By Linda (minnemom) of Travels with Children

As a child growing up in North Dakota, we were often treated to “Sunday drives.”  These afternoon trips usually had no certain destination, and traveling the backroads was the means of getting to wherever we ended up.  While visiting Columbus, Ohio, recently, we took Sunday drive of our own and found some interesting places.

Longaberger Headquarters

In Newark, we visited The Works, a museum that is part children’s/science in nature, and part historical.  The first floor of the museum includes many hands-on activities for children, including a special area for preschoolers.  Upstairs, the history of the area is portrayed in a series of exhibits that showcase the transporation, manufacturing, and other facets of local history.  The Works also includes a glass works where we watched a glass blowing demonstration, and viewed glass creations in the gallery.

Longaberger Homestead

Down the road near Dresden, baskets are big.  Literally big.  The Longaberger basket company’s headquarters building is designed as a giant basket.  As if this isn’t enough, a few miles away at the Longaberger Basket Company/Homestead, there’s a huge apple basket.  At the Longaberger Homestead, you can shop for baskets, or visit the Longaberger factory.  For a fee, you can even make your own Longaberger basket.

Also in Dresden are remnants of the Ohio and Erie Canal from days gone by: the Triple Locks.  This part of history is a reminder of what modern transportation was, a century and a half ago.  The Ohio and Erie Canal was an important piece in moving goods in the 1800′s.  Although most of the canal was filled in long ago, the triple locks in Dresden are still visible.

Triple Locks in Dresden, Ohio

Along the back roads east of Columbus, you may also come across barns painted with Mail Pouch tobacco advertisements, oil wells dotting the landscape, and rolling hills with winding roads.  Heading south, you can find the S-bridges of the Old National Road, and the unique Y-bridge in Zanesville, signs of another transportation era that was modern for its time.

We enjoyed this drive on the backroads of Ohio.  Have you ever taken an open-ended drive just to see where you’d end up?

Photo credits:  minnemom