DHF always recommends the Drury Inn in Middletown, Ohio, to our clients. It's close by, offers lots of wonderful amenities and is near quite a few restaurants and retailers. Use this link to get our corporate discount at the Drury!
We compiled this listing of Middletown area hotels, restaurants, shopping, and hospital/ER care and included a map from DHF to Middletown for our out-of-town guests' convenience.
We also recommend Brian Manor, a B&B within a mile of the farm. They have four distinct guest rooms, and how often can you say you've stayed in a castle? The owners are both painters and have an art gallery and an arboretum at their castle. You can also schedule a healing session (Reiki, EFT, hypnotherapy and other healing modalities) or a workshop in these disciplines with Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master and Advanced EFT Practitioner Janet Berg www.JanetBerg.com or call her at 513-680-1875.
Brian Manor, 129 W. State Rt. 122, Lebanon OH, 513-836-3071, www.BrianManor.net
Cabin or Living Quarters Hook-ups at DHF
We have an adorable log cabin on site that can be rented by the night; see the Cabin page for more information. We also have water/electric hook-up options for living quarter trailers at $10 per night. Call or write Jen's assistant Jayne Petruska at (608) 279-5878 or Jayne@myDHF.com for reservations.
Historic Hotel and other sites
The Golden Lamb, 27 S. Broadway, Lebanon OH 45036, 513.932.5065
The Golden Lamb is Ohio's oldest hotel. If you love history and antiques, you'll love the Lamb! They have rooms marked with which famous person stayed there: Mark Twain, Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Dickens, on and on, including recent-day celebrities and politicians. The restaurant is good too, serving traditional American fare. There's also a tavern on premises, as well as a lovely gift shop. This hotel is a true antique itself - there is no elevator and the stairways are long, and there may be a resident ghost! If you ask, they will allow you to wander through the hotel on a self-guided tour. Be sure to go to every floor so you don't miss anything! They have quite an interesting display about the Shakers who used to live in this area. If you have time, be sure to explore downtown Lebanon, which is full of antique and gift shops.
Lebanon is a "walking town" where you can walk and enjoy all the Victorian architecture and read the bronze signs that give historical information. On the south end of Lebanon, where US 42 curves off from Broadway, you'll see the Glendower Historic Museum on the left. They do tours Friday through Sunday from 1-4 in various months. If you continue on US 42, just past Glendower you'll see a row of stately mansions on a hill, former homes of various industrialists who founded companies like Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati.
Tack Shops
EquusNow! is a nice tack shop in Loveland, Ohio, and one of Jen Truett's sponsors. It's at 420 Wards Corner Rd., Suite D, Loveland OH 45140-6950, phone 513-630-1197. To get there from DHF, turn left out of the driveway, left on Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Rd. When you reach a traffic light, you'll turn, left on Miller Rd., which becomes the US-42 Bypass/OH 48. Five miles later, turn right onto the ramp to I-71 South toward Cincinnati. Take the I-275 East exit 17A toward OH-32. Take the Wards Corner ramp, Exit 54, then turn right. The shop is close to the interstate on your right in a gray industrial-looking building. They have a wide assortment of all kinds of fun stuff. Happy shopping!
Dover Saddlery is in northern Cincinnati, 8740 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati OH 45236. (513) 792-0901. They are 28 minutes from the farm, 24.3 miles, if you take the I-71 route choice. Turn left out of the farm's driveway, then left onto Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Rd. At the next light (just over 2 miles), turn left onto Miller Road, which becomes OH-42 Bypass/OH-48. About 5 miles later, take the I-71 S ramp toward cincinnati. Take EXIT 14, OH-126/Ronald Reagan Highway, and stay left to take the Ronald Reagan E ramp. Turn left onto Ronald Reagan 3/OH-126. In half a mile, you'll merge with Montgomery Rd/US 22/OH-3. Dover Saddlery is just over half a mile down on your left. Please note, Dover is one of the store fronts in a strip mall, off to the right, kind of in the corner. That part of the mall sits on an angle so the store isn't easily visible from the road. Happy shopping!
