Travel With Kids: What to Do in Richland County Ohio

My family had the chance to visit Richland County last month. This was a big step for us, to be branching out into the arena of family travel. Once upon a time, my husband and I could throw a few items in a bag and hit the open road, a trip to the beach {700 miles...} no problem... now we have 2 kids. Our traveling has up until this point has been limited to the time frame of 15 minutes between stops to wipe a nose, find a binky, retrieve a lost toy. Richland County was the perfect place to start our travel adventures as a family. Let me tell you why.

First off, Richland County offers so many possibilities for family entertainment and activities! My kids were thrilled to visit the Mansfield Fire Museum. The display of working firetrucks of the past had my son so excited he could not contain himself. My husband and I enjoyed learning about the history of the area, the fire chiefs of the past and the replicated scenes from Mansfield.

One of the many fire trucks on display at the Mansfield Fire Museum

My daughter adored the trip to the Richland Carousel Park in downtown Mansfield, but my son went wild for it. This is a lovely carousel that has the distinction of being the only new, hand carved carousel to be made in the USA since the 1930's. The animals are lovely, beautifully detailed. The ride goes surprisingly fast to the delight of kids. The music? Classic! It completes the experience in a wonderful way. We loved the gift shop as well, they had tons of great trinkets and toys to make ideal souvenirs.  We loved that the rides are affordable and the carousel was truly a work of art.

Girls just wanna have fun on the carousel...
funny faces for selfies anyone?

He loved it! He wanted to do it again and again! 

Roo loved the carousel. He is still talking about it!

Malabar Farm was the home of famed author Louis Bromfield, this is a lovely property with a rich history. Unfortunately I cannot share much of that with you, we found that the house tour and wagon ride of the property were not child friendly. At least not for our fussy kids. I managed to get a few photos before being effectively sent on my way with my squawking kids. My husband and I agreed we would love to return, without the kids someday. Either way, we are going to try to visit again for Heritage Days this month.

The desk of Bromfield

Papers still in the drawer of the desk.

I will be featuring the Ohio State Reformatory in a post later this week, as well as the scoop on where to stay and what to eat while you are in town with the kids. Have you ever been to Mansfield or Richland County? If so, give us the goods on what is good, what is fun and where feels like home!