I enjoyed going to Volant Mill Winery. Its up by Grove City so it may be a little farther then an hour. But the small village of Volant is a nice play to spend a day going 'back in time'.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.