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Summer like weather continued through Sunday and I felt morally obligated
to make use of it. The extra warm October days make open car road trips
enjoyable but they have also delayed the annual changing of the leaves
from green to red and gold. One of the roads that I was on today I had
driven last Saturday and had thought that full color was a week or two
away. Same call today.
I picked as the day's first target a bit of winding road I was introduced
to on a car club outing back in 2004. Getting there involved a bit of
expressway, some divided four lane state road, then a two lane U.S. route.
My breakfast stop was on OH-32 just a few miles before I turned south on
US-62. Note that here, just like in the big city shopping malls, cautious
drivers park on the outskirts to protect their cars. The first barn of the
day is on Sixty-Two.
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In Russelville I left US-62 for OH-125 but not before I tried turning the
door knob at Lee's Country Market - closed despite an OPEN sign in the
door. There wasn't anyone stirring at neighboring Skip's Garage yet,
either. Also in Russelville the 1823 Stayton Tannery and the 1850 Johnson
Carriage Factory sit facing each other across OH-125.
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I owe Dave Schwarberg an apology. I drove by his East Bend Twin Drive-In
last year and took it for a defunct has-been. That was in March, before
the season started, and the marquee was bare. But I've since learned that
far from being a has-been, the East Bend Twin is one of only five new
drive-in theaters built this century. There's a nice newspaper article on
the theater
here. Next summer I've got to work in an evening at
the East Bend Twin with some of Dave's pulled pork between the double
features.
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Just south of the drive-in, OH-125 makes the big bend for which,
presumedly, the theater is named. Continue straight and you are on OH-763,
one of the wiggliest dozen miles in Ohio. Again, the trees aren't yet
presenting full autumn colors - but they're close. OH-763 ends at OH-41
and, a couple of miles later, Forty-One ends at the river. That's
Maysville, Kentucky, on the opposite bank - Aberdeen, Ohio, on this side.
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A right turn in Aberdeen puts me on three U.S. routes and, although I
might not be able to tell what direction I'm headed in, I know it's
scenic. Between Aberdeen and Ripley, the scenery includes a couple of Mail
Pouch barns. The first is on the south side of the road; The second on the
north.
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I headed north on the current US-68. It is
actually a pretty drive, despite being divided four-lane, but I took no
pictures until I had swung through Georgetown on OH-125 and picked up
Old 68 southbound. I drove Old 68 last Saturday and the trees
seem little changed since then. The advertising barns are even a little
more faded here. POUCH appears as an entirely appropriate OUCH but the old
road does hold the only Rock City barn of the day.
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I stopped in Ripley for a short walkabout and some ice cream at Rockin'
Robin's and thought my trip essentially over. I headed east on Fifty-Two
for a leisurely riverside drive. But plans were interrupted by the sight
of a rather large boat tied up at Augusta. I stopped to take some cross
river pictures and ended up taking the ferry over to get a closer look.
This not only gave me a chance to check out the boat, it gives me an
opening for a tie-in with last Saturday's outing.
When I drove Old 68 last week, I was on my way to Rockin' Robin's to
meet Baby Boomer Bob and Kevin Redkin for lunch. We then all took the
ferry to Augusta for the slightly premature Changing of the Leaves
Festival. So here's a photo of BBB & K
on the ferry (while we were stopped mid-stream waiting for a barge to
pass) plus one of all three of us at Rockin'
Robin's.
The Belle of Cincinnati makes three trips per year to Augusta so catching
her here was definitely a bit of luck. As the last picture shows, it
wasn't just boaters and bikers taking advantage of the October sunshine.
From the blurry hood ornament I think it's a Jaguar but I'm ready to be
corrected.
|
|
Summer like weather continued through Sunday and I felt morally obligated
to make use of it. The extra warm October days make open car road trips
enjoyable but they have also delayed the annual changing of the leaves
from green to red and gold. One of the roads that I was on today I had
driven last Saturday and had thought that full color was a week or two
away. Same call today.
In Russelville I left US-62 for OH-125 but not before I tried turning the
door knob at Lee's Country Market - closed despite an OPEN sign in the
door. There wasn't anyone stirring at neighboring Skip's Garage yet,
either. Also in Russelville the 1823 Stayton Tannery and the 1850 Johnson
Carriage Factory sit facing each other across OH-125.
I owe Dave Schwarberg an apology. I drove by his East Bend Twin Drive-In
last year and took it for a defunct has-been. That was in March, before
the season started, and the marquee was bare. But I've since learned that
far from being a has-been, the East Bend Twin is one of only five new
drive-in theaters built this century. There's a nice newspaper article on
the theater
here. Next summer I've got to work in an evening at
the East Bend Twin with some of Dave's pulled pork between the double
features.
Just south of the drive-in, OH-125 makes the big bend for which,
presumedly, the theater is named. Continue straight and you are on OH-763,
one of the wiggliest dozen miles in Ohio. Again, the trees aren't yet
presenting full autumn colors - but they're close. OH-763 ends at OH-41
and, a couple of miles later, Forty-One ends at the river. That's
Maysville, Kentucky, on the opposite bank - Aberdeen, Ohio, on this side.
A right turn in Aberdeen puts me on three U.S. routes and, although I
might not be able to tell what direction I'm headed in, I know it's
scenic. Between Aberdeen and Ripley, the scenery includes a couple of Mail
Pouch barns. The first is on the south side of the road; The second on the
north.
I headed north on the current US-68. It is
actually a pretty drive, despite being divided four-lane, but I took no
pictures until I had swung through Georgetown on OH-125 and picked up
Old 68 southbound. I drove Old 68 last Saturday and the trees
seem little changed since then. The advertising barns are even a little
more faded here. POUCH appears as an entirely appropriate OUCH but the old
road does hold the only Rock City barn of the day.
I stopped in Ripley for a short walkabout and some ice cream at Rockin'
Robin's and thought my trip essentially over. I headed east on Fifty-Two
for a leisurely riverside drive. But plans were interrupted by the sight
of a rather large boat tied up at Augusta. I stopped to take some cross
river pictures and ended up taking the ferry over to get a closer look.
This not only gave me a chance to check out the boat, it gives me an
opening for a tie-in with last Saturday's outing.
