Tank and I were up at the crack of dawn, in order to make the drive from the Cleveland area to a place called Catawba Island, which is where the ferry operates to go to Middle Bass Island, my destination for the day.
Not knowing the ferry schedule, it turned out I was there much too early. I used the time by having breakfast, buying and writing postcards, and reading the Sunday newspaper, cover to cover. And still I had time to kill. I took pictures of ferries coming and going, and talked with the guy who directs the traffic of cars queueing up for the ferry or getting off a recent arrival.
Originally, I had planned to spend two days in the Cleveland, Ohio area but with an invitation from Dave and Evelyn (Evie) Leonhard to join them for the day at their house on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie, I quickly altered my itinerary. Evie and my deceased wife, Shirley, grew up together, and all three of us were in the same high school class. We go back a long way.
The Leonhards live in Arlington Heights, Illinois, where I also lived back in 1966-1972, while working in downtown Chicago. They have always enjoyed fishing and boating, and to make a long story short, buying a house of their own on a popular island in Lake Erie seemed to be the right thing for them to do. Now they and their children and grand- children have a place to vacation at any time.
The ferry that goes out to Middle Bass Island operates from Catawba Island, which is near Sandusky, Ohio. The ferry takes about 45 minutes to get out to the island, and there was Evie to greet me. I left my Ford Explorer on Catawba Island so as to save the $12.00 ferry fee. I had no need for my car on an island which is about four square miles.
The entire Leonhard 'clan' was gathered for their fifth annual gathering, so I was sort of a privileged guest. It was fun for me to see the everyone, including their grandchildren. Dave's sister, Pauline, was there, and we talked at length about her activities and mine. She is a retired reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and her newest book regarding the Ohio Turnpike was just published. I bored her with the details of my current trip.
The Leonhard's house on Middle Bass Island has an interesting history. There are vineyards on several islands because the island climate is favorable to growing grapes. The foundation of the Leonhard's house was the base for a winery building first built in 1846 and later rebuilt in 1890. The wine celler is cavernous and still exists but the present building was built in more recent times.
There was plenty to eat and drink at the gathering, games to play with the kids, and a four month old baby to pay attention to. We demolished a lot of food and drink, first at noontime and then for the evening meal. Dave took me out on Lake Erie in his new 25 foot Wellcraft fishing boat, which has built-in appliances and head, and sleeps up to three people. He's very happy and excited about his boat which has more capability than his previous boat.
For me, it was not a day of travel and sightseeing, but it was a pleasureable personal day. Tomorrow I'll be on the road again, heading south to Columbus, Ohio.
Tank and I were up early in order to be on the first ferry boat leaving Middle Bass Island, our one day outing in Lake Erie yesterday. We spent all day Sunday with Dave and Evelyn Leonhard and their 'clan', enjoying their family gathering. But today, it was back on the road again, for Tank and me.
Having been in the Navy for four years, I always look forward to being on the water. Yesterday, Dave took me out on his 25 foot fishing boat and this morning I was back on the ferry for a 45 minute ride back to the 'mainland' of Ohio. Actually, the ferry operates out of Catawba Island, which one reaches by bridge from the Ohio mainland.
So, the ferry left at 8:15AM, and we were ashore around 9:00AM. I got gas and off we went. Originally, my itinerary was to drive from Cleveland to Columbus, but with my change in plans, I had to chose a a new route. I used 'blue highways' like 4, 98 and 23 to travel south to Columbus. About the only interesting sight to see was the Sorrowful Mother Shrine near Bellevue, Ohio. The rest of my route simply passed through miles of farmland in central Ohio.
Ohio is a pretty flat state and driving passed farms, one after another, there's a chance that one make take it all for granted. But, this is the breadbasket of America. Like other argicultural states, there is a lot of America's food grown here. Most obvious was the corn and wheat, but much more is grown in Ohio.
The farms and the farm houses are very neat here. By neat, I mean tidy, well maintained and simply good looking. It seems everyone has a riding mower, and rather than dislike cutting their grass (like many suburbanites with small yards do), these people are proud of their homes and property. It really is a pleasure to look at the farms in this part of Ohio.
