November 2005 Issue

Daytrippers' Pleasures
For maximum enjoyment of the surroundings, here's the perch you want: The cool, shady sidewalk patio at Taggart's, with its metal railings and hanging plants creating a pleasant mood that's just a bit uptown, while providing a splendid view that is decidedly small-town, Ohio-style. From your table, sipping a drink and enjoying a burger, perhaps, you can while away a bit of the afternoon watching downtown Troy wander happily by. Elegantly appointed 19th-century storefronts line the sidewalks, as Main and...

Flavor to Savor
Much as I love my cousin, her most recent pronouncement leaves me horrified: "'I had to go to the acupuncturist three times to finally give up chocolate. I used to have to have a piece every day - can you believe it?" she announced.A member of our family giving up chocolate without it being pried from our cold, dead hands? Such a renunciation is unheard of. Which may be why chocoholics around the state and beyond will undoubtedly be camped outside the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus the night bef...

Made By Hand
She considers it a challenge, in this age when there's a designer stamp on so many mass-produced items, to encourage her customers to "find value in things made by hand," and to help them discover that you can have both beauty and function in a piece. These sentiments echo those of the shop's owner for its first 58 years, the late Helen Winnemore, who began selling her friends' handmade crafts in the living room of her Columbus home in December of 1938. Because of space limitations, she filled dresser d...

Well-rounded Getaway
If the notion of sleeping in a silo conjures up farm images such as rising and shining at the crack of dawn to help haul hay, you're in for a surprise when you see Akron's Crowne Plaza Quaker Square hotel.