One of the most perplexing things I’ve seen lately is this Goodwill store with a silo in the middle of it. It’s located on a busy street in Medina, Ohio.
We had just loaded up on breakfast at a nearby Waffle House when I saw the silo and knew I had to stop and browse. It’s a nice enough store but I found nothing to buy except a large framed painting that someone else was already buying.
That’s how it goes sometimes!
The internet is oddly quiet about why this silo has a Goodwill attached or, from a different perspective, why this Goodwill has a silo. There’s a Reddit board where lots of people are reminiscing about the good old days when this was a farmers exchange. Evidently the silo once housed an ice cream shop.
That seems like a reasonable use for a silo, if you ask me!
The beautiful thing about traveling by car is that you can make stops along the way. When we went to Cleveland this summer, we spent a few hours in the Medina area. I had been wanting to visit Black Cat Oddities and Books for some time and we had lunch at a cute little place called 17 Public Square which serves a great veggie burger (say no to the fries if you’re a vegetarian).
But first, we stopped at Worden’s Ledges loop trail for a stretch of the legs. This trail is at Hinckley Reservation, a part of the Cleveland Metroparks system and is unexpectedly beautiful. Sandstone cliffs and a beautiful wooded trail are two of my favorite things. However, this property holds a secret. Here you’ll find stone carvings that were left behind by a former inhabitant of this land. His name was Noble Stuart and he began carving these images in the 1940s.
Look carefully for the faces of George Washington and Ty Cobb (he’s pictured above). There’s a sphinx too. I suspect you will find something new every time you go but I thoroughly enjoyed the things we did find on our hike.
It’s a fun, easy and enchanting trail that’s worth your time if you’re in the area. The trail is less than a mile and not at all hard. Want to visit? Click here for more!
Don’t believe anyone who tells you that print books and bookstores are in trouble. During this trip to Cleveland, we visited seven bookstores (one of them twice) and every single store was hopping.
I liked every store for different reasons but Black Cat Oddities and Books won the award for atmosphere. This store is actually located in two houses that are within walking distance of each other.
Themed rooms packed with new books for all ages are charming and fun to browse, even if they are outside your preferred genre. True crime, mystery, romance, fantasy, horror and general fiction are among the genres you’ll find here. Banned books are displayed together, behind drapery in a closet, no less. The children’s book section is so whimsical and charming I couldn’t help but wish there had been a store like this when I was a child.
Those themed rooms are decorated in ways that are both creative and smart. Frankenstein’s laboratory, Narnia and Sherlock’s Study are just a few of those themes and the attention to detail is fun to see.
Both locations ooze with charm and the variety of their chosen genres is impressive. Note that we didn’t find a lot in the way of non-fiction like history or science but they make up for that in other ways.
My pictures from this visit are absolutely terrible. I think that’s partly because both locations were busy and I was so preoccupied with just enjoying the fun that I didn’t put much effort into photos. That means you should go visit so you can see for yourself how cool it is!
Black Cat Oddities and Books is located at 420 S. Court Street and 119 Lafayette Street in Medina. Note that their parking lot is small but customers are welcome to park at the Autozone across the street. Learn more at www.blackcatmedina.com.
