Day 4 - Fish Freak Show

When I started this project, my friend Becky joked that I should include geocaching but leave out the "fish freak show."  But how could I?  Really, it's Linesville's claim to fame.  When my family vacationed here when I was a child, we of course visited the spillway every year.  When I finally moved here, my students informed me that the Linesville Spillway, where the ducks walk on the fishes' backs, is the second most visited tourist attraction in Pennsylvania.  I haven't been able to find an official source that verifies that fact, but many sources say that there are over 500,000 visitors per year.  An article in this season's "What's Happening" features an interview with Sarah Juracko, who now runs the spillway consession area.  She says that she sells 6000 pounds of buns and loaves of bread a week.  And all those people go to see the loads of carp fight over the bread thrown to them.  Sometimes we go to get rid of the brick-hard, almost moldy bread and buns I find on top of my fridge.

There was a time not too long ago, that it was about to be forbidden to feed the fish bread.  The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources proposed the ban in an attempt to control the goose population in the park.  Those guys can leave quite a mess.  There was such an uproar that an article detailing the controversy appeared in the New York Times.  And after over 300 people showed up at a public meeting to voice their concern over the possible ban, the issue was tabled and seems to have gone away.

But enough about that.  The Linesville Spillway is one unusual attraction.  The image of all those fish flapping in the water or their open mouths following you as you walk down the walkway is one you will never forget.  I also get the sense that there is a bit of nostalgia involved, at least there is for me.  It's something I did as a kid, and it's something I like to share with my own kids.  Or, as Jim says, it's a nice way to kill about 30 minutes, which is what we did today before we headed to Grove City to have dinner with my sister and her kids.

Amazing, isn't it?

The Spillway has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation.  Money well spent.  It's beautiful.

Had to include a picture with fish AND ducks and geese.

Jordan tries to see things from a different point of view.

This may  be the best picture yet.  Not sure that I've ever been this close to a blue heron.

Day 3 - Linesville Community Public Library

Wednesday might be my favorite day in the summer.  The Linesville Community Public Library has an awesome summer reading program.  It is not unusual to have over 30 children show up for storytime at 10 AM.  The children hear a story, do a small craft, and have a snack - all in an hour.  Ben still likes to go - and he's going into 5th grade.  They have about 15 prizes displayed, and the kids earn tickets for chances to win by reading.  Jordan, who is going into 2nd grade,  needs to read an hour to earn a ticket.  He will sit and read book after book until he reaches an hour - and does this several times a week.  It's awesome to see (and hear).  They have done some really great things for story hour over the past few years - special speakers, animals, field trips to the creek, etc.  At the end of July, they do a special party with snacks and a special activity or entertainment, and they raffle off the prizes.  On Fridays there is a special craft program for kids in grades 4 - 6.  Ben does this, too.  He is actually a little old for the storytime, but he goes to help Jordan and keep him company (wink).  The library is such a part of my summer - I can check out magazines and movies as well.

The town of Linesville is quite quaint - really worth just taking a stroll down the main road (rte. 6).  There are three stores in a row that help to create the charm.  First there is Ginny's Bulk Foods - a little shop that sells spices, nuts, sugars, flours, all kinds of baking and cooking things.  When I needed sugary decorations for an ocean-themed cake, I knew this was the place to go.  I stopped in today for those cinnamon-sugared almonds you can buy at craft fairs.  Yum.  I was greeted by red, white, and blue candies and baking supplies, just in time for the holiday.  You can also buy fresh honey peanut butter - made right in front of your eyes.   Next door is Rebecca's Family Restaurant.  Great food served with a smile in a beautifully decorated country-style restaurant.  Next door to that is Treasured Gifts, a wonderful country gift shop.  It is run by Patti Ryckman, who opened the store in 2002.  I remember it well - her two sons, who were students of mine, worked hard to help renovate the space.  I am so happy to see how successful she's become - such a lovely family. By the way, they are having an Independence Day Sale this weekend - 25 percent off everything.  Down the street is a new consignment shop called Flip-Flopps.  I didn't have time to stop, but the window dressings made it look very enticing.  Across the street is the Laughing Duck Book Store, always a good place to stop to find a good read for a great price.

