Thursday 9-26 Allen County Museum

Having fun

We have been on the road for a little over a month and are having a blast. 

After a night at The Home Depot we continued our adventure in Ohio. We drove about 100 miles to Lima Ohio. We drove interstates and highways. At one point we had to go through construction and traffic came to a halt, but it was just a few minutes. We arrived at Ottawa Metro Park a little after 10:00. We drove around and found a site, we were lucky, there was only one left. We're going to stay four nights. The reason for staying so long is because we're attending a two day square dancing event at the civic center in Lima.

Ottawa Metro Park is part of the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District. The park is on 287.3 acres and has a lot to offer. Lima Lake is 89 acres, people go fishing and boating. The park has a beach and paved trail that goes into town. The campground is very nicely laid out. There is a bathhouse with showers. Each site has power and water. Some of the water spickets are pretty far away. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. If you want firewood you see the host and get a permit for $10.00, you can now use as much firewood as you want and the firewood you don't use has to be returned.
  

After setting up the Minnie, Larry got the motorcycle off its carrier. We had lunch and then went to town. This is our first time in Lima so we wanted to get to know it. Larry wanted to see if he could park the Minnie by the civic center while we dance. We saw a few empty lots but were not sure if we could park the Minnie in them. We decided we will probably ride the motorcycle to the dances. We prefer having the Minnie close by so we can rest in between dances. After driving around downtown Lima we went to the Allen County Museum. 

The Allen County Museum is free but they recommend $5.00 per person donation. It's probably the best county museum we have been to. The layout of the exhibits are excellent and each section has a lot of room. There were two floors. The entrance is on the top floor. The exhibits were in different sections; 19th Century Life, Children's Discovery Center, Folsom Auditorium, Transportation, Music, Buggies & Wagons, Bicycles, Mount Vernon, Noah's Ark, Changing Gallery (Quilts Exhibit) and Elizabeth MacDonell Library, where you can do research on your family history. They had a 1925 Shay locomotive. The lower floor had exhibits on John H. Keller Railroad Archives, Research Room, Rocks & Minerals, Fossils, Saber-Dillinger Story, General Store, Fire Fighting, Barber Shop, Wood Working, Agriculture, Firearms, Native American, Far East, Roll of Valor, Military, Neon, Business & Industry, Canteen, Oil, Gas Station and Railroad. The museum was about the history of Allen County. We saw a automated illustration of Noah's Ark. It was made by a local man somewhere around 1900. It was a cute reenactment of the bible story. We watched a short movie about Saber-Dillinger. The quilt exhibit was very nice with quilts from the 1800s. We walked around the museum for about an hour. Afterwards we walked around the Children's Garden. It was very well done and gave children the opportunity to learn about plants and have a hands on experience. We had a great time at the Allen County Museum.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the Children Garden

Entrance to the Children Garden

First exhibit we saw in the Allen County Museum

Weaving loom from the 1800s

Washington's Mount Vernon

 

Crazy Quilt 1880-1910 by Mary Homan

Star of Bethlehem Quilt

Buddhist shrine

The Sarber - Dillinger Story exhibit

Once we got back to the Minnie we relaxed for the rest of the day.