Logan, Ohio
7/18/2009
We enjoyed our visit to Hocking Hills so much that we decided to return there the following weekend and make a day of it. We decided to try our hands (well, feet, actually) at the strenuous Grandma Gatewood hike, which is a six-mile circuit around the most notable sites. Apparently, Grandma Gatewood walked this hike almost every year until she was 85. We’re embarrassed to say that at a third that age, we were sore for days!
At one point, we had to sit down on a bench to feed Daniel. A family of four passed by - a mom, a dad, a brother (around 10) and a sister (also around 10). For whatever reason the brother didn't want to continue, so he decided to sit down on the bench next to us. He didn't talk to us or even look at us, but he started screaming about the blizzard that was coming. He seemed pretty concerned about it. Luckily, we don't get a lot of blizzards in July.
FAILED ATTEMPT - NASHVILLE AND STORY, INDIANA
Nashville and Story, Indiana
7/11/2009
Ah, our first failure. I had done my research before taking the trip, but it didn’t serve us that well. Schultz writes about a side-of-the-road gas station called The Gnaw Bone Tenderloin – alleged to have legendary tenderloin sandwiches. Apparently, in the brief time since the book was published the Gnaw Bone is no more, but before we left on our trip I discovered that the chef and the grill had been relocated to the Salt Creek Golf Retreat. Hardly the same ambience, but we figured if it’s the same sandwich it should count, right? Well, we plotted a course for the golf course, but when we got to where the GPS said it should be, there was nothing. We drove around for awhile looking for it, but to no avail. Schultz also recommends the Story Inn, so we tried to find that as an alternative. But we just couldn’t find it. Eventually, time became an issue and in order to reach Indianapolis in time for the Jerry Seinfeld show, we had to give up the search. I vowed to return! Nashville, you will not defeat me!
7/11/2009
Ah, our first failure. I had done my research before taking the trip, but it didn’t serve us that well. Schultz writes about a side-of-the-road gas station called The Gnaw Bone Tenderloin – alleged to have legendary tenderloin sandwiches. Apparently, in the brief time since the book was published the Gnaw Bone is no more, but before we left on our trip I discovered that the chef and the grill had been relocated to the Salt Creek Golf Retreat. Hardly the same ambience, but we figured if it’s the same sandwich it should count, right? Well, we plotted a course for the golf course, but when we got to where the GPS said it should be, there was nothing. We drove around for awhile looking for it, but to no avail. Schultz also recommends the Story Inn, so we tried to find that as an alternative. But we just couldn’t find it. Eventually, time became an issue and in order to reach Indianapolis in time for the Jerry Seinfeld show, we had to give up the search. I vowed to return! Nashville, you will not defeat me!
7. COLUMBUS, INDIANA
Columbus, Indiana
7/11/2009
From Columbus, Ohio to Columbus, Indiana. Hey! They stole our name! Anyway, this town is lauded as having the sixth best architecture in the country. That might sound goofy, but consider the other cities are places like New York, Chicago, and so forth. Since there are just so many buildings to see, we decided to take a formal tour. A guide bussed us around to various prime examples of Columbus architecture, including their I.M. Pei designed library. The tour guide made it sound as though the First Christian Church was their crown jewel – one of the first contemporary church designs. It was interesting that most of the architecture was of that contemporary style. I guess that isn’t the style I imagine when I think great architecture. But I suppose that style has had an artistic impact. It was a different was of thinking. For the second half of the tour we drove away from the central part of town, while the guide pointed out buildings as we passed. The problem with this was, once we moved away from the downtown area we would pass through rundown streets of gas stations and McDonald’s before coming upon a notable building sticking up out of the bleakness. The tour guide explained that Columbus had no architecture regulations in order to preserve the town in any way, so the kind of buildup you would expect in any city was invading the special look the city may have had in the past. Honestly, the tour might have been better if it just focused on the central part of the city. I understand their enthusiasm for trying to show as much as possible, but maybe offering a one-hour tour as an alternative to the two-hour bus tour would be a good thing for them to think about. Laura and I were glad we visited this city now though. It seemed as though after almost every building we passed it the guide said something like, “Well, they just went out of business” or “This building has been for sale for a long time.” Many of these buildings are local banks, which have been ruined by the recent economy. I’m sure the library and the First Christian Church will be there for a long time, but if we returned in fifty years we wonder how many of these other buildings will still be there.
