Category: Travel

The Mountain State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of West Virginia. A very short 14½-mile portion of I-70 passes through the middle of the northern panhandle of West Virginia, and when I drove that Interstate from Illinois to Maryland way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old – that was the last time I was in wild and wonderful West Virginia.

But that was not my first visit to West Virginia. About 6 or 7 years earlier when I was an early Boy Scout (age 11 or 12) our troop would go hiking and camping during the wintertime up along the Appalachian Trail – mostly in Maryland. (We lived in Lanham Maryland at the time – just outside of Washington D.C., and the Appalachian Trail was a little over 60 miles away from our town.)

We hiked much of the 41 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland – not all at once, but in lengths of about 10 to 20 miles over a couple of days spanning several different trips in the wintertime. Most of our trips were in the snow with subfreezing temperatures. We learned to hike properly (with our backpacks) and stay warm while doing so. And we learned how to setup a campsite with tents and start fires to cook and keep warm.

Once (maybe twice) on our trips we made it across the West Virginia state line along the trail at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It’s known as the “psychological halfway point” of the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail. Statistically it is actually 1,167 miles to the north-end of the trail in Maine – and 1,025 miles to the south-end of the trail in Georgia. Harpers Ferry is at West Virginia’s lowest point in elevation – just under 250 feet. It’s where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet at the eastern tip of the state.

I would love to visit Harpers Ferry again for the first time in nearly 50 years. I could spend several days there exploring it all and the surrounding countryside across the river in both Maryland and Virginia. It’s about 40 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport (#IAD).

Soon I’ll be visiting West Virginia again as part of my Ohio River cruise. 277 miles of the Ohio River forms the state’s entire western border with Ohio. The river itself is entirely in West Virginia. The north shoreline (historical low-water mark) is where Ohio’s land begins (or ends). All of the islands in the river, and all of the bridges that cross the river are part of West Virginia. Nearly half of my approximate 600-mile cruise will be in West Virginia even though we will never walk on land.

Maybe I’ll sing this while sailing the Ohio and admiring the West Virginia landscape:

♬ Country roads – take me home
To the place – I belong
West Virginia – mountain mama
Take me home – country roads ♬

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Keystone State” – Pennsylvania. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Harpers Ferry, Ohio, Ohio River, West Virginia

Blogging Driving Food Football Geography Holidays Movies Sports Travel

The Buckeye State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Ohio. My brother lived there on two separate occasions during the early-to-mid-2000s (Columbus area) and from 2013 to 2019 (Cincinnati area). My sister-in-law was born and raised there (Upper Sandusky area). My favorite canine nephew was born there in 2017 (Amish Country).

Just as with Indiana (which I wrote about last week) – my first visit to Ohio was a drive-through way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old. I had just graduated from Tech School at Chanute Air Force Base adjacent to Rantoul Illinois, and I was driving back to my teenage home in Fairfax County Virginia to visit my parents, brother, and cat. I drove I-70 225 miles from west to east across Ohio. (I may have taken I-270 around Columbus.)

I visited my brother often both times he lived in Ohio – flying in and out of Port Columbus International Airport (#CMH) and Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport (#CVG).

Sometime in 2003 or 2004 me and my brother went on a road-trip northeastward from Columbus. We visited the Pro Football Hall-Of-Fame in Canton; although, I don’t remember ever visiting it. My brother insists that we did, so he may be right. I do remember us driving to downtown Cleveland after that, and we saw a movie. We probably ate somewhere nice before or after the movie, but I don’t remember which movie it was or where we ate. (That was long before the arrival of the smart phone, so no pictures apparently exist of that road-trip.)

A year or two later we went to the Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati to watch the Reds get routed by the Astros 9-0. Ohio native Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher – a month shy of his 43RD birthday.

We visited Ohio Caverns up in the hills of western Ohio (about 12 miles from the highest point in the state). We went there a couple of times more than 10 years apart. That was a lot of fun. The first time I flew in to Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky in May 2014 – our very first stop was at the American Sign Museum. The next day we visited the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. 18 months later we visited nearby Dayton and the National Museum Of The United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

We visited downtown Cincinnati often and attended a few sports events (wrestling and hockey) and a music concert at the U.S. Bank Arena (now known as the Heritage Bank Center).

I loved visiting Ohio – more so in the warm summertime rather than the frigid wintertime. I was actually disappointed when my brother announced in 2019 that he and his family would move away (again) to the Dallas Texas area (again).

My last day in Ohio was the day after Thanksgiving of 2018 when my brother took me to the airport for my flight back home to Miami.