If you need general horse supplies, we have the Liberty Western (513-933-0900) store on US 42 south of Lebanon. Turn left out of DHF's driveway, then turn right onto Old 122, left at the light onto US 48, then follow that through Lebanon to where US 42 swerves off to the right. Liberty Western is about a mile down the road on your left.
We also have a Rural King, 879 Deerfield Road, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, (513-934-0015) in the area. To get there go left out of DHF's driveway, turn left on Old 122, take the first right onto Drake Road, then left at the first light onto Miller Road. At the next light, go straight onto the US 42/US 48 Bypass and watch for a sign that says "LaRosa Pizza" on the exit to the right just after a light at Burt Road. Go up the exit ramp and go straight across into the Rural King lot. You'll pass LaRosa's (which has good spaghetti, pizza and other Italian food at reasonable prices, and "all you can eat" spaghetti on Monday and Tuesday evenings) and see Home Depot on your left.
Horse Feed
The Feed Store, 220 S Sycamore St., Lebanon, OH 45036 (513) 932-1040 is a good supplier of lots of brands of horse feed. Liberty Western and Rural King (directions above) both carry feed as well. The Feed Store also carries things like fly spray, fly masks, etc.
Restaurants
Always an important topic! The nearest food to DHF is clustered along some roads just a few miles away. Turn left out of DHF's driveway onto Weisenberger Rd, then turn left at the stop sign onto Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Road. At the next light (Miller Rd.), go straight and at the next intersection (Columbus Ave.), you'll find Frisch's and Donato's Pizza to your left, Penn Station, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, Hot Head Burritos and several other places to eat to the right. The Donut Shop is on the left near Dairy Queen in a small strip mall. There's a Starbuck's inside the Kroger there to the left of the intersection of Drake Road and Columbus Ave. If you want Arby's, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Skyline (Jen's FAVORITE place!), Goldstar Chili, KFC or Wendy's, at the first light on Drake Road, instead of going straight, turn left onto Miller Rd. Go straight through the next light onto the US 42 Bypass/OH 48 and take the first EXIT (not the first road - an exit ramp) onto East Main Street (S OH 123) . At the bottom of the ramp, turn right and all those restaurants as well as a Japanese resetaurant called Toki's and a place to make copies, buy stamps and mail packages (the UPS store) will be right there. If you go left at the bottom of that ramp, there's a Bob Evans (sit-down country American food - yummy, but not "fast food"). Of course, The Golden Lamb on Broadway in old town Lebanon has great food, and there's a tavern at the back of the hotel called the Black Horse that has indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and live music. To the north of the Golden Lamb on Broadway is May Ploi's Thai Restaurant Jen says is very good. If you go east on Mulberry off Broadway, you'll find Villagio's Pizzeria and Vino. They have excellent food and wine tastings from time to time. Near Villagio's is a sushi restaurant called "Roll On In." There are other small restaurants and coffee shops in Lebanon that are also worth exploring. If Mexican is more your speed, Acapulco Mexican Restaurant is on the same street as Kroger's (Columbus Ave.) to the right as you get off of Drake Road. It's a really nice place. A new place in town is the El Picante Authentic Cuisine, which is to the left as you get off Miller or Drake Road, across from the Goodwill store. Happy dining!
Groceries
To get to the nearest grocery store/pharmacy from DHF, turn left out of the farm driveway onto Weisenberger Rd., turn left on Old 122, turn right on Drake Road, go straight through the light at Miller Rd. and there will be a Kroger on your left (past a mostly abandoned strip mall) near the top of the hill. Or you can turn left at the light at Drake Road onto Miller Rd., then turn left again on N US Route 42 (the next light) and go up the hill to the Super Walmart on the right. It's a nice Walmart and includes a big grocery section as well as all the stuff Walmart normally carries. It's about a mile and a half to Kroger, two miles to Walmart. If you're at the Drury Inn, turn left out of the Drury then take a right at the light and a Kroger is the next right. There's also a Meijer's farther down that road, and a Walmart across Rt. 122 on the left past the Steak 'n' Shake.
