TR/-\VEL tuntnn, BY MERLE EXIT t present a football signed by the New York Sharks ~ Pro Football Team is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Rest- ing in a case marked “Recent Acquisitions”, it is the first item that has ever been on display from a women's tackle football team. Having accomplished this feat, I decided to visit the site, as weH as the sights of Sparks County. . .in about 24 hours. Although Canton is about an hour from Cleveland, I hungrily flew into Akron and headed for The Amish Door Restaurant and Village, located in the town of Wrlmot. The restaurant, known . for their Broasted Chicken, serves up great food and all done from “scratch”. For less than $10 in- cluding tax and tip, you can enjoy a lunch that includes an untypical salad bar sporting dessert as well. Take in a show at the Dinner The- atre. Could be Mystery or Gospel. Just missed The Isaacs. The vil- \-age also has gift shops, a bakery, the Hasseman House B&B and an Inn. At the time there was a large nativity scene nearby. I couldn’t help but take a photo with a caption, “N 0 room at the Inn”. Canton Classic Car Museum at Market & 6th was surpris- ingly more interesting than I expected. Aside from classic cars, it is filled with loads of nostalgia. Take the tour with Char Lautzenheiser. Who knows, ’ you may win an historic brick. . 'l\/VARCHZOO6 l- nut.in.Ihe.nIouIItnins4 21. 0hin’s Football Hot Trek Canton is big on President William McKinley. However, I skipped his Presidential Library and Museum and opted for a more important visit to the National First Ladies’ Library Education and Research Center and nearby Ida Saxton McKinley House. The Saxton House, open to the public by reservation with the NFLL, houses First Ladies’ period costumes, and exhibits that include McKinley era furnish- ings. The tours are led by docents Hi First Ladies’ period costumes. The ERC facilities include a First Ladies’ research library, visitor orientation exhibits and a public theatre for presentations, workshops and seminars. The topic of the present exhibit was: Spirits, Suffrage & Struggle; A Tri- angle of Amendments. Check out the gift shop where you can find some great sweatshirts that have an added “tailored shirt” collar. Akron’s Carousel Dinner The- atre was the evening event with “Swing” being the show. I suppose that the show did a run on Broad- way and missed it. Okay, it did i and was a Tony nomi.nee as well. Loved it here. The show highlights over 30 dance sequences with a swing dance band backing it up. Some comedy too. The food was pretty good for a “getting it out to a large audience all at once thing”. You're paying about $12 more for dinner than if you just see the show and if you don’t care for what’s - included on the menu, you can al- ways pay extra for something else. “I Love You, You’re Perfect. Now Burlington — I-Enjoy time in your '. season porch or walk to 1‘cst‘aLi.i‘ai1 ' shopping and the wz-ucrfroiit. of parking and a two car garage help make this convenient city home a must see! S269,9(l() Burlington ~ property offe ' The gift shop at National First Ladies’ Library Education and Research Center Change!” is up next for the 2006 season and you've have to wait for September to see “Ur.inetown”. It was off to Hartiville for two stops. Maize Valley Farm is great for family fun and its own winery. I stopped at the market to meet Bill Bakan. The store sports lo- caHy-grown produce, farm-raised beef, oven-fresh baked goods and some locally made jams, jellies and salsas. A wine—tasting was in order, especially the ones made with fruit other than grapes. Ruby red raspberries make for a wine that is bottled like ice wine. In addition, there was a cherry, strawberry, blueberry and a Summer Fling blend of black raspberry and strawberry. The winery lends itself to musical entertainment and a maze with lots of twists and turns and trivia. Hartville MarketPlace and Flea Market was just down the road apiece. The Flea Market has become one of Northeast Ohio's best-known shopping destinations and one of Ol1io’s oldest and largest weekly flea markets. It has a 100,000 square foot, heated and air-conditioned indoor market as well as a 12-acre outdoor flea market. And if you can’t decide what to eat, you can always have lunch at the abut- ting Hartville Kitchen. Hint: try their storemade salad dressing. Rather than lunch at the Kitchen, I opted for Menches Bros. located in Akron. The story was that Charles E. Mench ran out of pork for an 1885 Eire County Fair and decided to .l_..ois Spectacular lakefront ng sweeping views of lake Charnplam. Located in the highly sought after South Cove neighborhood. all you need to do is call the architect and plan your dream home. $595.0{}0 Essex - Small new condominium dc»-'elop1iienl' in E55 )4. Features include: 2 bedrooms. 2 ‘/2 baths, full basement, attached garage, fireplace, large den, and patio. Realtor Owned. $239,900 - $244,900 802.655.3335 WWW.TH E DESAUTELSGROURCOM I THE {3€.5A.iJTEt.f§ Gacua WE KNO WHAT HOME use bccf. Finding it bland, they added col‘l‘cc, brown sugar and other ingrcdicnls to create the “lunnburgcr" after llamhurg, NY where the fair was being held. Brotlicrs Frank A. and (‘/h:u'lcs Ii, both born in Canton, were baking cakes in Parisian walllc irons and topped thcin with ice cream at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Tlloy then had the idea l.o wrap the warm walllc around a lid, 21 conc- shapcd splicing l.ool l'or tent. ropes. The wafllc cooled and held its shape to provide an cd- ible handle for eating ice cream, thus the waffle cone. You can still enjoy their two delicious “inventions” at the restaurant. Where did I park my body‘? The Four Points Sheraton lo- cated in Canton. The hotel pays tribute to the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Wall of Fame Legends. Since I was checking out the football at the HOF, I opted for their Hall of Fame Ex- perience package that included tickets to the HOF, a goodie bag of snacks, and a Wilson NFL football with the insignias of both the Pro Football HOF and the hotel's “Canton's Hall of Fame Experience”. Experi- ence it all by calling the Stark County CVB at 800-533-4302 or wwwcantonstarkcvb.com. V Tune in to Merle’s Whirls Radio on the Internet! Topics include travel, entertainment, food and humor. Go to www. mer|eswhir|s.com. Support the advertisers who support Sm; vnu saw their nil in: Inthe flllllfllig