This is the first post in a new blog section I’m calling Fun Finds. While most of my travel posts fall neatly into state high points or best state parks, this is where everything else goes—the unexpected stops, oddball places, and things you only notice when you slow down and take the back roads.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Why the Drive Still Matters

As tiring as long drives across the U.S. can be, this was one of those trips that reminded me why I still love road travel. You miss a lot when you fly—and even more when you stick strictly to interstates.

At the time, I was traveling from high point to high point (more on that in my High Pointing posts), making my way from Hoye Crest (Backbone Mountain), Maryland, toward Campbell Hill, Ohio. I stopped for the night just outside Zanesville at Wolfie’s Campground. It was a solid campground and a great place to reset for the next day—my mobile office and humble abode for the night.

Wolfie’s Campground entrance sign with trees and lodge building in the backgroundCarved wooden wolf statue on a tree stump at Wolfie’s CampgroundTent set up at Wolfie’s Campground surrounded by trees on a sunny afternoonLaptop set up on a camp chair with a power hookup at Wolfie’s Campground, serving as a mobile office

Photos: Wolfie’s Campground | My mobile office and humble abode

An Unexpected Stop in Newark

The next morning, I headed toward Campbell Hill, and Waze routed me off the main roads to avoid Columbus rush-hour traffic. That detour sent me along OH-16 through Newark, Ohio, about 40-plus miles east of downtown Columbus—and that’s when I spotted something that made me slam the brakes.

The former corporate headquarters of The Longaberger Company.

If you’ve never seen it, imagine a seven-story office building shaped like a giant basket—because that’s exactly what it is. Longaberger, an American manufacturer of handcrafted maple wood baskets and home goods, built the structure to resemble its best-selling product, the Medium Market Basket.

At its peak around 2000, the company had sales approaching $1 billion, and the building itself is a marvel of novelty architecture. The upper floors are larger than the lower ones, the structure spans about 180,000 square feet, and the basket handles alone weigh nearly 150 tons. They’re even heated in winter to prevent ice from crashing onto the glass roof below. Wild.

Sadly, the building sits empty today—but it was absolutely worth pulling over to see it up close and learn more about the company’s history.

The former Longaberger Company headquarters in Newark, Ohio, a seven-story office building designed to resemble a giant woven basket

Photo: The “Big Basket”

Date of visit: May 18, 2023

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