Toledo, Ohio

Built on a swamp, Toledo was once known as "Frogtown." A meeting place of early Indian trails, Toledo has many historic sites, including Fort Meigs, Fallen Timbers and Turkey Foot Rock. The first settlement named Port Lawrence was laid out in 1816. Sixteen years later, another settlement called Vistula was founded about a mile down the river. Eventually, the two villages were consolidated and named Toledo, incorporated Jan. 7, 1837. Today, the bustling Ohio city is one of the world's busiest freshwater ports. Located at the mouth of the Maumee River - the largest river flowing into the Great Lakes - Toledo's natural harbor has 35 miles of ...

Built on a swamp, Toledo was once known as "Frogtown." A meeting place of early Indian trails, Toledo has many historic sites, including Fort Meigs, Fallen Timbers and Turkey Foot Rock. The first settlement named Port Lawrence was laid out in 1816. Sixteen years later, another settlement called Vistula was founded about a mile down the river. Eventually, the two villages were consolidated and named Toledo, incorporated Jan. 7, 1837. Today, the bustling Ohio city is one of the world's busiest freshwater ports. Located at the mouth of the Maumee River - the largest river flowing into the Great Lakes - Toledo's natural harbor has 35 miles of frontage. Each spring, the annual walleye run brings hundreds of thousands of fish within casting distance of happy anglers. A large producer of glass, Toledo was blessed by the glassmaking Libbey family with the wonderful Toledo Museum of Art. The Libbeys also left a generous endowment to ensure that free admission is always offered at the famed museum. The popular "M*A*S*H" television show also put Toledo and the Tony Packo restaurant in the spotlight. Playing Corporal Max Klinger, actor Jamie Farr mentioned that Packo's serves "the greatest Hungarian hot dogs." Packo's was written into five subsequent episodes, including one show where the mobile hospital unit asked Packo's to send sausage casings to be used in a blood-filtering machine. Walls of autographed hot dog buns are a tradition at Packo's. Started when actor Burt Reynolds jokingly signed his name to the restaurant's breadstuff, the autographed hot dog buns feature such VIPs as film director Ron Howard and President Barack Obama.

About the Expert

Jackie Sheckler Finch has written several guidebooks, including The Unofficial Guide to Campgrounds in the Great Lakes States, and four times she was named Travel Writer of the Year by Midwest Travel Writers Association.