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Miscellaneous Ramblings, Part 2


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Once again, I'm running quite late, but this is par for the course for me:) And also once again, my photos are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob

in the Miscellaneous Ramblings folder.

 

Once I left Columbus my idea was to follow Ohio SR 304 to Portsmouth. Looking at a map I could imagine it as old US 23, but now I'm not so sure. The state road runs on the other side of the Scioto River and misses all the towns. Well, whether it's old 23 or not, it was a peaceful road.

 

My only photo stop was in Chilocothe. < Chilocothe 01-09>. Lots of neat old architecture like I have come to expect from midwest towns. I quickly learned that it was the original state capitol <Chilocothe 04, 05>. I snapped pictures right and left and then headed south, looking for a place for lunch.

 

Just below town, I found the South Bridge Diner, a place presumably named for a bridge crossing the Scioto River I has passed earlier. <South Bridge Diner 01-04> The interior was decorated with lots of replica signs, but I got the idea that the building itself had been around a while.

 

The rest of the drive to Maysville was pretty uneventful. I picked up US 52 and crossed the Ohio on the Simon Kenton Bridge and arrived at Kevin Redden's place.

 

Kevin told me about an ice cream place in Augusta, KY that he wanted to check out. Sadly, when we got there, it was out of business:( We wound up taking some more ghost sign pictures and eating at a nice Italian restaurant. <Augusta, KY 01-03>

 

Next day, we drove around Maysville, getting more pictures downtown...The refurbished opera house, more ghost signs, and a couple of new murals on the flood wall. <Maysville 01-06>

 

I had called Denny Gibson the night before and made arrangements to meet him in Ripley, Ohio. We had both been to the Rockin' Robin Soda Shop, but we finally went there together:) Kevin got a picture of the two of us, but for some reason I looked like I'd been sucking on a lemon, so I posted the picture of Kevin and Denny instead:) <Rockin' Robin's Soda Shop>

 

After lunch, the three of us drove to Augusta, crossing the river on the Augusta Ferry. There was a bit of traffic on the river, a big barge crossing in front of us. The ferry operator timed it so we wouldn't have to take evasive action:) <Augusta Ferry, River Traffic>

 

There was a small fall festival going on when we arrived, but there wasn't much there, so we just wandered around taking pictures of whatever looked interesting. I'll let my pictures do the talking here:) <Augusta 04-18>

 

When I left for home, Kevin came with me. We decided to spend a little time in Lexington, as I really didn't have time to stop and get pictures of downtown when I had done my DHE trip. But first, we stopped on the north side of town, heading west on Mercer Road from US 25, to find the Dixie Cup Factory and its groovy water tower:) <Lexington, KY 01>

 

On down US 25 through town then back to follow the northbound part of the Dixie where all the neat stuff is. First stop, Thoroughbred Park, a tribute to the majesty that is the race horse. Numerous bronze equine statues capture the grace and power of these mighty creatures. There are also a lot of plaques commemorating people who have contributed to make horse racing what it is today. <Lexington 02-07>

 

We parked near the old courthouse and wandered around for quite a while. We soon found out the courthouse was now a museum and tourism center. It was Sunday and the place was closed, but we took pictures of whatever took our fancy. The big surprise, IMHO, was a Uneeda Biscuit ghost sign. Googling brings up other such ghost signs, but it;s the first I've ever seen.< Lexington 08-15>

 

One final stop for gas in London, KY netted this picture of an old car up on top of a roof:) <London, KY>

 

While Kevin visited us, I took him over to Sequatchie Valley to see the coke ovens, driving down I-75, then west on TN SR 30 across Walden's Ridge and down US 127 to Dunlap. On the way, we dropped by the courthouse in Dayton where the famous Scopes "Monkey Trial" took place. <Rhea County Courthouse> Down in the basement is a museum that I didn't even know about, all about the notorious trial. I talked to the proprietor there and he said the main reason for holding the trial in Dayton was to create publicity. Dayton was in hard times and needed an economic boost. Scopes volunteered to be the guinea pig, although he was only a substitute teacher and never taught evolution in the classroom. He mentioned evolution to some students outside the school so he could say he *had* taught it. All a big setup:) <Dayton TN Courthouse 02-07>

 

When we got to the coke ovens, the #$@%&$ museum was closed again:( Their web page says to call to get museum hours. Maybe I'll have to try some weekend when they're having a bluegrass concert. Oh well...