The shrine was an interesting place. You have to wonder how a large piece of property devoted to a religious purpose got located in the middle of farming country, but there it is. There is a long story, but the net of it is, it was established to serve the immigrating Germans who took up farming in Ohio. The shrine has a chapel, and many grottos and gardens. A very pretty place.
The shrine was the only 'sight' to see along this route, so I simply kept on going until I got to the Columbus area. What a shock on arrival here. Apparently, there is some big event going on at the Ohio History Center, because there were literally THOUSANDS of motor homes clogging up the freeway, trying to exit and get parked for the event. And these motor homes were almost all of the 25-40 foot variety, so you can read dollars into that. I don't know who these people were/are but boy they have a lot of money tied up in their mode of transportation.
In downtown Columbus, I visited the replica of the Santa Maria. You can guess the connection of the name of the town, to the presence of the boat. Being Monday, the boat was closed for boarding, but you could view the boat from all angles. Mondays have been a problem for me on this trip.
I stopped at the state capitol to see if the governor was in, he wasn't, so I threw my card in his in-basket. The state capitol building surprised me a little because it is not as impressive as most state capitols. But, maybe that's good, they're economizing.
On the south side of Columbus is a large neighborhood called German Village, and it has something like 270 houses preserved in their original state. Most of these buildings date back to the early 1800s. The streets are red brick and narrow. The neighborhood taverns, as you can imagine, have a German motif. It was an interesting place to tour.
I'm settled in motel for the night, with a potential problem looming. My laptop computer has been giving me 50-301 errors, indicating something is wrong with my keyboard. I called the IBM 800 number and got the name of a local company that can do emergency, expedited repairs, so I think I will have them check it out tomorrow morning.
Right now, I want to get this onto the net. If you don't hear from me for a while, bear with me....
I wasn't sure how today was going to go, because of the brief problem I had with my laptop last night. For a short while, I got consistent error messages saying I had a keyboard problem, and then (thank goodness) it went away. Hardware is hardware and it's going to fail every now and then, but in my case just now, I hope it's 28 days from now, when I'm home.
So, with the laptop behaving itself, I loaded up the Explorer and began the day. I passed the Ohio History Center, and today they had a sign up indicating which group was meeting at the facility. I should have known. Yesterday I saw literally thousands of big motorhomes having difficulty getting off the freeway and into the parking area of the center. The Motorhome Association is meeting there this week!
It was too much of a coincidence to see thousands of motor coaches, not campers or RVs but big, 25-40 foot motorhomes, all converging on this one location. Now it makes sense. All the motor coach dealers drove there in their favorite piece of equipment, I guess.
From last night's lodging in Columbus, I used blue highways to get down to Cincinnati. The Interstate would be fast, but I didn't come this far for speed. I wanted to see the countryside and that's what highways 62 and 22 enabled me to do. Granted, I saw miles and miles of Ohio farmland, but it is proud country.
The small towns I passed through seem to reflect the economics of the surrounding farms. That is, the town looked good and the farms looked good. That means farmers are making money and it shows up everywhere, locally.
If I were to paint a picture of a typical farm, it would have to be a white clapboard siding, two-story frame house, with black trim. There would be a large, mowed lawn, with at least one big tree, and probably an old tire hanging from a rope on that tree. At the house there would be a porch with a swing on it, and a pre-teen girl would probably be running around barefoot, with her hair blowing in the summer wind.
There's got to be a big dog too, and if you look close, probably a couple of cats sneaking around. Most likely there's a car for sale, parked on the grass near the road. In spite of the hard work of farming, the yard is as neat as the planted fields. Depending on the size of the farm, some number of galvanized silos would be lashed together to hold the farmers crop or crops. The barn might not be the brighest red, and it just might have a Mail Pouch sign painted on one side. These are the things you see when you drive the blue highway.
Well, finally I got to Cincinnati and my only plans for the visit were to go to mid-town and take a few pictures. Fountain Square, I think is the agreed upon center of town, so I started there. A block away is Carew Tower, and whereas I have been in the building before, I had never been to the top of Cincinnati's largest building. So, that was my next stop.
