Shawshank Redemption Tree - Malabar Farm, Ohio

Just sitting here watching (for the zillionth time) Shawshank Redemption. Made me think
of last Spring, when I went to visit my kids in Michigan, on the Ohio border. (Result of
a nasty divorce - I get to buy a LOT of airline tickets - my kids have so many miles they
usually fly first class as do I!). They live in Temperance Michigan, a stone's throw from
Toledo Ohio. Boring place, regionally. Not much to do over time - we've done it all over
the years.

So last Spring, I learned that the tree at the end of Shawshank is in Lucas, Ohio - only
120 miles away from my kids' house in Temperance. We had a QUEST! So we set out one
beautiful sunny 70-degree morning in April - turned 'freeways' off on my GPS, and set out to get
lost crossing the state to find the tree. To prep the kids, we watched the movie the night
before so we'd know our final treasure. They LOVE the move (they're 13, Jeremy, and 17, Jennifer,
at the time).

We wound through zillions of wonderful little towns, found an out of the way place with
caves that went down 500 feet under a corn farm, hit antique stores and ice cream places,
had fabulous burgers at some roadside diner, and giggled and joked the whole time, with
the chorus being "this better be one damn amazing tree" all along the way.

It took 5 hours to make that drive on nothing but country roads (freeways are always taboo
on our adventures). We finally arrived at Malabar Farm State Park (www.malabarfarm.org) -
one of the prettiest places I've ever been. Once a working farm on a billion acres, it's now
a state park. We found the cabin used in the opening scenes of Shawshank, and did a
very fun walking tour of the farm in the late afternoon sun.

But where the hell is that damn tree? We finally asked a ranger at the park, and she
told us how to get there - it is NOT in the park, and is NOT on public land! It's just
outside Malabar park on the other side of the country road we came in on, and is an
active, PRIVATE farm. We saw signs that said "Pictures only - do not trespass on crops".
A field of some newly planted growing stuff filled the foreground, and the first picture
attached is of the famous Shawshank tree.

There's no way legally or ethically to go to the area where Morgan Freeman sat by the
rock wall and opened the box. No roads lead it, and the wall was built for the movie.
We were told NOT to trespass to try to find the road that actually is not there - it
was made for the movie, as was the wall. Sure enough - no way in, so this is the
picture you can get without being an ass and hiking over some farmer's field while the
new plants were growing.

Just a very fun day with my kids that we all remember. The FIRST picture I took - it's
the real tree (sans warning signs), and the only LEGAL way to see it without knowing
the owner of the land.

The SECOND picture I found on Flickr - highly suspect - looks VERY much
like a photoshop in lots of ways. Too phony, but seems to be the same tree with
a view like you see in the movie.

But who cares - I found that damn tree - took almost 6 hours, and my kids had a
great adventure along the way.... this was a true adventure.

No idea why I wanted to post this. Just miss my kids, mostly.

But it was indeed one amazing damn tree. And a great day with my distant kids.

Jedi
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Still IS up - so I read on the web. But you MUST trespass to see it. Didn't want to do that.

Jedi