Grandpa's Cheese Barn

When you say the Grandpa's Cheese Barn, you are either mentally conjuring up a dilapidated old red barn that might be missing a few boards, with a couple of cow roaming around outside and looking a little sketchy or you are thinking about one of the hidden gems of Ohio.

Not Sketchy and Not a Red Barn!

Grandpa's Cheese Barn is like someone read my diary and discovered the way to my heart was through tourist attractions, cheese products and fart jokes. Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland, Ohio covers all three.  Their mascot might be my new favorite mouse mascot.   The facility is neat and orderly and full of humor and food.  There was a little something for everyone there, even if cheese isn't your thing. (I am not judging, we have some dairy intolerant individuals in my family.)  

Colby! Perfect mascot name!

There were samples of  most items, which is extremely effective in convincing a person to try something, and the prices were modest. My husband totally decided he needed to come home with teriyaki beef jerky after a single sample. One of my favorite sections aside from the cheese, tea, jerky, snack food and chocolates, is the gift shop. I love a good gift shop, and the cheesier the items the better.  Their gift shop has a wide variety of shirts and other sundry items.  The thing that stole the show for me were the post cards. 

Some lucky people are getting this postcard from me!

I know that sending physical mail is an archaic form of communication, but I love it.  I love sending mail, I love receiving mail. When a gift shop has post cards, that is one of the first things I check out.  Postcards are a wonderful souvenir to remember where you have been, and often times have a picture on it that is way better then I could have taken.   Grandpa's Cheese Barn did not fail me.  They had their signature joke on their postcard and a postcard with their mousey mascot. It was a double win for me.  I picked up at least half a dozen postcards to send, mixed in with the cheese curds I couldn't live without and tea, jerky, t-shirt and soap that needed to be rescued.  The only thing that I couldn't not find in the gift shop were magnets. They might have been there, but I honestly think I was a bit distracted with amount of excitement I had coursing through me.  Grandpa's Cheese Barn is a dream.  It is one of those places that you thought was made up for television and then realize that this is better than any TV fantasy. T

If you happen to be in Ohio and see and exit for Grandpa's Cheese Barn, I would recommend stopping. The cheesy goodness that oozes out of that place is beyond belief!

Longwood Garden Souvenir

I love to travel.  Museums, Botanical Gardens and cheesy roadside attractions are my bread and butter for a good vacation.  Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Longwood Gardens with myself husband, and while the gardens are magnificent and beautiful it lacked one thing.   I love souvenirs. I love the magnets that you can put on your fridge and the post cards that you can send to friends and family and even the occasional tee shirt that has logos on it. 

Longwood Gardens has beautiful vistas, lovely terrains, a friendly conservatory cat and is rich in history.  The gift shop has a wide variety of plants and gardening based items that can easily be purchased, but if you were looking for something a little more plebeian such as a magnet to grace your refrigerating unit, you will be flat out of luck.  Not everyone has garden space to bring home a lovely rose bush or would be interested dried mushrooms for soup.  Sometimes a person just wants a magnet and a couple of post cards. 

Never fear Longwood Gardens, I am here for you.  Here are a couple of magnet ideas based off of some recent pictures. Think about and get back to me if you are interested.