92 County Tour: Wayne County Scavenger Hunt

I'm so glad to hear that some of you want to try out the chocolate trail after reading about it last week! It really was a lot of fun. And today I'll tell you about another fun thing we just kind of happened upon while we were at the Welcome Center picking up our chocolate trail passport. I perused the brochures and found a Wayne County Scavenger Hunt booklet that I'm pretty sure was designed with kids in mind, but you can better believe it did NOT stop us. We decided to throw that into our weekend and we made it to almost all the stops while we were there!

I won't go through it line by line because first of all, we'd be here for 800 years, and secondly, I don't want to ruin it for you if you go! But I will tell you that the hunt begins at the Welcome Center and if you follow the pages in order, it will take you in distance order from nearest to farthest. Each page has a series of questions you answer at each stop. The questions range from finishing quotes on signs to counting the number of a particular item to taking selfies with something at that stop. All the main questions can be answered by visiting free locations or going only outside to visit something. Anything that requires paid admission is simply a bonus question and doesn't have to be answered. Each question has a point value, and if you reach 260 points or more, you can bring your booklet and photos to the Welcome Center and receive a prize. (We did not officially complete it so we don't know what the prize is.) 

Even though we fell short of completion, we had a BLAST stopping by some places we never would have visited if we hadn't done this hunt. I'll show you a few of our finds here!

Though I didn't feel like going in winter grossly affected the quality of what we got to see, the first couple of stops I'll tell you about did seem to be affected by winter and/or the pandemic. The Hayes Arboretum was on our list to see even before we knew about the scavenger hunt. We were excited to hike some trails! Alas, when we arrived, the Nature Center was closed for the day (though according to the printed hours in the booklet, it should have been open) so we didn't get to find any answers for our hunt (womp womp) and the trails open that day were DRIVING trails. I've never even heard of driving a trail! We did it, but walking would have been more fun. Even so, we did get a few cool photo opps:

The Richmond Rose Garden was (understandably) not in bloom. Looks like it would be a really cool place to go in the summer, though. I LOVE rose gardens! Admission here is free, FYI. And I'm pretty sure one of the inscriptions we needed was under that blue tarp. (You can see where we cleaned snow off the side of the fountain to see if the words were hiding under there!)

The Madonna of the Trail (which has nothing to do with a singer...took me a minute to get caught up with that when the Welcome Center lady was telling me about it) is one of 12 statues in the US found along the National Road Trail - dedicated to the spirit of pioneer mothers of the covered wagon days. We got a selfie with her and then drove around Glen Miller Park, where she's located. It's a pretty cool park!

There is a Wayne County Historical Museum that I would have enjoyed touring, but you had to make specific appointments to tour it, and I just couldn't pinpoint our time that much to make an appointment. (And you do have to pay admission to go inside.) We did go check out the Painted Piano outside the building and got a picture with that. I believe there are several other painted pianos around the area, but we didn't do a tour of those.

We were staying in the Historic Depot District, so that was pretty easy to check out. One of the optional activities there was to eat at one of the locally owned restaurants, and we DID do that! We ate at this really cool BBQ place called Firehouse BBQ and Blues. It's an actual old firehouse with tons of character - and good food. (Had enough leftovers for a second meal - WIN!!!!)

There was also a Model T Museum that has vehicles from 1908-1927, but it had an admission fee - and we actually never even saw it open the whole time we were there. Maybe we were there at the wrong times! So no answers for us there. 

We did have success at the Morrisson-Reeves Library, which wasn't too far from our Airbnb. They have a gorgeous Tiffany stained glass window inside!

(Very friendly librarians too - putting up with two overgrown kids on a scavenger hunt.)

We drove by the Bethel A.M.E. Church, where we got the points for our hunt question from the comfort of our car! Just needed to read a sign outside the church. 

