By Lynda Nemeth, co-owner Discover My Cleveland
Have you ever been driving down the road and noticed something new? It may catch your eye the first day or two that you drive by it and then it eventually becomes part of your daily landscape, and you quit noticing. Sadly, this is how a lot of us live our lives, and it’s not until you take someone else down that road with you that you begin to see things in a whole new light.
Discover My Cleveland has brought a lot of tours out to Geauga County over the past summer months. Our typical route from Cleveland is Rt 90 into Chardon pointing out the bike trail, that we will encounter and crossover throughout our day in various parts of the county. We talk about Chardon Square, the historic courthouse, and all the great events that take place on that square. Onward to Burton, where we encounter the fairgrounds, with the grandstand proudly proclaiming, “Oldest Fair in the State.” I highlight the Burton Log Cabin and talk about maple sugaring and Pancake town USA.
We then roll toward Middlefield where we start encountering Amish buggies, and I point out things like the hitching rails & buggy parking, and how Middlefield is the ‘Fourth largest Amish community in the World.’ I love seeing our little community through the eyes of these tourists who are in awe of everything, and always have lots of questions.
Throughout the course of the day, we visit several businesses, and they get to meet many people of our community. Everyone is always gracious, and very willing to meet visitors and even answer questions about the community, and their culture. As we drive down the back roads people wave greetings, and other cars give the bus a wide berth and will patiently go around while we stop to point out a sugarhouse or that four horse hitch in the field.
For me, the highlights of these trips are hearing the comments from our visitors. They are amazed by the things that I take for granted every day. They tell me how fortunate I am to have grown up in a place like this. To have a childhood out in the country, where I could run down the street and play with my neighbors, both ‘English’ & Amish. Getting ‘wild’ meant driving the pony through the field. They comment on the lack of graffiti on the buildings, the lush greenery, the adequate water supply to keep our crops thriving and the fact that there is no garbage along our roadsides. They mention the many wide variety of businesses and industry, and the fact there are no gates or bars on their doors and windows, they were in disbelief at the wonderful produce along the roadside available ‘on the honor system’… things that we all probably take for granted.
They’ve also pointed out to me the pride that they hear in my voice in talking about my community… and for that I am thankful. I’m thankful for them bringing new awareness to my eyes on all of the things I take for granted throughout the year. I am thankful for the everyday beauty, the plentifulness of fresh farm products, and the kind people in the community where I live… and for those are things that we should all be thankful for.
Lynda Nemeth is the co-owner of Discover My Cleveland, a Destination Management Company dedicated to increasing the economic impact of tourism to NE Ohio area, through group travel. For more information on Discover My Cleveland call 216-369-9399 or visit DiscoverMyCleveland.com
