Cache Adventures : 4th of July Weekend

Last year, Adam and I wanted to have a little getaway for Fourth of July. He was off for the holiday and we wanted to do some exploring. We decided a combination of geocaching, visiting historical sites, and camping was the way to go. So we headed south into the area around New Philadelphia, Ohio, where the Tuscawaras River runs wide and mighty.

Geocaching bag

Old, Ohio flags

Our first stop was Fort Laurens, a tiny park on the Towpath in Bolivar, Ohio. Though it was small it was still awesome. It was fun to learn about the old fort. There was a geocache on site and a couple more down along the towpath.

Next up was Schoenbrunn, a Moravian mission settled among the Delaware Indians. It's a really cool, old village surrounded by a primitive wood fence...the fence was important because life stock roamed the village freely. It was a really interesting little site with a great museum where I learned a TON! Adam, as usual, was already familiar with most of the details of the village and history.

We decided we'd like to live in this house.

As for the camping, we ended up staying at Wood's Tall Timber Resort, just outside of New Philadelphia. Honestly, it was not our first choice of place to stay, because it seemed like there was much more going on than we wanted. However, the other couple of options never bothered to answer their phones or reply to my e-mails, so we ended up at Wood's. Conclusion : totally worth it!

Wood's is the kind of place where people park their camper all summer and either live out there or weekend out there throughout the summer. Some moms stayed their full time with the kids and then dads would visit on the weekend. The entire resort is a big valley with all of the fun action happening in the base of the valley. The camper sites are near the base of the valley, and the tent sites are further up the sides of the valley...which means, it's pretty damn good exercise for walking around! There is a pond for swimming, fishing, and paddle boating. There's a concession stand. There's a playground with a stage for live entertainment. There's a zip line and lots of other things to do. It's a VERY happening place that was just a little too crowded for our tastes, but totally fun. We highly recommend this place!

We ended up having a good holiday weekend, getting to know another little part of Ohio and learning a lot about the history of Ohio. It was just exactly what we wanted and totally fun. If you're ever looking for an affordable weekend away from home, I suggest the New Philadelphia/Dover area. It's a great little area with lots to do!