08/28/2026
I went into an old barn hunting for 1800s doors and windows, fully aware that 6–10-foot black snakes might already consider it home. 😂
Did I turn around and leave?
Absolutely not.
A gentleman had told me about some old doors and windows tucked away in a barn on his family farm in Southeast Ohio. They had been removed from the original farmhouse, built in the 1800s.
Obviously, I had to see them.
Now, I grew up in Southeast Ohio. I KNOW what lives in old barns. A barn full of hay and mice is basically a black snake’s version of an all-inclusive resort. 🐍
So I put on my brave face, climbed onto a half-full hay wagon that clearly hadn’t been disturbed by a human in a VERY long time, crawled across it, climbed down the other side, squeezed through a dark corridor with no lights…and eventually made it into the room where all the “treasure” was hiding.
Was the treasure quite as spectacular as I imagined?
Not exactly. 😂
Was the adventure worth it?
100%.
There IS some beautiful old stained glass that I think I’m going back for, and the antique doorknobs on those old doors are pretty fabulous.
Getting them out, however, is going to require a partner.
And I already know it won’t be Susan Mancini Taggart🤣
Standing in that old barn and looking up into the haylofts took me straight back to childhood, when my friend Colleen Lindsey and I used to play in her grandpa’s barn. There may have been an incident involving a hayloft and a broken arm…
But as I said at the end of the video:
I PROMISE we never jumped out of any haylofts AND broke any arms. 🤞😂
Some treasure hunts are about what you find.
Others are just about the story you get to tell afterward.
This one was definitely both. ❤️
