Road Trip to Toledo (Bowling Green, Green: apartments, loft, co-op)

[Dayton Sux]

I'm planning some quick weekend road trips, and Toledo is on the list, so am posting here looking for some advice

I would arrive on a Friday evening, stay all day Saturday, and return Sunday night.

I usually like to stay downtown, so would like a recommendation for a downtown hotel.

Coffee Shops: Any independent coffe shops or local chains? I usually prefer these over Starbucks.

Restaurants: I know about Tony Packo, but are there any interesting local restaruants, could be new places that, say, are vegan/vegitarian or use local produce or product, or old neighborhood places or diners or ethnic places (say, Mexican, Polish, Hungarian, etc).

Going Out: I like more alternative or indy rock, or folk/folk rock and singer/songwriter acoustic music. Any good venues in or near downtown for this. Like a little club or small bar with stage set-up?

Neighborhoods: Any interesting neighborhoods to check out? Both places undergoing restoration or old or new ethnic/immigrant areas.

Markets: Any local markets, say a farmers market or a place like Eastern Market up in Detroit.

The Countryside: What can you tell me about the "Oak Openings"...i see there is this belt of woodland west of the city which I think is called the Oak Openings and I am thinking of a quick drive out there.

Thanks in advance!

[Tobias C]

Hotels: I dont really know much about very many hotels in Toledo...since ive never had to stay in one, this being my native area.

Coffee Shops: Theres lots of different independent coffee shops you could hit up. Downtown the only independent one that i can think of off the top of my head is Downtown Latte, which is on St. Clair in the Warehouse District, but it is good. Theres also a Bigby Coffee downtown but thats more of a chain. Surprisingly no Starbucks downtown yet, lol. Theyre not cool enough for our downtown anyway. Some other places that come to mind are Brewed Awakenings, or Ground Level Coffee, im not sure what its called now because I havent been there in a little while and its changed owners....but its an independent coffee shop and its on Central Ave near Douglas Rd. Another place I used to go to a lot is Maxwells Brew....which is on Bancroft Rd by Douglas....right by the University of Toledo. Its usually full of college kids, but it has an outdoor patio and its a hookah bar as well. Another place I enjoy that opened not too long ago is Plate 21, which is a little cafe/coffeeshop....its basically on Detroit Ave. (Rugby Rd. to be precise) by Glanzman Rd.

Restaurants: Im not really as cultured when it comes to restaurants as I would like to be. Tony Packos is always a tourist destination. I personally dont find it to be anything special but its famous so its a place to hit up. You can go to the new one right downtown in the Warehouse District by Fifth Third Field....or you can be legit, and go to the original one on the east side in the Birmingham neighborhood. Its at the corner of Front St and Consaul St. Polish and Hungarian cultures are both prominent in Toledo so its cool that youre looking into that. Im not sure what Polish restaurants there are. Ive been to Stanleys Market on Stickney Ave, but thats more of a Polish Grocery, and we have a fun Polish Festival in our old Polish Village neighborhood. Theres also a reknowned Hungarian restaurant on Monroe St, by Auburn Ave called The Budapest. And as far as diners and other hole in the wall places go, theres lots of stuff like that. I always get breakfast at the Monroe St Diner. Its on Monroe St, near Secor.


Going Out: As far as checking out music and stuff goes, its all gonna depend on what youre into, and then finding out whos playing where, when. You said youre into alternative/indie/folksy-ish kindsa stuff. I would say the biggest music venue for like rock music in Toledo is Headliners, on N. Detroit Ave. Its a big concert hall with a big stage. Probably holds over a 1000 people. Thats where most bigger rock acts go, unless theyre huge and are playing at like the Huntington Center. Another smaller venue that has hosted a lot of huge acts, before they were big...and a lot of local stuff is Frankies, over on the East Side on Main St. You might like some of the stuff there. As far as the more indie side of your taste goes, to me the best spot for that is the Ottawa Tavern on Adams St in the uptown area of Downtown. Thats personally one of my favorite places, and probably the only place in Toledo where youre gonna find more obscure acts playing, that and maybe Frankies. I think youll enjoy the little neighborhood on Adams St right there and the kinda people and bars there are there. Check out the Ottawa Tavern, The Attic, Manhattans, and Wesleys. Theyre all slightly more alternative in my opinion. Nothing strange though. As far as more acoustic and folky stuff goes, thats kinda all over. You just gotta look it up. Bars and coffee shops all over have acts like that.

If youre gonna be in the area for a bit, you said from Friday night through Sunday afternoon basically, right? You might also want to trek down to Bowling Green. Theres a lot going on down there seeing as its a college town. The main music club in BG is Howards. Its a dive but that makes it cool. Theyre always alternative/indie/punk/folk/electronic etc bands playing there. You can find decent bands playing at other bars in BG as well. Most of the places worth visiting in BG are right downtown on Main St.

