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Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Photo by Stu Marks

The Buffalo News Life

By Nick Mattera

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

CANTON, Ohio—Tourists may flock to Canton, Ohio, to see the impressive collections in football’s Hall of Fame, but the Midwestern hospitality they find there will leave them wanting more.

Great food, natural beauty and impressive historical sights make the small city of Canton a vacation gem for the whole family.

A perfect getaway to the greater Canton region includes three stops:

First, the breathtaking beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park makes you feel far from civilization.

Second, visit the Mecca of football fans, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where new additions have made it relevant for fans of all ages.

The third stop is a place where visitors can find out more about the lives of our nation’s first ladies, at the First Ladies National Historic Site.

Cuyahoga Valley Park

Unexpected is the only word to define Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Its pure, untouched beauty seems out of place just several miles outside of Cleveland’s city limits and 30 minutes from Canton. With 33,000 acres of parkland and pristine wilderness, it is one of the country’s newest national parks, established in 2000. There are year-round attractions—golf courses and ski slopes, concerts and hiking trails—making it a wonder waiting to be explored.

The Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail spans 20 miles of marshes and wetlands winding their way along the Ohio Canal. Beavers and white-tailed deer might make appearances throughout a hike along the waterway, but before starting out, visit the Canal Visitor Center to get a list of recommended hikes and to check out the historical videos and exhibits.

If hiking isn’t your interest, hop on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, where you can sit back and relax as the park’s beauty passes by you. The train makes seven stops within the park and runs year-round.

The 1 1/2-mile Brandywine Gorge trail is the park’s most visited attraction, culminating at the breathtaking Brandywine Falls, which plummets 60 feet into the gorge. It is best viewed from above, but a wooden path also winds into the gorge.

After visiting the falls, drive to the Ledges Overlook. This is a perfect spot at dusk, as the sun slips behind tall oaks and sandstone cliffs rise from Brandywine Creek below.

The football hall

The NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame has put together a collection of football memorabilia that will stir up memories in fans of all ages and give them goosebumps in the process.

Enter the main lobby and take a trip back in time to the early days of professional football, when helmets were made of leather and the players were out there only for the love of the game. The American Professional Football Association was founded in Canton, and the brief but successful history of the team that played there is encased in the lobby. A life-size bronze statue of Jim Thorpe, one of the best players of his era, dominates the main walkway.

Visitors then follow a chronological journey through football’s greatest moments and best players. The days of the American Football League and National Football League, between 1960 and 1969, are recalled along with legendary players such as Joe Namath, Jim Brown and Johnny Unitas with memorabilia from the players and teams.

A tunnel connects the original building to a more recent addition, containing the Hall of Busts—bronzes of the players who have been inducted and enshrined in their sport’s Hall of Fame. (Seven players, coaches or contributors are added each year during a ceremony in early August.) An interactive feature lets fans search the Hall of Famers, learn about their careers, view stats and watch video highlights.

The Hall of Fame doesn’t want to be a musty museum, and its newest exhibits will appeal to fans of all ages. The Lamar Hunt Super Bowl Gallery contains interactive video booths to view highlights and memorable plays from every Super Bowl ever played.

The Moments, Memories and Mementos gallery features the museum’s most valuable collection of game memorabilia. The most captivating plays from the previous season can be viewed in surround sound and high definition in the NFL Films gallery. Many of the greatest moments and record breaking players are featured in this section: Steve Christie’s shoe that kicked the Buffalo Bills’ game-winning field goal from the “greatest comeback in NFL history,” the jersey New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady wore when he set the NFL single-season touchdown record, and many others.

And there is space for fans to get some hands-on experience. You can try to throw footballs through a set of targets, challenge other visitors to a test of NFL trivia, even play EA Sports Madden Football against fans from all over the country.

For the ladies

The First Ladies Historic Site encompasses two buildings in downtown Canton and, in a unique way, sheds light on the accomplishments and lives of the first ladies of the United States.

The First Ladies Library was established as an archive to present the contributions our first ladies have made, from Martha Washington to Laura Bush. Exhibits change with new acquisitions.

Exhibits currently being featured at the museum include: The Artistry of America’s First Ladies, with poetry written by Jacqueline Kennedy, the dancing career of Betty Ford and Ellen Wilson’s oil paintings; and Caring Hearts: Health of a Nation, featuring red dresses worn by seven first ladies, including Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush. This moving exhibit has been featured at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Ronald Reagan Library.

If you go:

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 15610 Vaughn Road, Brecksville, is open every day, although some areas close at dusk. Admission is free.

