Places to go on day-trip around Cleveland

[mommy111]

We are back visiting the US!! Yaaayyyy! Its so good to be home again! But I realized that we've considered this place so much 'home' that we've never done the touristy things around here at all, and would love to show the kids some fall. So any places that someone would recommend visiting here for a half-day or day-trip? Preferably less than an hours drive away, maybe some Amish towns or pumpkin farms or apple picking or something? Preferably not something expensive.
Thanks so much!

[Gena]

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has some wonderful excursions. This is one of our favorite things to do when we visit friends in Cleveland.

http://www.cvsr.com/

[ThreeofUs]

Lake County Farm Park - a wonderful place for little kids, especially in the fall.

http://www.lakemetroparks.com/select-park/farmpark.shtml


Also, Patterson Farms have apple picking and such things - very yummy.

http://www.pattersonfarm.com/

As well as other apple farms, which also have many events going on for kids right now:

http://cleveland.about.com/od/sportsparksrecreation/a/applefarms.htm

[motherofone]

I love Patterson farms! My family used to go there a few times every fall-it smells so good inside.
I love the Natural History Museum and make it a point to take DD there every time we visit. The nearby Botanical Gardens is also wonderful and should be very "fall" right now.
The metroparks are always good. We like the North Chagrin Nature Center.

[mommy111]

Thank you guys so much, we are regulars at the CMNH and the botanical gardens, but the farms sound like just what we want. Only I didn't realize farms charged an 'admission fee' now; when we were kids, the farms were happy to just have you pop in there :)

[scrooks]

If you look in the local papers there are plenty of pumkin patches/farms with petting zoos etc. I'm not sure about the timing of your trip but both the Cleveland and Akron Zoos have "Boo at the Zoo" programs going on.