Scott Heffley and his wife, Carissa Harvey, who live in Akron’s Merriman Valley neighborhood — locally known as “The Valley” — spend considerable time exploring nature, dreaming and planning for the day, hopefully soon, they own a restaurant.

The couple conjures images of Florida’s humid air, clear and sunny skies. Also, fishing poles, day fishing, night fishing. Lots of fishing.

Their journey is the ultimate example of the power of belief. 

To explain, they share a strong desire to open a breakfast/lunch restaurant in Florida — leaving the rest of the day free for fishing.

These Akron residents, both in their early 50s, want to retire to Clearwater, Florida. They plan to spend weekdays and weekends fishing several miles of the coast, casting long lines for trophy bass, bull redfish, grouper and tarpon.

Don’t be surprised if the seafood ends up on the menu at H2, (the future eatery’s name honors both of their last names) along with Hefley’s favorite menu item: eggs benedict.

Akron in 330

The jewel of Akron is its people. They’re vibrant and resilient. Flawed, yet thoughtful and nurturing. And all of them come with compelling stories. That’s why we launched “Akron in 330.” This series offers a glimpse into everyday folks’ journeys across our many neighborhoods — 330 words at a time. Know someone we should consider? Tell us here.

Heffley and Harvey are former employees of Butcher and Sprout in Cuyahoga Falls. These one-time neighbors met while walking their dogs around the area.  

At the restaurant, they enjoyed working as chef, bartender, kitchen and front-of-house manager. But, after several years in the food and restaurant industry, they felt burnt out. 

Now they are ready to return, in a different role, a different climate. 

This dynamic duo plans to rely on years of restaurant industry experience as well as a strong work ethic and talent for designing an engaging eatery.

Both are skilled in and have an understanding of the day-to-day maintenance of a restaurant and share a life and work balance learned and earned the hard way.

Heffley and Harvey plan for a rod-and-reel lifestyle beginning every day at 3 p.m. 

For now, they’re Valley residents, enjoying the calm and serenity that comes from living next to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 

While they navigate another Midwestern winter, they’re still dreaming of much, much warmer days.

Patricia Sheahan is a professor, student teacher supervisor, installation artist, educational consultant for the integration of the arts across all disciplines and a freelance writer. Sheahan enjoys more than four decades of education experience at K-12 schools in New York and Pennsylvania and higher education at Seton Hill University, the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Penn State and most recently the University of Akron. Her favorite courses to teach are Social Justice Through the Arts, Ethics, Introduction to Critical Education, Classroom Management and Integrating the Arts K-12. Interests include visiting the Akron Art Museum, Akron Library, Civic Theatre, walking downtown to view murals and window light installations plus the stunning flower and plant arrangements, antiquing, especially from her own vendor space at The Brothers North Antiques in Medina. She also frequents Akron restaurants and local boutiques, travels and spends time with her family; a daughter and her newly blended family in North Canton, a son and his family in San Diego and a son in Dallas.