Akron, Ohio?

[Sherri Tierney]

Does anyone know the area? We were planning a trip to South Dakota for July, to see Mt. Rushmore and a bunch of other things in the area. So... DH texts me today and asks if we can go to Akron, OH instead. My niece and nephew race Soap Box Derby cars. This is their 4th year of making it to Nationals in Akron. He realized that the races are at the same time we had planned to be in SD. He thought it would be fun to drive up there and surprise his sister and the kids and watch their races.

Is there ANYTHING to do in the area? I looked it up on Trip Adviser and found very little. Maybe there is something outside of Akron worth doing? I am really bummed about the thought of not going to Rushmore. I've been a few times before and loved it, but we've never taken the kids. I really wanted to take them this summer. I have no desire to go to Ohio. If we are going to go, I want to find something to make it worth going though. DH mentioned Cedar Point but I'm not an amusement park type of girl. If we want to do an amusement park we can drive 3 hours to Kansas City and go to Worlds of Fun rather than drive 13 hours to go to Cedar Point.

[pewtertm]

Well, Cleveland isn't too far from Akron, and there are things to do there. But I'd be bummed too...Akron over Mount Rushmore? Um no.

[NeverendingJen]

Holly lives there! She's the one to ask!

[hollyxann]

I'm in Akron and I also am all about the Soap Box Derby. I'm on the Akron board of members for our local races.



I can answer any and all questions!

[hollyxann]

There really isn't much actually in Akron to do but Canton which is about 20 mintues south of Akron has a few things, and Cleveland, about an hour north (depending on which part of Cleveland you go to), has plenty of stuff.
If you guys are coming to Akron during All American week for the Soap Box Derby, they have stuff planned all week for the racers and families. The actual race is on Saturday.

[SmallMoments]

My inlaws live between Akron & Canton. We actually did a family vacation in the area not that long ago.

We...
went to a Cleveland Indians game.
went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
went to Hard Rock Cafe.
went to the Science Center (right next to the R&R HoF)
hiked the Cuyahoga National Park. (There are actually TONS of trails and waterfalls... we love this park and have gone back several times!)

We didn't have time, but I've heard great things about the Akron Zoo, too.

[SmallMoments]

Oh! I don't know if this would be interesting to you guys, but one thing we're going to do when we drop Luke off at G&Gs for a week is the Lego Exhibit at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

http://www.cbgarden.org/nature-connects.aspx

[lovely1m]

Oh, boo. We went to Rapid City last summer and my son still talks about that trip. It was so much fun for him

[Sherri Tierney]

Thanks guys!

Yes, Holly, during All-American week. I couldn't think of the name of it at the time and thus called it Nationals. LOL My nephew does the Stock division and my niece Super Stock. They both brought home medals from last years' races. We definitely want to be there for the races on Saturday. We aren't planning to let them know in advance that we are going. We just want to surprise them... show up and show some support.

I think we've pretty much decided on Akron rather than Rapid City. We will just plan to go there next May, right after school is out (before it gets hot!). If we wait, we can spend longer there and maybe even visit a few more places than we had planned.

[hollyxann]

I will be at the race on Saturday and at the track throughout the week so we should definitely meet up.
All awesome stuff in the Cleveland area. I believe that the derby racers and families get to attend an Akron RubberDucks game during All American week, that's our Semi-Pro team if you can't make it to a Cleveland Indians Game.
Cuyahoga National Park is HUGE! There are all kinds of places to find. We go to them all the time.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is awesome if you're a football person like me. It's awesome!!!
I haven't been to the Cleveland Botanical Garden but I've heard it's gorgeous.
Akron Zoo is great for a small zoo, we have a membership. If you want a bigger zoo the Cleveland Zoo & Rainforest are AMAZING!! We go at least once every year.
Cleveland just opened an aquarium, personally I wasn't impressed and wanted much more, especially for the price.
The Christmas Story house (yes the original house where they filmed) is in Cleveland.

There's other things to do in the area and surrounding areas just depends on what you are looking to do.

Originally Posted by SmallMoments

My inlaws live between Akron & Canton. We actually did a family vacation in the area not that long ago.

We...
went to a Cleveland Indians game.
went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
went to Hard Rock Cafe.
went to the Science Center (right next to the R&R HoF)
hiked the Cuyahoga National Park. (There are actually TONS of trails and waterfalls... we love this park and have gone back several times!)

We didn't have time, but I've heard great things about the Akron Zoo, too.

[Sherri Tierney]

Holly, DH asked me to find out how much entry to the races is (since we are surprising the family we don't want to ask them ahead of time) and I'm not finding any info...

We are checking out hotels now...

[hollyxann]

Last year I believe it was $5, I will double check for you though.

[Sherri Tierney]

Thanks Not a big deal really, he just wanted to know. We don't always carry cash, so I bet that is why it even crossed his mind.

[Sherri Tierney]

Holly,

How did your racer(s) do?

I meant to get with you and see about exchanging numbers so we could meet up but things got hectic!

We arrived Thursday just in time for the parent's race. My BIL was racing in that one and made it to the second heat. He thought that was pretty cool. Friday we went to Cedar Point and then we were at the track until about 2 on Saturday. My niece was out on her first race but my nephew made it through two heats. He was so close to placing, it kind of bummed everyone out that he didn't. It was fun though. My kids loved playing on the inflatables and getting their pictures with the Box Trolls characters. My niece did take home the Sportsmanship award during the awards ceremony on Saturday. My SIL knew in advance but Amber did not and she was so shocked. It was pretty awesome! My kids now want to know why we don't have any Soapbox racing around our area. Kansas City was the closest to us that we noticed of the kids in the race Saturday.

[hollyxann]

Our racer was went down once and was out. But one of our other Region kids won the Rally Stock Division and we also had several other place in other places and divisions. We were at the track literally all week but Friday and then from 630 - 4ish on Saturday lol
That's awesome that your nephew at least made it through a few heats. That's always the sad part of the All American, so much work to be sent home after one heat. But at least they made it there. That's awesome that your niece got sportsmanship as well!!
If you go to the aasbd.org site and click on the little map on the right hand side that says race city locator you may be able to find rallies that would be closer to your area.

[Sherri Tierney]

Thanks for the info! Sorry about your racer! My BIL did talk about how so much of it during this race is luck since they can't make adjustments, change out wheels, lanes, etc. I'm still rather confused by aspects of it, but it was fun to watch the kids and they seemed to be having an amazing time. I believe the little girl that won the Local Stock division was in the same region as my niece and nephew. I'd have to look back over the program to know for sure. They had a few from their region place though so it was nice. I don't believe any from their city placed though. Anyway, we probably passed one another at some time during Thursday or Saturday then.