 

We drove back up US 127 to Pikeville and had lunch at the Rockhouse Cafe. Kevin took a picture of Susan and me there:) <Rockhouse Cafe>

 

We continued north on US 127 until we got to Homestead. There we turned SE on TN SR 68 to Grassy Cove. Grassy Cove is much like a number of mountain coves in the area, with one big difference. All the streams drain underground, making it, at 8 miles X 3 miles, America's largest sinkhole. The sump has been traced with dye to the headwaters of the Sequatchie River. Given a few million years, erosion will make the cove part of Sequatchie Valley.

 

The cove is practically unspoiled, with scattered farmhouses and lots of open fields. May it ever so remain. <Grassy Cove 01-09>

 

Our final sortie with Keven was down to Etowah, TN for lunch at the Talk of the Town Eatery. Etowah is a town that, until recently, managed to sneak under my radar:) But thanks to a new railroad tour along the line toward the Copper Basin Region, the town is booming and putting on a pretty face. <Etowah, TN 01.>

 

The big attraction there is the old depot which now houses a museum and Chamber of Commerce.

<Etowah Depot 01-03> Etowah was always a railroad town and was a terminus for a line bringing copper (and later sulfuric acid) from the copper mines to the southeast. With the copper and acid played out, the line has been restored for tourist travel, the big feature being the "pigtail" curve up Bald Mountain <Etowah Depot 02>.

 

Now as for <Etowah Depot 04>, who's this character? Oh, just some hobo who'd been riding the rods and was hitting us up for a handout:)

 

But the main attraction for us was the Talk of the Town, a delightfully retro place to eat. Once again, I think I'll let my pictures do the talking:)

<Talk of the Town 01-12>

 

 

After lunch, we wandered around, getting a few final pictures. <Etowah, TN 02-05> We headed back home and Kevin caught a bus for Lexington the next day.

 

One final comment. The pictures from Grassy Cove and Etowah were taken on several different trips. I'm sure Denny will recognize the Christmas ornaments at the Talk of the Town since they were up when we got together there:)

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I do indeed remember that Christmas tree and a few other things as well. Grassy Cove, however, was entirely unknown to me and looks like a really cool area. Those tree lined roads are quite inviting.

 

Your comment on the Uneeda ghost sign brought a smile. I spotted one in New Orleans recently and couldn't recall ever seeing one before. I though it was just that I had been quite unobservant. Maybe not. Anyway, I tossed up a picture of my find here.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Once I left Columbus my idea was to follow Ohio SR 304 to Portsmouth. Looking at a map I could imagine it as old US 23, but now I'm not so sure. The state road runs on the other side of the Scioto River and misses all the towns. Well, whether it's old 23 or not, it was a peaceful road.

 

My only photo stop was in Chilocothe. < Chilocothe 01-09>. Lots of neat old architecture like I have come to expect from midwest towns. I quickly learned that it was the original state capitol <Chilocothe 04, 05>. I snapped pictures right and left and then headed south, looking for a place for lunch.

 

Just below town, I found the South Bridge Diner, a place presumably named for a bridge crossing the Scioto River I has passed earlier. <South Bridge Diner 01-04> The interior was decorated with lots of replica signs, but I got the idea that the building itself had been around a while.

 

Ohio-104 and US-23 have always been separate roads except for the stretch from Chillicothe to Waverly. Ohio-104 is on the west side of the Scioto River, while US-23 is east of the river except for the stretch from Chillicothe to Piketon.

 

Now that I have seen the photos, I can tell you that the South Bridge Diner in Chillicothe was built during the 1950's as a Frisch's Big Boy. It was probably built after US-23 was realigned, although it might well have been before the US-23 realignment since the stretch of Bridge Street where it is located was the original alignment of US-35.

 

The original alignment of US-23 was, from the south, Massieville Road to the present South Bridge Street to Cooks Hill Road (CR 602) to Paint Street to Riverside Street to North Bridge Street. Then in the 1950's the present alignment of Bridge Street south of Eastern Avenue was built, and US-23 followed the present Bridge Street, which was widened to 4 lanes at this time, all the way through Chillicothe.

 

US-35 entered Chillicothe from the east on Eastern Avenue, turned north onto Bridge Street, then west onto Main Street.

 

In the mid-1960's the US-23 and US-35 bypass was completed, providing a limited-access roadway that avoids downtown Chillicothe.

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