We recently spent a Saturday late morning and afternoon full of nostalgia and inspiration!  Our joyful experiences started at the Nutcracker Family Restaurant located at the intersection of Ohio Routes 16 and 310 in Pataskala, Ohio.  We encourage you to visit this 1950’s style diner, where it is easy for one to sit in the booth eagerly anticipating dessert: especially a house-made piece of pie or a milkshake.  A uniquely extra special element to this diner is the décor, as black-and-white checkered floors, chrome plating, jukeboxes, and various wall, windowsill, and table arrangements and collectibles fill the space.  Appropriately, nutcrackers abound; it would be fun to try to see how many one can spot and count them up- maybe we will do that when we visit next time.  A hamburger and a patty melt both served with kettle chips were our meal choices along with a nice cold Coca-Cola and a piece of peanut butter pie.  The smell of freshly roasted nuts hospitably sends guests on their way when leaving the restaurant, and the mouthwatering scent is quite the greeting upon entry- what a welcome and goodbye!

Only a brief drive away (just over 5 minutes) is Lynd Fruit Farm, where over 80 booths with handcrafted items and food trucks filled the area during their “Memorial Crafters’ Event”. We were delighted with the amount of creativity, quality handmade items, reasonable prices, and friendly vendors. Some of the available crafted items included pottery, many hand-sewn items (some fabrics and threads naturally dyed), wool sculptures, macromet, crochet, carvings, etc… The amount of authentic new designs was inspiring! Both of us hopped on some projects of our own with revived vigor after our time absorbing all of the works by these Ohio crafters and artisans.