Road Trip: Main Street Wooster (aka Stars Hollow)

Main Street Wooster reminds me of Stars Hollow. If you don’t know Stars Hollow then you’re DEAD TO ME. JK – I still love you – but I love Gilmore Girls more. It’s such a quaint little town – and you literally expect Kirk to come busting out of Doose’s Market.

First stop on the tour was our hotel – the St. Paul Hotel. Now let me say – when you’re in Wooster, OH – you don’t expect much from a hotel – but when you get a room at the St. Paul – you’ll be JOYFULLY surprised. This hotel is amazing – it’s super chic, has heated floors in the bathroom, excellent customer service, free soda/water and more. I would go to Wooster just to stay at the St. Paul!

After our pit stop to drop off our bags (and get a plate full of homemade cookies) – we went to lunch!

I’ve been to Broken Rocks before – on a trip with my friends at Certified Angus Beef – but this time it wasn’t all about the meat – so I decided to try something else.

Before our lunch came – we had some fresh bread and olive oil. The bread was very hearty and still warm – good stuff.

I went for the Wild Mushroom Pizza (wild mushrooms, carmelized onions, pine nuts and gorgonzola cheese – $12.25). I was just in a mood for pizza and I knew I was fixin to eat a big hunk of cow at dinner.

This pizza was delicious – the crust was light and crispy and the mushrooms were plentiful. Thankfully – the gorgonzola wasn’t too pungent. It’s a blue cheese (does everybody know that? not sure) which I’m not fond of. Sometimes it can be too strong – but in this case – it was pretty mellow. Everyone enjoyed their lunches for sure.

After lunch, we started shopping. (Oh those poor boys that were stuck with us.) When we shop – we SHOP! I mean – it was the week before Christmas – what did they expect????

Local Roots is an awesome place – it’s a Co-Op – which I don’t think we have here in Cincinnati. I remember going to New Pioneer Co-Op back home and loving it. Basically it’s a market where people can sell their own things as well as support other entrepreneurs. You can pay a fee or you can volunteer your time at the co-op (most choose this because it’s the mentality that goes along with it – it’s really fantastic).

They had a really cool market with jewelry and home decor from all sorts of people around the area. I love the sentiment – it’s a bit hippie – but that’s why I love it.

Then there’s the food side – which had me drooling. Two of these three things came home with me – not hard to guess which two. They had so many amazing local items – it was really hard to just not spend spend spend!!! But this was our first stop – so I had to pace myself.

We went to Motts Olive Oil & Vinegar shop and let me just introduce you to Serrano Honey Balsamic Vinegar. Sweet followed by a kick in yer tail!!! Yum! This is going to be AMAZING on salmon or steak.

The one place we went that I didn’t spend any money was Lucky Records – I’m just not into records – but it’s a pretty cool place and if you’re looking for records or record players – this is the place. I mean – JACK WAGNER?!? That’s almost enough to get me into records. 😉

Then we have Faithful Little Cupcake – oh holy night – the cupcakes filled my belly! (Sing that – I’m like Peyton Manning with that little Nationwide theme right there!) They have chocolates from another local vendor and then these freakin amazing cupcakes – and lots of church-y items as well (I got a cute bookmark with a verse on it for a friend).

But back to the cupcakes – this one is the Snowball. I – regretfully – only bought 1 – thinking – oh I have a plate of cookies in the room – 1 is enough. No it’s not. This cupcake tasted EXACTLY like a Hostess Sno-ball. You know – the coconut covered, chocolate cake with filling and marshmallowey fluff balls?! Yes – this cupcake was identical – but 100X better!!! It was so soft and fresh and just damn delicious!!!

We also went to the Rubbermaid store – the Rubbermaid business used to be in Wooster – and it is no longer there – but the store stayed. It’s four floors of Rubbermaid items – pretty amazing. It definitely feels like you walked into a 1950’s store too. They have a monthly special item and a discount floor – so if you’re in need – it’s worth the trip.

Next up was Spoon – which is another local market. They have a restaurant, butcher shop and an amazing beer selection. They also have some homemade goods like these dog treats (which my dogs liked – but they got moldy after about 2 weeks – which I didn’t expect).  I took home a hunk of Polska Kielbasa and totes ate it in my hotel room. They butcher and create all the sausage there – pretty impressive.

The restaurant looked great as well – I’m telling you – I’m going to try and create the Sloppy Joe – corned beef, pastrami, turkey, cranberry slaw, swiss cheese & russian dressing on rye. Um yes please. Except I might heat that bad boy up!

Here’s the haul I came home with on Day 1 – boy oh boy – I have to say – the credit card took a much bigger hit on Day 2 – but I felt good about the damage I did. The chocolates were delicious, the carmel corn was scarfed, the cookies didn’t even make it through 1 day at work and the trail mix is fantastic!

I absolutely love Downtown Wooster and can’t wait to go back and visit! But this is only HALF of Day 1 – so you’ll find out more about our shopping, Polka Santa, local beer and hunks of cow next week!

Thanks to Main Street Wooster and Wayne County CVB for sponsoring our trip. The hotel and meals were provided but all the shopping came from Casa de Hussy.