03/18/2026
✅ Ohio Bucket List: Grand Rapids, OH (Part 2 – Apple Butter Fest) 🍎🍂
Okay… so yes 😅 this one is late.
I went back to Grand Rapids for Apple Butter Fest in October, so we’re about 5–6 months behind—but honestly, this day stuck with me enough that it needed its own post.
Going back to the same town where I started this whole project felt different right away. The first time I was here, it was quiet, almost still. This time? It felt alive before I even made it past the first few houses.
I started walking and the first thing that caught my eye was a simple fall setup—stacked pumpkins 🎃, the kind you expect this time of year. It felt calm for about two seconds… and then right next to it was a full skeleton and skeleton dog display 💀 like the town decided we were skipping straight past “cute fall” and heading directly into Halloween.
And then I looked up.
Not in a yard. Not on a porch.
Jeepers Creepers was sitting up on top of a house. 😭
Just… watching over everything. Which honestly set the tone for the rest of the day.
From there, I made my way toward the bridge and the crowd started picking up. People everywhere—families, groups, just constant movement. Completely different from my first visit where I could hear the river more than anything else.
👉 And that river—the Maumee River—isn’t just there for scenery. Before roads and highways, this was how things moved. Trade, travel, entire communities built around it. Standing there with everything going on around me, it was kind of wild thinking about how much history has passed through that same spot.
Somewhere between the crowd and the food vendors, I stopped at a Mexican food truck 🌮 and ordered birria tacos.
And those tacos…
they were one of those moments where you stop mid-bite and just go “…okay yeah, this was the right decision.”
🔥 9.5/10 easily.
The flavor, the tenderness, the consommé—everything about them was exactly what you want birria tacos to be.
I kept walking after that and ended up near one of my favorite moments of the entire day.
There was an Anatolian Shepherd there 🐾, and I’ve been working through a dog breed bucket list, so I had to go over. When I asked to pet him, his handler asked if I wanted him to stand up on his hind legs to show his full size.
Of course I said yes.
And when he stood up… it wasn’t intimidating, it was honestly just impressive. Like seeing something you’ve only ever read about actually in front of you. His handler was on the other side of him, and the whole moment just felt really cool—one of those unexpected experiences you don’t plan but end up remembering.
✔️ Another breed checked off my list.
Not even a few steps later, I passed a Bigfoot cutout 🦶😂
which somehow didn’t even feel out of place anymore.
Then I came across a small outdoor decoration set up as a Michigan vs OSU divide—not big, not over the top, but still enough to immediately know what it meant.
👉 And if you’re not from Ohio, just know… that’s not just football. That’s identity.
As I moved further through, things slowed down a little near the art vendors, which is where I came across two paintings that actually made me stop.
A fish 🎨🐟 and a turtle 🐢🌸—both by Emily Cruz.
Her style stood out immediately—bright, layered, almost like the colors were sitting on top of each other in a way that gave the paintings movement instead of just looking flat.
Honestly, it reminded me of The Rainbow Fish book 🐟✨—that same kind of shimmer and depth that makes it feel a little more alive than just a regular painting.
👉 That layered style is actually intentional—it keeps your eye moving across the piece, which is why it feels like there’s motion in it.
She even had her contact info displayed, which I always respect—putting your work out there like that takes confidence.
From there, the path opened back up to the river again 🌊—same water, different angle—and then transitioned into the historical section of the festival.
There were tents set up to reflect early settler life, and one of the most interesting parts was the cooking setup 🔥—open fire, cast iron, everything done the way it would have been generations ago.
👉 Apple butter itself wasn’t something people just made quickly. It was an all-day process, with families or communities taking turns stirring it so it wouldn’t burn. Seeing that setup in person made the entire festival name make more sense.
As I kept moving, the experience shifted again—like it kept doing all day.
I walked past that doll missing a leg, and instead of being creepy, it actually made me stop for a second. It felt like one of those old pieces that’s been around long enough to have a story—like it belonged to someone at some point, got loved, worn down, carried around, and somehow ended up here. Not scary… just oddly fascinating, like a tiny piece of someone else’s past sitting in the middle of a busy festival.
Then somehow, completely randomly, I came across a diploma from my own high school 📜
And that one actually made me pause a little longer.
Seeing the name on it—knowing it was someone who walked the same halls I did, sat in the same classrooms, probably had completely different experiences but still came from the same place—it felt weirdly personal for something sitting out at a festival.
You don’t usually think about the lives behind objects like that, but that diploma meant something to her at one point. It represented years of work, a milestone, a moment she was probably proud of… and now it’s here, part of a collection of things someone decided to pass along.
It was one of those quiet moments in the middle of all the noise that just made you think for a second.
Then things picked back up again—
There were more paintings scattered throughout, more artists mixed in with everything else, and then the bridge came back into view again—completely steady, completely unbothered by everything happening around it.
At one point I passed a dressed up monkey figure 🐒 and didn’t even question it. By that point, it fit right in.
There was also an antique sign 🪧 that stood out—one of those pieces that used to serve a real purpose and now just exists as a reminder of how things used to look and function.
And somehow… we circled back to OSU vs Michigan again 😂
because apparently once wasn’t enough.
The Halloween decorations kept popping up in between everything else 🎃, and it honestly felt like the entire town had decided to participate in one way or another.
At one point I stopped to take a picture of a rock 🪨
and I stand by that decision—it caught my eye, so it mattered.
And then the day took another turn into the completely unexpected—
Lego Star Wars toilet paper holders 😭
Which I did not expect to see… but also kind of loved.
A ghost drink holder 👻🥤
because even drinks were getting into the spirit.
And then those slippers…
They looked incredibly warm.
They also looked like something you absolutely do not wear outside 😂
By then, food became a focus again.
I passed Andrew Z’s Travelin Pizza Show 🍕, which felt like more than just a food truck—more like a local personality showing up as part of the experience.
Then Queso Kitchen 🧀, which I hadn’t tried before but immediately caught my attention.
And I also stopped for flavored ice 🍧, which ended up being exactly what I needed after walking around all day.
🔥 8.5/10—simple, refreshing, and hit at the perfect time.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that…
It just clicked.
This wasn’t just a festival.
It was people decorating their homes however they wanted.
It was artists sharing their work.
It was local businesses showing up.
It was traditions that go back generations.
It was random, unexpected moments you couldn’t plan.
And for me—it was going back to where this entire project started, and seeing it in a completely different light.
⸻
✔️ Apple Butter Fest – Grand Rapids, Ohio 🍎🍂
Same town.
Different experience.
And honestly… that’s exactly why I keep doing this.