7/11/2009
From Columbus, Ohio to Columbus, Indiana. Hey! They stole our name! Anyway, this town is lauded as having the sixth best architecture in the country. That might sound goofy, but consider the other cities are places like New York, Chicago, and so forth. Since there are just so many buildings to see, we decided to take a formal tour. A guide bussed us around to various prime examples of Columbus architecture, including their I.M. Pei designed library. The tour guide made it sound as though the First Christian Church was their crown jewel – one of the first contemporary church designs. It was interesting that most of the architecture was of that contemporary style. I guess that isn’t the style I imagine when I think great architecture. But I suppose that style has had an artistic impact. It was a different was of thinking. For the second half of the tour we drove away from the central part of town, while the guide pointed out buildings as we passed. The problem with this was, once we moved away from the downtown area we would pass through rundown streets of gas stations and McDonald’s before coming upon a notable building sticking up out of the bleakness. The tour guide explained that Columbus had no architecture regulations in order to preserve the town in any way, so the kind of buildup you would expect in any city was invading the special look the city may have had in the past. Honestly, the tour might have been better if it just focused on the central part of the city. I understand their enthusiasm for trying to show as much as possible, but maybe offering a one-hour tour as an alternative to the two-hour bus tour would be a good thing for them to think about. Laura and I were glad we visited this city now though. It seemed as though after almost every building we passed it the guide said something like, “Well, they just went out of business” or “This building has been for sale for a long time.” Many of these buildings are local banks, which have been ruined by the recent economy. I’m sure the library and the First Christian Church will be there for a long time, but if we returned in fifty years we wonder how many of these other buildings will still be there.
6. MADISON, INDIANA
Madison, Indiana
7/11/2009
After our hard-fought chili victory we returned to the Days Inn in Fort Wright, Kentucky – just outside of Cincinnati. When we walked in they had a sign that said, “No refunds after twenty minutes in room.” Sounded promising. The elevator didn’t work. Apparently there had been a fire and the fire department shut down the elevator for safety reasons. Fun. A ceiling tile was hanging down in the bathroom, which added to the décor nicely. The next morning we decided to take advantage of the much-touted “free breakfast.” It consisted of vanilla wafers, stale cereal and an employee who insisted we hurry up because she wanted to clean the coffee pot. Oh well. You get what you pay for. By the way, as an added bonus, Laura broke out in nasty hives that didn’t go away for about two weeks.
Shaking the bacteria from our feet we made our way to the time-locked town of Madison, Indiana. This was a really great town – from what we could tell in our three hours there it really is your prototypical American Midwest small town that we often think doesn’t really exist any more. We were lucky enough to arrive on a day when some sort of town craft fair was going on, where local people were selling their artwork and garden vegetables. Apparently, the town was celebrating its bicentennial. We bought a hand-painted bookmark of the town fountain by a local artist. Schultz recommends eating at Hinkles Sandwich Shop – which was where we were planning to have lunch, but as bad luck would have it, this particular day the proprietors were on vacation. Open since 1933 and we come the one day they’re closed. It was time to improvise. Laura wanted to go to the Hong Kong Kitchen. (By the way, is there a town anywhere in the world that doesn’t have a Chinese restaurant in it?) Much to Laura’s initial disappointment, we skipped the Chinese food and went to Roger’s Diner and Soda Fountain. Apparently, it’s been in operation for a hundred years, initially as a drug store. It looks just like you’d imagine some 1950s-style diner looks like, accept it isn’t put on. It truly is one of those places. We had burgers, of course. They were amazing. You could add flavors to soda, and I noticed they had strawberry, so I had them add that to a Coke. The waitress thought that was weird. So did the cook. This place has been open a hundred-years and nobody ever ordered that before? Maybe I invented it. I took great pride in this for the rest of the trip. Coke a la Oliver. For some reason, Laura wasn’t that impressed.
7/11/2009
After our hard-fought chili victory we returned to the Days Inn in Fort Wright, Kentucky – just outside of Cincinnati. When we walked in they had a sign that said, “No refunds after twenty minutes in room.” Sounded promising. The elevator didn’t work. Apparently there had been a fire and the fire department shut down the elevator for safety reasons. Fun. A ceiling tile was hanging down in the bathroom, which added to the décor nicely. The next morning we decided to take advantage of the much-touted “free breakfast.” It consisted of vanilla wafers, stale cereal and an employee who insisted we hurry up because she wanted to clean the coffee pot. Oh well. You get what you pay for. By the way, as an added bonus, Laura broke out in nasty hives that didn’t go away for about two weeks.
