After failing to find a country that was easy to get into, gave up and decided to hit some favorites and spots missed on many past trips in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
Since the Before & After are so close, the additions are circled.
Saturday, September 5th, 2020
Last time in Columbus only had time for a quick look around. This small town 40 miles south of Indianapolis is a magnet for architecture buffs.
Spurred by Cummins CEO Irwin Miller in the 1940s, Columbus became a draw for renowned architects from the 40s to today. Took a 2 hour walking tour with a guide, and then drove around using the Visitor's Center excellent map.
Robert N. Stewart Bridge
J. Mueller International
1999
Bartholomew County Courthouse
Isaac Hodgson
1874
Cleo Rogers Memorial Library
I.M. Pei
1969
First Christian Church
Eliel Saarinen
1942
Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Home
1864
Lincoln School
Gunnar Birkerts
1967
St. Peter's Lutheran Church
Gunnar Birkerts
1988
Irwin Union Bank
Eliel Saarinen
1954
Inside is total retro!
Cummins Corporate Office Building
Kevin Roche
1983
Post Office
Kevin Roche
1970
Friendship Alley
Cork Marcheschi
1998
The Commons
Republic Newspaper Offices
Myron Goldsmith
1971
City Hall
Edward Charles Bassett
1981
There is a spot you can find in the courtyard that provides your reflection all the way around.
Northside Middle School
Harry Weese
1961
Northside Middle School Addition
Leers, Weinzapfel & Associates
1992
North Christian Church
Harry Weese
1965
First Baptist Church
Harry Weese
1965
Fire Station 4
Robert Venturi
1967
First Financial Bank
Deborah Berke
2006
Cummins Tech Center
Harry Weese
1968
Revisting Zaharakos.
Opened in 1900. Fantastic!
Before leaving Columbus, took some time to reflect on sacrifices at the Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial.
Heading south, Salem made it on my favorite towns list.
In the middle of farm country is the sprawling Joe Huber Farm complex.
Markets, gift shops, fruit and vegetable picking, event venues,
soda fountain, ice cream and restaurants.
Went with their famous Fried Chicken with slaw and green beans.
Undulating roads with views of America.
Corydon was the first capital of the Indiana Territory (1813-1816) and then the new state (1816-1825) until the capital was moved to Indianapolis.
First capital on the left, current courthouse back to the right.
Today it is charming and well preserved.
Another town to make it on the favorites list.
Sunday, September 6th, 2020
Travel Boy Rule #11, have breakfast at Waffle House once when in the south.
Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Love the military! And U.S.A.!
F-111F, F9F-5 Panther, F-4D Phantom
Horse Cave is a little rough. In a good way.
Been to a lot of caves, Hidden Cave is more unique; less refined and has a river running through it.
Descending into the darkness.
Old pump equipment from the 1800s.
Blurry, but you can see how close the river is to the walkway.
One of three rooms.
A rare area with some light. That is the river to the right.
Third and largest room, the lack of light made it hard to capture.
The world's longest underground suspension bridge. It was fun to cross it in the dark hearing the roar of the river below.
Spent a pleasant few hours navigating the undulating country roads.
Repeat visit to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace. The memorial was built from 1906 to 1911 to protect the log cabin.
There was always doubt if it was THE log cabin and ....it is not. Now it is the 'ceremonial birthplace'.
Abraham Lincoln took his first drinks from this spring!
The actual Lincoln family Bible from 1799 and a desk Thomas Lincoln built!
Banana pudding...since it's the south.
The last time I was in Hodgenville, The Lincoln Museum was closed. It's well done with displays like these depicting important events in the Great Emancipator's life.
Upstairs are a couple of galleries.
Back on the road.
Yep, second time doing the traditional self-timer pic in front of Kentucky's capital.
Handsome building.
Downtown Frankfort is well-preserved and inviting.
Pumpkin Pie. Oink!
Ever see the ark that was built?
That is in Williamstown in northcentral Kentucky.
It's a massive facility that draws a lot of tourists.
There are countless displays documenting the real ark's construction and animal housing.
It's quite impressive, more than I expected.
This facsimile represents a fraction of the actual animal cargo, but all of the 8 people.
There are rooms dedicated to the engineering of getting ventilation, fresh water, waste disposal and navigation
One door.
They are so meticulous they have plans of the ark and list of animals brought.
The grounds are very nicely landscaped and have a few restaurants.
Funnel cakes, petting zoo, ice cream, camel rides....
There is a decent sized zoo.
Skyline Chili, 3 way, it's a Cinci thing.
Every time driving over the Ohio into Cincinnati always fail to get a good pic.
Monday, September 7th, 2020
Spent some time driving through bad areas of Cinci (which is most of the city) to find my breakfast destination was closed today. And that was the last restaurant on the list for this city.
Since first visiting the National Museum Of the US Air Force in 2003 it has remained one of (if not the) my favorite aviation museums.
The air park at the back of the massive facility.
Let's head inside!
Early Flight Gallery
This is the actual fabric from the Wright Brothers first Flyer!
World War II Gallery
Could spend a day in the WWII Gallery.
They had a display about famous people who served in WWII.