Boston Store Visitor Center, 1548 Boston Mills Road, east of Riverview Road, Peninsula, has displays of canal-boat building in the valley, open 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. daily in the summer; limited hours the rest of the year.

Canal Visitor Center, 7104 Canal Road, intersection of Canal and Hillside Roads, Valley View, has exhibits on life along the canal and human history in the valley; open daily year-round, 10 a. m. to 4 p. m.; closed Jan. 1, Thanksgiving Day and Dec. 25.

For more information: On the Web, www.nps.gov/CUVA, or call (216) 524 1497.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2121 George Halas Drive, Canton, is open daily from 9 a. m. to 8 p. m. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for children 6 and older.

The 2009 Pro Football Enshrinement Ceremony is Saturday and will include Buffalo Bills’ great Bruce Smith and team owner Ralph Wilson.

The Timken Grand Parade is at 8 a. m.; Enshrinement Celebration Fan Party, 3 p. m.; Class of 2009 Enshrinement, 7 p. m.; and the Hall of Fame Game between the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans is at 8 p. m.

For more information: Call (330) 452-0243, or on the Web, www.profootballhof.com.

The National First Ladies Historic Site, 205 Market Ave. South, Canton, is open Tuesdays through Sundays through Aug. 31; Tuesdays through Saturdays the rest of the year. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for seniors; $5 for children under 18.

For more information: Call (330) 452-0876; on the Web, www.nps.gov/fila.

Directions: From Buffalo, take Interstate 90 West to Interstate 77 South; use Exit 107A for the Hall of Fame.

More information: Canton Tourism www.cantontourism.com; Ohio Tourism, ohio.gov/tourism.

Sunset over the far eastern edge of Isle Royale.

Story and Photos by ELLEN CREAGER • FREE PRESS TRAVEL WRITER • July 26, 2009
Freep.com

ISLE ROYALE — A short hike, they called it. Just 4.2 miles to Scoville Point and back to the lodge.

Now it’s three hours later, and I’m still hiking. The way is strewn with rocks and boulders, giant roots and planks across the boggy spots. The trail hugs ancient lava ridges that drop off to icy blue water. I’ve seen two loons. Stopped dozens of times to look at wildflowers. Seen only two other hikers. Am I going the right way? Who knows? I spot moose droppings on the path. Listen hard. Hear nothing except the whisper of a breeze through the greenery.

Earlier today, the captain of the Queen IV ferry boat, Don Kilpela, told me he encountered a moose and her calf right on this path. He didn’t move. She didn’t move. Then he sang four songs to her, including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

“She stood there listening to me for 10 minutes,” he said, eyes twinkling. “I wasn’t afraid.”

Now, as I brush through the narrow path headed back to what I hope is civilization, such as it is, I find myself thinking, can you really sing to a moose? If you saw a moose, what should you sing? Does a moose prefer pop or rock? Or just Judy Garland?

It takes a boat ride
If you’ve ever thought of coming to Isle Royale, you may be picturing backpacks, hiking boots and prowling wolves — and automatically counted yourself out.

You’re not alone. Just 14,038 people last year visited Isle Royale, Michigan’s only national park. More than 80% of nights on the island are spent on backcountry camping. The rest are spent at the island’s only lodge. Almost no one comes just for the day.

Why? Logistics. You can’t drive to Isle Royale because it’s 56 miles north of Copper Harbor in the middle of Lake Superior. The choppy ferry ride takes 3 1/2 to 6 hours, depending on whether you leave from Copper Harbor or Houghton.

And when you arrive, it’s 210 square miles of wild.

Yes, there are rustic campsites. One lodge. A few docks. A lighthouse. A handful of summer homes remaining from before the island became a national park in 1940. Some trails. But that’s about it. Isle Royale has no roads.

Famed for its classic, ongoing predator-prey study that has tracked moose and wolf populations for 51 years, Isle Royale is arguably the sexiest science project ever.

But if and when you do finally get here, you realize two things.

One, you don’t have to be a hard-core backpacker to enjoy Isle Royale.

Two, Isle Royale couldn’t care less whether you come.

It’s not here to impress you. You are here to impress it.

‘Nice and wild’
There are many myths about Isle Royale (see sidebar). But myth is part of its mystique. Is it actually in Canada? Is it really the least-visited national park? Will you be eaten by wolves? Is the only hotel on the island closing?

