Tucked into the woods near to Hocking Hills, Ravenwood Castle is a surprise even if you already…read moreknow what you're getting yourself into. One minute you're driving along backroads in Ohio and then BAM, you're starting at a medieval castle. Ravenwood Castle is well known for its focus on games of all kinds - board games, social deduction games, scavenger hunts - you name it, they have it. My mom and I came for a special weekend where they were hosting a murder mystery. Put on by a separate company, but hosted within Ravenwood Castle, our murder mystery experience started on Friday night and ran through Sunday morning. We worked in teams to solve the mystery and along the way participated in goofy and quirky games and puzzles to help us score points. When you stay, you can eat on site, or you can book a cabin and bring & prepare food in a small kitchenette. Alternatively, there are a few places you can order from / go out to in the surrounding areas, but nothing is particularly close by because the castle is in a remote area. While I found the food to be mediocre, the beer and whiskey selection is great, and a surprise stand out was their version of butterbeer, which is dangerously chuggable. If you're someone who loves board games and wants a weekend away to connect with friends or family, this is a great place to go!

I didn't know it when we showed up to Ravenwood Castle that the entire property is dedicated to…read moreplaying games! There is a plethora to choose from as soon as you check in or when you're dining in the pub or premade scavenger hunts to do while walking around the property during your stay. My husband and I aren't board game enthusiasts but we did have a great time at the castle. After checking in we made our way to the King Arthur Suite, a short walk from the check-in desk and through the dining hall. The door to the King Arthur Suite is quite literally in the middle of the dining hall which we personally felt was kind of awkward because it is a prime gathering space for most of the guests. The two story suite was spacious, painted in a funky green and featured a giant jacuzzi tub which was the highlight of the room. A comfortable four poster bed on the second story made us feel like royalty and is close to the door that leads to a porch over looking the grounds behind the castle. My husband made a fire in the large fire pit outside of the castle that is closer to the cabins. The area was stocked with wood and we spent the majority of our evening enjoying a warm fire on the cool fall night. The pub downstairs serves beer and basic bar fare. It wasn't very busy when we stopped by but service was wonderful and we felt very welcome. Another couple proposed the four of us play a game together and we reluctantly obliged. Our patient competitors taught us how to play "Ticket To Ride" and it was a blast. So, in the end, Ravenwood Castle (and our new friends) did turn us into game people.

The pool was nice and warm. The hot tub was nice also. The property was clean. There was a bunch…read moreof food options within a 5 minute drive also.

A Chillicothe landmark. Right by the highway and the commercial strip. Big, with an event space…read moreI've been in for wedding receptions, very pleasant. We might have stayed here before, but we have family in town so we generally stay with them. But we didn't want to overwhelm them this time so stayed over here. Super service. They weren't very full last night, but I bet they will be tonight for the holiday. Pool is right up front, and we went in for a bit. No screaming kids. Rooms are small but nicely appointed. Fridge, microwave, decent TV. Comfy beds. Muted road noise, because you are right beside the highway. Fairly loud hallway noise, not bad on an emtpyish night but probably annoying when it's busy. Small bathroom, just the tub and toilet. Sink and mirror in room. Good enough for a short stay with a couple people. No extra outlets or USBs. Well, two outlets on the bedside lamp. Reasonable prices. Free wifi, seems a little weak though. Small free breakfast, nothing special. I'm sure we'll be back.

Just beautiful clean and nice place for a family outing will be coming back and checking out more…read moreof the outdoors

At some of Ohio's State park it's hard to be a human powered vessel when so many boats are zooming…read moreby. You are almost relegated to smaller coves as you try to escape the waves caused by power boats. Not at Lake Hope State Park as boaters are restricted to electric motors only. My wife is all about the well maintained mountain bike trails. We were both all about the small camping pads and many non electric sites. This meant that as tent campers we were not back to back with massive RVs. And our dog was all about all of it, especially since a state park means that he gets to hang out with his pack!  On the down side, there was only one water spigot, one near the check in, that was marked as potable. Perhaps the others throughout the campground are and are not marked. However, we chose to only get water from that spigot. The spigot that was closest to our campsite was way too close to the pit toilet for me to feel comfortable drinking without filtering/boiling.  While we didn't get the chance to actually take our boats off the car, thanks to thunderstorms, we did drive around and find some spots that would work perfectly as put ins. There's a space just off the main road that would work for those who are kayaking, canoeing, or SUPing. The drive to and from LHSP was beautiful, with the visual elevation changes. I loved that it was almost in the HHills area but lacked all the folks (and the restrictions on dogs)! Lake Hope State Park is a place that we will hands down visit again. Although, our first visit there was filled with thunderstorms- we managed to stay dry and camped anyway!