From the top of the tower, you can see 360 degrees. My interests were mostly on the south side, which gave me a good photo opportunity for the Ohio River, Riverfront Stadium (which now had a big sign on it saying 'Cinergy') and across the river to Kentucky. While I was on this 49th floor observation deck, a woman was explaining to a blind girl what can be seen from this point. That's commendable on both of their parts, I think.
Well, I plotted my way across the Ohio River and got to where I really wanted to be. That may sound odd, but you have to realize that there are multiple bridges, freeways, older streets and such, providing a maze that even locals probably have difficulty navigating.
I crossed over the Roebling Suspension Bridge, which looks very much like New York's Brooklyn Bridge. It should since the same man designed both of them. The bridge has grating for a road surface and I swear it 'jiggles' side to side as I went across.
Once on the Kentucky side, I went down to the river's edge to do several things. I was able to find some good views of the bridge I just crossed, with all its suspension cables and such, and also a good view of Riverfront Stadium and the whole downtown Cincinnati area for that matter. I snooped around the riverboats, took pictures and just had a good time. A bunch of summer school children boarded one of the riverboats, so I guess they departed later for a cruise on the river. Such fun for them.
I drove through the Riverside Drive area where most of Covington's historic (old) homes are located. A woman told me that the first brick home in Covington was built there. Today, on the fringes of the older homes are some pretty smart looking condos that want a view of the river as well. In the area was a park, with lots of trees and benches, and also bronze statues of people in poses enjoying the park--like setting. A number of people were there, talking, eating, resting, whatever.
Not too far away is the neighborhood called MainStrasse. Yesterday, I toured German Village and it really did not impress me, but today, Mainstrasse met my expectations. I had lunch in a German restaurant and made sure I selected a good German dish (sauerbraten, with dumplings and red cabbage).
The Carroll Bell Tower, in MainStrasse, does 'its thing' every hour on the hour. There are the bells which count off the hour, and chimes which play some carol, and even a glockenspiel with accompanying audio tape naration of the pied piper story. The name of the tower is in tribute to someone named Carroll, not because of the chimes caroling.
One last stop for touring, sightseeing and picture taking, was the top of Covington's highest point in Devou Park. I had read about this scenic view overlooking both Covington and Cincinnati, and the little map I was given at the visitor's center got me there with no difficulty. If it had not been for that map, I don't think I would have found the place.
The view of the two cities is great, and today was sufficiently clear that one could see quite a bit and quite far. I certainly enjoyed the view and took some good pictures of Cincinnati and the surrounding area.
While at Devou Park, I noticed a sign for a museum and thought I would check it out. The parkland was donated to the city, and the house which is now a museum was the original benefactor's home. Today, it holds a limited amount of things, but it was interesting. There were a bunch of school children participating in some kind of study group while I was there.
So, another touring day came to a close. At the motel, I was glad to see they had a pool and it was refreshing on this 90+ degree day. I noticed I had a pile of laundry to do, after my weekend island outing, so I did that today as well.
Tomorrow, Tank and I are off to Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville. Someone once asked, how you pronouce the capitol of Kentucky. Is is Lou-e-ville or Louis-ville? Well, neither one. It's Frank-fort! An old joke, I know, I know. But I am looking forward to seeing horse country, the capitol and even the place where baseball bats are made. Stay tuned.....
The day had a slow start but a strong finish! To begin, I had to retrace my steps and go back to the Ohio/Kentucky state line to take one of my 'entry' pictures. I entered the state using a bridge over the Ohio River and there was not an opportunity to take a picture of any Kentucky 'welcome' signs. So, this morning, I went back to the visitors center and took a picture of the plaque on their facility.
Then it was off to Lexington via a blue highway. I chose highway 25 to go south, and it began with a lot of little towns, spaced just a few miles apart. And then, the highway turned 'remote' with nothing along the way. Not much to see if all there is is wooded land. The towns I passed through were neat and pleasant looking. Later in the day, I drove on highway 60 from Frankfort to Louisville, and whereas there were small towns to pass through, they had a different character, it seemed.
