explore | ROAD TRIP
“
Corn. Corn. More corn,” droned my 10-year-old,
Rachel. “Are we going to see anything else, Mom?” I had billed this three-day expedition through Ohio as the “super-spectacular, awesomest adventure trek ever,” but squished into the backseat, my three girls looked skeptical. As newcomers to the Midwest, Rachel and her older sisters, Abby, 13, and Kayla, 16, had not yet learned to look beyond the seemingly endless miles of farmland for the treasures tucked inside. So our itinerary, which would take us from Sandusky’s amusement parks to the Hocking Hills wilderness, was designed to prove that in the heart of the heartland, we would find plenty of places to step outside our comfort zone and discover something new.
The excitement began in Africa— or rather, the African-themed Kalahari Resorts and Conventions 1 in Sandusky, where we were greeted by safari-clad attendants, the sight of waterfalls, and the sound of conga drums. The kids almost sprinted through the lobby of the sprawling indoor/outdoor water park hotel. We were able to check in early, letting us hit the park before our room was ready. Kayla, Abby, and my husband, James, raced for the thrill rides, including a water roller coaster and swirling bowl called the Tanzanian Twister. Before seeking out the kids’ slides, Rachel and I made a detour to the Safari Adventures Animal Park ($5 for resort guests). There we communed with rabbits, goats, giraffes, lemurs, and kangaroos (starts at $179 a night, including park passes; 877-525-2427; kalahariresorts. com/ohio; park open seasonally). For dinner, we headed to Danny Boys, a 1960s-style restaurant Kayla had spied on the way in. In keeping with our quest for adventure, we all ordered something new to us, in this case “woogies,” a cool twist on calzones (419-621-1000; dannyboyspizza.com).
SEP T EMBER 2015
88
After supper we drove to Marblehead Lighthouse State Park on Lake Erie, home of the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, and posed for silly selfies under the setting sun (419-734-4424; marbleheadlighthouseohio.org). Then it was back to Sandusky for something sweet. A life-size cow sculpture beckoned us into Toft’s Ice Cream Parlor. Even Rachel downgraded her order to a kid size after learning the “small” cone came with a whopping five to six scoops (419-625-5490; toftdairy.com).
The Goughs at Hocking Hills Canopy Tours.
ILLUSTRATION BY JOSIE PORTILLO
DAY 1
