Escort Notes
AMERICA AT ITS BEST
Enhance your trip with San-Dar Hospitality Services. Darrell Banks, Host. 419-886-2958
No matter what the season, Mansfield visitors will find a wide variety of attractions, events and activities throughout the year.
As winter turns to spring, the season’s beauty is on display at Kingwood Center, where thousands of tulips explode in a riot of color. In summer, breathtaking displays of annuals, day lilies and irises draw thousands of visitors to these spectacular 47 acres of estate gardens.
Spring and summer are also race season in Mansfield, with major race events taking place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. A 2.4 mile professional road racing course. It was a favorite place of Paul Newman!
Summer is also a lovely time on Malabar Farm. This working farm, now a state park, was built by Pulitzer-prize winning author Louis Bromfield and was the place Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married. Take a hayride, tour the farmhouse and pitch in collecting eggs or milking cows. Malabar has two original Grandma Moses paintings in the Big House. Enhance your tour by taking the "Afternoon With Grandma Moses" or "Romance That Became a Legend" tour and program.
Unforgettable fun is why Mansfield is a favorite place for everyone! Hidden Hilltop Alpaca Ranch or Alpaca Meadows gives you the opportunity to touch and learn about these adorable animals. Take a spin on Mansfield's first wooden carrousel to be built since the 1930's at the Richland Carrousel Park.
The Falcon and Friends is a live bird natural educational program offered at the The Ohio Bird Sanctuary. See birds up-close and learn about these birds of prey while strolling through the songbird aviary.
CITY OF CHURCHES & SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS
Mansfield became a city on June 11, 1808. Before the turn of the century Mansfield was known as the "City of Churches." This tour is conducted by a professional staff member of BibleWalk where you can re-live Mansfield's religious heritage by touring all or any of Mansfield's historic churches.
BibleWalk is a world renowned life-sized wax museum featuring over 70 scenes and over 300 wax figures. Each scene is complimented by individualized wall murals, authentic costuming and is also underscored by original music and narration. BibleWalk offers 4 wax museums, the City of Churches Tour and the ever-popular Dinner with Grace Dinner Theatre.
FLOWERS, GLORIOUS FLOWERS!
For garden lovers, there are plenty of outstanding greenhouses available in Mansfield. Alta Florist and Greenhouse can give your groups a seasonal demonstration on creating the perfect centerpiece for any occasion. Then it's raffled off to a guest on the coach! Possum Run Greenhouse is Ohio's most talked about garden center with a rainbow bridge, shopping galore and an enormous waterfall all located in a restored century barn. And it's one of the coldest spots in North Central Ohio! The Blueberry Patch Greenhouse and Gifts is Ohio's largest blueberry plantation. Pick your own blueberries or enjoy them already picked for you! Wayne's Country Market carries local produce with a year around Amish bakery, Waggoner Premium Chocolates and wine & cheese tasting for your pleasure.
Hop on your bike and ride the B&O Trail. This 18-mile stretch of former railway takes you through charming small towns where you’ll discover antique shops, diners and more. Bikes are available at locations throughout the Trail for visitors.
Winter holidays bring even more beauty to the region as Christmas Time in the City begins in the Historic Carrousel District in downtown Mansfield. Christmas music fills the streets with glorious sounds as you shop your way through the variety of stores. Kingwood Center’s Christmas dried-flower and natural ornament displays are breathtaking in the Mansion. Oak Hill Cottage is decorated in a Victorian Dicken's Theme where you are sure you've stepped back in time. The Christmas Wunderland drive-thru light display at the Richland County Fairgrounds is a must-see for everyone, as well as the Herlihy Christmas House which is decked for the season with more than 25 themed Christmas trees and welcoming visitors.
MUNCH YOUR WAY THROUGH MANSFIELD
You know that when a restaurant, shop or cafe is featured on the Food Network or in national magazines, it’s got to be good. That’s the case with the Squirrel’s Den. This tiny shop in downtown Mansfield is crammed with awesome chocolates, fresh-roasted nuts and popcorn in many flavors – or served plain for the purist. Groups are greeted by Grandma Squirrel with advanced notice and well worth the visit!
The Eatmor Bundt Company offers rich, delicious cakes that are baked from scratch with the finest ingredients in the boutique bakery. Baker Joyce Wells’ mini or full-size bundts are unbelievably delicious. They’re the perfect accompaniment to the world’s finest German teas she and her staff make available for purchase.
How about a stop at Jones' Chips retail store. Everyone loves Jones' Marcelled Chips! They are even shipped all over the world and are a Mansfield favorite!
If unique dining is your preference, than we have it! Dine in a former stage coach stop at Malabar Farm Restaurant. Or how about an experience like no other- dining in a train filled with OSU memorabilia for the die-hard fan! Mansfield even has a 1940's style steakhouse, Oak Park Tavern, specializing in steaks, seafood and their famous Lake Erie Yellow Perch. Everybody's favorite home-style cooking and hospitality can be found at Troyer's Dutch Heritage Restaurant where we promise you won't go away hungry!
The Mansfield Art Center’s award-winning modern wood and glass building sits on eight lovely wooded acres. Juried, invitational themed and other exhibitions combine new works in all media from contemporary Ohio artists with important traveling shows. Groups can enjoy hands-on programs where they can create with the assistance of a professional artist.
The most important aspects of African American history are highlighted in Mansfield with The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, a beautiful granite memorial placed in downtown Central Park. The Cosby Educational Heritage Center, located in the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center, offers information about the triumphs, trials and history of African Americans through pictures, artifacts and newspaper articles.
LET US ENTERTAIN YOU
The grand baroque styling of a 1928 movie house, the Renaissance Theatre, is now the area’s premiere venue for live entertainment. Home of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra and the annual Miss Ohio Scholarship Pageant, the theater offers visitors backstage tours, internationally touring Broadway shows, rock and country concerts, comedy, variety shows and even a one-on-one meet and greet with ballet dancers from the Neos Dance Company. Take a unique approach and enjoy white table cloth dining on stage for lunch or dinner while being serenaded by the Wurlitzer Organ.
The Mansfield Playhouse, Ohio's second oldest and largest producing community theatre, presents a six show Main Stage Season, two Youth Theatre Productions, and two Second Stage Productions.
TRAVEL IN HOLLYWOOD'S FOOTSTEPS WITH THE SHAWSHANK TRAIL TOUR
“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”
Fans of the movie “Shawshank Redemption” don't have to travel to Hollywood. Take a short trip to Mansfield, Ohio where your personal step-on-guide will provide the most exclusive tour of where this classic movie was filmed! Visit the same spots as Hollywood once did. Explore all 12 sites and put yourself in the same locations as Andy and Red. Hear behind the scenes stories at the Historic Ohio State Reformatory, Malabar Farm, Haunted Bissman Building, Renaissance Theatre and many more locations! Great package highlights include amazing photo opportunities galore, your very own personal step on guide for two days, exploration of the Hollywood filming locations, themed “Shawshank” dining and lodging and “Shawshank” treats to take home! An experience to be found no where else. Click here for the Shawshank Trail itinerary.