General
Lebanon is a town of antique shops and boutiques. There's a huge antique mall on Broadway (the main drag, OH 48) a block past the Golden Lamb and smaller ones scattered around town. There are boutiques and lovely gift shops along Broadway (Rt. 48) and on Main (Rt. 63) past the courthouse (turn left at the courthouse if you're going south on 48). There are several charming ice cream shops (the one with the red striped awning, Village Ice Cream Parlor, was in the movie "Harper Valley PTA" - the town itself was also in the film "Milk Money" with Ed Harris and Melanie Griffith and a Hallmark Christmas movie with Nicolette Sheridan a few years ago), and the fabulous Whit's Custard at the North end of the same block (near the corner of Broadway and Mulberry). For the best, smoothest frozen custard you've had in your life, try Whit's. There's usually quite a line in the evenings, but boy, is it worth it! Yum!!!
Mulberry Street is closed off every so often for festivals and events, including music festivals, Ladies' Shopping Nights, etc. The Country Applefest is held at the Warren County Fairgrounds, on 48 between the farm and Lebanon. Check the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce site for information on the various festivals in the area.
The first Saturday in December, Lebanon hosts a carriage parade. It's free to watch, usually has over 100 units and they go twice on that Saturday (at 1 PM and at 7 PM). The evening parade features lights on the carriages and horses, which adds to the fun. A lot of the shops in town will have horse-related gifts, etc., as part of the festivities. Get to the parade early, as parking can be a problem with over 100,000 people coming to town to see it! Street parking is available all over town as are various parking lots. Food and other vendors are on Mulberry Street between Broadway and Mechanic.
Warren County, where we're located, has been horse country for many years. A recent census of horse owners shows Warren County is home to 6000 horses with more than 2000 horse owners. Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Warren County is rated 4th in terms of horse numbers. Of the 3065 counties in the entire USA, Warren County is 114th, or in the top 4%, in terms of the number of horses. Warren County horse owners spend more than $24,000,000 per year for horse care. (Statistics taken from the Christmas Carriage Parade magazine for 2018.)
If you come to a clinic and your family comes with you, send them to King's Island to entertain themselves while you work on your riding. Or plan to stay an extra day to visit the park. It's a huge amusement and water park, with rides and entertainment for everyone, and it's not far from Lebanon. There's also golf and tennis in the area.
You can find the dates for the various annual festivals and activities in Lebanon at the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce site.
The map below has its pointer at DHF's address, 4080 Weisenberger Road, Lebanon OH 45036. On the map, Rt. 129 is Weisenberger. You can scroll around to see the directions given above and get an idea of how things are laid out. Click on this link or copy and paste the map into your browser, to see the Google Map of the area.
Historic Hotel and other sites
The Golden Lamb, 27 S. Broadway, Lebanon OH 45036, 513.932.5065
The Golden Lamb is Ohio's oldest hotel. If you love history and antiques, you'll love the Lamb! They have rooms marked with which famous person stayed there: Mark Twain, Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Dickens, on and on, including recent-day celebrities and politicians. The restaurant is good too, serving traditional American fare. There's also a tavern on premises, as well as a lovely gift shop. This hotel is a true antique itself - there is no elevator and the stairways are long, and there may be a resident ghost! If you ask, they will allow you to wander through the hotel on a self-guided tour. Be sure to go to every floor so you don't miss anything! They have quite an interesting display about the Shakers who used to live in this area. If you have time, be sure to explore downtown Lebanon, which is full of antique and gift shops.
Lebanon is a "walking town" where you can walk and enjoy all the Victorian architecture and read the bronze signs that give historical information. On the south end of Lebanon, where US 42 curves off from Broadway, you'll see the Glendower Historic Museum on the left. They do tours Friday through Sunday from 1-4 in various months. If you continue on US 42, just past Glendower you'll see a row of stately mansions on a hill, former homes of various industrialists who founded companies like Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati.
