A Bit of History on Toledo
Toledo, Ohio, also known as (aka), the City of Glass. Why is it called the City of Glass? Because during the 1800s glass production began to boom in the city, birthing many major glass manufacturers like Owens-Illinois, Libbey Glass and more. It is said to be the “ Glass Capital of the World” . The city also has a museum facility dedicated to the art of glass making.
Toledo is located in the Northwestern part of Ohio, approximately 3 hours away from Cincinnati and about an hour away from Detroit, Michigan.
So why am I bringing up a history lesson on Toledo? I figured I would give you some information about the city before going into my recent visit to Toledo.
We took a road trip that ended in Toledo, Ohio. We stayed at a Laquinta hotel in Perrysburg which is just 10 miles outside of Toledo. The hotel room was comfortable, it had a small refrigerator and a microwave, as well as a coffee maker. The price also included breakfast. The room we stayed in was clean, only minor issue was the walls are thin so I could hear people walking on the top floor and the only meat kind served at breakfast are boiled eggs.
Things to Do in Toledo
During this trip I visited;
Macqueen’s Orchard – At Macqueen’s orchard we were able to pick our own apples right from the tree. I think this was an exciting activity to do because that’s not something that comes around often unless you have fruit trees planted in your own backyard. Usually when we eat apples it’s the apples you buy at the store that is washed and waxed for preservation.
The day we arrived was the last day for apple picking, and the other types of apples like the golden ones were already gone, it was just the red delicious, but they weren’t like the red delicious I am used to, They were big, juicy, and ripe. Awwww the deliciousness of biting into these apples 😊.
Apart from the joy of picking apples, you can stop by Macqueen’s anytime to buy one of their delicious fresh baked apple pies and their mini pumpkin donuts were out of this world. (Hmmmm, I wonder if I could get some shipped to me 🤔).
There is also a Christmas shop on property and Martha’s gift shop across from the main store. On some days there is also pony rides and bounces houses for kids.
After leaving Macqueen’s we went to into downtown Toledo to sight-see. To me there was not much to see, so I pulled over and checked my map to see what attractions were around the area. We found the Toledo Museum of Art.
The Toledo Museum of Art – Is a very big Museum with the main center on one side of the street and the Glass Pavillion on the other side. There is a $8 charge for parking, but no additional charges for entering either buildings.
The main museum has countless rooms, with each room holding a story of a different kind of art, whether it be music, oil on canvas, Egyptian and so on. There is a peristyle theatre, a visual arts building, and the sculpture garden located outside of the museum lined with beautiful sculptures. I definitely recommend visiting the Toledo Museum of Art if you are ever in Toledo, Ohio.
Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavillion Images
The Glass Pavillion showcases art works made from blown glass, there is also a glass blowing demonstration at certain times at the pavillion.
Ohio Skates – So because it was my step-daughters birthday, she wanted to go roller skating for her birthday and we took her to Ohio Skates, skating rink, which was near to where our hotel was located. It opened from 7:00 p.m – 11:00 p.m, it was a Friday night. It was a fun activity, nice for families, in addition to the skating there were arcade type games available.
Other things to do in Toledo;
Visit the Toledo zoo – It’s something to do for families but I decided against it because I felt I can visit a zoo anytime where I am from. I was looking for something more unusual, not that skating is unusual, but it was unusual for my step-daughter because this was her first time going and she really wanted to go and it was something to do to bring the night to a close.
Maumee Bay State Park – After finding out about this park online, watching videos of it, and reading up on it I wanted it to be a part of my Ohio experience, unfortunately time did not allow. It was about 45 minutes from the orchard and even though it was closer to us when we went into downtown Toledo, by the time we were finished with the museum it was late evening, skies were gloomy because of the cold, and just didn’t make sense to go anymore, plus we only had one day. But I added it to this article because I still think it was a cool place to visit. It has a beach, lodges, cottages, camping sites, and a golf course. You are allowed to swim at the beach, and for the boating lovers, boating is allowed on the Lake Erie area of the park.
Operation City Quest – Expedia shows another activity that you can do in Toledo called Operation City Quest. This is where you use your smartphone to scavenger hunt. You go around the downtown area finding objects, taking funny pictures, and answering trivia questions. You will need to have 2 or more people to be able to do this, kids are free.
Eat at the local restaurants – coming into town I bought some food from Long John Silvers and had that with me, but my partner loves his Jamaican food and to our surprise we did find one Jamaican restaurant, called Jamaican Spice, nearby that had two locations. My step-daughter got her some rice and peas with jerk chicken.
After that we left to go to another restaurant to find some vegetarian food, we found Ya Halla a Lebanese restaurant that offers a little bit of most things. We were able to get salmon, shrimp, and rice from there.
After leaving Ya Halla we went to the skating rink, then went back to our hotel, to get some rest. The next day we were back on the road.