Shaking the bacteria from our feet we made our way to the time-locked town of Madison, Indiana. This was a really great town – from what we could tell in our three hours there it really is your prototypical American Midwest small town that we often think doesn’t really exist any more. We were lucky enough to arrive on a day when some sort of town craft fair was going on, where local people were selling their artwork and garden vegetables. Apparently, the town was celebrating its bicentennial. We bought a hand-painted bookmark of the town fountain by a local artist. Schultz recommends eating at Hinkles Sandwich Shop – which was where we were planning to have lunch, but as bad luck would have it, this particular day the proprietors were on vacation. Open since 1933 and we come the one day they’re closed. It was time to improvise. Laura wanted to go to the Hong Kong Kitchen. (By the way, is there a town anywhere in the world that doesn’t have a Chinese restaurant in it?) Much to Laura’s initial disappointment, we skipped the Chinese food and went to Roger’s Diner and Soda Fountain. Apparently, it’s been in operation for a hundred years, initially as a drug store. It looks just like you’d imagine some 1950s-style diner looks like, accept it isn’t put on. It truly is one of those places. We had burgers, of course. They were amazing. You could add flavors to soda, and I noticed they had strawberry, so I had them add that to a Coke. The waitress thought that was weird. So did the cook. This place has been open a hundred-years and nobody ever ordered that before? Maybe I invented it. I took great pride in this for the rest of the trip. Coke a la Oliver. For some reason, Laura wasn’t that impressed.
5. CINCINNATI CHILI
Cincinnati, Ohio
7/10/2009
The search for Cincinnati Chili was, strangely, our first major challenge. Schultz recommends Camp Washington Chili, which we sadly found boarded up. I wish I knew the story behind that. Apparently they had been open 24-hours a day since 1940. What happened? We used the GPS to search for other chili places, determined to avoid Skyline or some other chain. The GPS sent us to three other chili joints, all recently out of business. Meanwhile, Skylines and Gold Stars seemed to be on every street corner. Eventually, after two hours of searching we finally found a place called Gourmet Chili, which wasn’t even in Cincinnati. It wasn’t even in Ohio. It was about ten minutes across the border in Newport, Kentucky. Laura had a four-way and I had a five-way (I figured after all this, I should go all the way) and it was pretty good. Actually, Laura and I didn’t even know what the different “ways” were and the waitress was surprised when we asked. “It’s just like at Gold Star,” she claimed. She assumed we’d know what that meant. I guess chili must still be a big deal in the area, but apparently these little chili places are being devoured by franchises. Kind of a shame.
7/10/2009
The search for Cincinnati Chili was, strangely, our first major challenge. Schultz recommends Camp Washington Chili, which we sadly found boarded up. I wish I knew the story behind that. Apparently they had been open 24-hours a day since 1940. What happened? We used the GPS to search for other chili places, determined to avoid Skyline or some other chain. The GPS sent us to three other chili joints, all recently out of business. Meanwhile, Skylines and Gold Stars seemed to be on every street corner. Eventually, after two hours of searching we finally found a place called Gourmet Chili, which wasn’t even in Cincinnati. It wasn’t even in Ohio. It was about ten minutes across the border in Newport, Kentucky. Laura had a four-way and I had a five-way (I figured after all this, I should go all the way) and it was pretty good. Actually, Laura and I didn’t even know what the different “ways” were and the waitress was surprised when we asked. “It’s just like at Gold Star,” she claimed. She assumed we’d know what that meant. I guess chili must still be a big deal in the area, but apparently these little chili places are being devoured by franchises. Kind of a shame.
4. NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER
Cincinnati, Ohio
7/10/2009
The National Underground Freedom Center was only built in 2004, so we were surprised something so modern was on the list. The centerpiece is an authentic slave pen that visitors can enter and examine. Uniquely for a museum piece, visitors are invited to touch the walls. It is a haunting exhibit. The rest of the museum is your standard display-case fare. A good museum.
7/10/2009
The National Underground Freedom Center was only built in 2004, so we were surprised something so modern was on the list. The centerpiece is an authentic slave pen that visitors can enter and examine. Uniquely for a museum piece, visitors are invited to touch the walls. It is a haunting exhibit. The rest of the museum is your standard display-case fare. A good museum.
3. SERPENT MOUND
Peebles, Ohio
7/10/2009
Next stop was the Serpent Mound, the largest effigy earthworks in the world. There’s a joke in my family about my uncle. He was a teacher too and he used to take his students on field trips to the zoo. But apparently he wasn’t one for lingering at an exhibit long enough for anyone to actually see what it. “Look at the monkey. Move on,” has become an expression in our family. The Serpent Mound is impressive, and definitely worth seeing. But ten minutes is all you need. Look at the monkey. Move on.
7/10/2009
Next stop was the Serpent Mound, the largest effigy earthworks in the world. There’s a joke in my family about my uncle. He was a teacher too and he used to take his students on field trips to the zoo. But apparently he wasn’t one for lingering at an exhibit long enough for anyone to actually see what it. “Look at the monkey. Move on,” has become an expression in our family. The Serpent Mound is impressive, and definitely worth seeing. But ten minutes is all you need. Look at the monkey. Move on.
