Michigan Bound, Day 2, Onward to Ohio

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

     When I took the first load of stuff out to the car, I could see fog in the distance.  My first thought was, so much for sunrise.  When I went out to get ice for the cooler, a hint of color was showing over the hillside...

     With some time in the morning, I did a search for hiking trails near Rocky Top.  Walden Ridge seemed like a good fit.  It wasn't too long, well marked and the views looked beautiful.  The problem would be getting there.  Multiple reviews mentioned the road out as narrow with a steep drop off.  One described it as "unexpectedly terrifying."  Yeah, I passed.  

    Instead, I simply drove a few miles up I-75 to Cove Lake State Park. There are plenty of trails throughout the park, some short and some as long as eleven miles.  I really didn't have that much time, so I chose the loop trail through the woods,  It's paved, mostly level and 1.6 miles around.  Not a bad way to start the day.

     

     The only tricky part is where the beavers have dammed one area of the lake and it partially flooded the trail.  

    As for the lake...

     I still had plenty of time before I had to go, so I simply went around the loop again.  Starting the day with an easy 3.2 miles just felt good.

     The second stop of the day was Lexington, Kentucky. I was meeting my friend Connie at a local chain restaurant called Ramsey's.  The first opened in 1989 with the plan to stick with fresh food and reasonable prices.  It caught on and there are now four locations in the Lexington area.

     Connie brought her friend Brenda and the three of us spend over two hours talking.  I would have loved to linger a bit more, but I still had three hours of driving ahead of me.  So, we said out good-byes and took a few pictures.  That's Brenda on the left and Connie in the middle.

     Of course any stop at the Kentucky/Ohio border wouldn't be complete without a visit to Riverside Park, adjacent to the John A. Roebling Bridge.  Roebling was the bridge's original engineer and designer.  He oversaw the first phase of construction starting in 1867.  His son Washington oversaw its completion.  

     Meanwhile, Roebling was trying to secure the contract to build what would become the Brooklyn Bridge.  He insisted on showing the New York bridge committee his bridges by boat.  When they reached Cincinnati and saw his latest work, he got the contract.

     In the park, there's also a statue of Captain Mary Greene.  She earned her captain's license in 1897 and spent fifty years running steamships for the Greeneline Steamship Company.  

     There's also a bench taken from one of the old steamships...

     The drive north from the state line to Toledo was a little over two hours.  Once passed Cincinnati, it was speed limit conditions the entire way and fairly light traffic.  As I drove along I-75, the sun was in and out of the clouds, making some nice light effects.  This was taken as I drive along at 70MPH, just pointing my camera at the window, shooting and hoping I'd get something.

     Eventually, I did make it to Toledo and just in time for sunset,

    My home for the night was the Miami Suites Inn. The crazy thing is, when I saw this place on Hotels.com, there were absolutely no reviews.   I checked on Tripadvisor.com. No reviews there, either. It turns out, this used to be a Days Inn.  When ownership changed, all the reviews went with it.  I did find some for when this was still Days Inn, and they were a mixed bag. Reviews seemed to circle around three out of five stars.

    The place is under renovation.  My room seemed fine, but the handles on the sliding glass door are missing.  With no lock, there's a metal pole to put in the door's track so it won't open.  Also, no hot breakfast since the kitchen is getting a makeover, too.  Decent place.  But, you'd never impress someone here.