Tag Archives: Urbana Ohio

Champaign Aviation Museum

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The promise of sunflowers took me to Urbana, Ohio this summer but the promise of airplanes enticed me to stay for a few more hours.

You see, Urbana is home to Champaign Aviation Museum. But this isn’t an ordinary museum. That’s because, in addition to planes and historic items on display, there’s a restoration effort underway on a B-17 Flying Fortress. The Champaign Lady is a sight to behold as she is currently in pieces and gives visitors an intimate look at the construction of this impressive plane.

They also have a Civil Air Patrol plane that sank a German sub off America’s East coast during World War II and an exhibit about the Women’s Air Service Pilots or the WASPs.

You know my favorite part was the WASP exhibit! These life size cut outs are pretty incredible. Each lady is holding a portrait of herself when she was a WASP as well as a story about herself. Sadly, all of these ladies are gone now.

I was fortunate to have a personal tour with Terri Whitlach, a retired Air Force pilot. The actual Voodoo that he flew in Vietnam is in the National Air Force Museum in Dayton.

He provided great insight into the museum, the stories behind the planes and the people who volunteer there. He made what would have been a nice museum tour an absolutely spectacular experience and I’m grateful he was there that day.

Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. admission is by donation. Get more information at their website. If you go, be sure to talk to whoever is volunteering. You will have a much more enriching experience.

Gloria Theater

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Saturday took me to Urbana to look at sunflowers and to visit the Champaign Aviation Museum. While there, I looked up the Gloria Theater in downtown Urbana.

It’s well over a century old and still showing movies while a renovation project is underway. Had there been a good movie showing, I would have hung around for the matinee. It would be worth the price of admission just to see inside.

Meanwhile, the marquee is fantastic.

Here’s one more view.

Visit their website for showtimes and location.

The Happiest Flowers

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Sometimes life gets hard and you just want to run away but can’t go far. Yesterday, I found the perfect solution to this dilemma.

I walked through a field of sunflowers. What’s more cheerful than acres and acres of sunflowers in all shapes, sizes and colors?

First I drove backroads northwest to Urbana, Ohio where Lynd Fruit Farm has a twenty acre field of gorgeous varieties of sunflowers. They also have a number of large props for picture perfect memories including an old truck, a tractor and a large chair.

But the highlights are the sunflowers. Mind you, I’m not especially fond of sunflowers – they’re pretty, happy flowers but they aren’t my favorite. Still, I was in awe of how gorgeous they looked en masse. Not to mention, I had no idea there are so many varieties of sunflowers and how different they all are.

Have you ever seen a sunflower like this?

Or this?

This one reminded me of myself- looking somewhat frazzled but still trying to be positive.

The Urbana location seems to be just the sunflowers. If you go to their Pataskala location, it sounds like there’s fresh produce and other things to see and do on site. Although, if you’re just looking for sunflowers, this was an incredible experience because it wasn’t at all busy.

The cost is eight dollars per person or twenty per carload- whatever is cheapest for you. For that price, you get admission to the property and you get to cut a sunflower to take home.

Sunflower stems are sturdier than you might think and don’t break easily because they are holding up a giant, heavy flower. They do not provide pruners and I didn’t think to take something sharp so MacGyver here managed to saw off a stem with a house key. It would be easier to take some pruners.

Want to learn more? Visit their website or find them on Facebook by searching Lynd Fruit Farm. Here you’ll find hours, event info and updates on the flowers.

Next time, I will go to Pataskala to enjoy some of the additional activities and maybe go in the early evening when the light is warmer. I was there mid morning just as the light was starting to feel harsh. Of course, as you likely know, I had other things on my agenda and wanted to hit this place before it got busy.

Check back tomorrow to hear about something else I did while in Urbana. Also, be sure to follow Make the Journey Fun on Facebook. I’ll post some more sunflowers on that page!

The Happiest Flowers

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Sometimes life gets hard and you just want to run away but can’t go far. Yesterday, I found the perfect solution to this dilemma.

I walked through a field of sunflowers. What’s more cheerful than acres and acres of sunflowers in all shapes, sizes and colors?

First I drove backroads northwest to Urbana, Ohio where Lynd Fruit Farm has a twenty acre field of gorgeous varieties of sunflowers. They also have a number of large props for picture perfect memories including an old truck, a tractor and a large chair.

But the highlights are the sunflowers. Mind you, I’m not especially fond of sunflowers – they’re pretty, happy flowers but they aren’t my favorite. Still, I was in awe of how gorgeous they looked en masse. Not to mention, I had no idea there are so many varieties of sunflowers and how different they all are.

Have you ever seen a sunflower like this?

Or this?

The Urbana location seems to be just the sunflowers. If you go to their Pataskala location, it sounds like there’s fresh produce and other things to see and do on site. Although, if you’re just looking for sunflowers, this was an incredible experience because it wasn’t at all busy.

The cost is eight dollars per person or twenty per carload- whatever is cheapest for you. For that price, you get admission to the property and you get to cut a sunflower to take home.

Sunflower stems are sturdier than you might think and don’t break easily because they are holding up a giant, heavy flower. They do not provide pruners and I didn’t think to take something sharp so MacGyver here managed to saw off a stem with a house key. It would be easier to take some pruners.

Want to learn more? Visit their website or find them on Facebook by searching Lynd Fruit Farm. Here you’ll find hours, event info and updates on the flowers.

Next time, I will go to Pataskala to enjoy some of the additional activities and maybe go in the early evening when the light is warmer. I was there mid morning just as the light was starting to feel harsh. Of course, as you likely know, I had other things on my agenda and wanted to hit this place before it got busy.

Check back tomorrow to hear about something else I did while in Urbana. Also, be sure to follow Make the Journey Fun on Facebook. I’ll post some more sunflowers on that page!