I can appreciate the no one has completely covered the original paint job’s ‘Twin Arrows Trading Post’.

I’m anxious to see what it’ll look like in another year or two. Hopefully the vandalism slows down, or better yet, that someone restores it to it’s former glory. These days the property is owned by Twin Arrows Casino Resort (where I woke up the morning of my wedding day. Awww!) Maybe, eventually, they’ll decide to do something wonderful with the property. Fingers crossed they don’t demolish it!

Other posts from this trip –

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Check out Jeff’s video from our visit below. I also recommend checking out Twin Arrow’s facebook page for some really neat historic photos.

*Do you ever wonder about how many of the things you like are because you were unknowingly exposed to them at an early age? I didn’t know Forrest Gump ran by Twin Arrows until after I had already visited there. I’ve seen the movie about five hundred times though, so you know that spot was drilled into my brain at least subconsciously.

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