Soon I’ll be visiting Ohio again as part of my Ohio River cruise. On the third day of the cruise we’ll be docking in Cincinnati. I signed-up for a morning tour and an afternoon tour. Both are 3 hours each. The morning tour is at the Cincinnati Reds Hall-Of-Fame & Museum. The afternoon tour is mostly inside a luxury coach bus with various stops along the way. A couple of days later we’ll be docking upstream in Marietta Ohio. I’ll be visiting a historic house museum as part of a guided tour.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Mountain State” – West Virginia. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Columbus, Cincinnati, Ohio, Dayton, Cleveland, Canton

Blogging Driving Football Geography Holidays Sports Television Travel Wrestling

The Hoosier State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Indiana. I have lots of neighbors and friends who are either from Indiana, or still live there during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn months as “snowbirds” who return to Sebring each winter season.

My first visit to Indiana was a drive-through way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old. I had just graduated from Tech School at Chanute Air Force Base adjacent to Rantoul Illinois, and I was driving back to my teenage home in Fairfax County Virginia to visit my parents, brother, and cat. I entered Indiana via I-74, and I took that to the south leg of I-465. I picked-up I-70 on the east leg of the Indianapolis Beltway, and I took I-70 all the way into Maryland to I-270, I-495, and then home across the Potomac River.

When my brother and his family lived in the Cincinnati area from 2013 to 2019 – we drove through Indiana often whenever I visited. A 3-mile portion of I-275 around Cincinnati is in southeastern Indiana. Whenever my brother picked me up or took me to the airport in Northern Kentucky we went around the west side of I-275 – to include that 3-mile portion of Indiana.

But we also visited Indianapolis in consecutive Novembers. In 2014 me and my brother went to Lucas Oil Stadium to see our Washington Redskins (at the time) take on the Indianapolis Colts. The following year we went to Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now known as Gainbridge Fieldhouse) to see a Tuesday night taping of WWE Smackdown (broadcast on Thursday nights back then).

My last day in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky was the day after Thanksgiving of 2018 when my brother took me to the airport for my flight back home to Miami. (My brother and his family moved back to the Dallas Texas area in 2019.)

Soon I’ll be visiting Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky again as part of my Ohio River cruise. On the second day of the cruise we’ll be docking in Madison Indiana – a historic Ohio River town that was founded in 1809. I’ll be part of a small group taking a guided walking tour of the Madison Historic Landmark District.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Buckeye State” – Ohio. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Cincinnati, Indiana, Indianapolis, Kentucky, Ohio

Blogging Driving Food Geography Nature Shopping Travel

The Bluegrass State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Kentucky. My first visit to Kentucky occurred a few days before the 4TH Of July in 2005. My brother was living in Dublin Ohio (just outside of Columbus). I flew to Columbus, and then we embarked on a fun road-trip together that took us up to Windsor Ontario Canada (via Detroit). We then took I-75 all the way southward through Cincinnati and into Northern Kentucky. We spent the night at a hotel right next to the Ohio River off (and below) the Interstate. We drove around Covington and Newport and discovered the Newport On The Levee shopping, dining, and entertainment complex overlooking the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline. That was a fun first visit into Kentucky – 21 years ago.

My brother had no idea whatsoever that he would eventually live in the Cincinnati area, but that’s exactly what happened 8 years later in 2013. He moved from the Dallas Texas area to West Chester Township – a northern suburb of Cincinnati. My first trip to his new house was actually part of a 15-day / 13-state / 3,666-mile road-trip from November 16TH to 30TH of 2013. On the 6TH day I drove from the Wichita Falls Texas area to the Saint Louis Missouri area. The next day I drove I-270, I-255, I-55, I-70, I-465, I-74, I-275, and I-75 to my brother’s house. On the day after Thanksgiving (returning southward) I drove through the heart of Kentucky along I-75.

Fun Fact: My Saturn Ion 3 Sedan (my longest-running car ever) had a little over 100,000 miles on it when I started the road-trip. At the end of the road trip – a little over 104,000 miles.

I did one more road-trip to and from Southwestern Ohio through Kentucky while my brother lived there. That was in November 2017, and on my return trip southward I got to explore the Creation Museum along I-275, and Sanders Cafe & Museum – where Kentucky Fried Chicken started in Corbin.

Most of my trips to and from the Cincinnati area were through Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport (#CVG). I loved that airport.

My brother and his family moved back to the Dallas Texas area in 2019, and I must say that I miss visiting Ohio and Kentucky. I was actually planning my next road-trip to and from the Cincinnati area where I would explore more of Kentucky either on the way up or on the way down. I really wanted to check out Mammoth Cave National Park off I-65. I’m not ruling out a future trip to Kentucky to explore it as well as other areas in the state.

Soon I’ll be flying in to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (#SDF) for my Ohio River cruise. I’ll get to see a small portion of Louisville – the 7 miles from the airport to the hotel to the ship on the banks of the Ohio River. And then I’ll get to see Northern Kentucky for the first 4 days of the cruise on the starboard side of the ship.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Hoosier State” – Indiana. Let’s keep traveling together.