2. HOCKING HILLS
Logan, Ohio
7/10/2009
We would be married almost a year before we began our first “test trip,” as I called it. A lot had happened in the last year, most importantly the arrival of our first child – Daniel – in May. So now we have a little buddy to join us on our trips. While planning this trip, we discovered that Jerry Seinfeld was appearing in Indianapolis, which would be on our route. During the planning we had been renting DVDs of Seinfeld and have become born-again fans, you could say, ten years after the show went off the air. However, we knew we wouldn’t have the money to take the full trip by that date, so we decided to split the trip into two parts so spread out the expense a little bit – and to ensure we could afford to see Seinfeld. My wife’s chants of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” while dancing about the apartment told me this was a good decision.
One of my most notorious flaws is my ability to get outrageously lost each and every time I attempt to go anywhere. I would regularly get lost driving home from work when I lived less than ten minutes away and had worked there for years. To this day I can’t navigate through my hometown neighborhood without assistance. When it comes to getting places I am useless – which we realized would be a big problem since getting to places is exactly what we are trying to do. So, we invested in a GPS system for the car. I’m in love with it. Actually, my affection for it disturbs Laura quite a bit.
The first test of my precious GPS was to get us to Hocking Hills State Park. We left home at 6:00 am and got to the Old Man’s Cave (the most famous landmark in Hocking Hills) around 7:30. All along the way I commented on how many minutes were left on our trip according to the GPS, and how many miles were left on our trip according to the GPS, and how many minutes I was able to shave off of our trip according to the GPS, and the different color-schemes the GPS uses to designate different geographical features, and the way the GPS displays little icons to indicate gas stations while I let out a little hoot every time we approached the gas station at the same moment the little gas station icon intersected the arrow thing that represents us. It was fun.
Hocking Hills was really beautiful. We got there early enough that there was no one else there at all. I strapped Daniel to my chest with a baby sling and Laura and I explored some of the trails. It really is an idyllic place, and it was just such a nice way to start our trip. I visited Hocking Hills as a Boy Scout and Laura had been there with her family some years ago. However, we decided at the beginning that trips made before we were married don’t count. The point of these trips is to experience these things together. Before we left, Laura fished an interesting rock out of a small stream. We jokingly referred to it as our “sacred stone.” It was at that point that we decided that we should collect some sort of trinket from each of the places we visit as a memento – the kookier the better. We left Hocking Hills around 10:00, just as more and more people were beginning to arrive. Hocking Hills truly is a majestic place and we were glad we got there early enough to have it all to ourselves for awhile.
7/10/2009
We would be married almost a year before we began our first “test trip,” as I called it. A lot had happened in the last year, most importantly the arrival of our first child – Daniel – in May. So now we have a little buddy to join us on our trips. While planning this trip, we discovered that Jerry Seinfeld was appearing in Indianapolis, which would be on our route. During the planning we had been renting DVDs of Seinfeld and have become born-again fans, you could say, ten years after the show went off the air. However, we knew we wouldn’t have the money to take the full trip by that date, so we decided to split the trip into two parts so spread out the expense a little bit – and to ensure we could afford to see Seinfeld. My wife’s chants of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” while dancing about the apartment told me this was a good decision.
One of my most notorious flaws is my ability to get outrageously lost each and every time I attempt to go anywhere. I would regularly get lost driving home from work when I lived less than ten minutes away and had worked there for years. To this day I can’t navigate through my hometown neighborhood without assistance. When it comes to getting places I am useless – which we realized would be a big problem since getting to places is exactly what we are trying to do. So, we invested in a GPS system for the car. I’m in love with it. Actually, my affection for it disturbs Laura quite a bit.
The first test of my precious GPS was to get us to Hocking Hills State Park. We left home at 6:00 am and got to the Old Man’s Cave (the most famous landmark in Hocking Hills) around 7:30. All along the way I commented on how many minutes were left on our trip according to the GPS, and how many miles were left on our trip according to the GPS, and how many minutes I was able to shave off of our trip according to the GPS, and the different color-schemes the GPS uses to designate different geographical features, and the way the GPS displays little icons to indicate gas stations while I let out a little hoot every time we approached the gas station at the same moment the little gas station icon intersected the arrow thing that represents us. It was fun.
Hocking Hills was really beautiful. We got there early enough that there was no one else there at all. I strapped Daniel to my chest with a baby sling and Laura and I explored some of the trails. It really is an idyllic place, and it was just such a nice way to start our trip. I visited Hocking Hills as a Boy Scout and Laura had been there with her family some years ago. However, we decided at the beginning that trips made before we were married don’t count. The point of these trips is to experience these things together. Before we left, Laura fished an interesting rock out of a small stream. We jokingly referred to it as our “sacred stone.” It was at that point that we decided that we should collect some sort of trinket from each of the places we visit as a memento – the kookier the better. We left Hocking Hills around 10:00, just as more and more people were beginning to arrive. Hocking Hills truly is a majestic place and we were glad we got there early enough to have it all to ourselves for awhile.
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