Sharpen wits at the Pencil Sharpener Museum | Travel

When Paul Johnson retired in 1988, his wife, Charlotte, gave him two pencil sharpeners shaped like little metal cars.

"She didn't know what she was starting," Karen Raymore said with a laugh.

For more than 20 years, the retired minister collected about 3,450 pencil sharpeners.

"And no two are alike," added Raymore, executive director of the Hocking Hills Tourism Association.

Visitors were welcome to tour Johnson's collection, which he displayed in a one-room building in his yard.

"When Paul died in 2010, his wife let us move the building and collection to our welcome center," Raymore said. "We get people from all over the world who visit. Probably the farthest away was visitors from Australia."

Some guests even donate a pencil sharpener.

"As long as we don't already have one like it, we welcome the donations," Raymore said.

The Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum is a gem I discovered while driving through Hocking Hills to The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls. The museum is an easy stop with free admission and friendly folks in the visitor center to share information and brochures about popular Hocking Hills.

"The layout in the museum is exactly the way Paul had it," Raymore said.

Lighted shelves are organized by categories – food, animals, history, sports, holidays, transportation and many others. Sharpeners are shaped like the Eiffel Tower, Cinderella's carriage, Santa Claus, a violin, U.S. Presidents, Batman, a Remington typewriter and much more.

There is also a book in the museum that tells how to sharpen a pencil. That might come in handy for children today who seem to use computers and technology more than old-fashioned pencils and the creatively shaped sharpeners.

Inn at Cedar Falls offers peaceful setting

After a short stop at the museum, it was off to my main destination – The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls, located one hour southeast of Columbus, Ohio, near the small town of Logan. Hocking Hills is an outdoor paradise with cliffs, gorges, rock shelters, waterfalls, rivers, hollows, historic sites, museums, state parks, state forests, cabins, campgrounds and lots more.

Visitors can soar through the air at Hocking Hills Canopy Tour, take an eco-tour and rappel with High Rock Adventures, kayak with Touch the Earth Adventure, stock up on outdoor apparel at Rocky Boots (the café serves a great bison burger), make a coffee mug at Nelsonville Pottery, sip 120 proof Hocking Hills Moonshine, hear a concert at Stuart's Opera House or just sit and enjoy Mother Nature's peaceful bounty.

Surrounded on three sides by Hocking Hills State Park, The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls offers a rustic beauty, but it also boasts surprisingly luxurious accommodations and delicious cuisine. Guests can choose from rooms at the Inn, cabins or cottages. Three upscale yurts are being constructed for another fun accommodation. A total of eight yurts are planned.

My two-room Larkspur Cottage had a huge bed with bed linens visitors love so much they buy sets to take home. The cabin also had a big whirlpool bathtub, gas fireplace, dining room table, easy chairs, walk-in shower and kitchenette with microwave, coffeemaker and fridge. Extras include plush robes, soap, lotions, lip balm, towel warmers and hair dryers.

Wi-Fi is free but very slow. No TV, which suits me just fine. My private porch with rocking chairs overlooked the woods. Before dinner, I had a chance to chat with owners Ellen Grinsfelder and Terry Lingo. It was Ellen's mother, Anne Castle, who opened The Inn in 1987. She died in 1991.

"It was my mother's dream, and it was a lot of hard work for her," Grinsfelder said.

Castle hired local contractor Terry Lingo for construction projects. That's how Grinsfelder and Lingo met. A city girl, Grinsfelder said Lingo's courtship was somewhat unconventional.

"He took me to the country fair to the demolition derby and said he had a surprise for me," she recalls. "My name was sprawled out across the hood of a car."

Grinsfelder must have been suitably impressed because the two married and seem to have a great partnership operating The Inn. Many of Castle's family recipes still are served in the Inn's restaurant, Kindred Spirits. I enjoyed Castle's blueberry pancake recipe one morning for breakfast and her gnocchi recipe one evening for dinner.

After a luxurious meal, I walked across the road, up a wooden stairway under a moon riding high in the sky and listened to nothing but peace and quiet. The Inn and Hocking Hills are a great sanctuary from an often-hectic world