Cousins Kathy Dunn and Julie Mock toasted the hot day with chocolate ice cream cones from Stoddard’s Frozen Custards.

Dunn, from Cuyahoga Falls, and Mock, from Scottsdale, Ariz., spent the day Thursday visiting the local shops and drinking lots of iced tea.

"Ice cream definitely helps," Dunn said. "But you probably don’t think it’s hot do you?"

"No, it’s hot. It’s humid," Mock replied. "I think we made a good choice, a very good choice, coming here."

The mercury on the thermometer rose to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but after a few minutes outside the number is irrelevant. It’s hot. There's still work to be done and fun to be had, so Patch went around town and asked residents how they stayed cool.

Nichole Miller, 14, and her sister Kelsey, 10, of Kent sought refuge in the form of their younger brother’s pool and a garden hose. In between spraying her sister, Nichole said she’s not ashamed of wading in a kiddie pool.

"It keeps us nice and cool when it’s hot outside," she said.

Kent State students Ora Solinsky and Greg Martinis headed down to Heritage Park near the Cuyahoga River to build a “Man vs Wild” inspired raft.

"It’s nice to walk along the creek and get your feet wet," Solinsky said.

It was business as usual for others. 

Paul Mitchell, mechanic at Valvoline Instant Oil Change, said there’s no way to avoid the heat working under hot cars all day.

"You just have to remain hydrated and replenish fluids," he said, adding he can get a bit cool by sticking the tire air hose pump in his shirt.

Vu Nguyen, manager at Royal Dry Cleaners, said they have 10 fans running all day to circulate air. The equipment in the dry cleaning process creates what feels like a steam sauna, making it impractical and too expensive to have air conditioning.

"We work early in the morning and get it done as soon as we can to beat the heat," he said.

Seasoned workers next door at Guido’s Pizza have adopted a different mindset: acceptance.

"I surrender to it, and I just let the heat envelop me," said Blake Keller, cook and cashier.

But Keith Barton, of K & M Gardens, didn't mind. 

"I like being outside," he said between checking some of the flowers he maintains in Acorn Alley. "I've been outside since I was a kid. You never went inside unless you could help it."