The Whitewater Valley Gorge Park was a really cool place that I would have loved to have explored in more detail, but it was SO COLD AND WINDY on the day we were there, so we did what we needed for our questions and hurried back to the car. But if you go in warmer weather....it's a 100 acre park that has gorge walls containing bedrock. The gorge runs 3 1/2 miles through the city and the Starr Piano Company began operating there back in the late 1800s. The remains of the old building is so cool, as is the Gennett Records Walk of Fame with its medallions honoring musicians. We didn't walk the whole length of it, because of the aforementioned weather, but we enjoyed seeing a few!

Not far from that was the Veteran's Memorial Park, which has memorials from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Women's Memorial, Purple Heart Memorial, and more. And...tanks!!

We stopped at the Richmond Art Museum, which has the distinction of being the only public art museum housed within an active public high school in the US. (And that was one character-laden old high school!) Sadly, one of the paintings we needed to see had been taken down from display, and so had the selfie frame! WHAT?! So we made our own. 

(Look at that stunning school!)

The Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History was a womp womp bust for us. We made the mistake of going on Tuesday the first time, and it turns out they're closed on Tuesdays. Whoopsie! So we went back Wednesday - made a special trip, even! - and they were closed again. So no answers for us there, nor did we get to see any cool exhibits. Side note, though: this is located on the Earlham College campus, which is a college affiliated with the Quaker church. Even though we both grew up Quaker, neither of us have memories of ever going there. This was the only proof we could provide that we tried: 

One of Ryan's favorite stops was the Cope Environmental Center, which is just outside of Richmond. The lady working there that day was SO NICE and talked with us for a while about the history and mission of the center. It's on 102 acres and has hiking trails (though they weren't open that day and it was way too frigid to be out hiking anyway), grasslands, prairies, wetlands, ponds, and an educational center. She showed us around AND let Ryan hold the snake. I stood a proper 20 feet away and did Lamaze breathing while that thing was out of its cage. If you hate snakes, please scroll. 

Then we moved outside of Richmond and went to this nearby town of Centerville, which was really charming. We got a picture with the Old Salisbury Courthouse, which was built in 1812 and is the oldest existing courthouse in Indiana. We also took a picture with the public library so we could send that to my niece, who is a librarian. She thought it had a lot of character!

Then we went over to Cambridge City, which was equally charming. We had to track down some murals and find a few details about them. (This county has 80 some murals, I read, and we did do a small mural trail and found some cool ones!)

We visited Hagerstown, which is a town I'm pretty familiar with because a bunch of my dad's extended family members lived/live in that area. We drove past the funeral home and I said, "Hey! I think that's where my Grandma Freelan's viewing was." Now how in the world did I remember that building after TWENTY-SIX YEARS?

But even though I've been to Hagerstown many times, I'd never been to Abbott's Candy Shop, and it was on my list and on the scavenger hunt. (It was on the chocolate trail, too, so I already told you about it. But here's a reminder.)

And last but not least...we stopped in Fountain City on our way out of town. I'll tell you more about this visit another day, but our questions on this stop revolved around the Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historic Site, which we actually toured. (There is an admission fee on that one.) This was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Our tour guide was great and we learned a lot on this stop! 

So there you have it! The scavenger hunt layout! I thought it was a great idea of the county to put it together, and even though a few of the things were already in the plan for us when we went, some of them were new to me, and we wouldn't have seen them without the booklet as a guide. I also loved it that they made it fun to do even if you didn't want to/couldn't pay admission for things. And like I said - even with it being winter in a pandemic, most things were accessible. And actually, most were outside, so that made it even better! 

The Shafferland Shuffle

 

Well! This has not been a boring week AT ALL. So without further ado...

* Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, but it was also the WillowBridge Thanksgiving meal! Most of the churches around here are meeting only online right now, so we had church in the Community Room with the tenants and then got busy preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan actually did most of the cooking for it, and he did a great job!

* We left bright and early Monday morning for our anniversary trip! We drove in (very mild) snow all the way to our destination in Richmond, where we checked into that amazing Airbnb I showed you. We also enjoyed a stop on the chocolate trail and dinner at a BBQ restaurant! It was a great first day!

