Explore Geauga County in Drive-it-Yourself Tour
Put your foot to the pedal and take in the sights, sounds and tastes of Geauga County Saturday during the Spring Drive-it-Yourself Tour.
Put your foot to the pedal and take in the sights, sounds and tastes of Geauga County Saturday during the Spring Drive-it-Yourself Tour.
Being National Tourism Week, a good way to celebrate could be exploring the nooks and crannies of the county 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., said Lynda Nemeth, spokesperson for the Geauga County Tourism Office.
Her group has mapped out a drive-it-yourself tour with 25 stops at locally owned independent businesses each offering something special from food samples to discount coupons and spring plants to golf rounds.
It’s definitely worth it, said Sandy Pavick, of Newbury Township.
During last year’s tour, she led a group comprised of 13 members of her church, Mayfield United Methodist Church in Chester Township, many of whom live in Eastern Cuyahoga County.
“They had never been to Middlefield before and had definitely never shopped at an Amish store before,” she said. “We ate lunch at the Crossroads Country Cafe and they loved watching an Amish woman prepare their meal.”
She said the tour was a great way to introduce her friends to Geauga County.
“It was great fun to take them to a few places where I regularly shop, such as White House Chocolates and the Middlefield Cheese Co-op,” she said.
Pavick’s group visited 10 of the 25 stops, qualif-ying them for a prize drawing at the conclusion of the tour.
At each stop, they got their tour card stamped along with receiving free samples and discounts on items.
Among the places they visited was a rug shop where they received decorative pins to wear.
“I still see some of the ladies wearing their pins to church,” Pavick said.
At the end of the day, they entered their stamped cards in the drawing and Pavick’s card was pulled for the second place prize.
It was a gift basket worth $375 in items and gift cards from the merchants.
Several items in the basket that stand out were tickets to a play in Madison, a gift card for the Red Maple Inn, a gift card for fresh meat at a meat store and, of course, a quart of locally produced maple syrup.
“It was wonderful,” Pavick said. “I enjoyed the prizes all year and still have one more gift card I need to use before we take the tour this year.”
The tour also benefitted the parti-cipating merchants. Pavick said many of the members of her church have gone back to visit some of the shops.
“They are return customers and have taken their friends there,” she said.
Pavick plans to lead her church group on this year’s tour.
“We’re very excited about it,” she said. “They’ve added some new stops we want to check out. We want to visit the Amish Bakery and Craft stop and have the opportunity to go inside an Amish home for tea and sandwiches.”
This year’s tour features a “Feeding Geauga County’s Economy” theme encouraging participants to shop locally and support local businesses, Nemeth said.
The tour ends at 3 p.m. at Middlefield Market with music by Northern Comfort Band, snacks, a silent auction and the drawing for the gift baskets, which begins at 4 p.m.
Participants must be present to win.
A list of the all the stops and maps are available at tourgeauga.com, by calling the tourism office at 440-632-1538 or at any of the participating locations.
