We decided to celebrate our birthday today. We were all kind of tired yesterday, so we stayed home and had pizza and ice cream for dinner! Yum! Well, today dawned bright and nice, so we called Dad and he took the rest of the day off from work and came home. Mom had a surprise destination, so we all got into the car and started off. Of course, Mom and Dad knew where we were going and I found out halfway through that Sarah figured it out five minutes down the road. However, for once, my built in sense of direction failed. . . . That is a joke . . .
We went to Stan Hywett Hall up in Akron. Sarah and I have been wanting to go there for the past year. We went once on a field trip, but that was many years ago and we didn't really remember it very well. They do self-guided tours now, which was great, as we could go through at our own pace - which is always slower than the guide's idea of a tour!
The house was started in 1912 and finished in 1915. Built by on of the founders of the Goodyear Tire Comp. as a Summer house for his family. What a Summer house. It is a Tudor-style Hall. The family actually bought many of the furniture and some of the entire rooms in Britain and had them shipped over to Akron. It is simply gorgeous. Sarah and I had a wonderful time and were really inspired for our novel. It is just too bad that you can't take indoor photos and they don't sell postcards! That means that next time we go, I will be taking my sketchbook!
For the novel, and in general, I really liked the billiards room and connected office. Dark panelling, huge comfy-looking window seats, sofas, and - of course - the pool table. The office was small, all wood, lined with photos. Also cool was the bedroom for some of the sons. Perfect for Harry. Had this really cool bookshelf built around a sofa on the side wall. The library was tops too! Surrounded in wonderful bookshelves, stuffed furniture, movable lighting, AND a secret door to the great hall! Man, would I love to have room with a secret door in a bookshelf!
It was really fun to notice how many of the items that we own a version of! Guess we do live in a museum! It was really fun to see a house where they hadn't restored so much of the stuff and it looked like it was lived in. Very personal feeling. Very enjoyable.
For dinner we went to Mulligan's Pub and Grill. How fantastic. Kind of like a Friday's. However, they have an entire vegetarian menu! We had huge veggie burgers, cheese sticks, fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce, and absolutely wonderful french fries! It was a wonderful birthday! We got a pass for a year, so Sarah and I would like to go back to the Hall before Winter sets in.
We went to Stan Hywett Hall up in Akron. Sarah and I have been wanting to go there for the past year. We went once on a field trip, but that was many years ago and we didn't really remember it very well. They do self-guided tours now, which was great, as we could go through at our own pace - which is always slower than the guide's idea of a tour!
The house was started in 1912 and finished in 1915. Built by on of the founders of the Goodyear Tire Comp. as a Summer house for his family. What a Summer house. It is a Tudor-style Hall. The family actually bought many of the furniture and some of the entire rooms in Britain and had them shipped over to Akron. It is simply gorgeous. Sarah and I had a wonderful time and were really inspired for our novel. It is just too bad that you can't take indoor photos and they don't sell postcards! That means that next time we go, I will be taking my sketchbook!
For the novel, and in general, I really liked the billiards room and connected office. Dark panelling, huge comfy-looking window seats, sofas, and - of course - the pool table. The office was small, all wood, lined with photos. Also cool was the bedroom for some of the sons. Perfect for Harry. Had this really cool bookshelf built around a sofa on the side wall. The library was tops too! Surrounded in wonderful bookshelves, stuffed furniture, movable lighting, AND a secret door to the great hall! Man, would I love to have room with a secret door in a bookshelf!
It was really fun to notice how many of the items that we own a version of! Guess we do live in a museum! It was really fun to see a house where they hadn't restored so much of the stuff and it looked like it was lived in. Very personal feeling. Very enjoyable.
For dinner we went to Mulligan's Pub and Grill. How fantastic. Kind of like a Friday's. However, they have an entire vegetarian menu! We had huge veggie burgers, cheese sticks, fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce, and absolutely wonderful french fries! It was a wonderful birthday! We got a pass for a year, so Sarah and I would like to go back to the Hall before Winter sets in.
