A trip south! Well,
southern Ohio! I75 out of Toledo is now
3 lanes but the construction is not totally done and the amount of overloaded
semi trucks still rumble and roar down that road. St Rt 68 was our preferred choice and the well-groomed fields and
historic old towns were much more enjoyable!
H chose John Bryan State Park for our first nights stay.
John Bryan St Pk is one of the first state owned parks and
sits between Yellow Springs and Clifton on the Little Miami River Gorge. Ohio State Parks have no water hookups at
the individual sites and this state park has only latrines – no showers, no
flush toilets. However – the sites are
spacious and the campground is located on the crest of several rolling hills,
which made up for everything else! Yellow Springs is known for its liberal arts
college – Antioch College and its alumni Rod Sterling (Twilight Zone) and
Leonard Nimoy! 3 miles east of John
Bryan Park is historic Clifton and the still operating 1802 mill that bears its
name. The Clifton Gorge Mill sits ON the edge of a shallower portion of the
gorge. The Mill now has a restaurant
and gift shop. The Mill is hung with
millions of white lights that are lit each Christmas season. Next to the mill is a covered bridge, which
afforded a great place for pictures of the shallow gorge, waterfalls and water
wheel.
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| Caesar Creek St. Park |
I thought we were in Florida – the heat and humidity was
present and our “move down the road” the next morning was a lengthy 28 miles
from John Bryan St Park to Caesar Creek St Park! While northern Ohio is as flat as a pancake, the southern part of
this beautiful state is all rolling hills covered in magnificent woodlands,
limestone cliffs and meandering rivers – including the Little Miami River,
which has a earthen dam at the southern end of the lake. The Caesar Creek area was named for a black
slave captured by the Shawnee on a raid to the Ohio River. They adopted him and gave him the valley as
his hunting ground. The valley was
impounded in 1978 by the Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the flood control
of the Little Miami River watershed.
The 4,700 acre park was dedicated soon after.
Each day was full of exploring the different sites in the
park along with trips to nearby Lebanon, Dayton - even Cincinnati and Covington
Kentucky! In Lebanon – I finally got to
eat at the site of Ohio’s Oldest Inn!
“The Golden Lamb” was established in 1803 and in 1815 a two-story
Federal style brick building replaced the original log tavern. Our lunch was great but even greater was
knowing that the likes of Mark Twain, Dewitt Clinton, Charles Dickens, Wm Henry
Harrison and Ulysses S Grant also ate and slept there! Guests are encouraged to
explore the upper floors of the building and to look into the uniquely
furnished rooms with the name of the famous visitor who stayed there!
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| Carillon Park |
In Dayton, H was in his glory – reliving all the trips he
and his fellow NCR co workers made there in order to learn their life’s
trade! National Cash Register has now
moved to Atlanta Georgia and their old headquarters complex is now the
University of Dayton! The former
education and dorm campus is now the campus of a Christian school! Our first major stop on that day’s list of
places to revisit was one of Dayton’s best known landmarks - Carillon
Historical Park – directly across the street from the original HQ buildings and
easily seen from the I75 expressway nearby!
This 151 ft tall carillon with 57 bells was a gift of Colonel Edward
Deeds (past NCR Chairman & founder of the Delco Corp) and his wife Edith
who was inspired by carillon music she heard on a trip to Europe. Her carillon was completed in 1942 and its
beautiful music can be heard yet today.
Colonel Deeds opened the historical park with displays that focused on
Dayton’s transportation, industrial and inventive history. Our favorites were: the history of NCR and the collection of 90+
cash registers, the building that houses the history of the 1913 Great Flood
that destroyed most of Dayton and of course everything of the Wright
Brothers!
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| Cinci River Front Park |
Our jaunt to Cinci was on sometimes winding but always
scenic state roads so to avoid the always-hectic I75. We ended up on Rt 52 – right along the massive Ohio River and
right into a busy downtown! We were
surprised to see all the pedestrians who were heading towards the river – most
of whom where attired in the color RED!
We soon realized that there was a baseball game between the Cinci REDS
and the LA Dodgers at their waterfront stadium. (Cinci lost by one point!) Over just ONE of the many bridges that cross
the massive Ohio River to Covington, we found a good spot for a great view of
the impressive skyline of the expansive city we had just left!
Also, another sight that is in clear view of I75 is the old
German Mainstrasse Village and it’s stately red brick clock tower. There happened to be a 3-day festival going
on, so several blocks were closed to vehicle traffic but wide open to
pedestrians and to all the beer, food and other various vendors!
We came - We saw – We took pictures! Monday arrived – still hot and muggy with a promise of rain so we hitched up the “train” and headed north once more. Our next venture will be even farther north!
