Canton
Sure, you could visit Canton strictly for the National Pro Football Hall of Fame, but why stop there? Make it a Hall of Fame-o-rama: cruise I-77 to take in the Inventor’s Hall of Fame, in Akron, and Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Too ambitious a plan? There’s always Harry London Candies, in North Canton, where you can watch ’em make, mold, and wrap gourmet chocolate treats and see the Chocolate Hall of Fame.
Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has been called “the sexiest zoo in the country,” due to its successful breeding programs. This 70-acre zoo has plenty of G-rated sights, though, including the Taj Mahal-like elephant house and the award-winning Jungle Trails exhibit, an eerily authentic rainforest environment, complete with fog banks and waterfalls. Elsewhere in the Queen City, see Museum Center, a 1933 art deco train station housing the Museum of Natural History & Science (home of a cool faux-limestone cave) and the Cinergy Children’s Museum.
Zanesville
A tisket, a tasket, it’s the World’s Largest Basket. Once the glass and pottery capital of Ohio, the Zanesville area is now a major handicrafts center and home of Longaberger Company, a maker of hand-woven maple baskets. Visit the Longaberger Homestead, watch basket makers at work, and see the World’s Largest Apple Basket. Shop for baskets and basket accessories galore at local retail shops; there are miniature baskets, basket linens, and wire basket trees. And, of course, you’ll need a mega-basket to carry it all home.