O-O-O-O-hi-o

One more step and Jean would have
been in the water - it has 98% clarity
so quite deceiving

We’re ready for another cave.  This time we’ve visited Seneca Cavern in Bellevue, Ohio.  A bit different from other caves we’ve visited in that it’s been formed by breakdown where a soft layer of gypsum has dissolved in water over time and the heavier limestone & dolostone eventually collapsed into the void.  There aren’t the formations we’ve seen in other caves but we’ve seen some starting.  One section of the cave has some stalactites and drapery forming.  They may not look impressive now at not even 1cm long but give it a 10,000 years or more.

The water table at the moment is at their 6^th level.  Usually the cave is

Sue points out a little outcrop
that has many names
- not one of them is polite

open to Level 7.  At times of drought other levels can be accessed with a 12^th level discovered during an extreme drought.  Twice, during extreme flooding, the entire cave system has been underwater.  Yep, we were ready for another cave.

The fountain is real - the
rest is paint

Travelled through the town of Bucyrus on our way to Mansfield.  There is a large mural on one of the walls that has the reputation of being a bird killer.  Apparently it is so realistic they fly into it.  What do you think?

Mansfield is home to the Ohio State Reformatory aka Mansfield

Ohio State Reformatory in
Mansfield

Reformatory aka Shawshank Prison.  The architecture of this place is quite stunning – done in a mixture of styles – Gothic, Romanesque

6 floors of misery - and
there are 2 wings of this

and Queen Anne.  A lot of movies and television programmes are filmed here, the most memorable for me being the Shawshank Redemption.  Throughout the prison are stills and some of the props from the movie.  Will have to watch the movie again I feel, from a different angle. 

Remember this room from the movie Shawshank Redemption?



Jean finds a friend at the
Topiary Garden

From Mansfield we headed south to Columbus.  The RV park we stayed at was east of the city.  Unbelievably quiet.  Often RV parks are situated not too far from the Interstate and other busy roads so to get one without traffic noise was sheer bliss.  We drove in an around Columbus finding some of their offbeat attractions.  One of the more interesting was the Topiary Garden.  It’s laid out in the same way as Georges Seurat’s painting of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Ile de la Grande Jatte”.  Very well done we thought. 

A Sunday Afternoon etc Topiary Garden

We included a stop at the Krema Nut Company where we sampled one of their hot & spicy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with a buckeye milkshake.  It was so filling it made do for lunch.  They also sell a large range of nuts and other assorted nut products.  We didn’t leave empty handed. 

No purchases were made from the rear shelf

This one has grown arms

On the outskirts of Columbus at Dublin we found a field of genetically modified corn.  Not so sure about these although I like that they’re already peeled and that none of the silky strands are still attached.  Now, that would take flossing to a new level. 

The Watch House in Dublin

Dublin has quite a bit of outdoor art and we also found the Watch House.  It’s an interesting little building made of copper, brass and stucco and is on top of an earthen mound.  The roof has some interesting cut outs in it.  What does it all mean?  Whatever you want probably.

One of the roof cut outs on the Watch House

Making our way south to Cincinnati we called in at Springfield.  Not a

Hartman's Rock Garden

Simpson in sight so we visited Hartman’s Rock Garden instead.  This was started by Ben Hartman during the Depression when he was laid off from work and carried on by his wife Mary after his death.  Some interesting pieces there but definitely under the folk art category.

Called in at Jungle Jim’s International Market on the outskirts of Cincinnati.  From very small beginnings it’s grown to a huge complex with a large range of products from all over the world.  There’s also a lot of entertainment going on while you shop, from theatrical static displays to an ape singing Elvis.  The original outdoor stall fits in one small corner of the Market.

The English section is guarded by Robin Hood and Little John

Fire Service on standby at the hot sauce stand

Managed to get one of the three
locals sitting out front to smile
(can imagine what the other 2
were thinking about tourists)

Spent a day cruising in and around Cincinnati.  Took a scenic drive down to Rabbit Hash.  Rabbit Hash is one of the last remaining settlements of its type on the banks of Ohio.  Just a handful of buildings make up the “town”, all dating from the 1800’s.  Continuing our scenic drive we ended up at Big Bone Lick State

The lake we walked around at
Big Bone Lick State Park

Park.  Now before your inner 14 year old boys starts grinning, it was named for the large animals

Jean on the round the
lake trail

(bison, stag moose and mastodons) that came to drink from the springs and lick the rocks for salt and other minerals.  Many got bogged down in the swampy springs and died in situ leaving their bones behind for future generations.  History lesson aside, there is a lovely lake there so we went for a hike around it.  Clearly this track isn’t used very often as quite wild and overgrown for a good part of it.  Good fun.

Bog diorama action

Monte Casino Chapel

We then visited the Monte Casino Chapel, a tiny church on the edge of Thomas More Park before heading firstly into Cincinnati itself to see the Beehive house and then to Chateau Laroche, a

Beehive House

Norman-styled castle on the outskirts of Cincinnati.  The Beehive house was built over 10 years out of wood, coloured glass, shell and ceramics.  Love the quirky design.  Chateau Laroche was started in 1929 by

Close up of the roof
and chimney of
the Beehive House

Harry Andrews.  He took a Sunday School class and used to take some of the kids camping.  They called themselves the Knights of the Golden Trail and his reckoning was that knights 

Chateau Laroche in Loveland

needed a castle.  So he built one for the kids.  He was still working on it when he died in 1981 at age 91.  He left the castle to his knights who have set it up as a museum and maintain it on a voluntary basis.

It even comes with a dungeon ...

... complete with prisoner

When we left Cincinnati we headed east towards West Virginia.  Getting there was entertaining (for us).  We started in Ohio, quickly crossed into Indiana, drove a few miles in Kentucky then back to Ohio.  After stopping for lunch in Portsmouth, Ohio

One of the many murals along the half mile-long, 20' high floodwall at Portsmouth

it was back into Kentucky for a few miles before returning to Ohio and finally crossing into West Virginia.  Our first stop in West Virginia was at Lesage where we stopped at Hillbilly Hotdogs for … a hotdog of course.  Parking was a bit of an issue as, being a Saturday, a multitude of motorbike riders were out on their weekend jaunt and they all chose to stop at Hillbilly Hotdogs at the same time we did.  Made for some interesting people watching.

Hillbilly Hotdogs!  Yee Haw!

 

We both signed out names on the bus - that's our RV over yonder