Cleveland- A Trip Down Memory Lane

This year our Cleveland trip was a little less stressful- the parking lot was sold and now just a part of family history. But, we were “hosting” a visit from John’s sisters, Alice and Mary. They wanted to come in to their hometown to look at it from a different perspective- a walk back through time and family history. With all of the research on all of the family lines, John had been able to identify family property in Cleveland dating back to the 1800’s. So, we took the girls on a 3 day walk through history.




Alice (or, ‘the worm’- known for her ability to talk her way into anyone’s house) was in great form on this trip- on our first morning, we were able to get into 3 of the old family homes.


Imagine 4 strangers (and a dog) knocking on your door and worming their way into your house for a tour down memory lane. It was really interesting--lots of old stories and I think that the current homeowners enjoyed the visit as much as we did. One of the homeowners even gave the girls 4 hand-painted doors from their parent's bedroom closet (sounds strange- but they were quite lovely- and I think they plan to convert them into serving trays).

John did an amazing job of pulling together old family photos- then taking the girls to the sites and using the photos to bring the sites to life. They were thrilled- seeing places where their parents, grandparents and great-great grandparents lived - and seeing the old photos and taking pictures of themselves in the same sites. We even stopped by a popcorn factory that had family connections back to the 1880's.

The Humphrey Popcorn Company had ties back to John's Harlow relatives and there were stories passed down in the family about a popcorn stand. So, we were given the grand tour- and walked out with bags of popcorn balls and taffy. All in all, a very successful - but exhausting trip

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