The Ashtabula County Convention and Visitors Bureau is offering passports to track visits to covered bridges in the county. The passports have a map of the bridges, their history, depictions of the bridges and a sticker sheet to keep track of each bridge visited. They are available for $5 through the visitor bureau’s website or at its location at Geneva-on-the-Lake.
The location is open Friday through Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.
m. Amanda Lloyd, marketing manager, said the bureau wanted to go back to basics with a physical passport. “We had a digital passport, which allowed covered bridge travelers to travel around and virtually check in at the bridges,” she said.
“Due to poor cell service in portions of our county, it wasn’t as user friendly as we hoped it would be.” Katie Daugherty, a graphic designer out of Cleveland, is responsible for much of the passport, including its map, each bridge’s depiction and the stickers. Daugherty said she went to Kent State University for graphic design.
“I was always a creative kid, but I didn’t want to be a full-time artist,” she said. “This is a way to be creative, while still using a more analytical mind and working that way.” Daugherty said she got skilled with maps, after designing ones of the Cleveland area.
“It’s always a little bit tricky making a map, because when you do an illustrated map, it’s not completely literal,” she said. “You’re not going to follow directions off it exactly, but it has to be pret.