Early this morning, I began to see horse farms, some with the classic while rail fence enclosing the horse pastures. It was in Lexington that I really saw a lot of horse farms, and the fences could be black, brown, natural wood or the classic white. I also saw horse farms along highway 60 enroute to Louisville.
At Lexington, I stopped at the Kentucky Horse Park, which is a major facility to tell you more than you probably wanted to know about race horses, and horses in general. They had horses in the pastures, but then you can see that just driving around the Bluegrass Drive, a ten mile loop of horse farms in the Lexington area. I drove the loop and it was good except there were few places to pull off and take pictures.
From Lexington, I went to Frankfort, the capitol of Kentucky. The capitol building is grand, like most state capitols. I called to see if the governor was in, he wasn't, I left my card, and I said naughty things. I took AAA's advice and went to the Frankfort Cemetery for a really good, hilltop scenic view of the city. It seemed disrespectful in a way, being there for other than showing respect for the dead, but the view was good, so I took pictures of the valley.
Northern Kentucky was very hilly, as I drove down highway 25. When I got to the Lexington area, it flatten out a bit, but then in the Frankfort area, I actually drove on roads carved out of the mountainous area. The Kentucky River flows through the area, so the city is basically in a river valley, and you have to enter/leave by some cavernous route.
I didn't see much in the way of farms today, as I did in all of Ohio. Sure, horse farms, but nothing big in the way of growing crops. I saw a number of farms growing tobacco, so they haven't given in to the legislature yet.
Seeing so many horses, Tank asked me if he could race against one. I gave a quick response saying a horse was at least ten times faster than any armadillo. He asked if he could bring nine friends. I ignored him.
After seeing the state capitol and checking on the governor's attendance to his duty, I went off to visit the Ancient Age Distillery. It was a good tour of their production facility, but there were no samples to taste. The distillery got started in the late 1800s with about 14 buildings, and now has grown to about 110 buildings producing a variety of whiskeys.
After lunch in Frankfort, I took off for Louisville. My guardian angel was kind to me today because I arrived at the Louisville Slugger (baseball) Bat Museum ten minutes before the next tour began, and then later in the afternoon, I arrived at Churchill Downs fifteen minutes before its tour began. Good deal, for me!
The baseball bat museum is very well done. It begins with an audio/visual program to tell you about the history of making baseball bats and then they take you on a tour of their plant facility for producing golf clubs and baseball bats. I'm having a bat made with my name on it, in recognition of the fabulous little league career I had.
At Churchill Downs, their audio/visual program is even better. it gives the visitor an appreciation of horse racing and the Kentucky Derby in particular. They present a lot of factual information such as, in what year of the Kentucky Derby did 'The Winner' finish seventh?
We toured the paddock, the grandstand, the winner's circle and more. I thought it was great. Our tour guide knew his stuff and of course that makes a difference for any tour you might take.
It was 1896 when a horse named "The Winner" finished seventh, by the way.
So, another touring day has come to a close, and it was a super day. I really enjoyed my visit to the Slugger Museum and Churchill Downs, but the other activities were fun too. Tomorrow, I'm headed north to Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and the exotic place of Coldwater, Michigan (a small town in south central Michigan, where my brother lives).
Before leaving the Louisville area this morning, I thought I would first drive down to the riverfront and see if there would be any photo opportunities at dawn. I stayed the night on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, and with a detailed map of Jeffersonville, I had no difficulty locating Riverside Drive. It was pleasant seeing the calm river at that early hour, but I really didn't find or see anything I wanted to photograph. So, Tank and I headed north on US31, aiming for Indianapolis.
US31 first passed through a series of small towns, each with their own character. Do you want to guess what the big business is in Cementville, Indiana? Sellersburg was interesting because at 6:30AM, I swear the whole town was awake and all the lights were on. After a while, the countryside quieted down, and I was looking at miles and miles of corn.
In spite of all the land with planted crops, I also have noted, not only in Indiana, but elsewhere, that there is a lot of unused land. One wonders what America's food production 'could be' if all the land were utilized. The farms in Indiana look very much like Ohio farms, neat and trim. Riding mowers must be a bigger business than I thought. Some rural home owners have mowed entire acres in and around their homes. And you thought your paltry little yard was a big deal!
