Small Town Living

So last weekend we took a short little road trip on Sunday. It was so nice. Just the 5 of us and no grand agenda. David was headed to hear some lecture at a museum called The Works in Newark, Ohio. The girls and I of course had ZERO interest in the lecture itself. I think it was titled something like "1-million-and-1-ways-to-bore-yourself-senseless-listening-to-some-guy-ramble-on-about-guns-and-bullets" ..... Ok, not really, but that's what it sounded like to me - lol.

Anyway, David has been wanting me to meet this friend of his, Tracie, and Tracie's wife Donna and their kids. The lecture was in Newark and Tracie and his family live in Granville which is right next to Newark. Tracie and his family would be attending the lecture so David asked if we would be interested. Then David looked up the website for the museum. Turns out the museum had a little children's area and it was all hands-on activities. So I said - sure, we'd love to tag along. We decided to eat lunch in Granville and then head over to the museum afterwards. David would go to his lecture and the kids and I would roam around the museum. (BTW-Donna is a MUCH better wife than me. She AND her kids sat through the lecture!)

Granville was beautiful. Total postcard for Small Town, USA. It reminded me of how Fredericksburg used to be, before it got all trendy and before that Homestead place owned every other shop on Main Street. We ate lunch at a small diner and then walked up and down the Main Street so the kids could stretch out their legs. Granville is where David goes every year for the All Thompson Show and Shoot which is out at Tracie's house. He stays at the Buxton Inn. (check out the link - how prosaic is that? I swear it's like it's out of some Lifetime Network movie-of-the-week!) David already had his reservation for this coming August so we went in and asked if he could alter his reservation to get something larger so the kids and I could come with him this summer. No problem - we got a two bedroom suite for $125 a night. I am totally excited! There's a public library about a block from the hotel. There's a city park just about 5 minutes down the road. And I could always drive over to the museum in Newark if the kids were truly restless. The kids LOVED the museum. Loved it! We were there for about 2 hours and not once did they get bored or ask when we were going home. In fact, none of them wanted to leave!

We won't be going until August but I am totally looking forward to it. I love small towns. I would totally love to live in one .... I think.

And I know what you are saying , "But Kirsten, you already live in a small town and you complain about it" BUT - here's my argument. Liberty Township isn't like a "town". Liberty Township is pretty much a bunch of subdivisions in between a bunch of farms. There are very, very, very few local businesses. There is no "downtown". There is no "Main Street". Our parks aren't even ours - they are "County" parks. There is no place where everyone gathers, no sense of community. I tell you - if Granville weren't 2 hours of north of here (and therefore colder) and if weren't so very, very close to the home of Ohio State - I would totally lobby to move there.

Well, I think I would - maybe it's just the idea of small town living I like? But then, maybe not .... Al I know is I would love to give it a try - in a small town south of here of course - something below the Mason-Dixon line and somewhere not too far from a city that Southwest Airlines flies in and out of .......