We drove into Ohio late at night, after many long and winding West Virginia roads.  After three and a half hours of driving, we pulled into the Tappan Lakes region, which had been recommended to us by our Canton, OH hosts-to-be as a good place to bed down for the night.  The next morning, we awoke beside a lake overflowing with water lilies, all in yellow bloom.  After a leisurely morning by the water, we completed our drive to Canton, to be beset by an incredible downpour that left a standing sheet of water on the road.

Downpour passed, we arrived in Canton in the afternoon.  Through friends at Uva, we had been in contact with Ed Lewis, who generously offered us his place to park the bus and spend some time in his welcoming home.  After a quick visit to the Amish store and just one bout of getting lost, we pulled into Ed’s driveway and met his wonderfully sweet grandparents- meeting Ed soon thereafter.  We spent the evening showing the bus and garden to a constant stream of friendly visitors, and cooked a meal for about 12 Ohioans:  black bean and sausage burgers, spring rolls, and corn bread.  From our garden, the meal featured rosemary, thyme, chives, radishes, asian eggplant, tons of basil, lettuce, chard, and a hungarian pepper. Interesting and beautiful conversations flowed all night over the food; we met a master gardener, a tech guru, a sailor, an actor– basically, a whole host of amazing people.

We’re spending the next couple of days in Canton, searching for some WVO to collect (Frito Lay?  Please?), applying for entry to an art show, and continuing to get to know this wonderful community!

Thank you thank you to our wonderful hosts!

One Response to “Ohio Hospitality”

1. Nicole Jackson says:

   7 August 2009 at 11:17 am

   Hey Guys! Brent sent me this website and I read your most recent post and laughed! I’ve spent MANY MANY hours at Tappan Lake, and it always pours in Canton Love the pictures in my head of this area and you in it….safe journey, much love…