Ohio Love Staff Picks: May 2025

You love Ohio. We love Ohio. 

Each month, the Ohio Magazine editorial team shares what we adore about the Buckeye State right now. From the sweet taste of coffee in the morning and a quaint city in southeast Ohio to a presidential plane and a great stop for hot dogs, we hope you find something to love in our May 2025 picks. 

Tell us about your Ohio Loves by tagging us in your social media posts or by sending us a note.

Gathering Grounds

Even if you don’t live in Kent, chances are you’ve seen Bent Tree Coffee Roasters’ signature bluish-green bags in a grocery store near you. The small-batch shop was planted in the college town in 2011, three years before I arrived at Kent State University as a freshman journalism major. During my junior and senior year, I had an on-campus job doing photography for University Communications and Marketing. While out shooting one day, my boss asked if I wouldn’t mind if we stopped in at Bent Tree to grab a quick cup. When you’re a student, anywhere off campus feels like the coolest place you’ve ever been. In 2016, Bent Tree was a quiet, relaxed roaster.

Today, it’s bustling daily, with a massive wooden table in the middle of the cafe and a large wall of ever-changing merchandise to look at. It feels like no matter the time of day, most seats in the small-but-mighty spot are taken, with a line almost out the door of people ordering beans to go, seasonal drinks or whatever is available “on drip.” It’s a perfect example of a third space, especially in the summer when their outdoor patio opens up. One of my favorite memories tied to the place is ordering drinks and playing Scrabble with my husband, Nick, all morning as a variety of friends stopped through to grab coffee. 

It can be hard to make one coffee shop or its products sound distinctive from the others, and I’ll admit I’m biased having lived in Kent for a little over a decade now. But as a new mom, it was exhilarating seeing someone bring a bag of Bent Tree beans to our place during those first few weeks with my daughter. Plus, where I might have made the commute to Cleveland to hang with someone over coffee before, my new schedule has me picking Bent Tree as a meeting place more often than not. Try a cup of their Peru Norte dark roast and a blackberry-lemon scone, and soon I’ll bet I’ll be seeing you there, too.

For more information, visit benttreecoffee.com.

Hot Dog Haven

One of my favorite things about my job is that I get to leave my desk and venture out to explore the state, most often parts of it that I’ve never seen before. Last month, I got to do just that in preparation for Ohio Magazine’s June issue. 

I’ll leave the main reason for my travels a mystery, as a teaser for my Ohio Love next month (which will coincide with the theme of this year’s Outdoor Issue), but during my exploration, I was able to pay a visit to a northwest Ohio destination that had always intrigued me.

Swig opened in Perrysburg in 2008, and in 2022, Ohio Magazine wrote about the restaurant. That article calls out Swig’s extensive craft beer selection, as well as its gourmet hot dogs, sausages and sides.

Now, before I proceed, I need to make one thing clear: I love hot dogs. And I’m not a snob about it either. Whether it’s the $1 hot dogs from Dollar Dog Night at Progressive Field, the store-bought ones my dad used to grill at summer cookouts or a gourmet version plated at a restaurant, I just love a good hot dog.

So, I was beyond pleased to find that Swig’s menu featured just what the article promised. The highlights of the menu are the one-third pound, in-house-cased Eastern European- and Italian-inspired sausages served in a bun and piled with toppings. I ordered the Andouille Sausage, which came with coleslaw and spicy sport peppers, while my dad, who was my companion for the day’s outing, chose the Polish Sausage, which was topped with sweet-and-sour cabbage and an ale mustard.

Both were incredible and perfectly complemented the unique craft beer selection. (I personally opted for a 10-ounce pour of Good Things, a sour beer from Columbus’ Forbidden Root Brewery that, as advertised, tasted just like a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.)

It just goes to show that breaking out of your routine and trying new things can truly lead you to places you’d never expect. And who knows, you might just find your next Ohio Love.

For more information about Swig, visit swigrestaurant.com

Presidential Plane

I heard about SAM 26000 long before I had the chance to walk up its steps like John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon once did. I was on a media visit to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, and part of the tour included the opportunity to hop on a bus and take a ride over to the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to see the jet that served as Air Force One for Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

The Boeing VC-137C was the first jet created for use by the President of the United States. Most notably, it was plane that Kennedy took to Dallas in November 1963, and the one that brought his body back to Washington, D.C. following his assassination. During that trip back, Johnson took the oath of office aboard the jet — a moment immortalized  by a photograph that is burned into the memory of countless Americans.

