Saturdays trip to Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati: sale, how much, houses)

[r2r]

Drove down on Saturday to check out a house.

Checked it out and dropped the bucks.

I'm near College of Wooster. Not thrilled with the area but the nice lady across the street spoke highly of the area. One neighbor is a security guard for the college and the other seems pretty quiet and keeps to himself.

The house is fine. Old house so some "blahs" as that goes but in great shape, looks nice and the inside was very nicely kept.

It'll make due until I get a chance to learn the area better and find my way around.

Went to Jakes for dinner (not impressed) then because of the horrendous storm coming thru opted to spend the night at the Hampton Inn.

Somebody tell me where in Wooster is there a coffee shop?????? My friend and I went looking for one around 9pm and well, we ended up out in Polk, still thirsty for coffee. A "couple" of miles backtracking and gas station coffee it was.

Sunday we drove down to Berlin because my friend wanted an authentic Amish breakfast. Did I mention it was Sunday???? Oh well, got a nice little site seeing in on the way.

Headed up 62 to 77 on the way home.

I'm excited about the move and will pull into town permanently on October 20th.

Oh, the area has a Pat Catans, Sally's Beauty Supply, Super Walmart and a Best Buy to name a few. Have to admit I think I was a bit "let-down" to see those stores in the area but glad/relieved at the same time.

[Cosmic]

Well welcome to the real World. Ohio is a wonderful place. I'm sure you will like Wooster. I probably been there long ago. Lots of college towns in Ohio, each has its own character.

I've been all over the World. Lived on both coasts, sort of plastic places. The midwest is always been real. Come home to Ohio, feels like home in an unreal World. Problems sure, but it just feels right.

Something about finding solid roots. Ohio is a very good place to be in a very uncertain World. Good place with fine decent people who can see beyond their own little needs and wants.

Give it a chance, you will love it.

[paintballer1708]

Wooster is just that. In the middle of Amish Country. Its just like SE PA around Lancaster with all the Amish. Your kind of trapped from other things like Starbucks. That is why i would consider a move to Canton or Akron. But like you said your job is in Wooster. Both Canton and Akron are in so much better shape than Pittsburgh too. But Ohio is such a great place to live. My brother-in-law and his family are moving up to Columbus from Florida. They cant wait. They are always saying how much they cant wait to get out of Florida.

[wpd]

My husband and I will also be moving to Wooster sometime between now and January. He was out there a few weeks ago and at least 3 different people told him that Starbucks was opening a store there. We thought it was kinda funny that it was such big news, seeing as how there is a Starbucks on every corner in the town we live in now. But, I guess that's what you get in a small town like that.

We'll be visiting the area this coming Friday on our way to Tiffin for our alma mater's homecoming. We're hoping to look at a few houses while we're there since we just put our house on the market this week.

[r2r]

Originally Posted by wpd

My husband and I will also be moving to Wooster sometime between now and January. He was out there a few weeks ago and at least 3 different people told him that Starbucks was opening a store there. We thought it was kinda funny that it was such big news, seeing as how there is a Starbucks on every corner in the town we live in now. But, I guess that's what you get in a small town like that.

We'll be visiting the area this coming Friday on our way to Tiffin for our alma mater's homecoming. We're hoping to look at a few houses while we're there since we just put our house on the market this week.

That reminds me.

While in Walmart getting a toothbrush and a change of drawers my friend and I talked with other shoppers. I was talking to a nice lady named Raquel who mentioned that a Starbucks was in the works.

Something else that she mentioned and an elderly lady holding a garage sale mentioned. People in the area can be snooty. The older lady told me to not have my boys be overly friendly but to just be nice. If they go out of their way to meet new people they get snooted. WTF??? Raquel mentioned the rift in the area between old money and new money.

Guess the middle class, white single mother is going to be looked down upon.

Oh well, they'll just have to get over it.

[paintballer1708]

^There seems to be about 2-3 Starbucks on every street block in Cincinnati, and they are growing rapidly here in Warren County.

[r2r]

I'm not really a fan of the overpriced cup of triple half-caf, low-fat mocha cappuchino but I do love the smell of coffee brewing. I can't remember the last time I was even in Starbucks.

We just wanted a place to sit down, have some coffee and talk about the days adventure. We didn't want to sit in Bob Evans.

[htlong]

im glad to hear that a starbucks isnt a requirement on a neighborhood!
i cant bring myself to buy a $20.00 cup of coffee....well close to 20 anyway

[paintballer1708]

^ No your right. Starbucks can get quite pricey. The thing i find funny is when im driving to my office in Cincy i can find one Starbucks and another one only about half a block away. They both have huge lines of cars just waiting to get some coffee or whatever else they might be getting. You always see the Mercedes Benz, BMWs, Aston Martins, and Landrover SUVs sitting in that line. I just drive by in my Chevy TrailBlazer. LOL i dont need to feel important or special with a Starbucks cup in my hand.

[OhioArtist]

Originally Posted by r2r

Oh, the area has a Pat Catans, Sally's Beauty Supply, Super Walmart and a Best Buy to name a few. Have to admit I think I was a bit "let-down" to see those stores in the area but glad/relieved at the same time.

That's funny because I had been living in Wooster a week (and had visited several times) before I even found that area with all those stores north of town. I live downtown knew all that stuff around there (and up a bit near the hospital) and thought that was about it. It totally freaked me out to find what amounted to a suburb on the edge of this idyllic, old Ohio town.

As per the important topic of COFFEE, there are three places I know of downtown. Tulipan's, the Hungarian Bakery on Market Street across from the Rubbermaid store; Muddy Waters, which is downstairs in the schmancy Liberty Commons a few doors down from Books in Stock on Liberty Street (free WiFi there BTW), and Seattle's, which is on Market across from the Courthouse and next the the Democratic Party headquarters. At 9 PM, I think the only one that's going to be open is Seattle's (they also serve alcohol!) Also, I'm pretty sure the College of Wooster has a coffee shop and that's probably open pretty late.

As far as people being snooty, I haven't found that to be true but I was also born and raised in Philadelphia and just spent 4 years in Dallas, so I have a higher standard of what 'snooty' is. Could be the people closer to downtown are more friendly or something. Personally, I have had bit of challenge adjusting to small town friendliness. Every place I've lived you do not talk to strangers you pass on the street. Here it seems rude if you DON'T at least say HI to someone as you pass. Of course, you also run the risk of being drawn into weird conversations that way and Wooster seems to have a never ending parade of colorful characters willing to chat it up with just about anyone.