Tack Shops
EquusNow! is a nice tack shop in Loveland, Ohio, and one of Jen Truett's sponsors. It's at 420 Wards Corner Rd., Suite D, Loveland OH 45140-6950, phone 513-630-1197. To get there from DHF, turn left out of the driveway, left on Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Rd. When you reach a traffic light, you'll turn, left on Miller Rd., which becomes the US-42 Bypass/OH 48. Five miles later, turn right onto the ramp to I-71 South toward Cincinnati. Take the I-275 East exit 17A toward OH-32. Take the Wards Corner ramp, Exit 54, then turn right. The shop is close to the interstate on your right in a gray industrial-looking building. They have a wide assortment of all kinds of fun stuff. Happy shopping!
Dover Saddlery is in northern Cincinnati, 8740 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati OH 45236. (513) 792-0901. They are 28 minutes from the farm, 24.3 miles, if you take the I-71 route choice. Turn left out of the farm's driveway, then left onto Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Rd. At the next light (just over 2 miles), turn left onto Miller Road, which becomes OH-42 Bypass/OH-48. About 5 miles later, take the I-71 S ramp toward cincinnati. Take EXIT 14, OH-126/Ronald Reagan Highway, and stay left to take the Ronald Reagan E ramp. Turn left onto Ronald Reagan 3/OH-126. In half a mile, you'll merge with Montgomery Rd/US 22/OH-3. Dover Saddlery is just over half a mile down on your left. Please note, Dover is one of the store fronts in a strip mall, off to the right, kind of in the corner. That part of the mall sits on an angle so the store isn't easily visible from the road. Happy shopping!
If you need general horse supplies, we have the Liberty Western (513-933-0900) store on US 42 south of Lebanon. Turn left out of DHF's driveway, then turn right onto Old 122, left at the light onto US 48, then follow that through Lebanon to where US 42 swerves off to the right. Liberty Western is about a mile down the road on your left.
We also have a Rural King, 879 Deerfield Road, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, (513-934-0015) in the area. To get there go left out of DHF's driveway, turn left on Old 122, take the first right onto Drake Road, then left at the first light onto Miller Road. At the next light, go straight onto the US 42/US 48 Bypass and watch for a sign that says "LaRosa Pizza" on the exit to the right just after a light at Burt Road. Go up the exit ramp and go straight across into the Rural King lot. You'll pass LaRosa's (which has good spaghetti, pizza and other Italian food at reasonable prices, and "all you can eat" spaghetti on Monday and Tuesday evenings) and see Home Depot on your left.
Horse Feed
The Feed Store, 220 S Sycamore St., Lebanon, OH 45036 (513) 932-1040 is a good supplier of lots of brands of horse feed. Liberty Western and Rural King (directions above) both carry feed as well. The Feed Store also carries things like fly spray, fly masks, etc.
Restaurants
Always an important topic! The nearest food to DHF is clustered along some roads just a few miles away. Turn left out of DHF's driveway onto Weisenberger Rd, then turn left at the stop sign onto Old 122, then take the first right onto Drake Road. At the next light (Miller Rd.), go straight and at the next intersection (Columbus Ave.), you'll find Frisch's and Donato's Pizza to your left, Penn Station, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, Hot Head Burritos and several other places to eat to the right. The Donut Shop is on the left near Dairy Queen in a small strip mall. There's a Starbuck's inside the Kroger there to the left of the intersection of Drake Road and Columbus Ave. If you want Arby's, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Skyline (Jen's FAVORITE place!), Goldstar Chili, KFC or Wendy's, at the first light on Drake Road, instead of going straight, turn left onto Miller Rd. Go straight through the next light onto the US 42 Bypass/OH 48 and take the first EXIT (not the first road - an exit ramp) onto East Main Street (S OH 123) . At the bottom of the ramp, turn right and all those restaurants as well as a Japanese resetaurant called Toki's and a place to make copies, buy stamps and mail packages (the UPS store) will be right there. If you go left at the bottom of that ramp, there's a Bob Evans (sit-down country American food - yummy, but not "fast food"). Of course, The Golden Lamb on Broadway in old town Lebanon has great food, and there's a tavern at the back of the hotel called the Black Horse that has indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and live music. To the north of the Golden Lamb on Broadway is May Ploi's Thai Restaurant Jen says is very good. If you go east on Mulberry off Broadway, you'll find Villagio's Pizzeria and Vino. They have excellent food and wine tastings from time to time. Near Villagio's is a sushi restaurant called "Roll On In." There are other small restaurants and coffee shops in Lebanon that are also worth exploring. If Mexican is more your speed, Acapulco Mexican Restaurant is on the same street as Kroger's (Columbus Ave.) to the right as you get off of Drake Road. It's a really nice place. A new place in town is the El Picante Authentic Cuisine, which is to the left as you get off Miller or Drake Road, across from the Goodwill store. Happy dining!
