Arts Trip

• Stan Hywet Hall
  
  Plan an arts trip to Akron. The Akron Area Arts Alliance operates the Summit Artspace Gallery downtown. The Gallery focuses on active, local artists from the Akron area. After visiting the Gallery, you can see The Akron Symphony, founded in 1949, which plays concerts at E.J. Thomas Hall and the Akron Civic Theatre. Head to Akron in the summer to see a free Akron Symphony "Picnic Pops" concert in Firestone Metro Park.
  
  Akron also boasts outstanding museums. Check out the Air Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport, for instance, which displays restored vintage fighters and bombers and is home to some old flight simulators that look more like toys than sophisticated training equipment. You can also visit Stan Hywet Hall. The Hywet estate is a preserved home that was built from 1912 to 1915 by F.A. Seiberling, founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
  
  

For Sports Fans

• If you like your racing with a bit of silliness, Akron holds the World Championship Soap Box Derby every July. Three divisions are contested by children age 8 through 17; the champions win scholarships and merchandise. Golf aficionados will want to visit Firestone Country Club, home to many PGA tournaments.
  
  In addition to the Picnic Pops concerts, Firestone Metro Park offers hiking and walking trails. If you have a young children or older family members with you, try an easy stroll along the Willow Trail to take in the Tuscarawas River and Little Turtle Pond. Hikers up for more of a challenge should try Parcours Trail in the Goodyear Heights Metro Park.
  
  

Strange and Wonderful

• The Goodyear Airdock
  
  If the conventional is not your style, then plan to start your Akron stay on the University of Akron campus. Stay in a round hotel room at Quaker Square Inn, which is a converted silo complex; rooms are circular, retaining the silo's original shape. After a night's stay, head over to the University Presbyterian Church, also on campus, for the Akron Free Market. Open Saturdays from July through early September, Akron Free Market combines a farmers market with an arts and music festival atmosphere. True to the name, vending booths are free at the Free Market.
  
  You won't want to miss the Goodyear Airdock. About the area of eight football fields, the Airdock was constructed in 1929. It has been used to build and store blimps.
  
  After a morning at the Airdock, watch the local Akron roller derby. The Northeast Ohio Rock 'N' Roller Girls may look rough and tough. But their roller derby contests benefit local charities--you can go to see a contest from May through October at the Summit County Fairgrounds.