* Tuesday was the first day of December, and we packed it full of adventures on our trip. In addition to hitting some spots on the chocolate trail I told you about, we also worked on a county-wide scavenger hunt I haven't told you about yet. (But I will.) It was so much fun! We also enjoyed our free breakfast and coffee at the coffee shop attached to our Airbnb. Seriously some of the best lattes I've had.

* Wednesday was our 8th anniversary, and we had the best day together! More chocolate treats, more scavenger hunt finds...and all our annual traditions. Gifts, wedding video, sparkling grape juice, letters, pictures...and we had the PERFECCT day for it all. It was the only day out of our whole trip when we saw the sun!

* Thursday was our last day of vacation - always a sad day, right?? We packed up and moved out of our Airbnb and then enjoyed a few more stops on our way home. We also squeezed in a little history: toured the Levi Coffin house in Fountain City, which is just outside of Richmond. It was a stop on the Underground Railroad and we found it fascinating to see history right in front of us. And then...we came home. We had to jump back into working as soon as we walked in the door, which was a little sooner than we planned, but we were grateful for the time away!

* Friday was the Gateway Woods Christmas party, which I will have to tell you more about later, because it was seriously TOP NOTCH. They moved the entire thing to a virtual party with a party kit delivered in advance, and I was so impressed with all the creativity and work that went into it. We watched here in WillowBridge, along with Tim and Justine, and we had the best time! 

* We began the week with the WillowBridge Thanksgiving and ended it with decking WillowBridge's halls yesterday! We had SUCH a fun day together. We decorated the entry and tree - and even made ugly sweater Christmas cookies! (Saw them on an endcap in the store and bought them on a whim - and they ended up being a hit!) We thought the tree turned out pretty great! Nice job, team!

The Saturday Six

 

One.

Though it happened alllll the way back on Monday, we did end a month this week, which means it's time for another one-second-per-day clip of life in Shafferland!

Two.

I think this showed up on my Instagram feed this week, and it intrigues me. I've never heard of it, so obviously I don't know anyone who uses it. If you have, let me know if it has any staying power! It's nail polish made with fewer of the toxic chemicals and additives. I think I could be curious enough to try it!

Three.

Sure, this story is from pre-pandemic days, but I think we can all use a little feel-good story in weeks like this one, can't we? Check out this story of a teacher with a big heart and great idea!

Four.

I don't often eat at Taco Bell anymore, but back in the day when I frequented it, a Crunchwrap was one of my favorite menu items. Knowing that and my love of s'mores, does it surprise anyone that this s'more crunchwrap caught my eye??

Five.

You know I love Lindsay Letters art, and though I don't have this piece - yet - I think it's one of my favorite Christmas pieces she's ever done. Simple and beautiful!

Six.

And finally, today, some cozy ideas for stocking stuffers that are probably extra appropriate this year since we're all home! I feel like staying home is much more palatable when it's filled with coziness - how about you? 

92 County Tour: The Wayne County Chocolate Trail

Want to hear about one of our adventures while we were gone?? I am starting with this one because it was so unique!

If you're new here at the blog, you may not know that Ryan and I are in the middle of a multi-year project to visit every county in the state of Indiana. And I told you yesterday that we knocked out a county tour while we were gone, and this time, it was Wayne County, which is in the southeastern part of Indiana. Wayne County was named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who was an officer during the Revolutionary War. Ironically, there was also a fort named for General Wayne - which inspired the name of a city built around it: Fort Wayne. And the street where we stayed was called Fort Wayne Avenue, so everything just went full circle the entire time. Richmond also has a HUGE history with the Quaker (Friends) church, which is the denomination both Ryan and I grew up in, so that was another full circle moment for us on this trip. 

I have to give MAJOR credit to Wayne County for doing such a great job of making things available to do in their county - even in in the winter, and even in a pandemic. I believe this is county #33 for us in our visits, and while some counties have taken me FOREVER to plan, this one did most of the work for me. The chocolate trail was one of the things I found in my research, and it sounded fantastic to me!! And you want to know a secret? It was even better in real life than it seemed online. Take a look!

