10 Things You Can Only Do in Akron, Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls Instagram Shot
Oh sure. You want to go into the wilderness, climb a mountain, stand in a beautiful waterfall and post it to Instagram.
Well, you can do it in Akron! Except for the mountain and the wilderness.
If you want, you can stand under the Cuyahoga Falls and take a shot for Instagram, but the falls are thick—you might not even be seen in there. Maybe just stick your hand out from behind the rushing water and give a thumbs-up.
Rubber Factory Ice Cream
There are big brothers and little brothers. A lot of people think Akron is just a little brother to Cleveland in the northeast Ohio region.
That might be true based on market size. But you know where Akron leads Cleveland: Every former rubber factory in Akron is now an ice cream factory! Most of the old rubber machines have been cleaned out and disinfected—now they make ice cream.
Some even make ice cream in the shape of tires. It’s unbelievable. And it’s something you can only do in Akron Ohio.
Supercharged Soap Box Derby
Akron’s rubber barons and their workers made the tires USA rolled on for years.
It’s more of a research and science town now—a lot of the actual manufacturing has moved to other parts of the world. Part of the town’s rich history is the famous Soap Box Derby, where kids make engine-less race cars that roll down the hill using the power of gravity.
Dramatic recent rule changes allow the addition of a supercharged lawnmower engine to their Soapbox Derby car.
It’s an amazing thing—souped-up soapbox-derby cars going over 70-miles-an-hour driven by screaming 14-year-olds zooming down the hill. They wipe out, crash into each other and laugh the whole time.
Rubber Field Rubber Bowl
You’ve been to Columbus. You’ve been to Cleveland. You’ve been to Cincinnati.
Maybe you’ve even been to Toledo. Not sure why.
But have you been to Akron? Have you seen the University of Akron Zips play football? Do you know where they play football? The Rubber Bowl! That’s right, the stadium for the University of Akron is called the Rubber Bowl. Rubber is a cornerstone Akron’s industrial past. To complete the theme, they made the field itself out of rubber.
You’re going to see some of the most exciting football of your life when you see the Zips play because they can bounce over the other team! It’s a whole new brand of football when you can bounce 40 feet in the air rather than just running and catching and kicking. Bouncing becomes a major factor in the competition, something you can only see and do in Akron, Ohio.
Quaker Oats Factory
Like a lot of former industrial towns, Akron had some difficulty adjusting to a changing economy. But they’ve done a good job—one thing they’ve done is turn the old Quaker Oats factory into a hotel. The grain silos are now rooms.
The cool part is they still store oats in each room, so as a guest you can dip your bowl right into massive grain bins right in your room.
Free bowls of fresh Quaker Oats every morning! Pour the milk on your oats—it’s endless free Quaker Oats at the Quaker Oats hotel in downtown Akron, Ohio.
Cleveland State University Hockey
Did you know if you live in Akron, but go to Cleveland State University, you can play hockey on their team? You’ll have to drive 60 miles to every practice, every game, but you can play on the Cleveland State University hockey team.
One of the benefits is if you make the team, the rules state that half the games have to be played in Akron. So now you have collegiate hockey available in Akron and you don’t have to drive to hell and gone to play.
Boston Wine Skiing
You wouldn’t think Akron is the center of romance in Ohio, but it really is and I’ll tell you why.
Just north of Akron you’ll find Boston Wine Ski Area and Romance Development Center. Yes, you can actually ski in Akron, believe it or not.
Boston Wine is in a river valley with steep slopes allowing skiers to go up to 200 miles per hour!
They have Romance Thursday all winter. They make snow in addition to the natural snow that comes down in Northeast, Ohio, but if you need a little spark in your life and you’re a skier, don’t forget Romance Thursday all ski season at Boston Wine Ski Area and Romance Development Center.
Rubberized Mask
Rubber manufacturing has moved to different parts of the globe, but Akron remains a big research area. One of the things they’ve developed at the University of Akron is a rubber mask you wear while driving to thwart red light cameras.
What’s a red light camera?
It’s a stationary camera that takes a picture of you if you run a red light. They send you a ticket in the mail that says “We caught you!”
You have to go to court and pay a fine or plead not guilty.
One way you can defeat it is you have to be recognizable in the photo. If you’re not recognizable, they cannot legally give you a ticket if it’s not you.
In Akron, they ALL wear a rubberized mask that’s specifically designed to avoid these fines.
You’ll get out of an $800 ticket!
Badminton Invented in Akron
Did you know badminton was invented in Akron?
Don’t be surprised when you meet somebody from Akron and they say, “Hey, man, do you want to get the old shuttle cock out?”
If you’re not used to badminton terminology, you might think, “Uh, what did you just say?”
“Yeah, let’s get out the shuttle cock and play some badminton!”
Badminton is so popular in Akron, if you want to circulate in the highest strata of the social world in town you better you better get your shuttlecock skills together.
There’s plenty of training. You can attend lots of classes in Akron.
It’s this simple: you will not be successful personally or professionally in Akron unless you’re able to move smoothly in the city’s elite badminton circles. Otherwise, just move to Fort Wayne.
Millennial Bait App
Millennials get grief for killing the wine industry, killing the bread industry, killing the beer industry, killing industry after industry.
Lay off millennials, bro.
They are responsible for the SUCCESS of one particular industry, especially in Akron.
If you’ve ever fished for muskie and weren’t quite sure what bait to use, you can use the Bait Advice and Guidance app developed by millennials in Akron. It allows you to pick the exact right bait for the fish.
It’s a high-tech solution to a long-standing problem that’s been around since I was a kid. You can get it at no charge as long as you’re a millennial or live in Akron. Otherwise, it’s $9.99 in the App store or in the Google Play Store.
