Best of One Tank Trips: Great Getaway Ideas in and Around Ohio

Discover the best and most unusual getaway ideas in and around Ohio!

Longtime TV travel reporter Neil Zurcher has driven more than a million miles in Ohio and nearby states to find great local travel destinations for his “One Tank Trips” reports. This book collects his all-time favorites, including …

• The world’s largest indoor train display.
• The certified best spot in the state for stargazing.
• Ohio’s top FREE attraction.
• A historic village where you can ride an authentic replica canal boat.
• Beautiful bridges, including the world’s longest covered bridge.
• Two haunted state reformatories.
• A ride-through wildlife park with 500 exotic animals from six continents.
• One of the last open-air drive-in restaurants,unchanged since the 1950s.
• A place where you can drag-race in your family car—legally!
• An Amish hardware store selling all non-electric tools, appliances, toys, and more.
• The only World War II submarine still in original condition.
• The Center of the World—really.

And dozens of other special places

Neil Zurcher writes …

I skipped over the obvious big “super” attractions because you have probably already heard about them or have been there. What I try to do is direct you to lesser known, hidden away gems in the tourist world that might not attract lots of attention, but are still very worthwhile as a place to visit.

I've tried to mix in destinations that my viewers and readers have told me they also enjoyed. Whether it was a slice of real prize-winning home-made pie in a diner in Jefferson, Ohio or a chance to fly on a life-size replica of the first airplane sold by the Wright Brothers in Dayton. I show you where you can sail across tree-tops and crawl through rock caverns. There is even a park in northwest Ohio where you, and the kids, can dig for prehistoric life.

No matter what you like to do on a holiday or vacation, I think you will find something in this book to excite and entertain you.

Neil Zurcher started as a newspaper reporter in 1954, switched to radio in 1961, and became WJW-TV’s first full-time street reporter in 1967. He logged more than a million miles as the original host of the “One Tank Trips” travel series and was associated with WJW-TV for more than fifty years, retiring in 2017. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Society of Professional Journalists, the Gold Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the Living Legacy award from the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He is the author of several books about Ohio, including Ohio Oddities, Strange Tales From Ohio, The Best of One Tank Trips, and Tales from the Road.