A Train Ride Through Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The folks left us on Sunday to take a train ride through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. They allow bikes and kids on the train, but not dogs. It is just not right! The folks said they had never been on a real train. The train runs through the park and you can ride all day for $15 a person. If you take your bike, you can ride the train for $2. They also offer train rides into Akron. The folks chose to ride from the Pennisula Station to the Canal Station. There were a few stops in the middle where bike riders could get on and off. The trip was about 30 minutes. Canal has a visitor's center which had a lot of information about how life was living on the canal. A ranger gave a demonstration that showed how the boats got through the locks.

See, it's a real train.  

Inside the train

Train volunteer said this is an eagle's nest.  He watches it all year long.

 After the train ride, the folks decided to eat lunch.  They could have eaten on the train, but since the ride was just 30 minutes each way, they decided to eat in a restaurant. They ate at Fisher's Cafe & Pub which is across the street from the Winking Lizard which is where they ate last weekend.  The place was packed and there was about a 10-20 minute wait.  This restaurant didn't have the best reviews, but they decided to give it a try anyway.  Mama ordered a Roadhouse BBQ Burger which is a burger basted in hickory smoked BBQ sauce. It is covered with melted cheddar cheese, bacon, and topped with onion tanglers. She ordered a side of onion rings instead of fries. The burger was very good as well as the onion rings.

Roadhouse BBQ Burger

Dad ordered the Raider Burger- which is ½ lb. burger, topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, fries, hot wing sauce, jalapenos, onion tanglers and blackened with cajun spices. He had the fries. The fries were very good.

Raider Burger - not a very good photo

 They both thought the food was very good and the service was also.  They are not sure why the place is getting some bad reviews, but they would eat there again.



After lunch, they did more touring around the park. Even after three visits, they have not seen it all.  The park has farmers markets and one farm even has crafts and trades demonstrations such as glassblowing, pottery, blacksmithing, candle making, basket making, broom making, etc. Mama would have liked to have seen that, but there just wasn't enough time.  They drove to a few overlooks and Mama said there was a beautiful area that had a small waterfall.  Unfortunately, the pictures of that area do not show it's true beauty.  Mama said she knew the photos would not show the detail she wanted them to show. It is a very shady area and the beauty did not come through the camera lense.

  

Maybe Mama needs a better camera.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is fun place to visit and it's FREE!

We have one more restaurant review to share with you, but we will save it for tomorrow. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks He Should Be Allowed On The Train