A Road Trip to New England? No, It's Granville, OH

      Granville is one of those towns that upon crossing its border, one immediately feels transposed to another place.  It seems miles from the surrounding countryside of rural Ohio, and best described as an affluent New England village.  

Swasey Chapel

at Denison University

      I was visiting my family for a few days in Columbus and had suggested that we take the short road trip (25 miles) to the town as I had not been there for a few years.  I remembered it as the home to Denison University (Michael Eisner's alma mater) and the cozy Buxton Inn.  Other than that, I didn't recall very many other reasons other than to just drive around and enjoy the restored homes and gardens and the sleepy picturesque town center.  

Winding Through Denison University

Eclectic Cottages in the Village

New England Architecture
of Granville, OH

I was pleasantly surprised to find a thriving town of
shopping and eating establishments.  We parked the car and started our short walking tour of both sides of Broadway, the main street through the village.  

Shops and Eateries Along Broadway

We ventured in to Tickleberry Moon, a "natural modern baby" store featuring everything from apparel to remedies.  The Readers' Garden Book Store is a small shop selling new and used books as well as unique cards.  It's pretty much the specialty store that you would expect in a small community with fair prices and a friendly staff.  

The Buxton Inn

Further down the street was the Buxton Inn, Ohio's oldest continuously operated inn (since 1812) in its original building.  We were there on a Monday and the dining room was closed.  The menu looked to be reasonable and traditional.  (Has anyone been there recently?  If so, please leave a comment.)  It's also a fully functional inn with 25 rooms furnished with period antiques.  

Goumas Candyland

Green Velvet Boutique

Crossing the street we visited Goumas Candyland, an area confectioner of fine quality hand-dipped chocolates. We were given a sample of the toffee and decided to purchase the dark chocolate sea salt caramels for a later snack (they didn't even make it to the car).  We learned of a "friendly" family feud involving the Goumas Confectioner a few doors down the street, but we had already satisfied our fix.  More shops (some of them closed on Mondays) along the way included Kussmaul Gallery and Green Velvet, both featuring home accessories and gifts, and the James Store offering fine women’s and children’s apparel.  There's also a sprinkling of coffee houses and cafes.  It was more than enough to fill the 3 free hours of on-street parking when you're yearning to be in a New England town. 

http://www.granville.oh.us

I usually miss Neil when he goes to visit his family, but I've had plenty of things to watch and eat outside this week.  All good things, of course!  I have my own kind of candy, you know.