The time arrived to pack up the Mighty Cruze and head north to Mansfield, Ohio for the first clogging workshop of the year!

I arrived that Friday afternoon in time to experience one of Mansfield’s major attractions:

Richland Carrousel Park opened in 1991 and was recently closed briefly for maintenance work. It looked all shiny and new! The animals, not limited to standard horse options, were hand-carved locally.

This feline figure caught my eye immediately and became my steed of choice, despite other cool options including ostrich, bear, goat, giraffe, rabbit, horse, and a hippocampus.

On a winter weekday afternoon, my only fellow rider was a little girl who looked about four years old with her father standing by for safety. The dad said he bought the discount package of fifty tickets and they come over a couple days per week and get in a few turns. The girl is working her way through riding all fifty-two figures. What a fun family project!

What is a hippocampus? It’s a part-fish, part-horse being from mythology! (Mer-horse?)

This carrousel gets bonus points for being beautifully accessible; the wide entrance ramp is shiny wood that matches the base of the ride. The figure in front of each chariot swivels and the chariot seat flips up to make room for a wheelchair.

Souvenir penny designs depict traditional and fanciful aspects of the carrousel.

While I was there, the organ played a lively rendition of “Ob-La-Di,” a routine taught at Cabin Fever last year!

A short wander down the street from the carrousel led me to this cute bookshop. Picked up a new read I’m excited to tackle after book club meets next week.

I would’ve spent time in the coffee shop across the street, but daylight was running short for my return walk to the Airbnb.

Speaking of, this will forever be known as the peacock trip.

I shared an adorable Airbnb with dancers from Riverside Cloggers (West Virginia). One bedroom was decorated with peacocks everywhere!

Once Kelly discovered the memory foam mattress, she immediately claimed the peacock room for herself and Erica. Guess what they found behind the bed? ANOTHER peacock painting! The jokes wrote themselves.

Tell all your clogging friends to explore the charm of Mansfield when they attend Cabin Fever next year!

Next post will cover the clogging workshop itself. SPOILER: The workshop was even more fun than the journey to get there!

Did YOU have any adventures on the way to Cabin Fever Clogging Workshop?