Among the various vacation destinations in Appalachia is a cabin retreat meant to provide an escape to the country, a chance to reconnect with nature, and an opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.  The retreat is part of the 62 acres that is Coyote Creek Farm.

Warm weather has arrived, and whether you enjoy a long hike, a horseback ride or a sunny afternoon spent on the lake, Paint Creek State Park in Highland County is a destination for summer activities of all kinds. Fishing, swimming, and horseback riding are just a few of the activities featured at the park this summer as it kicks off the season with numerous opportunities for warm weather fun and adventure.

The Newport Aquarium displays more than 7,000 aquatic creatures from across the globe in a million gallons of water and it is located on the banks of the Ohio River in Newport, Ky.  The Newport Aquarium is a state-of-the-art facility and was named the number one aquarium in the midwest and the Best Rainy Day Outing by Cincinnati Family Magazine.

The Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit is back in Columbus at COSI for an encore presentation. This exhibition is a collection of hundreds of authentic artifacts recovered from the wreckage of the world-famous ocean liner. In 2005, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition was seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors. This time, it is enhanced with 66 new artifacts to Columbus and 23 that have never been seen anywhere in the world for a total of 350. The exhibition also features a gallery devoted to Ohio’s connections to the voyage.

For two weeks each July, Lancaster, Ohio becomes the center of music and arts in Ohio. The Lancaster Festival is an annual celebration of music and art with events held throughout the city, with a major stage perform on two Saturday nights at the Ohio University-Lancaster outdoor auditorium.

Every Ohio town has them — ghost stories passed down like heirlooms, spread by word of mouth and carried on by the curious. Clinton County is no exception. Here, there are rumored haunts and urban legends alike, from the glowing headstone of Haws Chapel Cemetery to the clip-clopping ghost of a horse entombed at Wilmington College. But rarely are those stories backed up by evidence. One Wilmington group could help change that.

“We’re starting with a big bang at the General Denver Hotel,” said Steven Powell, co-founder and lead investigator of OOPS. After a buffet dinner and an opening presentation of findings collected at the hotel, the crowd will take to the streets. “From there, we’ll visit some sites of Wilmington’s past.”

Stephen Powell has always had an eye for the unexplainable. He spent 20 years as an acoustics analyst in the Navy - “I was trained to chase submarines” - and points to a handful of strange incidents during that time that piqued his interest in the paranormal. His crew chased a UFO while aboard a Navy ship that was patrolling off the coast of Hawaii in the early 1970s. He skipped a train while stationed in Italy that was later bombed by the Red Brigade. He would be in one place, he said, and someone would get injured or die at the place he should have been.

“Do you want to see pictures of my ghost?” Jeannie Walker is shuffling around her downtown upholstery business, Jeannie’s Palo Fabrics, pointing out places where strange events have occurred. Over here, she gestures, is where her car locked itself with the keys laying right in front of her. Over there is where she smelled the pipe smoke of the business’ former owner, Don Gray, who had been dead for years. When she stands here, she usually sees a black figure flutter by in her peripheral vision.

The Cowan Lake Sailing Association is preparing for its annual regatta series, held each summer and fall at Cowan Lake State Park in Wilmington.

The Chakeres family, owners of the Chakeres Theatres, Inc. chain, is a familiar name in cinema throughout Southern Ohio. It is the oldest independent motion picture exhibitor in Ohio and Kentucky and the third oldest theatre chain in the United States. The Chakeres family started in the silent movie business in 1908.

Let’s go to the drive-in tonight! That was the place to go Friday or Saturday night and maybe Sunday too. Anyone could go, teenagers, young married couples, older folks and kids. Parents with kids parked closer to the playground and teenagers parked on the back row. It was summer under the stars and Americana at its entertainment best!

‘The cinema was king!” said Mike Chakeres of the 40s and 50s era when his father owned a drive-in and three cinemas in Washington Court House. After he graduated from high school in 1961, Mike left and started school at Ohio State University. Mike worked in the retail industry and the family theater business. He is now director for Friends of St. Francis, a non-profit organization. He lives in Brookville with his wife, Josie.

Fine arts and crafts, acres of gardens, good food and live music — and admission is free. “It’s just a little backyard festival,” laughed Bobbi Bishop, who, along with her husband Bruce, organizes LilyFest, a celebration of all things outdoors held each year in July at the Bishops’ Rockbridge home. “Or a front yard fest I suppose.”

Anyone who has watched the Fourth of July parade in Blanchester knows that the village and parade organizers know how to throw a parade. It was only natural, then, that the Clinton County Bicentennial Commission would take the village up on its offer to host the official Clinton County Bicentennial Parade.

The Amish Community on Wheat Ridge began its humble roots in 1976 when seven families, looking for a fresh start, moved from Melroy, Indiana, to Adams County, Ohio, because land prices were affordable and it was available. Perhaps sparking the move to Adams County was the late Bill Lafferty of West Union who had often visited the Amish harness shops in Melroy during the 1970’s and spoke favorably of the area. When the Amish families finally settled it has been said the first thing they did was to raise a stink in the community as many were originally hog farmers.

This Memorial day weekend, step back to the time before Ohio was a state, when mountain men and Native Americans made their camps in the hills around where our first state capital, Chillicothe, would be settled.

Barns, Barns, Barns! Remember the Mail Pouch barns? Any old barn looks good with a fresh coat of paint somebody once said. Street art taken to the country via way of Appalachian folk art. The bare canvas of old barn siding proved to be fertile ground for the imaginative mind of Adams County resident Donna Sue Groves. In searching for a way to honor her mother Maxine Groves, an accomplished quilter, she sparked a nation wide tourism phenomenon with her lovely quilts. The artful display of Quilt Barn murals has spread coast to coast across 27 states and Canada and has created nearly 100 dedicated driving trails with over 1,800 quilt barns throughout rural America. In Ohio alone there are 17 counties with quilt barn trails. And it all started right here in Adams County.

One of the great ongoing debates is: What city or area makes the most delicious pizza? New York City and Chicago are commonly crowned with this honor but not everyone has the opportunity to drive or fly to these cities just to eat pizza. So living in southwestern Ohio, how far do you have to go for the best pizza? Chances are, the answer is right down the street. If not that close, you won’t have to travel far to find it. In fact, southwestern Ohio shouldn’t feel ashamed to put their pizza up against the best of the best. This writer’s journey took him approximately 200 miles, through five counties and 10 different pizza joints to find the best pizza. And find it he did. It ranged from loaded to meaty to ranch to pepperoni and back — all of it fantastic.

 You walk through a forest of lush green rhododendrons. They are everywhere in this thick forest in southwest Pennsylvania.  The path through the woods curves to the right, and suddenly, right in front of you stands the most famous home in the world.  It is Fallingwater.