Escort Notes
No matter what the season, Mansfield visitors will find a wide variety of attractions, events and activities.
As winter turns to spring, the season’s beauty is on display at Kingwood Center, where more than 35,000 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, which are free and open to the public year-round.
Spring and summer are also race season in Mansfield, with more than two dozen major race events taking place at Mansfield Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Summer is also 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. Or, 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.
Winter holidays bring even more beauty to the region, as Christmas in the city, holiday farm tours, Kingwood Center’s displays, the Christmas Wunderland light display and the Herlihy Christmas House are decked for the season and welcoming visitors.
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.
Just down the street, Eatmor Bundt Company makes its home inside the Twisted Fig Tea Room. Rich, delicious cakes are baked from scratch with the finest ingredients. Baker Joyce Wells’ mini or full-size bundts are available for eat-in, delivery or to take along. They’re the perfect accompaniment to the world’s finest teas she and her staff knowledgeably serve.
Art and culture around in Mansfield. From the renowned Mansfield Art Center to the historic Renaissance Theatrer and the unique Mansfield Memorial Museum to the cultural importance of the Cosby Educational Heritage Center, Mansfield offers a wonderfully diverse yet approachable arts and culture scene.
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 cotemporary Ohio artists with important traveling shows.
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.
Some of the regions most intriguing cultural history comes alive at the Mansfield Memorial Museum. Visitors can travel back in time and meet ELEKTRO, the world’s first robot.
CURTAINS RISING
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 everything from internationally touring Broadway shows, rock and country concerts, variety shows and First Friday Jazz concerts.
