For the end of summer this year, Toni wanted to get away for a few days. She scheduled some time off from her job and booked a room in our favorite hotel in Celina. The West Bank Inn was booked solid that weekend, so we regretfully accepted that we couldn’t stay there for the three nights of our getaway.
But, you see, we have spent so much time there that we enjoy the status of regulars. So the management took pity on us and shoehorned us into a room for two nights and then another room for the third. We took the deal.
We had a further request which they managed to fulfill. The Inn doesn’t have elevators and we don’t travel light. We requested that, if they could, a room on the ground floor. Not ordinarily a problem. Still a nice porch with a view of Grand Lake, with the added bonus of being able to trundle our voluminous baggage straight in from the parking lot.
When we checked in, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the Inn’s management had been able to get us into a ground floor room for all three nights. Bless them.
As usual, we lollygagged our way up from Cincinnati, avoiding the Interstate and traveling “back” roads — if a Federal route qualifies as a back road. I drove US 127 up through Hamilton, Camden, Eaton, Greenville, et al.
Actually, no. Toni had a pickup of an item in Miamisburg from a Facebook group. I was thinking of the part of that town that was next to 127 in Montgomery County. I was so very wrong. The GPS navigator had wanted us to go up I-75, which I abstained from, and forced the issue to take 127. Well, getting to the address in Miamisburg was a bit of an adventure, driven by that choice. But we got there and then discovered how very close Camden is to Miamisburg. (Big surprise.) We then picked up 127 in Camden and continued on our merry way still arriving a bit before check-in time at 3:00 PM. We went over to Behm’s Landing to have lunch and shoot a “welcome back” shot of their lighthouse on my cell phone camera.
I keep forgetting to ask who the saint is out on that point.
So. We ate lunch, then went over to Cottonwood Road In Montezuma on the south side of the lake to check out the soft shelled turtles, who weren’t at home that day. Then we went to the Inn and checked in, loading all our stuff into the room. And took a nap.
That evening, we went for dinner at CJ’s High Marks in Celina and then over to the East Bank park in St. Marys for the sunset.
This willow is in the East Bank park in St. Marys (well, Villa Nova). It’s famous. Everybody who is in the least familiar with the park knows it. It’s THE willow. To catch it in the golden light of sunset is a treat.
That was Thursday. On Friday, we resolved to wander around eastern Indiana and see what we could find.
Friday dawned clear-ish. The shot of the geese on the lake above was taken then.
But, by the time we got out and about and headed for breakfast, the lake was fogged in. This tree is another famous one. It stands on the lake shore by a bay in Celina you can see (and photograph) it out the windows of The Bay restaurant (formerly Pullman Bay) at Market Street and Lakeshore Drive.
As you can see, it was foggy that morning. We had breakfast there then headed west out State Route 29 toward Indiana.
We had not settled on specific destinations or waypoints, though there was a notion of heading toward Lake Mississinnewa. In the end (or even the middle, we didn’t get much farther than Jay County. We ended up wandering around places we’d been, still finding new sights.
We operate by a philosophy: The stated aim (for example, all the covered bridges in a given county) doesn’t really matter. No matter where we go, we’ll find something to shoot pictures of. It works pretty well for us.
As one travels out 29, one goes through western Ohio farm country. At this time of year, some crops are already harvested and there are a lot of bulk carriers around full of corn and other stuff. But all-in-all, it was pretty quiet with still signs of activity here-and-there. Across the line in Indiana, the first road encountered is US27, just a tiny bit north of the town of Bryant. We continued into Indiana on State Road 18, headed for Indiana 1.
The Rebecca Rankin Round Barn in Bryant (Jay County) alongside Route 18. This barn is pretty famous. Even has a Wikipedia article. (q.v.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Rankin_Round_Barn
We got to Route 1 and headed south. Hit Pennville at 10:15. As is my tradition in old towns: the Odd Fellows hall.
Just south, between Pennville and Redkey, we encountered an old friend, discussed in an earlier post about this trip.
After this brief reunion, we headed south again to Redkey. Redkey is pretty famous — is even on the National Register. We know it for the multiplicity of choice ghost signs. In no particular order.
Somehow, I missed shooting any of the Gold Medal Flour ghosts this trip. Sorry.
Once we’d seen our fill of Redkey, we headed up to sr67 and westward to Albany.
On the way to which, we spotted this. I stopped to shoot the ruin, then noticed that the top of the silo was crenellated. Toni had not encountered the term before and had to look it up.
Every once in a while, I am reminded that one of my missions in life is to shoot architectural detail. Mostly when I see something and am not distracted by irrelevancies, such as driving safely.
I found this roundel atop the capital intriguing. Mostly because it’s asymmetrical, which is unusual to me.
After a little more wandering, we headed back to the Inn for a nap. And that was our Friday.
On Saturday, aware that we’d be driving home the next day, we opted to stick close to the lake and set a destination (to start) of New Knoxville, Ohio, a small city in Auglaize County.
On the way into town, Toni spotted this gate (and the fence it was a part of), and we paused across the road (a busy state highway) to shoot it.
And, once again, following our usual practice of wandering while following our noses, we wandered to Minster and roundabout Auglaize County and points south.
And that was our early Labor Day weekend wander. You can click any image to see the whole thing at size on your screen. If you wish, you may leave a comment, though I do ask you register to do so. Thank you. Enjoy,