I've been here twice recently: once for trick or treat with my son and once for a holiday open…read morehouse specifically for members of a couple other historical sites in Akron. Both times were interesting and I learned a lot at the open house. The trick or treat was more fast-paced, so not a lot of time to ask questions about the history, but the open house was very relaxed and I had lots of great conversations with the docents. This house is very haunted, especially by Martha in the upstairs bedroom in the back of the house. I also walked over to the John Brown house. I had never been there. I am still confused about who exactly John Brown was. He was loved and hated; he was revered and despised. That house is much smaller than the Perkins house, but it is open to the public and there is some interesting history there too. They were also housing an art exhibit featuring barns of Ohio. (See my photo with this). My son's favorite part of our October visit to Perkins was the sheep grazing on the lawn outside with the beautiful autumn colors in the background. I learned the other day that they are "borrowed" for the summer and autumn, and then go to warmer pastures in the summer.

Stopped w Hubby to check out this Roadside Attraction in Small Town of Newton Falls, Ohio…read more Very lovely little park on corner of E Broad str and S Center Str Broad str is the main street through town

Beautiful home with lots of treasures. They host a gingerbread competition and some of the entries…read morewere impressive. I would love to know more. I will also be attending one of the Open Houses at the McDowell Phillips house during the Christmas season.

I'm writing this review after hearing a deeply disturbing story from my younger sister, who was a…read morestudent in the Stow School District. Over the years, she visited this establishment multiple times through school-organized field trips. Her earlier experiences seemed educational and age-appropriate, but her final visit in 8th grade was traumatizing and completely unacceptable. On her first visit, she was a young child, excited to explore history. She remembers playing with wooden toys and engaging in fun, interactive activities. It was a harmless and enjoyable experience. On her second visit in 4th grade, the experience was still fairly lighthearted--she milked cows, churned butter, and watched glassblowers at work. It seemed like a continued effort to connect children with the past in a safe and engaging way. But her third visit in 8th grade took a shocking and horrifying turn. During this "A Fugitive's Path: Escape on the Underground Railroad" experience, my sister and her classmates were: Placed in shackles and treated like slaves Forced to simulate escaping through the Underground Railroad Exposed to the sound of blank bullets being shot into the air Surrounded by the cracking of whips Yelled at and intimidated by adults playing the roles of slave catchers or owners This wasn't education--it was trauma packaged as a learning experience. As her older sibling, hearing her describe the fear, humiliation, and confusion she felt during this simulation was gut-wrenching. I cannot understand how any school district, let alone an educational institution trusted with children's development, would approve of such a psychologically scarring experience. How could you slowly build a relationship with this place over several years, only to subject children--still minors--to a reenactment of slavery that includes the sounds of gunfire and whips? What kind of message does that send? What makes anyone believe that this is appropriate or effective? Let me be very clear: no child should ever have to go through this. Teaching about the horrors of slavery is important--but traumatizing children in the process is not education. It's irresponsible and deeply damaging. To the school district and the organizers of this program: What made you think this was okay? You crossed a line that should never be crossed. You failed these students. As a sibling, I'm heartbroken. And as a community member, I'm calling for serious accountability and immediate re-evaluation of what is considered "educational." This should never happen again--to any child, in any school, anywhere. This event took place in 2013-2014 school year however her trauma is still valid in 2025!!!!!!!!

My first time and what a great experience. The grounds were lovely although did need the grass cut…read more All of the employees were great with the exception of one who was not age appropriate and came off as mean.

Brandywine Falls located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is one of my favorite places to hike…read more The Brandywine Falls area is easy to access, the main parking lot is located on Brandywine Road and is next to the falls themselves. There is a bathroom and water fountain here, so it is a nice stop on the bike and hike trail which passes by the falls. The falls is the tallest, one of the largest and most visited falls in Ohio, it is also one of the highlights of the National Park. The park has created a boardwalk that allows you to go into the gorge and get some great views of the falls. The boardwalk does have some steep stairs and you should be careful on your way down and back up. The falls is very picturesque and will give you different looks depending on the amount of water in the stream, the time of the year and the time of day. While the falls are great I really enjoy the hikes that are available in connection with the falls. The hikes take you down the gorge and there is a bridge that allows you to cross the stream and come back up the other side. The South side hike is a bit away from the stream and is mainly through the woods on hard dirt trails; there is a bit of ups and downs including some stairs and stream crossings on bridges. The North side trail is along the river and gorge and is steeper and can be a bit of a scramble. The total loop is about 1 1/2 miles with a nice bit of vertical for its length. You can also do longer hikes to the Stanford House or the Boston Mills visitor center. One of the things I enjoy is seeing the falls and the gorge in different seasons. During the summer the lot is usually full during most of the day, the gorge offers a rather cool and shady area when the day is hot. Fall has the changing leaves and cooler temperatures. Winter creates a whole different look. Finally, spring gives you the rushing stream and the transition from winter to summer. If you haven't been to Brandywine Falls you need to plan a visit, if you haven't been there recently it is well worth a return visit.

