October 2022 provided many glorious days for a drive along the backroads of Ohio. Today my goal was arrive in Mansfield by late afternoon to visit the Kingwood Center Gardens and their Great Pumpkin Glow. When weather is cooperative and time is not in short supply, I love to ignore the interstates and traverse my way via the state and county roads that crisscross the countryside. Rural America is at her finest here and although the growing season was over, plenty of farmers were out preparing their fields for the long winter to come. Yes I got lost once or twice but mostly because I was singing along to my iPod (yes, the Old Biddy is very old school) a bit louder than the GPS lady was speaking when she warned me of upcoming changes in our trajectory.
Traveling down roads mostly used for farmers, today there were plenty. Big tractor harvesters moving from field to field lumbering across huge fields of spent corn stalks and other crops awaiting tilling under for the winter. At one point a tractor was kicking up such dust across the road that I closed my windows and squinted my eyes to plunge through the brown storm purely upon sure supposition that the road was still on the other side. It felt as though I could travel miles without seeing another car or a house. For these types of "off the beaten path" excursions, I rely heavily on GPS to get me back on track and I find it works really well but sometimes a little late in tracking me so that I will occasionally miss a turn or two after having already passed up the intersection.
I changed my route a time or two along the way on this trip because although I’d left a bit earlier than anticipated, I spent a little more time at a craft show I happened upon at Norwayne High School in Creston where I happily wandered for an hour and spent a few dollars while stretching my legs. I wanted to leave enough time to make a stop at Grandpa’s Cheese barn in Ashland before they closed for the day (a lesson learned a few weeks ago coming up from a late evening return from Columbus). They close at 5pm most days, 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so plan accordingly.
Then, still learning I would be arriving about an hour earlier than my 4:30 tickets I made a small side trip to see the Richland County Carousel. I’m in love with this little bit of carousel history and stop by every time I’m near Mansfield. Today the pavilion was filled with families enjoying the great fall weather and kids riding the carousel, some in costume enjoying the Halloween festivities.
As usual I am taken with the architecture of the town and wish to have an extra hour or two just wander and take photos. Today I ended up spending too much time watching the kids enjoy the carousel. So on to my destination.
Mansfield is mostly known for being home to the Mansfield Reformatory also known as The Ohio State Reformatory. There you can stroll the halls and visit the cells of some of history's toughest criminals and tour the intact set of The Shawshank Redemption. I highly recommend visiting this location, it's very educational and thought provoking. But if garden strolling is more to your liking, make your way over to Kingwood Center Gardens. Kingwood Center opened as a public garden in October 1953. Through the years, Kingwood Center Gardens has grown significantly and has become increasingly renowned for horticultural excellence, historical significance, and community engagement. With the addition of the Garden Gateway visitor center and expanded garden features in 2020, Kingwood renewed its commitment to provide transformative guest experiences within its exquisite garden estate.
The Gardens were prepared for a crowd and had shuttle busses running to the nearby high school parking lot, which is where I parked. A quick ride later and I was among lots of families with costumed children in tow flowing through the gate to the gardens. First up was the Rose Garden which is situated just inside the main gate and highlights pest and disease resistant varieties complimented by woody shrubs, perennials, and annuals. At this time of year, not many roses were in bloom but one of the resident peacocks was in the garden strutting around looking for a handout.
Although there were a lot of people in attendance there were plenty of quiet areas of the grounds to sit on a bench and watch the kids enjoy themselves. At one point I was standing just outside of the formal garden path and a hawk flew in front of me to land in the shrubbery and leaves. I stood quietly for a few moments and it flew back out nearly bowling me over in it's haste. It was pretty awesome.
If you want to see all my photos from this trip,
click here.
As evening dusk rolled in I made my way to the Garden Gateway visitors center to stroll through the Garden Café and the Gift Shop. If you're hungry during your visit this is the place to come for a bite to eat. As today was a special event a food truck was set up to help feed the crowds. This is also where you will enter the Gardens on a normal visit since it's just off the parking lot and main entrance.
Make time during your visit to see the Courtyard Complex. The greenhouse and a group of buildings surrounding the brick courtyard were originally built as the service area for the Kingwood Estate. After opening to the public, they were adapted to host Kingwood Center Gardens public activities. Today, with many recent improvements, the buildings are known as the Display Greenhouse, Carriage House, and Roost Hall. They all share the bricked and shaded courtyard, a favorite venue for indoor/outdoor events. Today the courtyard was filled with kids getting their faces painted, bobbing for apples and in general enjoying the Halloween weekend. The greenhouse was decked out with carved pumpkins and colored lighting and some pretty amusing pumpkin creatures.
Before leaving I always stop by the Duck Pond and feed the birds and fish. Generally this is also the optimum place to encounter the resident peacock and peahens where they have been known to squat on top of cars in the nearby parking lot where guests have to bribe them down so they can leave.
Find out more about Kingwood Center Gardens by visiting: https://kingwoodcenter.org/
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