Whether you live in town, are visiting relatives, or are looking for Northeast Ohio day trip ideas, families with kids will love exploring Hartville. Today we welcome local mom, Elizabeth Williams, to the Discover Hartville blog. Read on to hear about their day!
While my husband was away on a work trip, I decided to take our children on our own day trip at home to visit some of our favorite local establishments and explore some new places as well.
The kids are early birds and were out of bed by 7AM, ready to get going. Since most businesses in the area don’t open until a little later in the morning, we usually start our day outside at a local park or playground. I gave the kids a few places to pick from and they chose to go on a short hike at Fichtner Park. The 0.4 mile loop was perfect for Olivia, age 7, to walk and explore easily. Jacob, age 2, decided riding in the stroller was more fun, and gave me a bit of a workout. As it was early, the park was quiet and we were able to spot a few rabbits scurrying into the bushes and hear the Lake Blue Streak band practicing a mile or so away while we walked through the trees and around the pond. The whole walk took about half an hour and was a great start to our adventure.
After the walk, we decided it was the perfect time for a snack. We headed to Historic Downtown Hartville and one of our favorite places to visit, Peace, Love and Little Donuts. Olivia chose a Magically Delicious donut, Jacob vanilla iced, and I picked Salted Caramel Macchiato. As always the donuts were delicious, and we enjoyed eating them outside in the summer sun.
From Peace, Love and Little donuts we walked to Deuble Square to stretch our legs after our snack and take a few pictures. The kids loved walking around the stage area and posing for pictures.
Next we visited Hartville Thrift Shoppe for some shopping! The kids especially loved looking at the holiday decorations, craft supplies, and books. Jacob fell in love with a Hallmark Christmas carousel set from 1989 and Olivia found a fantastic musical decoration that featured a dancing Santa. Olivia also found several great craft kits and both kids were able to find books to add to their collections.
We weren’t quite ready to stop shopping, so we stopped into another one of our favorite small businesses, The Eclectic Rose, to look around. The kids especially loved searching the sale room and picking out a book from the free book bin. They are always excited about the unique treasures they are able to find.
After all our shopping we were hungry again, and Olivia chose to pick up McDonald’s for lunch. We love our local McDonald’s, and they didn’t disappoint. The food was delicious and the service was great. We were all ready for a rest after eating. Jacob took a quick afternoon nap and we were able to change into some cooler clothes before starting the second half of our adventure.
Our first stop of the afternoon was Akron/Canton Jellystone Park™. The kids wanted to try the Gem Mining Sluice and the miniature golf course. Gem mining was up first. Both Jacob and Olivia got their own bag of dirt and gravel and absolutely loved sifting through it to see what cool rocks they would find when they pulled their pans out of the water. I was surprised by how many different rocks and gems were in each bag. Once all the dirt had been sifted and gems lovingly placed in their bags, we moved on to mini golf.
We loved this course because it was fun, and not overly difficult for the kids. Olivia did great and was really proud of how well she did on many of the holes. Jacob enjoyed the first half of the course, but it got HOT while we were there, and we experienced a typical toddler meltdown that began around hole 12 and lasted through the end of the course. We made it through though, and to my surprise, when asked what his favorite part of the day had been Jacob told me it was mini golf!
We were able to cool off in the car as we drove to our next stop, a new destination for us, Home Again Flowers. Olivia and Jacob loved walking through the field and choosing special flowers for their bouquet. Jacob was getting a little tired at this point and wanted to be carried everywhere, so I was in desperate need of another hand to cut the flowers, arrange them in the cup, and hold the bouquet, but Olivia picked up the slack and did a great job! The kids were so proud of the finished product and were excited to take it home.
Olivia was allowed to choose where to go for dinner and she chose carryout from Grinders Above and Beyond. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Hartville, and Olivia was excited to try a Chicken Tender Lovin’ grinder for the first time. She absolutely loved it and devoured her portion of the sandwich!
For dessert the three of us hopped back in the car and headed to Almost Heaven Ice Cream for the first time. Each of us tried something a little different; Jacob chose a baby scoop of vanilla ice cream, Olivia an Oreo milkshake, and myself a mocha frappe. Everything was delicious and the sizes were perfect! I’m sure the kids will request to visit again soon to try out some of the other ice cream flavors and treats.
When we got home, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was. As mentioned previously, Jacob chose miniature golf. Olivia couldn’t decide between gem mining, shopping at the Hartville Thrift Shoppe and picking flowers. They both gave the overall day an enthusiastic thumbs up and were surprised how many awesome things to do were so close to home. I enjoyed exploring so many local places and watching the kids experience new things!
Hartville and Uniontown are home to so many great places to go with kids. We had a really hard time narrowing down where to go in one day and could easily do a week’s worth of these types of adventures and not run out of things to do and places to see. I never ran into a business that didn’t treat my kids well and go above and beyond to make their experience fun and memorable. I strongly encourage families with kids to take the time to explore the area. I can promise you won’t be disappointed!