Down the road, though I would drive and not walk, is Ray's Marketplace, the local grocery store owned by David Ray, an amazing family man.  He coached my son's baseball team last year and was always so positive and kind.  One day last summer when we were in his store, he let my sons go in the back with him and help him make meatballs.   They still talk about it.  You can find most anything you need here, and they have the best prices on meat.

There are more treasures in Linesville, and I know I have not covered them all.  But by walking around this town, you can really get a sense of the appeal of small-town life.  It's especially nice to see the American flags displayed on the telephone poles, and when there is an Amish horse and buggy tied to one of the poles, I can't help but to smile.  It's good to feel that happy over the simple things in life.

And for you geocachers, there is a two-step geochache here at the library!

By the way, yes, I realize that I have not talked about the Linesville Spillway, yet - that deserves its own entry, and Ben made me promise to not go there today since he was at basketball camp and could not go with us.

Day 2 - Is it possible to blow it on Day 2???

Let's just say the phrase of the day is "I should have known..."

The day opened with such possibility.  Tuesday is a good day around here for cheap family activities.  My friend Jamie invited us to go to Olympic Fun Center in Hermitage (about 45 minutes away) http://www.olympicfuncenter.com/cgi-bin/bin/sys/seekup-tz.cgi.  It's free on Tuesdays from 12 - 4 to skate and play.  Can't beat that.  But Ben is going to basketball camp at the YMCA this week, and he was not done until noon.  Also, we were helping out a friend by keeping his kids today.  So Olympic Fun Center was not to be.  Tuesday is also bargain day at the movies - $5.00 tickets with free popcorn.  However, Jordan has a birthday party there on Friday, and I am sure we will all go, so I did not want to go to the movies twice in one week.  There seemed to be a problem with every idea I came up with...here goes...I should have known that it would be a bit of a challenge to find something to write about.  But really, did I want to blow it on day 2?  I had to come up with something.

Really, though, today was one of those days that hanging around the house was the thing to do.  We were watching a friend's kids, but really, it was just nice for my kids to have company and friends to play with.  Jordan played and played and played for like 9 hours straight with neighborhood kids, swimming, riding bikes, playing baseball in the yard.  Ben came home from basketball, ate lunch and went to a friend's house for the afternoon.  Kids being kids - what summer is about.  I should have let that be enough for today.  I should have known not to push it.

But...it's only DAY 2 - I HAD to have some fun family time.  So we attempted to do that after dinner.  My first idea - I have always wanted to pick our own strawberries, and our time is running out for this year.  The problem?  I have no idea where to do that.  C'mon...this is the country - there HAS to be a place.  Our friend Steve told us there was a place on Norrisville Road to do that, so we set off to find it.   Well, we found it, alright, but it was not a pick your own place.  The nice little Amish boy on a bike told us to come back tomorrow and he would sell us some.  Oh, well, so much for strawberry picking.  And by the fighting coming from the back seat, I should have known that it was time to give up for the day.

But NO...it's still day 2, and I was not ready to give up.  We still had our fallback activity when we need to get out on a beautiful evening - geocaching!  If you don't already know, geocaching is like a treasure hunt.  You go online to get GPS coordinates to hidden caches that contain small items for trading. (http://www.geocaching.com/) I love geocaching because it takes you into beautiful places that perhaps you may not have ventured to otherwise.  And I just happened to have been ready for plan B.  However ready we were to go, we were certainly not PREPARED to go.  Geocaching can take you to some remote, wooded places; the one we were looking for tonight was called the Hartstown Swamp Geocache.  I should have known by the name and the location that we would encounter bugs, and lots of them.  Did we have bug spray?  No.  Was the geocache close to where were able to park?  No.  By then, Jordan was complaining he was bored (really...after playing ALLLLL day, you're going to complain you are bored!?)  Ben's eye was bothering him (remnants of pinkeye?  allergies?), and he was actually crying and complaining - my eye hurts....ow, I'm getting bit...I hate these bugs...there is nothing more annoying than gnats.  Really?  I can think of something.  With .35 of a mile to go to find the geocache, Ben and I returned to the car, and Jim and Jordan pressed on, only to return to the car without having found it.  They could not stand still long enough without getting eaten alive. 

