Y’all, I am beat. I have been adventuring since about 8:30am this morning, when I popped into a Lyft and headed to the first of four stops in Stark County, Ohio, today: the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Now, I am not a football girlie at all. In fact, football is the only professional sport that I haven’t seen live. (Baseball is my favorite, followed by Hockey, and then Basketball. I don’t know why y’all need to know this information. I just like ranking things, okay?) However, I know the Pro Football Hall of Fame is Canton, Ohio’s No. 1 claim to fame, so I had to check it out.
Also, I feel like I’d be letting down my buddy Ron Trosper if I didn’t check it out. So I did!
When I arrived, I checked in at the ticket desk and, since I had a meeting, they asked me to check in at a little kiosk thingie. It was easy peasy, and as I waited for my meeting partner to, uh, meet me, I watched the people move in and out of the lobby. Everyone looked happy and excited. I overheard workers talking about the hundreds of elementary schoolers who would be descending on the museum in an hour or so.
Then the person I was meeting appeared and asked what I wanted to see. I was very honest and said, “I don’t really know. I’m not a football girlie. However, I love seeing what other people love about the place they work.”
He got a big smile on his face and said, “I know exactly what to show you.”
It started with one thing, the new Super Bowl winner display that they were in the middle of installing for an official reveal later that evening, then expanded into two, then three, then five. It was cute how excited this grown man was to show me things at his work. It really tickled me.
The Things I Liked Best
Before I share some pics with you from my adventures, I’ll tell you about some of the things I liked seeing at the Football Museum:
- All the old uniforms
- The stand in the Super Bowl trophy
- Every single Super Bowl Ring ever
- It tickled me that many of them were made by Jostens, the same people who made my class ring in 1995
- The Hall of Heads (there is an official name that I will look up if I officially write about this)
- This could have been creepy, but the calmness of the room and luxe lighting really worked for this space
- I asked about the artists who created these busts and learned that they were all made by the same artist, who had only recently begun allowing apprentices to help him.
- All of the old programs, souvenirs, and whatnot
- The things where they had body parts of famous footballers for you to compare your own body parts to
- My hands are small, y’all.
- The display of every single Madden NFL Video Game, with a little station to play ‘em if you wanted
- Not one, but two Emmys
- The shoes. I took so many pics of shoes.
- The hot dog in the cafe. It was good as fuck, y’all. Perfectly cooked, juicy, with a snap, and a sharp, savory flavor.
Here are my pics, shoes, and hot dog included:
There is also a full-on stadium there, and I think it would be neat to see a game there one day.
After my sports adventure, I hopped into a Lyft (sponsor me, plz) and went in search of a Candy adventure. Now, despite having a WONDERFUL time here, I didn’t take as many photos, and the reason for that is simple: This was a working candy factory, and photos were NOT allowed.
The tour was amazing, though. Fannie May Chocolates started in Chicago over 100 years ago. Now, they are all made in an over 200,000-square-foot facility in North Canton, Ohio. As a candymaker myself, I was fascinated watching these folks make candies I know and love. Today, I saw them making Goobers and Butterfinger Bells, two candies now under the Fannie May (Ferrero!!!!!) umbrella.
My tour guide was INTO what she was talking about, y’all, and that is my favorite thing to experience. I love loving things, so it makes sense that I love it when other people love things too. She told me that Fannie May is one of the top 2 chocolate manufacturers in the world. How cool is that?
Durig our tour, she told me about the groups of kids that come through on field trips and the things they notice that adults do not… like noticing when a chocolate comes off the line without a wrapper, and then having the patience to wait to see the wrapper come through the line, candy-less, and then the conders they wondered, trying to figure out what exactly happened to make that happer.
She explained to me the different-colored hard hats and what each meant. And showed me how seriously they take peanut allergies, including a whole separate (huge) room, and different-colored hard hats that weren’t used anywhere else.
Feelin’ Good About Buying Chocolate
I silently noticed the camaraderie among the employees on the line. They seemed like a true team that really cared about what they were doing. I mean, they were making candy, so I get it. It’s important work. At one point in our tour, I commented that I was surprised by how many human touchpoints there were on the line, which was very mechanical.
She told me that this was one of the things she was most proud of. Those touchpoints exist so those people can keep their jobs, feed their families, and have a good quality of life. They run 3 shifts a day, Monday through Friday. Four hours on one candy, four hours on another candy, and then to their home lives. When there comes a choice of chocolate candies and anything under the Fannie May umbrella is available, I will hear her words in my head and reach for the Fannie May.
This includes Laffy Taffy, which made me excited as hell. My tour guide loves the jokes, and this really tracks with her personality. She was a literal delight, and I truly loved my time on this tour. It was like I Love Lucy and Willy Wonka had a baby. It was neat how much of what she taught me I already knew from my own candy-making. I feel like I always surprise myself when I know things.
I couldn’t take pics on the tour, but I did get some gift shop pics. AND! If you want to do the tour, you totally can. It’s free and worth the hour of your time, for sure.
I left with a little bag of chocolates, ready for my next adventure.
Now, something I haven’t mentioned yet. It was rainy in Canton, Ohio, today. So when I got dropped off at my next location, in what felt like a random warehouse area, and it was raining, I panicked a little bit. I huddled under an overhang with a sign for Route 666 and called my contact. She immediately figured out where I was (“Where are you?” she asked. “I dunno, I said, but I think I see Alec Baldwin from Beetlejuice through a door.” Spoiler alert: it was not Alec Baldwin, but a bloody pig in overalls.)
