On With The Show

If you are looking for something “cool to do” this month, consider joining the 47^th Annual Winter Hike at Hocking Hills State Park near Logan, OH. The 6-mile trek stretches from Old Man’s Cave along Ohio Route 664 to Ash Cave along Route 56. You can enjoy all or part of the Winter Hike trail. More information is online at www.heartofhocking.com.

I’ve hiked the Hocking Hills region during all seasons since the early 1960s. One gains a better appreciation for Ohio’s change of seasons and the pure beauty of the Hocking Hills when enjoying a winter visit. A record of more than 5,000 hikers participated in the 2010 Winter Hike, which occurs each year on the third Saturday of January. This month’s hike is January 21. It’s a free activity and refreshments are served (bean soup and hot cocoa) for a small donation.  A free shuttle ride takes hikers from the end of the hike at Ash Cave back to the parking lot area at Old Man’s Cave.

If hiking in Ohio’s winter outdoors is not your cup of cocoa, then consider visiting the AAA Great Vacations Expo www.aaagreatvacations.com Jan. 20-22 inside Veteran’s Memorial on W. Broad Street at the Scioto River next to downtown Columbus. This is an excellent one-stop shopping travel planning and booking trade show that is sure to offer plenty of vacation ideas. Saturday, January 21 is Family Day at the show, so go early to avoid the maximum crowds. There’s no other travel trade show quite like it in Ohio.

Won’t be in Columbus that weekend? No problem. The Cincinnati Travel, Sports and Boat Show www.hartproductions.com begins the weekend of Jan. 20-22 at the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincy. There are two outdoors recreation shows featuring boating and fishing ongoing the same weekend in Cleveland at the IX Center, which is located adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins Airport www.clevelandboatshow.com. The Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show www.ohiosportsmanshow.com in Dalton at the Buckeye Event Center is being held Jan. 20-21.

So get away from the TV set and game console, get off the couch and go take a hike or enjoy a trade show this month because there’s lots to enjoy and plan for as the year unfolds. And if those happenings should not appeal to you, there’s always the art museum, the conservatory, the movie house and one of my old-time favorites – the bowling alley.