The bus took us to a hangar on the base, and inside it, SAM 26000 sat, gleaming with the instantly recognizable presidential seal. We had the opportunity to walk through the plane and learn about the history of the aircraft. It was a brush with history that I have never forgotten and never will.

In 2016, the National Museum of the United States Air Force, brought SAM 26000 into the main museum complex, and today visitors can walk through the craft without having to sign up for a bus ride over to the base. (The popularity of the experience made it so any given day’s allotted seats would fill up quickly.)

Be forewarned: It’s a tight squeeze, as the interior width of the aisle is 19 inches due to the transparent barriers put in place to protect the plane. But this aircraft is just a small part of this expansive museum that covers the history of aviation and aeronautics from the days of the Wright brothers into the Space Race and beyond. It’s one of my favorite museums in Ohio and it’s free of charge to visit, making for a perfect stop when you’re out on the road this summer.

Access to the Presidential Gallery is limited through June 5, 2025, so be sure to plan your visit after. For more information, visit nationalmuseum.af.mil.

Small-Town Stop

Driving through Cambridge, you can’t help but notice the city harkens back to a less chaotic time in history. In my mind, nothing represents that better than Kennedy’s Bakery. Now in its 100th year, the bakery serves up handmade baked goods to locals, tourists and even ships orders to fans across the country. Whenever I’m in town, I always order their famous tea cookies, baked with or without nuts, and dotted with brightly colored icing. They also offer an array of doughnuts, pies, custom cakes and more, all handed to you in a delightfully retro striped bag.

On every visit, I can’t help but take a stroll down Wheeling Avenue, and I really mean down, as the main street here is on an incline, like many Appalachian towns tend to be. There are many quaint shops to explore and history to be learned. The Guernsey County Courthouse is in the center of downtown, a behemoth of a building that brings folks together during the holiday season with its impressive light display. Off the main drag is the National Museum of Cambridge Glass, which holds an impressive collection of glassware of all shapes, sizes and colors.

McKenna’s Market is a must for Ohio-made foods and delicious made-to-order sandwiches, while Georgetown Tavern on the Hill provides stunning views, wine slushies and brick-oven pizzas. At the end of my first visit to Cambridge, I sat on one of the many patios and looked out at the hills and valleys. I think people sometimes forget that there’s more to Ohio than farmlands and big cities. Thirty-two counties in southeast Ohio are in the Appalachian footprint, and that rolling landscape hides some very charming cities and towns, just like Cambridge.

Mocha Memories

If you you’ve ever been to Granville, you know that the businesses rarely look like it from the outside. Everything is in an adorable, repurposed home or in a charming row of colorful storefronts, so when I went to River Road Coffeehouse for the first time, it looked like we pulled up to someone’s house.

I don’t think I could even tell you the first time I went to River Road Coffeehouse. I have just been there so many times that it just sort of blends into my life. I do know that it was probably about seven years ago, and that I have never ordered anything else to drink there except for the River Road Mocha.

Why I ordered this the first time I’m not even sure, because the primary flavors are white chocolate and caramel, neither of which I enjoy on their own, but my goodness when they are blended up in perfect harmony? Well, cue the angel chorus in my head every time I take the first sip.

Now the River Road Mocha can be done hot, on ice or frozen, but if you ask me, frozen is the way to go. I even order it this way when it’s snowing. It’s immediately sweet to the taste while the coffee flavor follows behind and is enjoyed in a caramel-drizzled cup that you can watch the baristas prepare.

To-go is a choice at the Granville location, (there are two other storefronts in Licking County, and one called Wiggin Street Coffee on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier) but why would you when the interior is too inviting to leave? Booth seats are where I have spent days working on articles, and plush oversize chairs are great for cozying up with a book. The best part is, it’s a place for community, and every time I am there, I see folks doing a Bible study, Denison Students working on a project or friends running into one another.

With summer coming, it’s also perfect time to sit on their patio, and I cannot wait to take a seat out there, watching the world go by in a town I love with this charming coffee house’s signature creation in hand.

For more information, visit riverroadcoffeehouse.com

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