I add my own possible myth to the list — this dubious idea of singing to a moose. One authority on this subject, I imagine, would be Rolf Peterson, the Michigan Tech research professor specializing in the wolf-moose study. He lives on Isle Royale in the summer and a few weeks in the winter, but, who am I kidding? He’s not exactly hanging around waiting for tourists’ dumb questions.

I have better luck talking to backpackers. I meet a friend, John Bassier, a biology teacher at Ferndale High School, who has brought more than 300 students here in his 40 years as a teacher. Backcountry camping on Isle Royale, Bassier says, teaches self-reliance, tolerance for discomfort and cooperation. I meet up with him as he finishes a 6-day hike on the Minong Trail with two Ferndale police officer friends. They’re weary, glad to shed their 35-40 pound packs and feeling great.

“It was nice and wild,” says Detective Bill Wilson.

“A couple nights we could see a gazillion stars,” says Bassier.

“At night we heard wolves calling,” says Capt. Tim Collins.

They also encountered a moose and her calf, foxes, eagles, ospreys and snakes. And very few people.

Not a camper? Try the lodge
If you aren’t into camping, you can stay, as I did, at the Rock Harbor Lodge. Don’t think hotel. Think dorm. The 60-room facility has no phones, cell phone service, Internet, TV or radio. Every room looks directly onto Lake Superior. Think of it as a retreat, a cloister without the prayers.

So far this year, lodge business is down, continuing a depressing trend from last year, says Kim Alexander, the lodge’s general manager.

“It’s not a shock we’re not setting any records,” he says. He admits lodge prices — which run $250 a night — are out of reach of some visitors in this economy.

“People say for $250 a night they could stay at the Ritz-Carlton,” he says. “But the Ritz-Carlton is not being charged 18 cents a gallon for water. We also pay the National Parks Service $250,000 a season for electricity. It’s a concern.”

To cut costs for customers, the lodge dropped its lodging-meal plans this spring and now books rooms on their own, letting people eat a la carte at the restaurant or grill.

Another advantage of staying at the lodge is the M.V. Sandy tour boat, which can take visitors places they can’t hike or don’t have time to hike. I take an evening cruise that goes clear around to the north side of Isle Royale to watch the sunset. The next day, I cruise to Edisen Fishery and the 1844-era Isle Royale lighthouse.

Lighthouse Isle Royale

That’s when luck steps in. It happens that the Edisen Fishery is next door to the wolf study headquarters. And it happens that the Petersons are home.

Moose masters
A narrow path leads to a small cottage with red shutters in the woods. Out steps Candy Peterson. Then her husband, Rolf. They spend six months a year here, from spring to fall. They even raised their children here.

Surrounding the small cottage, officially called Bangsund Cabin, are tables full of moose remains. Moose bones. Moose antlers. Moose skulls. Moose parts, all tagged, labeled as to where found, when the animal died and under what circumstances (rutting, arthritis, other moose mishaps).

Rolf Peterson is wearing a blue cable knit sweater with a tiny hole in one elbow. He and Candy are grandparents, but they look very young. Isle Royale may be the fountain of youth.

To the surprise of the seven boat tourists, the Petersons stop to chat. They invite us into the cabin. They patiently answer the most basic and naive questions about moose and wolves and their own unconventional lives here. Moose swam or crossed on ice to Isle Royale in the early 1900s, followed by wolves in 1948-49. For the last 50 years, scientists have tracked the balance of wolf and moose populations, which have fluctuated depending on weather, the health of the animals and the success of their habitat.

Finally, I work up the nerve to ask my question.

“The captain of the Queen told me he sang to a moose,” I say. “Is that a good idea?”

“Oh, Don,” Peterson says. He must have heard this story before, probably a million times. But he plays along. Because moose have poor eyesight but good hearing and can be unpredictable, talking to a moose if you unexpectedly encounter one tells the moose you are not a predator.

“Moose don’t like surprises. For some reason, when you talk to them, it works,” he says. “High pitches are more comforting than low pitches.”

Ah. Not a myth. Sing to the moose.

No moose, no wolves, no Tigers
Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to hike Isle Royale to learn it well. I day-hike down to Suzy’s Cave and Three Mile (a 6-mile loop). I attend park ranger talks about the geology of the island and spend a morning with an artist in residence trying to draw wildflowers. I meet a man hiking back from two weeks on the trails. His first question — how are the Tigers doing?

I don’t know, I say. Nobody does.

No, I don’t see a moose. Or a wolf. But as I walk, I hum. You know, just in case anyone — or anything — is listening.

Rock Harbor Isle Royale