Groceries
To get to the nearest grocery store/pharmacy from DHF, turn left out of the farm driveway onto Weisenberger Rd., turn left on Old 122, turn right on Drake Road, go straight through the light at Miller Rd. and there will be a Kroger on your left (past a mostly abandoned strip mall) near the top of the hill. Or you can turn left at the light at Drake Road onto Miller Rd., then turn left again on N US Route 42 (the next light) and go up the hill to the Super Walmart on the right. It's a nice Walmart and includes a big grocery section as well as all the stuff Walmart normally carries. It's about a mile and a half to Kroger, two miles to Walmart. If you're at the Drury Inn, turn left out of the Drury then take a right at the light and a Kroger is the next right. There's also a Meijer's farther down that road, and a Walmart across Rt. 122 on the left past the Steak 'n' Shake.
General
Lebanon is a town of antique shops and boutiques. There's a huge antique mall on Broadway (the main drag, OH 48) a block past the Golden Lamb and smaller ones scattered around town. There are boutiques and lovely gift shops along Broadway (Rt. 48) and on Main (Rt. 63) past the courthouse (turn left at the courthouse if you're going south on 48). There are several charming ice cream shops (the one with the red striped awning, Village Ice Cream Parlor, was in the movie "Harper Valley PTA" - the town itself was also in the film "Milk Money" with Ed Harris and Melanie Griffith and a Hallmark Christmas movie with Nicolette Sheridan a few years ago), and the fabulous Whit's Custard at the North end of the same block (near the corner of Broadway and Mulberry). For the best, smoothest frozen custard you've had in your life, try Whit's. There's usually quite a line in the evenings, but boy, is it worth it! Yum!!!
Mulberry Street is closed off every so often for festivals and events, including music festivals, Ladies' Shopping Nights, etc. The Country Applefest is held at the Warren County Fairgrounds, on 48 between the farm and Lebanon. Check the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce site for information on the various festivals in the area.
The first Saturday in December, Lebanon hosts a carriage parade. It's free to watch, usually has over 100 units and they go twice on that Saturday (at 1 PM and at 7 PM). The evening parade features lights on the carriages and horses, which adds to the fun. A lot of the shops in town will have horse-related gifts, etc., as part of the festivities. Get to the parade early, as parking can be a problem with over 100,000 people coming to town to see it! Street parking is available all over town as are various parking lots. Food and other vendors are on Mulberry Street between Broadway and Mechanic.
Warren County, where we're located, has been horse country for many years. A recent census of horse owners shows Warren County is home to 6000 horses with more than 2000 horse owners. Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Warren County is rated 4th in terms of horse numbers. Of the 3065 counties in the entire USA, Warren County is 114th, or in the top 4%, in terms of the number of horses. Warren County horse owners spend more than $24,000,000 per year for horse care. (Statistics taken from the Christmas Carriage Parade magazine for 2018.)
If you come to a clinic and your family comes with you, send them to King's Island to entertain themselves while you work on your riding. Or plan to stay an extra day to visit the park. It's a huge amusement and water park, with rides and entertainment for everyone, and it's not far from Lebanon. There's also golf and tennis in the area.
You can find the dates for the various annual festivals and activities in Lebanon at the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce site.
The map below has its pointer at DHF's address, 4080 Weisenberger Road, Lebanon OH 45036. On the map, Rt. 129 is Weisenberger. You can scroll around to see the directions given above and get an idea of how things are laid out. Click on this link or copy and paste the map into your browser, to see the Google Map of the area.