Southern Indiana has its share of industry, by the way. I saw a number of small manufacturing plants in the small towns south of Indianapolis. It's not just corn that grows down here. And many towns are gearing up for their county fairs, with signs posted encouraging the public to make its plans.
I really enjoyed driving on US31. It parallels Interstate 65 quite a bit, but I'd rather have the stress free, slower paced blue highway. And you just don't see the same sights on the Interstate. Try it sometime.
I stopped for breakfast along the way. Read the morning paper. So, when I got to Indianapolis, I was ready for touring. The first stop was the downtown area, which I have been to before on business but I had never taken the time to really see and enjoy. I took pictures of Monument Circle, and also the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, two major structures in the city.
From the downtown area, I drove out to the Indianapolis Speedway, home of the famous Indianapolis 500 race run each Memorial Day in May. I toured the museum and it has a great collection of cars which have won the race. I had an opportunity to sit in one of the race cars, just to get the feeling.
I took the bus tour of the track and what they call the infield. We were able to see the garages where cars are housed, and Gasoline Alley which is the area from which the race cars enter the track for the race. Our tour bus driver pointed out all the current and past features of the speedway complex. It was a good tour.
I took the time to watch the audio/visual program, which describes the history of the Speedway, as well as presenting major highlights of many races held here. But what I really enjoyed was going out to the grandstand seats on the south side of the complex to watch cars taking test laps around the track. On the day of the Indy 500, almost a half million people are at the speedway, watching and listening to 30-40 race cars roar around the track. This has to be an exciting place for race fans.
After lunch, I headed to the northeast side of Indianapolis in search of a place called the Conner Prarie Village. My directions were limited and for a while I thought I would never find the place. Just about the time I was ready to give up, I stumbled on the front door of the place.
The Prairie Village depicts life in 1836. The Conner home is on the property and it was built in 1823. Employees of the village play the role of various members of the village, and they really do a good job of it. I also stopped and talked with a docent (volunteer) who stood by to answer questions if people were hesitant about talking with the interpreters (actors).
The village is similar in concept to the Plimouth Plantation I just visited a few weeks ago. In the village today, I saw women preparing the day's meal, and in one case, I blundered into a log cabin where the inhabitants were in fact having their lunch. And when I say they prepared their food, I mean a hot fire on a hot July day. No shorts and sneakers or air conditioning here!
After ending my touring for the day, I found my motel for the night, and I've already had an enjoyable swim to take my mind off the July temperature. In a hour or so, it will be dinner time and then to bed. Tomorrow, I will do some touring between Indianpolis and the south central area of Michigan, where my brother, John, and his family live. I'll spend a couple of days there before heading west to Chicago.
Yesterday, I spent time in downtown Indianapolis, and I guess I didn't have my thinking cap on, because it is the capitol city for Indiana, and I have been making a point of photographing each capitol that I have seen. So, this morning, that was the first thing on my agenda. At that early hour, the governor was nowhere to be found, so I left my card and headed for points north.
In planning for this trip, I knew that the Indianapolis Colts, professional football team, would be having their summer camp at the university in Anderson, Indiana. I found the place all right, but no one was there early this morning except a blocking dummy and me (no comments, please). I asked around and was told that there would be no activity until later, and I chose not to stick around.
I took care of a bit of personal business while in Anderson, namely looking into why my Visa card was being rejected last night and again this morning. Well, I've been caught! The computer decided that my card was being used for some unusual spending and flagged my account. I spoke with a First USA Visa supervisor and explained, yes, the past 68 days have been non-normal for me in terms of spending patterns. It's not every day that one stays in a motel in a different city, etc. She seemed to agree and removed the flag, telling me that I should be able to use the card later. We'll see.
As I drove out of the Indianapolis area and back into the country, it did not surprise me to once again see miles and miles of corn. For those of you who have never seen large corn fields, imagine this. You're lying on the floor, counting the number of carpet fibers in one square inch, and then one square foot, and finally the entire carpet. A field of corn is like many, many fibers in a carpet. There must be a zillion in one corn field, and then to have farm after farm, that's a whole lot of corn growing here in Indiana.
