Weekend Recap

Hello bloggy friends. I'm slowly working my way back into tip top blogging form. My short sabbatical has already somewhat re-generated my interest in blogging and has sprouted a few new ideas for posts.

Saturday the fam and I went on a bike ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We rented bikes and a trailer for the baby and had a great time just peddling down the beautiful Towpath Trail! The weather was perfect for it, overcast and much, much cooler than the 95 degrees that has been the norm the last few weeks.

Sunday we toured Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio. We've been wanting to do this for awhile and Sunday we finally got around to it. We are such history freaks so things like this are a lot of fun for us.

Stan Hywet Hall was the former estate of the Sieberling family. Frank Sieberling, one half the of the duo who founded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, built the 65 room mansion in 1912 as a summer place for his wife and 6 children. Stan Hywet (Hee-wet) means stone quarry in Old English, which is what most of the mansion is built out of.

I really wish I was able to take photos inside. It is soooooo amazing. It reminded me a lot of Kensington Palace in London, England. They currently have an exhibit of late eighteen hundred to early nineteen hundred jewelry and hats. Loved it so much especially the beautiful examples of art nouveau and art deco jewelry, two of my fav design periods.

Two notable spots inside the home were the Master bath and butlers pantry. I was really struck by the spaciousness of the his and her adjoining bathrooms and closets. A very modern thing for that time. The butlers pantry and kitchen were also really, really cool. Especially the wall in the butlers pantry that had a board with all the rooms listed on it that would light up when someone in the house needed something. So very Downton Abbey!

Matching the grandeur of the mansion, the gardens were equally as breathtaking!

Front of the mansion.

There was an old time vintage baseball game being played in the Great Meadow in front of the mansion.

A long fern lined portico leads up to a birch tree lined path.

Beautiful back yard fountain.

The house is so big it doesn't fit in one frame. Here's the right side...

...and the left side.

The beautiful, peaceful Japanese Garden.

Make a wish!

One tiny portion of the Great Garden.

Two of the three swimming lagoons. (We've had so little rain in Ohio this year that the grass here and everywhere is brown)

A boy plays in the third lagoon.

A life size chess board. Fun!

Pretty courtyard entrance at the Carriage House.

Once we got home Cameron decided to review the informational pamphlet.

    
Linking up with these ladies for the weekend update!

Dana at  five30three
Leeann at   Join the Gossip
Sami at  Sami's Shenanigans