My Mr and I was looking for a vineyard near our cabin and stumbled on this place via Yelp. The…read morereviews were so good that we had to check them out. We got there a little after 1:00 pm and they were super busy. The inside was small but there were plenty of seating outside. We didn't mind going out there despite the 30 degree weather. The view of the farm and vineyard was gorgeous to look at even with the snow. Before we went in, we greeted the sheep's in the front entrance. You can't miss the small barn. We stood in line and while we were waiting, we filled out the sheets and picked our 4 tastings. They range from dry, semi sweet and sweet. They also serve slushies and mulled wine. We ordered: Flight of 4 $10.00: -Dry Red- 2022 Free Run Norton -Dry Red- 2023 Marquette -2 Dry White-2023 Seyval Blanc -Dry Red-2022 Norton -Dry Red-Oaked Norton -Dry Red-2023 Alexander -Semi Dry Rose- 2023 Grower's Blush Appetizer: -Classic Charcuterie for two For food, they do have paninis and charcuterie trays. If you order, they give you a buzzer. When it goes off, you pick up your meal outside/food truck. Our favorites were the Alexander red and Seyval Blanc. So good that were purchased bottles to take home and had two glasses of Alexander after we finished our flight. I talked to the owners and they are very friendly and take pride in their wines & their farm. I highly recommend you pay them a visit. We had such a great experience and will definitely come back when in the hocking hills area. Make sure to check their hours because they are only open certain times and days of the week.

My lady and I were staying at a place nearby Hocking Hills and decided to look for a local winery…read morewhen we found this one not even five miles away. It looked very scenic and laid back too so we had to check it out. Glad we did because we really enjoyed it. Excellent wine, very relaxed atmosphere, and tremendous service. We stopped by on a Saturday afternoon after some hiking. We just wanted a couple wine flights and maybe a charcuterie board since we saw they offer those. It was pretty busy already and we got there right after they opened for the day. Still, it wasn't super cold out, and we found comfortable seating on a porch outside. We started with two flights and a classic charcuterie board. Here are the wines we tried: -Dry Red- 2022 Free Run Norton -Dry Red- 2023 Marquette -Dry White-2023 Seyval Blanc -Dry Red-2022 Norton -Dry Red-Oaked Norton -Dry Red-2023 Alexander -Semi Dry Rose- 2023 Grower's Blush We enjoyed pretty much all the wines, especially the Alexander and the Seyval Blanc. Note that when ordering food, you order at the bar, then they hand you a pager, and you get your food at a food truck nearby when your pager goes off. Our charcuterie board was done pretty quickly and everything was tasty. So much so that we took our time to savor it along with a couple more glasses of wine. They do offer s nice range of wines too, from dry to sweet to all points in between. They also do seasonal wines like mulled wines in winter and wine slushies. Like a certain wine? You can buy a bottle and they offer 10% off if you buy six or more bottles. This is a great little winery and lots to offer. I can tell they're a big hit with locals and travelers alike with how busy they got quickly after opening up. Say hi to the sheep when you get there too!

What a beautiful state park. Drive by the entrance off 23 while on a foodie road trip and decided…read morewe'd stop by on our way back home. Glad we did, the park is so pretty. Curvy roads, lots of trails and an absolute win for us as it they were having their Halloween event at the campgrounds so got to stop, talk to some of the nicest folks and check out the decorated campgrounds. Lots of space for campers left which surprised me but the park is a bit off the beaten path here in beautiful Ohio. My favorite part was climbing up the old watch tower. The top isn't open to get in to the box at top but high enough to have a lovely view of the countryside.

Scioto Trail State park has become one of our favorites after only our second camping adventure…read morethere. It's the perfect distance from Columbus to make it a doable drive after work on a Friday so that we're able to set up camp before too late in the evening. It's also just enough topography to help you forget for a moment that you're in relatively flat Ohio. (I know I mentioned the forestry service/state forest roads in my previous review but they are well worth the drive in the fall. Especially this fall where the cold snap in September lead to gorgeous colors.) On this past adventure, while it was exceedingly rainy, we still found time to take a hike. We walked around the lake which was lovely as most of the maples still had their leaves. Hiked the Friendship Trail which picks up in the offshoot of the campground and ends on the road at the end of the activities field. We also hiked part of the Church Hollow trail which made for some great mushroom finds. I even saw my first ever wild yam plant (identified later as there is NO cell service within the campground area)! We were pretty much self contained camping, in the same spot as last time. I recommend checking out the sites on the off shoot of the campground. The sites are a bit wider and most of the sites are shaded. I visited the pit toilets once when we first arrived and found them to be clean as far as Ohio state park pit toilets go. They weren't being sanitized at the same rate they were a couple of months ago however, I am sure they are used far less when it starts to get chilly and more and more campers are in RVs.

Great vacation spot in southern Ohio. Everyone at the place seems laid back and friendly.read more

We came to visit from Illinois since my husband had a local job going on. The owner and employees…read morewere all SO nice and accommodating. It really made the experience much more comfortable. The kids had a blast on the beach, the floating islands, fishing, and game room. We stayed in the new cabins and they were very comfortable. We stayed here with our four littles (ages 9,8,4, and 2).

This is a great place if you're looking for a quiet, primitive weekend away. Cabin was a little…read moreovercrowded with chairs and such. No electricity. No running water. Pet friendly. Some basic supplies provided (pots, pans, basic linens, propane stove, drinking water, dish water, fire pit, toilet paper.) Owners easy to work with but were not available a few times during their open hours. The soap provided was gross filled with water. Hand sanitizer was empty.

I stayed here Sept 8-10 at the campsite shown in the picture. The camp site was very private, had…read morethe shelter you see in the picture, and water (both drinking and washing). There was a composting toilet very near us that was clean and did not smell. The shower was hot and clean. The walk up to our site was about a half mile and all uphill. We made at least three trips from the car to the site carrying all of our stuff and it was a workout! All in all it was a great stay and I will definitely come back!! Thanks Hawks Landing!

Stayed at the quilt cabin ..cobwebs..stains on bed sheets..no garbage bags..and the water smells…read moreterrible..