Why Grand Rapids?
Grand Rapids, OH is such a fun day trip to take! If you're looking for some unique things to do and see, this is the town to visit. We started off at a flower farm, visited the metro park, walked along the river and shopped in some of the cutest shops. If you're from the Cincinnati area, it takes about 3hrs of soy bean fields to get there.
Garden View Flowers
This flower farm is so gorgeous! to be honest, it's the main reason I wanted to visit Grand Rapids. We got there around 8:30 AM and it was 100% worth waking up early and sleep deprivation. They had a yoga class starting in the grass when we got there (which, I think would be neat to do if I lived in the area!). Getting there early meant good lighting for some great pics and we pretty much had the whole field to ourselves.
It's only $12! You get a pair of clippers and a vase with water to place your fresh cut flowers (It's $2 extra if you want to buy the vase, but we brought our own). You can tell they take good care of the fields and really want you to get beautiful, vibrant flowers. Check their website because they did close for a couple days before we went to let the flowers grow back. The employee who checked us in was great and pointed us to the best spots to pick flowers that morning. I mean, is there anything better than breathing in fresh morning air, watching the sunrise, and collecting the most beautiful flowers you've ever seen?
When you're finished there's also a little shop you can visit with local honey, jam, dried flowers, fresh- already made bouquets and even some antiques to purchase. When you return your clippers, one of the staff members wraps your flowers up for you and you're good to go!
Providence Metro Park
This park is full of things to do. We starting by walking along the canal visiting the Mill. Unfortunately, many of the attractions were closed due to Covid, but their website confirms that they are to reopen in May 2021. Grand Rapids is known for it's historical canal and mule drawn boats that used to carry goods and transport people between Toledo and Cincinnati. They normally have a mule drawn boat ride that you can purchase a ticket to ride in while getting a tour of the historic canal and town. The Mill was built in 1866 to keep the canal filled with water. There's also bike trails, hiking trails, the Providence Dam and picnic areas.
The Village of Grand Rapids
This is such a quaint and picturesque village along the Maumee River. It has charming antique shops, gift shops, restaurants and a brewery all housed in it's restored historic buildings. There's also a park along the river where you can sit in swings and enjoy views and sounds of the rapids. This would be a great spot to have a picnic, go on a walk and just relax.
Harambe
Sculpture honoring Harambe. I couldn't just leave this out of my blog post so here it is. RIP Harambe.
I would love to come back next year to do the canal ride and explore some more. This was such a good day trip with plenty to see and do. Grand Rapids is also about 33 minutes from Toledo, if you'd like to make this a longer trip. Have you ever been here? If you have, what are some of your favorite things to do? Let me know!
Thanks for reading and happy travels!
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