My friend Aubz has been telling me that she felt that I’d find a hidden gem on this trip, and this might have been it, y’all. My next stop was a double tour of the Factory of Terror and the Ohio Christmas Factory. As a lover of everything Halloween Horror Nights, I was very excited about the Halloween portion of the events, and I just tacked on the Christmas part because it was near.
The twinkly lights got me, y’all. Like, I am legit thinking about asking Mickey to plan a trip back down to Canton to visit the Ohio Christmas Factory during the holiday season. In its full glory, I imagine it might be one of the most magical places in the country.
Let me explain.
So, you know how Halloween Horror Nights is this big takeover of Universal Studios with multiple haunted houses, and bars, and music, and photo opps, and immersive adventures? This is that, but indoors and cheaper, and incredibly thoughtful. The woman who gave me a tour was so passionate about this place and all the detail that went into the decor, the drinks, the flow, and, most importantly to me, her customers. She talked about how the Factory of Terror grew organically and is now the biggest indoor haunt in the entire country. There are multiple haunted areas, themed as good, if not better. The detail that goes into this event is astounding.
Here are some pics:
See those portholes up there? Those are from the pirate bar in the Factory. They hired a AV artist to create scenes that make it feel like you’re actually on the high seas. Then she started telling me how they flipped some of the sections for the Christmas Factory portion of events. The pirate ship got a holiday makeover, and the Bourbown Street haunt turned into a Victorian holiday celebration.
Then I got to see some of the permanent displays, and that was it for me; I was in love. And it wasn’t even done yet. Some of the trees and display items were covered in plastic bags, but the magic was barely diminished. I was in love with this place, y’all. I had to rein in my giddiness because this lady did not know me. She has no idea how much I love things. And I loved the Ohio Christmas factory A LOT, y’all.
Their vision is so strong. It’s the same thing as the Factory of Terror, but for the holidays. There are sections for indoor snowball fights, singing reindeer, store window displays, so many holiday trees, and a whole-ass gingerbread house that you can walk through. It even has a gingerbread garage with a gingerbread car parked outside.
She told me they sometimes buy fully fabricated pieces from overseas, but for the most part work with local artists, whom they employ (not contract), to create the magical, transformative wonderlands. She was particularly proud of the frosting crown molding on the Gingerbread house, which is something I might consider in the future. It was so cute.
Her passion for what she does is clear. She wants people to have a good time and see cool things—my kind of people, my kind of place. I got to see where the magic was made, and now I want all y’all to come with me to see it in action one day. Let’s plan a trip, okay? Okay.
These photos do not do it justice, and I really had to rein myself in, because I am not exaggerating when I say I was in love with this place. I mean, just look at it!!!!
That dark pic at the bottom is an exterior wall of the gingerbread house, with spray foam as frosting. It’s so effective. I loved this place so much, y’all. It filled me with childlike wonder and made me so happy.
And finally, my last stop of the day was a winery. All day, when my other tour guides asked me what else I was doing, I mentioned Gervasi Vineyard, and they said, “Oh, that place is stunning.”
They were right. I dumbley had the wrong lens on my camera for this stop, because I thought I’d be doing sweeping vistas of grapes and whatnot, but the rain did not cooperate. So all my pics here are awkward, and I apologize. I’m still learning my fancy camera.
There was so much to see at this stunning vineyard.
- A spa
- Some incredible hotel rooms
- A couple of restaurants
- The cave (my fave spot)
- A luxurious gift shop
- Some villas
- A gorgeous conservatory
- Squirrel friends
- So many different birds
I learned the owner bought it less than a month after he retired from an industrial career. It started with one converted barn and some barrels and has expanded into a huge, stunning property. The space grew organically, as more and more customers visited, more and more things were added.
I’ll show you my awkward pics of the space, and then I will talk about my dinner, because I had a glorious meal at this glorious winery.
Oh, two things before I start babbling about the food:
- I asked the head winemaker about my trouble finding Chablis. The consensus was that because it is such a small region, it’s simply harder to come by.
- And I was obsessed with the crispness of the bedding, my tour guide was very proud of it. Apparently, a lot of research was done before deciding on them. I gotta find some for myself.
So, dinner. Dinner was as incredible as you’d expect. I started with Crispy Risotto Cakes with arugula and a sun-dried pesto aioli. I was gonna save some to bring back to the room, but they were too perfect. I did, however bring home a bottle of Port.
I followed them up with some Short Rib Gnocchi, which was unreal. The depth of flavor in this dish was so, uh, deep, and full, and hit so many different flavor notes.
Now, dessert was a big choice. There was a special lemon pavlova that sounded incredible, but something else caught my attention… and it was on the appetizer menu, too.
Behold my Crispy Fig Crostatas.
They have:
- dried figs
- cream cheese
- roasted walnuts
- clover honey
- vanilla ice cream
These were so good, but I was so full, y’all. SO FULL. I forced myself to eat 2.5, and then I had to tap out. I wish I had another one here to nosh on right now, though. These were an incredible dessert that I am gonna try to recreate at home. Ooh, maybe in lollipop form one day. This is a great idea.
Instead, I am snacking on chocolates from my welcome gift box, rewatching Heated Rivalry, and preparing for another day of adventures tomorrow.
The theme is: First Ladies and Art! See y’all back here tomorrow night (or whenever you are reading this?!)
Thanks for reading, as always, and so sorry this is so terribly long.
