Day 1 - Stop 4 - Dover

Dover, Ohio, Tuscarawas County,  Population 13,000 in 2010, Dover was platted in 1807, and most likely was named after the local Dover family.
Dover, England,  a town and major ferry port in the county of Kent, in south east England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover. Population 30,000

We drove the main street of Dover and stopped to see the Erie Canal. Dover was once a busy town on the Erie Canal. Just outside of town we stopped at the Breitbach Winery. We did a tasting -- they had a great selection and settled on a couple of bottles of a sweet red wine and a bottle of Dandelion wine that tasted like honey. We also stopped at the Warther Home and Museum. Ernest Warther was a wood carver in the early 1900s and he carved intricate model trains out of wood. His wife had an immense button collection that she kept on display in a small wooden building next to the house. We were too late to tour the museum because it closes at 5 but we had both seen it when we were kids. There's a really pretty park next to the house and museum with a train engine and caboose. From there we went on to Canton where we had dinner, drank some craft beers, and listened to a great band called The Rau at the Canton Brewing Company.  We decided to park it here tonight and explore some of Canton in the morning. 

Day 1 - Stop 3 - Berlin

Berlin, Ohio, Holmes County,  Heart of Amish Country, oldest existing village in Holmes County - was first planned on July 2, 1816, by John Swigert, a native of Berlin, Germany,  population 900
Berlin, Germany, the capital and the largest city in Germany.  Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of the rivers Spree and Havel.  Population 3.6 million

Taking the windy back roads we traveled from Warsaw to Berlin. The trees are just starting to turn, the air is cool and we saw some beautiful blue skies and giant white clouds. Because we are in Amish Country we had to look out for buggies as we crested the windy hills. As we got closer to Berlin they became more and more frequent on the road as well as Amish riding bicycles. Berlin is the Amish tourist capital with lots of shops and Amish restaurants. Most of the residents are Amish or Mennonite. As we passed a school a group of kids was outside for recess playing soccer.

We walked around for awhile and stopped in a few shops. We found an eclectic coffee shop for an afternoon break that seemed out of character with the country crafts and Amish buggies. On the way out of Berlin we stopped in "Little Switzerland," Sugar Creek, to shop at Andreas Furniture for a dining room table. We found exactly what we are looking for and will probably order it once we get home and check on the dimensions with our dining room.

Day 1 - Stop 2- Warsaw

Warsaw, Ohio, Coshocton County, Population  682 in 2010   Founded 1834
Warsaw, Poland, capital and largest city in Poland, situated1. along the Vistula River, Population 1.7 million in 2015

Our next stop was in Warsaw. It is a tiny crossroads but it was nicer than I expected. There was a nice little park area with a gazebo and a cute little "Free Lending Library" where you can take and leave books. It was filled with a lot of old books and kids books. I found an interesting one about "TV Kids" copyright 1971. There were two diners and we ended up eating at Roberta's diner which had good diner food. We were the youngest customers and by the time we left, the place was filled with local Warsawians. Roberta's seemed pretty popular! Just outside of town we found a winery up on a hill, called Heritage Winery.  Next to it was the Gospel Lighthouse Church with a giant lighthouse on top of the hill. The winery was a family-owned place and the wife came down from the house to open up the winery for us. The wine was really good. They grow their own grapes onsite. We ended up buying three bottles

According to the historical marker, Warsaw was named for Warsaw, Poland to honor a group of military academy students who rebelled against the government to protest Russian rule of Poland in the early 1800s. They weren't successful but honored for their bravery.

Day 1 - Stop 1 - Dresden

This spontaneous trip got more spontaneous right away when we decided at the last minute to switch our itinerary so we weren't going end up going through Amish Country on Sunday when everything is closed. So, as we were leaving we decided to head East instead of West. The plan was to go to Dresden first and have breakfast.  Well... the Dresden I remember in the hey day of the Longaberger Basket Company isn't the Dresden we saw today. Most of the shops and cafes are gone.There were a lot of empty buildings. We thought at first that maybe we were missing the main area. But we weren't. We were there and there wasn't much open. Not even a place to eat breakfast. The remnants of Basket Town USA are few. We finally found the giant basket in town but all of the big basket planters that lined the main street were gone. We saw one. It's sad. It used to be such a booming place. There just a few basket and craft shops.

Dreseden, Ohio   Muskingum County, Founded in 1835, population 1500 in 2010.
Dresden, Germany,  State of Saxony, situated in a valley on the River Elbe near the border of the Czech Republic, population 520,000 in 2010  

Road Trip!

On Thursday, October 13, my husband, Dwight, and I leave for our trip around the world - all within the state of Ohio! This is really just an excuse for a road trip to travel around Ohio in the beautiful month of October. We've seen a lot of the world already so now we want to get to know better the nooks and crannies of our own state by visiting cities of the world in Ohio. Below is our proposed itinerary. Some are cities, some are towns, some are villages, and some are only unincorporated communities. Some are county seats and others are one traffic light pass thrus. They range in population from about 550 to more than 70,000. We're going to just go with the flow without a set schedule or hotel reservations. We're going to do what looks fun, discover something interesting in each place, find some places to have a beer, run in some parks, meet some people, find out why the town was named after the foreign city and how it compares to its namesake, and just enjoy the scenery! 

Dublin, New Rome, London, Florence, South Vienna, Lima, Cairo, Sidney, Frankfort, Athens, Jerusalem, Malaga, Cadiz, Toronto, East Liverpool, Lisbon, Paris, Canton, Berlin, Dover, and Warsaw. 

Every day my plan is to post a summary and photos of each of these "international" places in Ohio! Stay tuned if you're interested in going around the world in Ohio with us through this blog!