We stopped by the Visitor's Center in Richmond (which was VERY nice, by the way) and picked up a Chocolate Trail Passport. There's no charge for the passport, but you do have to have one to receive the free samples on the trail. We each received a passport, and then we each received samples everywhere we went! We loved it, because it took us into stores and restaurants we may not have otherwise visited, and we were able to help support local businesses while we were there. 

Here are the fun things we saw and tried!

Our first stop was Today's Harvest, which is actually just over the line into Ohio - but it's just outside of Richmond. It was a sweet store. They sold gifts, produce, donuts, ice cream, and even had a florist shop in the back! We purchased some Christmas gifts while we were there and had fun looking around. The people who worked inside were so friendly and talked to us about where we were from and our visit to Richmond. 

At this stop we had a choice between an ice cream containing chocolate or a donut with chocolate in it. We had JUST had ice cream for lunch, so we went with the donuts and ate them later for snacks. (I give two thumbs up to their donuts!) These have peanut butter icing, by the way. MMMMMM.

The next stop on the passport (though we did not do all the stops in order - or on the same day) was the Tin Cup Tea & Gift Shop. This was a really cute little shop with all kinds of tea and coffee related gift items - and actual tea for sale. It was right downtown in one of the old storefront type shops. 

The sample at this stop was a tea that included chocolate, and we chose peppermint chocolate tea. The lady in the shop was SO kind and we had the best time talking to her while we waited for her to made our tea. She poured a little sample into a cup for us to drink right then and then poured the remainder into to-go cups for us. As you know, we're coffee junkies, but we're not usually tea drinkers, so this was an extra good stop for us. It gave us the chance to try something different. We were able to get a Christmas gift while we were there, and the whole stop was a great experience.

One of the stops I was most excited about was this next one - and it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped, which made me sad. It was Ullery's Homemade Ice Cream, which I had read multiple reviews for as I planned our trip. Everyone raved about their experience there! Bonus: this was half a block from where we were staying, so we were able to walk down there! I had basically been holding out for this ice cream experience, because you KNOW how I love, love, love my ice cream. I made the mistake of not checking their actual website before we went (only their Facebook page) so I didn't realize you could ONLY go to the walk-up window. 

The night we walked down there was super cold and not conducive to standing outside to figure out what I wanted beyond the sample. (I had fully intended to get the complete Ullery's experience, but instead I just went with the sample so I could get back in the warmth!)

Our free sample was a scoop of chocolate ice cream, which was both plentiful and delicious, and we did enjoy it up in our Airbnb after scurrying back. Maybe someday, in a nonpandemic year, I can go back and try the full, sit-down, waffle-cone-included experience! 

Right before we came home, we checked out Bismarck Donuts, which was a surprise stop for me. I had planned out our vacation itinerary using the list of businesses I found online, and this one wasn't on there. Must be a recent addition? 

This was a cute little family owned and operated donut/coffee shop with really friendly workers. They were so kind to us! (They were also really kind to the poor lady ahead of us who spilled her entire coffee in her car when she left and kept running in for more paper towels to clean up.) 

We took the liberty of getting a couple of iced sugar cookies for the road, and those were YUMMY, as were our freebies of two chocolate round donuts. We ate those for dessert at lunch, and sadly this is the only picture of that I got. Ha! Sorry, Ryan! (My donut had sprinkles, but there's no evidence of it now. All gone.) 

(Our very last stop on our trip, though not the last one on the passport, was a bust for us. It was an Amish market where we were supposed to get a sample of homemade chocolate ice cream. They also sold sandwiches there, and we arrived at lunch time so we could get our lunch there to support them. When we went through the line for that, we asked the girl at the deli about the ice cream and she told us to ask at checkout because she didn't know. When we asked in checkout, that lady told us to get in line at the deli. Womp womp. I was super sad about it. So I have no report about that stop.)