At Muncie, Indiana, I found my way to the Ball corporate headquarters, where I had read there was a museum devoted entirely to the the history of their famous fruit jar. I have two such jars that I think are quite old, but their collection told me that there are jars much older than mine. It is a most unusual collection and museum, if you're into that sort of thing.
Fairmount, Indiana is the birthplace of the now-deceased movie star, James Dean. At Fairmount, there is a gallery containing an extensive collection of James Dean memorabilia, and also the Historical Museum in town has James Dean things among the many other artifacts in their collection. From the gallery, I learned that James Dean was a good high school student and athlete and he was certainly preparing for his acting career. He had a quick rise to stardom in such films as "Rebel Without A Cause", but he died in an automobile accident. He lives on, even after death.
I had a full breakfast first thing this morning, but by noon, I was ready for more vittles. I stopped in a town called Huntington, Indiana, which intially meant little to me. The lunch I had was good, and I was impressed with the town center and various imposing civic buildings. I then learned that it is Dan Quayle's hometown. He was vice president under George Bush.
After lunch, I drove onto Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I wanted to see the Lincoln Museum. The museum uses multiple audio/visual programs to present a unique perspective on Abraham Lincoln. Additionally, there are quite a few displays which are educational and interactive. It's a good place for school children, and interested adults to visit.
Still further north, towards my day's destination of Coldwater, Michigan and my brother John's home, I took time to revisit Angola, Indiana where I spent several of my teen summers. My uncle then had a couple of cottages on Crooked Lake and I certainly have fond memories of fishing, swimming, boating and such. Nearby is Buck Lake, where there's a ranch with country music each summer, and where I first got interested in that kind of song and singing.
I got to my brother's house by supper time, and sure enough, my sister- in-law, Alberta (Bert), had really put out a good spread. My nephew Dean was also on hand to welcome me to Michigan and their home. I'll be here until Sunday morning, so we'll have a lot of family catching up to do.
My sister-in-law really spoiled me during my visit to their home, Friday night through Sunday morning. I haven't eaten like this for a long time. I don't know what I'd weigh if I stayed here very long. Food like you wouldn't believe, and gooooo-od!
After a very full meal Friday night, we began Saturday with still more food, and later had a full lunch, only to top it off with a delicious supper Saturday night before I went off to the theater.
I enjoyed catching up with 'things', talking with my brother, John, my sister-in-law, Alberta, and my nephew, Dean. We talked all evening on Friday and carried on right into Saturday. I did take some time out to take pictures around my brother's home in Coldwater, Michigan. John retired a few years back after a working life being the local Cadillac/Olds dealer here in this farming community.
Coldwater is a pretty small town, with population not exceeding 10,000 folks. My brother's house is in the country, and he loves it. I really slept well last night, with no motel noises as I've had for many of the nights during this 70 day trip so far. It was really peaceful. My brother's home is adjacent to farmland, so this morning when I took pictures around the house, I took a few of the cornfields and then 'watched the corn grow', as they say. Big doings in Coldwater.
I did some shopping in the morning, but the highlight of the day was my brother taking me for a drive around the area. Not only did John run the auto dealership, but he was on one of the local bank's board of directors, and had other active business interests. He thought I might be interested in seeing how Coldwater has changed since my last visit.
John then took me to Crooked Lake, Indiana, just across the state line, to see the cottages our uncle once owned and at which I spent a number of summer vacations during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Believe me, it was fun to see the place and recall those memories of having fun as a young teenager.
In the evening, I went to the historic Tibbetts Opera House in downtown Coldwater to see 'The King and I'. John and Alberta don't have an interest in musicals, so I went by myself. Not only did I enjoy the live musical, but I got to see the inside of the building which was built in 1882. A great way to spend an evening.
Tomorrow, I'm off for Chicago, but I plan to pass through places like Battle Creek, Michigan, where I lived in 1957-1959. I also hope to stop at the Michigan Sand Dunes, especially since I got rained on (heavily) back in May when I visited the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. I'll keep you posted.
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