Sisters! Aren’t they great?! If you have sisters, you will always have a friend, a companion, a cohort! I have five sisters. When we were young I wanted zero sisters (and, to be honest, zero brothers). It was my biggest wish, to be an only child. As the song goes, thank God for unanswered prayers. My sisters are my best friends and favorite companions. Gina, sister #4 (by birth order only!), went adventuring with me last weekend.
We put 150 miles on the Slingshot, crossed things off the list, and got sunburn. It was great! We tried to have breakfast in Utica (population 37+/-) in northern Licking County, but Watt’s wasn’t open yet and the other restaurant was shuttered. Ended up having breakfast at Southside Diner in Mt Vernon. Good food (keeping in mind that I like diners), inexpensive, good service. The place has probably been there for decades. They carry old-fashioned candy at the register, and the signs decorating the lobby are faded. But still true – “calories refers to a number that measures how good food tastes”. I lol-ed.
Mount Vernon is the county seat of Knox County. Pretty little town on the way to no where. It was Saturday and the farmer’s market was on the square, so the downtown was busy. The light posts are hung with flowering baskets. Beautiful old brick buildings, and the majority were still in use. Mount Vernon boasts the oldest continually operating opera house in the country. Quite a distinction considering how many venues there would be across the US. And, of course, they have the dog fountain! Saw it on Ohio Road Trips – so cute!
Mount Vernon is also home to Ariel Foundation Park. This park is 250 acres that was previously a glass factory. It’s considered an “adaptive reuse”. I love it! There are architectural ruins – pieces of buildings and towers and structure that are now an observation tower, a museum, event center, and art installations. There’s the tree of life walking path and river of glass – made of left overs from the factory days. The other side of the park has a lake and shelter houses. Both Kokosing Gap and Heart of Ohio trails connect to Ariel park. I absolutely hate that we live in such a throw-away society. Fix it or change it, but reuse it! The old armoire that becomes a little coffee station, or the old factory site that becomes a park. Well done Mount Vernon.
Our next stop was Honey Run Park to visit the waterfall. It took, I hesitate to say, more than one turn around to find the park. This is where expectations come into play. Waterfall, like beach (if you’ve read about my visit to Dillon Lake), elicits a certain picture in your mind. I’ve seen Niagra Falls but this is NOT what I was expecting to find anywhere in Ohio. But, come on, my sister has more water coming from the fountain in her backyard! I will note that it is the middle of summer, and maybe the falls become something more in other seasons. The good thing is that the water at the bottom of the falls (dribbles?) is shallow enough that kids can play in the water. They were loving it. So I guess their expectations were met. Maybe mine were just a little out of sync?
After this, we took the long way home and stopped at Indian Bear Winery. This place is out in the middle of nowhere; gravel road access. Besides the winery there’s a restaurant with good food, a small lodge, a couple of cabins, and event space. Honestly, I never would have went down this road but Gina was familiar with the place. Turns out it was a lovely stop – I discovered wine slushies. Who would have thought!
Sometimes your expectations aren’t met – at the same time someone else’s are. Such is life. Katie and I have talked many times about the differences of living in the journey and living in the destination. I’m the former, she’s the latter. It’s cliché to say we should stop and smell the roses. But if you’re not taking the time to enjoy the journey without all your expectations being met, life becomes just a series of struggles. Taking care of my brother before he died was a struggle, but the amount of time we spent laughing made the journey worthwhile.
To my sister, thanks for smelling the roses with me this weekend. It was a wonderful journey.
A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.
John Steinbeck