But check out this one! We went to Warm Glow Candles, which is actually a place I've wanted to visit for a couple of years now. It's this HUGE candle store with an actual huge candle outside!

They had shelves and shelves of primitive candles inside, but they also had tons of gifts, and even a little cafe! (We didn't eat there.) They also had a whole section of vendor booths for gift items, and we were able to get some gifts and our Christmas ornament there.

Yes, this is a CANDLE I'm holding. Not a massive angel food cake loaf. 

Our gift at this location was a chocolate scented votive candle, which came in a glass jar, with a book of matches, all wrapped up in a bag! We were impressed! We probably could have spent a few more hours in this store, taking it all in, but we had a schedule to keep! (PS: staff was SUPER friendly. I really appreciated overhearing one of the guys who worked there honoring a price mistake for a customer ahead of us.)

Another fun stop was King's Cafe, in Cambridge City, which is just outside of Richmond. Talk about being loaded with character! This place was so Hallmarky. I LOVED it. Tons of character and charm. 

I wanted to take so many more pictures, but there were people at tables and I didn't want to appear creepy. I did NOT care, however, if this dinner-plate-sized cinnamon roll found me creepy. I REALLY wanted to buy this, but we didn't. 

(That muffin above it is jumbo, by the way.)

At this stop we were able to choose anything in the case that was chocolate themed, and the only thing in the case at that time that had chocolate was a chocolate chip muffin, so that was our winner! We actually used them for our anniversary cupcakes. (They basically were cupcakes minus the icing.) And the packaging was adorable. And the ladies working inside were so patient and kind. 

Just next door was a REALLY cool store that went on for several storefronts. Every time we thought we had reached the last section, it went a little farther! It's Building 125, and it's an antique shop! (Oh! And it has an upstairs and basement too, but we didn't have time to properly explore those.) We really loved their merchandise and had a great time looking around.

They did NOT give us antique chocolate - WHEW! But we found their sample really intriguing. It was a little bag of chocolate covered cherries...but the cherries were dried. So it was almost like a large chocolate covered raisin or other dried fruit. We thought they were really good - and unique!

Next stop? Abbott's Candies, which is a well-known chocolate shop in the little burg of Hagerstown. (I have family from Hagerstown, so it was not my first time to go there, but it WAS my first time to go to the candy shop.) The shop is in a building that used to be a church, and it has tons of charm and character. 

The lady we talked to in there was SO good at customer service and took great care of us. We actually got a free caramel (one of their specialties) for being a first time visitor and then a free milk chocolate cream for being on the chocolate trail. We also picked up a couple of gifts while we were there. My only sadness in this stop was that we weren't able to take a tour. They actually do tours, and I planned our whole trip around the time we would need to be there for it, but when Ryan called to make a reservation, they said they aren't doing them during the holidays. And then the lady in the shop told us you have to have at least ten people in your party for a tour. So that was sad, but the chocolate was still really delicious!

Last two mentions on the tour...there is a winery on the tour (A.R. Winery in Arcanum, Ohio, if you want to know) but we don't drink, so we skipped that stop. 

Because I had made my list off the internet list, we stopped in at this SUPER cute little store called The Village Forager. When we handed our passport to the owner to sign, she said, "What? I'm not on here!" Apparently they made a new version of the passport and forgot to include her! She was so glad I'd made my list from the web and she said she would call the Visitor's Center to see if they could fix it! 

We really loved looking around her cute store, which had all kinds of items. We bought a little treat for Abby the RV (we'll show you later) and had a great time talking with the owner! 

And our treat was SO CUTE! It's a turtle! (An actual chocolate turtle...in the shape of a turtle!)

So that was our experience on the chocolate trail. We loved everything about it. We loved all the friendly shop owners we met and talked to. We loved the treats that were beyond what we expected to receive. (We imagined true, tiny samples.) We loved being able to support small businesses, especially this year, when we know so many of them are hurting financially. 

Well done, Wayne County. This trail was a great way to promote your small businesses and saved me SO much time in planning our trip to your county!