Today began as a beautiful day with neighborhood kids playing and neighborhood adults hanging out.  We should have known to leave well enough alone.

Above are pictures of Hartstown Swamp.  It's a great walk for another day when we are wearing jeans and have bug spray.

Day 1 - Canoeing at Pymatuning State Park

Best garage sale buy of last season - a 15 foot aluminum Grumman canoe for $100.   Really, there is not much that is better than being out on a lake on a breezy 75-degree day.  What I like about a canoe is that you can get to some cool places.  Today we paddled around a little island in Pymatuning Lake just across from the marina at the End of the Road beach in Linesville.  I thought it would be cool to actually get out and walk on the island, but there was too much poison ivy for that.  We did, however, pull into a shallow spot right at the edge and the boys got out and played.  How cool is that?  Right out in the middle of the lake!

Now, I like a canoe...as a side note, I hope to tone up my arms a bit this summer by using it.  But I totally understand if putting forth that much effort in a boat is not your thing.  A pontoon ride would be nice too.  Don't have a boat?  You can rent one for pretty cheap - a canoe is $8 for the first hour and $4 for each hour after.  Also, there are weekday specials Monday - Friday.  You can actually rent a pontoon boat all day for under $100.

There are many marinas and beaches in Pymatuning State Park.  I like the End of the Road in Linesville.  After the boat ride, we stopped at the beach.  The boys played in the water some more before we had to leave.  If we had had more time, the boys could have also played in the small park.  There is also a picnic pavilion, a sand volleyball court, and nice restroom facilities.  Okay, here comes the nostalgia.  It is so sad to me that more people do not use this beautiful place.  As kids, the beach would be bustling with people who chose to take their vacations there...lifeguards, concession stands, people.  Today, one other family. 

There is more to say about Pymatuning and Linesville, but I'll leave that for another day.

A Challenge

Okay, so my husband wakes up every so often with these "ideas" that he HAS to tell me about immediately before they go the way of those dreams that you feel like you have to write down before they're gone.  We're visiting family in Oklahoma, and he tells me about one of these ideas that I have to try...around the lake in 30 days.  What if I started a blog where I wrote about all there is to do around the Conneaut Lake area?  I could do something fun each day with my kids and then write about it.  My first reaction was to ignore the suggestion.  Yep, it's a good idea, but he's a great writer.  If he thinks it's such a good idea, then why doesn't he do it?  Well, there are lots of answers to that question.  So, I started to give it some thought.  There really are several reasons why this idea makes sense.

1.  I have two kids, 10 and 6, and if I don't do fun things with them sometimes, they fight and get on my nerves.
2.  I'm cheap, sort of.  I like to do things that don't cost much money.  I don't work in the summer, and if I did everything I wanted to do that looked fun, I'd be poor.
3.  I like the challenge of finding something different to do every day.
4.  As much as I say I like to relax, truly I don't think I'm happy unless I've got some type of project going on.
5.  This really is a pretty cool place to live.

So there you have it.  I'm going to try to keep a record of the fun things my family does this summer.  Not that anyone will ever read this, but we'll see.  Oh, and I decided to call it Around the Lakes in 30 Days because I wanted to be able to include things we do that are within about an hour's drive of here, and that would include Conneaut Lake, Pymatuning Lake, and Lake Erie, at least.

Well, we are off to do our first fun thing - canoeing on the lake.  Which one?  I'm not sure yet.  I'll let you know when we get back!