Neighborhoods: Theres not too many neighborhoods in Toledo that I would describe as truely remarkable. Like as far as them being worth your time checking out on a limited time basis. When I think of Toledo, I think more of there being lots of neighborhoods with great potential, but that are under utilized. The Old West End is a landmark neighborhood of Toledo. Its right to the west of Downtown, the main artery of it being Collingwood Blvd. It has lots of beautiful historic houses and huge old churches and the Toledo Museum of Art is right there on Monroe St, which is definitely worth a visit.

And as I mentioned in earlier parts, a lot of good stuff is downtown. I would say Downtown is still in a transitional phase as theres still areas that are just blighted and vacant and crappy, but theres a lot of cool areas. The Warehouse District, downtown is mostly the area around Fifth Third Field (into baseball?)...mostly the few blocks to the west/south of it. Theres a lot of old historic buildings there being transformed into new restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, and cool loft apartments. More toward the center of downtown, like in the thick of the skyscrapers I guess is the Huntington Center (into hockey?). I dont know if you have younger kids, but the Imagination Station is a pretty legit science museum. I loved it when I was a kid, and its right downtown on the riverfront. Another area of Downtown I mentioned is Adams St. Its more of an artsy/hip area. I mentioned most of the bars earlier. I dont know which team you play for, but theres also a few gay bars downtown that I can think of. Caesars and Ripcord are right downtown, and Bretz is on Adams St. Ive enjoyed all of them, and im not even gay....(dont ask). Theres also some good restaurants/clubs directly across the river from downtown in International Park in a small complex called The Docks. Those places are popular.

Markets: Were kinda lacking in this department, as far as cities of 300,000 people go. We have the Erie Street Market, which is in the Warehouse District, downtown. It used to a cool indoor market with all kinds of vendors. Im not sure how its doing though, I havent been there in a while. However right next door to it though is the outdoor Toledo Farmers Market, and thats pretty popular.


Countryside: I actually grew up and spent most of my life out in this area west of Toledo. Oak Openings is a park, albeit the biggest in like Northwest Ohio. Its pretty big though, bigger than a lot of state parks out there. If you want to take the time, its a nice place to visit. You might need to actually get out and walk if you want to enjoy it though. Driving through wont seem like anything more than driving through any typical woodsy area. Theres a couple small lakes and tons of hiking trails as well as horse riding trails even. Theres an area where theres sand dunes too. I love Oak Openings personally. I spent many days of my childhood riding bikes there.


The University of Toledo might be of interest. I think it has some pretty cool buildings, architecturally speaking. Mostly the ones off of Bancroft Rd. University Hall is amazing to look at head on. If you have kids, or even if you dont, The Toledo Zoo is actually nationally renowned and is a pretty nice zoo. You can either park in the sea of parking off the Anthony Wayne Trail......or you can be a cool dude like me, and go through the old school streetfront entrance gate off of Broadway St and probably get in quicker. The zoo has some cool historical buildings actually too. I mentioned it before but the Toledo Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit. The University of Toledos Art School is located there in a building designed by Frank Gehry which is pretty cool....and the museum itself looks like it belongs in Washington DC. I love it. It has a nice theater in it as well that is home to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Anyway, If you have any questions about any places or anything in Toledo feel free to ask. Im sure someone else will come up with something else I forgot too. Have fun!

[ryansmith]

Crown Plaza has river views, the Park Hotel is closer to the restaurants; those are definitely my top 2 picks.

Tobias has been pretty fair and comprehensive in everything else.

[ryansmith]

I forgot to answer part of this... now that the weekend is almost over. There are a lot of choose local restaurants... I am pretty sure the Budapest is one of them... I don't know of any strict vegitarian places in Toledo... There is an unbelievably good vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI though called Seva on Liberty. A good place to ask about these things would be the Phoenix Co-op on Sylvania Avenue... they have all your specialty and organic items.

[hulugay]

Nice trip

[Tobias C]

Originally Posted by ryansmith

I don't know of any strict vegitarian places in Toledo... There is an unbelievably good vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI though...

If you somehow find additional time in your day......although Ann Arbor would probably be grouped into your Detroit trip, if you ever do that one....its only like 45-50 mins from Toledo, and in my personal opinion....more fun/interesting than Toledo, even though its like less than half the size. Definition of a hip/cultured/fun/educated mid-sized city.

[Rebek56]

If you're interested in good walks in natural areas, I would recommend the Wildwood Preserve Metropark in addition to the Oak Openings. It's just off Central Avenue near the University of Toledo and has a remnant tallgrass prairie.