Fun part of Cuyahoga Valley, apparently it's one of the main draws for this national park…read more There are a few trails, including a loop around the falls that's under two miles, with a little bit of an incline but still not overly challenging. There's also a bike trail leading out from the trailhead to other parts of the valley. The falls were there. I suppose for this region they're a sight to behold, but if you've been to other waterfalls in pretty much any other part of the country/world, these won't be too impressive. Pleasant enough area for a shorter hike and cool geology.

Plenty of activities or stations with themes . Hospital, store, etc for kids ages 3-8read more

My child (3) loves this place! It's nice being able to take him somewhere like this in the winter…read more That said, the ACM is something my nightmares are made of. This place is FILTHY. I am not sure I've ever said that in a review. But I've now been here pre-covid and post. And I still feel this place needs a new cleaning crew, maybe a long weekend to sanitize every surface. My background is in nursing and public health, and I was just appalled at how gross the toys and structures were. I don't mind letting my child play at indoor facilities - it's nothing I have a "rule" against. But after finding layers of visible dirt/grime on almost everything we saw during our December visit, I was disgusted. Then that water table someone else mentioned... it's had this horrible rotting odor for years. I couldn't believe it's still there. But it is, still giving off an offensive stench that's pretty noticeable several yards away. There is a costume area with a stage, and the costumes have seen much better days. I cringed every time my son put on a hat or helmet - every toy/material here had some type of a smell and I wondered if anyone has ever put the costumes in a machine washer or wiped down the helmets? I was pretty surprised I didn't see any staff walking around, perhaps wiping surfaces or helping direct the masses of excited children. It was only $5 to get in, but I'm not sure why they can't charge a few dollars more and make the museum a clean, safer place for children. In December, covid, flu, and RSV were pretty prevalent in our area and I was nauseous thinking what we could have brought home with all of the disgusting things my son touched. I wish I could say we'd be back, especially as my son loves it, but this place is always a hard pass in my book.

Very affordable. Great staff. Daughter has attended for six years and has enjoyed every minute of…read moreit.

BF and I did research before coming here so we knew what to expect. They give very limited tours…read moreand the areas are not all restored or furnished as such. Knowing this, I took a day off on a Friday to come to their 1pm tour. No one else was there so it ended up being a private tour for my BF and me. Our docent Elaine was a straight G for showing us all the areas (and more!), giving us colorful background, really emphasizing the significance of the place and her passion to maintain and preserve. While it's true that the entire upstairs have been converted to offices, Christmas displays and bridal suites, the first floor, and some extras (library, dinning room, sunroom, German pub room) were all still intact and interesting to tour. The staff was very welcoming and it genuinely was interesting to learn about Alliance, the engineering company and the descendants. The admission cost is $10 per person cash and I thought it was worthwhile for the hour+ tour. The grounds had an echo chamber that greatly amused us! Recommend stopping by here and checking out the cute antique shops in downtown Alliance! I had a wonderful day trip here.

This place really does look cool from the outside, but the self-guided tour of the inside fell…read moreshort. We were there for the holiday weekend tour and it was really crowded with not great crowd-management and not really much information about the home or the family. There was a brief hand-out with some basic information about each room, but really nothing really sparked my attention or jumped out here. I am still not sure what the family did or aware of any specific hidden gems in the mansion or anything significant about the architecture. The most interesting little detail were the trolls and owls carved into the molding upstairs in the library. I don't know, but maybe if we came back on a day that wasn't packed to the brim with people I would have felt more engaged? Or maybe more time to talk to the docents? For ten bucks per adult, I don't really think it was worth it. There were significant repairs needed and the house has not fully been restored. There are far more detailed and interesting tours of historic homes in the northeast Ohio area to visit. Either way, now we can say we've been and my son DID get to visit Santa Claus with virtually zero wait to do so. That's a win.