Hoover, McKinley draw tourists

CANTON -- The biggest surprise in Canton isn't the number of unfamiliar players in the hall (Alphonse Leemans? Leo Nomellini? Clarence Parker?).
It's the number of fun things that a family can do here that are in no way connected with football.
It all starts with two words: McKinley and Hoover.
The number of Americans who know that President William McKinley lived much of his adult life in Canton is probably smaller than the number of Iraqis who voted against Saddam Hussein in the recent election. (McKinley was born in Niles.)
But our 25th president is buried here at the McKinley National Memorial, a double-domed neoclassical Greek mausoleum built on top of a hill.
McKinley, who must surely be the least-appreciated assassinated president (killed in 1901 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, who is fittingly the least-remembered 20th-century assassin), rests inside with his wife, Ida.
Climbing the steps leading to this 95-foot-tall pink granite building is some of the best exercise you can get. But the best part is next door at the McKinley Museum.
What's in museum
The McKinley Museum might sound as boring as a lecture on the gold standard.
But it turned out to be a wonderful facility, a large portion of which could easily pass as a children's museum with delightful, kid-friendly exhibits on dinosaurs (including a moving, life-size allosaurus), geology, native flora and fauna, physics, electricity and space exploration.
And that's just downstairs. Upstairs is a re-created 19th-century version of Canton with shops and offices you can walk through, as well as an exhibit inviting you to visit the McKinley home and listen to animatronic versions of William and Ida.
OK, that was a little corny, but there's also a decent planetarium.
Nearly as entertaining was our visit to the Hoover Historical Center in North Canton.
Canton was the home of William Henry Hoover, a farmer and tannery operator who wound up manufacturing a clever little device that sucked up dirt. His first vacuum, the Model 0, hit the market in 1908, and the rest is dust-busting history.
His boyhood home has been turned into a clever museum detailing the evolution of vacuums. Each room represents an era, from the '20s and '30s to modern times, with examples of the Hoover vacuums and some of their competitors.
Much of it is hands-on. The kids enjoyed the earliest mechanical vacuums that required some hand-pumping or pedal pushing (or, in one case, teeter-tottering) to make them work.
The center even plays some of the familiar old jingles that were used to sell the product -- not to mention to help inspire the door-to-door salesmen that were once the vacuum's chief distributors.
Excellent factory tour
Still have some time left? Your next priority should be the Harry London chocolate factory tour.
You may not have heard of London, a one-time Canton steel worker who underwent a midlife career change.
The chocolate company is large, supplying such diverse locales as Disney World and Universal Studios with treats it markets under its own brand names.
Unlike the faux chocolate factory tour in Hershey, Pa., this is the real thing. For $2, you get 45 minutes all around the factory. The smells alone are worth the admission.
Be sure to pick up a box of the London mints in the factory store. It's their signature product, and your admission stub will give you a discount.
Those looking for a less-caloric adventure might consider driving 20 miles or so south of Canton to the town of Sugarcreek. The charming little town is Ohio's version of Switzerland and feels as if you could run into Heidi at any moment.
One warning, however: Relatively few of the town's little German-Swiss gift shops and tourist attractions are open on Sunday, the day we chose to visit.
We stayed overnight in Canton, checking into a perfectly nice Four Points Sheraton in North Canton. Also recommended to us by the locals are the historic McKinley Grand Hotel downtown and the Holiday Inn in North Canton.
We also give two enthusiastic thumbs up to Papa Bear's Pizza Oven Restaurant, a longtime Canton favorite. It's family-friendly, and the prices were right.
We knew we hit the right place when we realized half the tables were occupied by teens dressed in formal wear. It was prom night.
There are other attractions here, too. The National First Ladies Library in the childhood home of Ida McKinley offers tours on request.
There are a number of Amish attractions, public golf courses, a scenic railroad, several outlet centers within an hour's drive, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.