This happened a week ago yesterday and would have been a fine subject for last week’s post if that slot hadn’t already been taken. Last Tuesday was Election Day which means the preceding Sunday was filled by my annual screed on voting. I don’t see that as a bad thing since it spared me working in Sunday’s wee hours (one of which went missing) to get this post together. The opening picture is not of one of the meet’s scheduled attractions but of one of the locals who joined us in looking out over Hoover Reservation from the Oxbow Road Boat Ramp.

The Delaware County of the title is in central Ohio directly north of Columbus. The roadmeet differed from others I’ve attended in multiple ways. In my experience, roadmeets tend to focus on new or recent developments. This time, as the name implies, the focus was on older and often abandoned structures. Timing was another difference. Previous meets I’ve attended were in warm summer months. Autumn was intentionally selected for this meet in hopes of improved visibility through trees that had shed many of their leaves. The cooler weather many have also been a factor in turn-out. There were just five attendees with one of those dropping out early in response to a message from home. The Facebook event entry is here.

One other way this meet differed from others was in the amount of off-road travel involved. The pictured trail hadn’t always been off-road, however, and patches of old Sunbury Road pavement can be seen here and there through the leaves. Bridge abutments where the road once crossed Big Walnut Creek are at the end of the trail.

Not everything we looked over was actually abandoned. This covered bridge on Chambers Road is still in use. Originally constructed by E.S. Sherman in 1883, it has been rebuilt at least twice. It is the last of its kind still standing in Delaware County.

Not only was not everything abandoned, some things weren’t even in Delaware County. These two bridges are within about half a mile of each other on Morrow County Road 225. The pony truss bridge was built in 2000 across an unnamed tributary of Alum Creek. What makes it interesting is what it was built on top of. That stone arch has been there for a very long time. The through truss bridge hasn’t. Built in 1876, its original location was near the Morrow County Fairgrounds. It’s unknown when it was moved to its current location on Alum Creek. One possibility is during major rehabilitation in 1942.

We got back on message with a stop at these abandoned bridge abutments in Delaware County. Before the Delaware Reservoir flooded the area, the Water Hill covered bridge crossed Whetstone Creek here. That’s roadmeet organizer Sandor Gulyas standing on the nearside abutment. Not only did Sandor provide a detailed map and overview, he shared lots of additional information at every stop.

Technically, these stone bridge piers aren’t abandoned; They were never used. They were built in the 1850s as part of a proposed Springfield-Mt. Vernon-Pittsburg Railroad that was only partially completed. One more stop was planned but the sun was rapidly approaching the horizon and we decided not to even try. Recent rain had scared us away from a couple of other planned stops but we got to nearly all of them. And I really enjoyed each one.

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I spent the night in the Columbus area with thoughts of taking in a little music somewhere but found nothing that fit my desires. Breakfast was a different matter. Some online research turned up several places that sounded interesting and tasty, but it was Gena’s Restaurant that got my business. I once drove for days to reach the “Cinnamon Bun Centre of the Galactic Cluster” so I could surely drive a few miles to the “Home of the Greatest American Pecan Roll”.

Inside, some wall space is devoted to the pecan roll boast and to their “Three Pancake Challenge”. There are photos of those who have downed three one-pound pancakes in forty-five minutes along with a few who have downed four and fewer who have downed five. Downing the pictured pecan roll was no challenge at all, and I will not challenge its claim to being the “greatest”.