We visited the Newark Downtown Historic District of Newark, Ohio last Friday evening by stopping at River Road Coffee for some frozen cookies and cream beverages that we thoroughly enjoyed while walking through the Canal Market District where we picked up some CMD souvenir gifts for a family member, who also loves visiting the CMD.

We were able to park on the Downtown Newark Square, which provided a convenient place to walk to the CMD, leave our purchases stored in the car, and then walk to The Midland Theatre. This night, July 12, 2024 was the first of their annual “Summer Movie Series” and much to our delight, they were playing, “Jaws” on the big screen!

We learned from the volunteers and staff that the attendance for “Jaws” was the most they have ever had for a Summer Movie Series event. We paid $5 in cash for each of us, but the tickets were also available online or by phone as well. Licking County Seniors (60+) were able to see the movie free of charge and students 18 and under for $3- what a deal!

This was quite a treat, as not only did we enjoy viewing one of our favorite thriller films, but also we enjoyed it with a vocally responsive crowd of people. For example, some young men seated behind us were seeing it for the first time and it was fun to hear them speculate on what was going to happen next! Lastly, but certainly not least, the beautiful almost 2,000 seat theatre was originally built in the 1920’s and has such lovely design and architectural charm that truly added to the ambiance of our experience.

This Christmas Night: Reflections from Our Hearts to Your Home

by Billy Graham & Ruth Bell Graham

A small coffee table book, which is a combination of this famous christian couple’s writings infused with encouragement and inspiration.  The focus is Christ and His coming, the origin and namesake of Christmas.  The Grahams share their thoughts and realizations on God’s love and His gift of Christ to the world and Christ’s gift to us.  Bible verses and images correlate and compliment the readings.  The reader is impressed to see that “Joy to the World” is more than a song or a sentiment, it’s a reality one can choose to receive and grow in on life’s journey.    

Santa Jaws

by Bridget Heos and Illustrated by Galia Bernstein

In this fun, rhythmic picture book, Christmas is celebrated in the ocean, where the Christmas kelp is trimmed by horn sharks, toys are built by elfin sharks, cookiecutter sharks keep Santa’s tummy happy, and hammerhead sharks pull Santa’s sled.  The story and illustrations effectively create Christmas festivities under the sea among its creatures.  It’s a brief cheerful read especially for shark fans like us!   

This week we traveled to Newport, KY and visited the Newport Aquarium. The Newport Aquarium is an aquarium located in Newport, Kentucky, United States at Newport on the Levee, across the river from Cincinnati. It has 70 exhibits and 14 galleries, including five seamless acrylic tunnels totaling over 200 feet (61 m) in length. The aquarium also showcases thousands of animals from around the world in 1,000,000 US gal (3,800,000 L) of water, including Scooter and Sweet Pea, two of the few shark rays in captivity. It is the first aquarium to have success in breeding shark rays.

We went through alot of exhibits that had fresh & saltwater fish, turtles, seahorses, stingrays, snakes, frogs, aligators, & sharks! We went over the Shark Bridge that had sandbar and reef sharks! It was a neat experience! We give this aquarium 5 stars!

Make memories not excuses!