Weekly Feature: Hidden Gems

Today's Hidden Gem: Dueling Garden Shows

Cleveland is big enough to have two Garden Shows!

Clevelanders usually head out to the area expos at each unique venue and support every show.

The 'Annual Cleveland Home and Garden Show' moved to Euclid this year after 18 years at the I-X Center.

The 67th annual show took place in the end of January at the Great Lakes Expo Center in Euclid. The show, which was a bit smaller than in years past, still had the beautiful gardens, with a German theme, the home improvement booths, vendors selling wonderful wares and unique gadgets, and of course, delicious food!

I always love stepping into the building and immediately being overcome with the beautiful aromas.

WKYC covered this event....

I have to admit, I don't know all the ins and outs about advertising but we did focus a bit more on the garden show at the I-X Center--The Great Big Home and Garden Show.

WKYC and momslikeme.com shared a booth. On-Air and behind the scenes people staffed the booth each day greeting our customers and offering information about the station, our product, our websites and anything else that interested viewers.

The big draw at the I-X Center, besides the beautiful gardens, Ty Pennington and Cheryl Tiegs.

Local landscapers crafted the beautiful gardens, which had a musical theme. Each garden was inspired by a specific song, such as "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "If I had a million dollars," "Fields of Gold".....

There were rows of home improvement stands as well as tasty treats and beautiful hand-crafted creations.

Entering the hall of gardens quite intoxicating. The minute I entered, I was overtaken by the beautiful floral scents from each and every garden. And the music connected to each garden made each one come to life!

Even in the midst of one of the coldest and snowiest winters in Cleveland history, it was fun stealing away for a few hours pretending I was in the tropics or Carolinas seeing masterpiece after masterpiece.

I suggest keeping tabs on all the wonderful conventions which come into Northeast Ohio. The next time one or both of the Garden Shows make a visit, please check one or both of them out and then you too will see why they are this week's Hidden Gem!!

Weekly Feature: Hidden Gems

Today's Hidden Gem: The Cuyahoga County Fair

Let me be honest with you all, I am going to link this entry to the Cuyahoga County Fair's website because I don't want to rehash everything going on each day but there is absolutely no way 'jose' I can adequately give you all the interesting ins and outs of the Fair's daily agenda.

I do remember attending the fair as a little girl and have only fond memories.

When I was just a youngster, I had a garden. I took great pride in that garden and would visit it almost every day to check on each and every vegetable as well as clearing those pesky weeds away.

I planted so much, it was ridiculous. But we loved it. Having a gardening coach, he told us exactly how to plant and take care of each item.

Today as an adult, I wish I had a gardening coach who could tell me how deep or shallow to burrow down for certain vegies and all the tricks of the trade.

I yielded: corn, beets, kohlrabi, swiss chard, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, radishes, beans, lettuce....I remember harvesting and having my basket overflowing each trip.

Oh, those memories.

Well, when we would go to the fair, not only was I interested in the piglets, horses, cows, petting zoo, goats, and all of the farm animals, as well as the rides and the gooey food I normally was not allowed to eat, but, I too was so interested in the vegetables on display and who won a blue ribbon or red ribbon or gold ribbon. I was so enamored with the largest pumpkins and the longest carrots as I was a farmer of sorts.

The fair sure does bring back vivid memories as I'd go with my Aunt and Uncle and sometimes my Uncle's mother or the entire family would go.

My Mom's family had a farm in Chardon so she was dashed back to her childhood days.

I just liked being out in the open air (even though I had so many allergies and probably should NOT have been around the animals and flowers and such) running wild. It sounded like there was music being piped out from every crevice in every single spot of the fairgrounds. I just loved hearing music everywhere I went. The music made everything so much more festive!

Ah, those were the days which every child should experience and memories every adult should savor.

I certainly hope you all can make your way to the 113th annual Cuyahoga County Fair at the Berea Fairgrounds so you too can see why it is this week's Hidden Gem!