Day 1: August 4, 2007
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Columbus, OH Columbus, OH These photos are actually from Friday night after I drove over US-36 from Greenville. I've driven by what Frank Brusca calls the "Best neon sign on Route 40!" several times but never at night and I've never stayed at the establishment it marks. Now I've done both. The neon speaks for itself and there are some interior motel views here. It's a good motel. Clean and reasonably priced but maybe not for the Marriott crowd. I really appreciated the next door business. I didn't meet Brian or Teresa but I did have a couple of $2 Shiner Bocks. The motel and the Keg Room are west of downtown Columbus just inside the I-270 circle.
Dublin, OH Dublin, OH Dublin, OH Dublin, OH Dublin, OH I knew of the giant corn but Roadside America helped me find it and turned me onto the Chief Leatherlips monument. There will be more from them before the day is over. Both the corn and the chief are in Dublin near the I-270 loop. Those are Osage Orange trees like farmers used to use as natural fences. They're part of the corn display. The corn itself is a tribute to hybridization and to the fact that the area was home to lots of real corn just a few decades ago.

Leatherlips got his name because he never broke his word. (That doesn't match any of my guesses.) At the rear of the monument, some repairs were made with concrete back in 1990 and Elmick, Boggess, and Krugh managed to become one with Leatherlips. Probably a story behind those names, too.

There are two Ohio Byways on today's agenda. The first is the Olentangy Heritage Corridor Byway which runs north from Exit 22 of I-270 (although that's not how I got there). At about ten miles, it is the state's shortest designated byway. It's a pleasant but not a spectacular drive.
Famous Jack's Diner, OH Famous Jack's Diner, OH From the end of the Byway at US-23, I continued north towards Marion. I was looking for breakfast but knew I would be going through Waldo and that an early bologna sandwich lunch was a possible alternative. The decision was made when I spotted Famous Jack's Diner at the south edge of Delaware. It's not a classic - only 6 or 7 years old - but it's got the right look and feel. It has been at this location for about three years and Tasha has been on board for most of that time. Long enough to go through two owners; Neither named Jack. Apparently there was a Jack involved with the diner at its previous site in Columbus's German Village but no one knew if he was famous.
I got off of US-23 in order to go through Waldo even though my hunger was just a memory. A tour bus of State Fair goers (Merle Haggard tonight!) had stopped for lunch and the G & R was packed. Everyone was chomping on a "World Famous Bologna Sandwich" and the bartender told me it would be at least twenty minutes before I could have one. Even though I was obviously tempted enough to ask, my recent breakfast and the wait time settled that. And I noticed they had Stroh's, too. I've had the G & R's thick-sliced spicy bologna sandwich before and spent much of the afternoon thinking of the meal I passed up. Stroh's & bologna. Now that's good eatin'!
I left Waldo on OH-98 on the way to another Roadside America attraction and found this little station right at the corner where I turned off. I recall seeing it before. Probably on the way to get a bologna sandwich.
Here is something I definitely wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for that wonderful Roadside America bunch. It's the grave of John Grimm who was killed by a falling tree on this spot in 1838. Someone has recarved the faded inscription in the tombstone and erected protective stone slabs around the grave. Neither of these renovations was very recent.
Harding Memorial and Home, Marion, OH Harding Memorial and Home, Marion, OH Harding Memorial and Home, Marion, OH Harding Memorial and Home, Marion, OH Harding Memorial and Home, Marion, OH At the edge of Marion, there are a pair of graves by the road and someone has erected protective stone around them, too. Warren G Harding was from Marion and this is his tomb. In town, his house is open for tours (but no photos) and you can stand on the porch where Harding often spoke to crowds of 10,000 to 15,000.

The white house is a Sears home built in 1920 to serve reporters covering the election. The wheeled structure next to it wasn't there in Harding's day. It's a portable voting "booth". Harding's famous dog, Laddie Boy, is buried in Boston but his collar is here.

Heritage Hall, Marion, OH Heritage Hall, Marion, OH Heritage Hall, Marion, OH Heritage Hall, Marion, OH Marion's other claim to fame is the Popcorn Museum inside Heritage Hall. The popcorn museum is the biggest single section of the museum but there's plenty of space devoted to other aspects of local history including, of course, President Harding.
Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH I came down OH-4 through Marysville to the start of the byway around which today was supposed to be organized: The Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway. It's just twenty-seven miles long and a darned nice drive. It's loaded with covered bridges. A couple are brand new (2006) and one has been relocated to serve as part of a hiking trail but others are original and in the original locations. The straight down the road shot is just to show that tall corn can border a road almost as well as a stand of trees.
Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Faithful readers may remember this sign in Milford Center from a May outing when I said I might return to check out the neon. I didn't realize that I'd be here today but I instantly recognized the sign and was delighted to see it in operation. Every tube is working. The little building, however, was a bit of a disappointment. I guess I didn't read the fine print and was expecting to find Union County's First Courthouse. I found a reproduction of Union County's First Courthouse.

Metal supports underneath this bridge are partly responsible for it still being in service. Trucks and the timid can take a cement bypass which is where I was when I took the picture of the supports. After I had crossed the bridge.

Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH I enjoy nature preserves but they're not always very exciting so I almost skipped this one on a spur of the Byway. I'm glad I didn't. The half-acre plot has been a cemetery since 1814 and, unlike all of the surrounding ground, has never been plowed. It has become a refuge for some of the native prairie plants which are being allowed to grow freely. The two oldest stones read 1814; The newest, 1892.
Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH Big Darby Plains Scenic Byway, OH The only bridge I saw with an arch and an early metal bridge. I walked all around the intersection trying to get a wire free shot of the clock in Plain City and never quite made it. Getting the clock face clear was about the best I could do.
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