Korean War Gallery
Southeast Asia Gallery
Southeast Asia Gallery
F-22 Raptor. Phenomenal plane!
Cold War Gallery
Cold War Gallery
Sure, I can fix that.
Cold War Gallery
B-2 Stealth Bomber. Secret for decades...imagine what is in the skies now.
Amazing.
More of the Cold War Gallery
SR-71 Blackbird. 2,193 miles an hour. The legendary spy first used (secretly) in 1966.
F-117A Nighthawk. Amazing.
Missle Gallery
R&D Gallery
Imagine going to space in one of these!
Yep, the Bell X-1!
More R&D
Global Reach Gallery
Air Force One tail number 26000 served from Kennedy to Clinton. In 1972 it became the backup when Air Force One tail number 27000was put into service. Tail number 27000 was retired in 2001 and is now a the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which I contributed to and have been on twice.
This is the plane that transported Kennedy back from Dallas as LBJ took the oath of office.
President Eisenhower's Columbine III, a Lockheed VC-121E.
One of the JetStars used by Vice-Presidents and cabinet members.
This was the lift used by FDR to hide his use of a wheelchair.
On a hill east of Dayton is the Wright Brothers Memorial. The pioneers worked in Dayton and, after Kitty Hawk, did most of their experimental flights in fields east of this hill.
The location of the Wright brothers home. It was moved by Henry Ford to his Greenfield Village (worth a visit) in Dearborn, Michigan in 1936. Orville was born here in 1871. Wilbur died here in 1912.
In that empty lot sat their first cycle shop. It was also moved to Greenfield Village. They even brought the dirt so it would be on Dayton soil.
As their repair and bicycle manufacturing business grew, the Wright brothers moved to this building a block away in 1895. This is not a nice area of town, so it is nice to see this street preserved. Seems even worse than my last visit.
The Heritage Center of Dayton Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship
NCR is headquartered in Dayton. (National Cash Register)
Carillon Historic Park is 65 acres featuring historic buildings moved, restored and geared to teach.
It starts with a schoolhouse.
Newcom Tavern was built in 1796 and charged 65 cents a night for a room.
1815 house and 1817 summer kitchen
1841 Greek Revival house
Corliss Engine Building, 1902 to 1948
Dayton car sales, 1930s print shop, 1924 Sunco
1894 Bowling Green Station serviced 14 trains a day.
Dayton Cyclery started making sewing machines in the 1800s and become Huffy in the 1970s.
1903 Detroit and Mackinacc passenger car. Travel in luxury!
1920 electric trolley
1949 City Transit Coach
B&O Caboose, 1923
Climbed the clock tower for the view.
Wright Brothers National Museum includes a 1972 reconstruction of that first cycle shop.
Here is where they serviced customers.
Where they repaired bikes and built their own brands of bikes.
An actual 1901 Van Cleve built by Wilbur and Orville.
And the back workshop where they experimented and then built the FIRST PLANE.
Wright Hall was built with input by Orville, who preferred the Colonial Williamsburg design.
It houses the most complete number of Wright brothers artifacts in the world.
That is THE camera used to take the picture of the first flight.
The actual Wright Brothers Flyer III. The first plane they were able to control. 60-85% of its parts are original and was rebuilt under the direction of Orville.
Few hours on the road. New Carlisle.
Piqua
Greenville, what a gem.
Ridgeville, Indiana
Hartford City. It is astounding how many small towns sport amazing town squares.
Ivanhoe's in Upland has 50 sundaes and 50 shakes. It took an hour to get my sundae.
Went with the Aloha- pineapple, banana, coconut and pecans.
Tuesday, September 8th, 2020
Unlike many rust belt cities, Fort Wayne's downtown is still active, attractive and inviting.
2003, 2012 and now 2020. Is there any better place to start a day than a diner's counter?
It's been about 2 decades wanting to return to the impressive Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. South of downtown Auburn, this museum is housed in the building that was the original headquarters of Auburn, who manufactured Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg automobiles.
The first floor was a showroom for visiting dealers.
This art Deco masterpiece was built 1929-1930.
It features an Italian terrazzo tile floor, plaster pillars and Philippine mahogany.
1927 Duesenberg Model X
1933 Auburn 8-105
1931 Duesenberg Model J Beverly Sedan
Their dashboards are works of art, just like the bodies.
1936 Cord 810
First front wheel drive car, and rightly considered one of the most beautifully styled cars ever produced.
1932 Cord V-12
1934 Duesenberg Model J Dual-Cowl Phaeton
1933 Auburn 8-105 Sedan, 1926 Duesenberg Model A Touring Car
1930 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan, $14,750 new
1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe
1927 Duesenberg Model X with fan and hat holders.
1929 Duesenberg Model J engine
420 cubic inches
265HP
8 cylinder
Had counterweights filled with mercury for balance
Most power engine of its day
Would automatically lubricate the chassis every 60-80 miles
Heading to the 2nd and 3rd floors.
The third floor Gallery of Excellence and Innovation.
1931 Cord L-29
1937 cord 812. Beautiful. And very cutting edge for its day with hidden headlamps, front wheel drive, no running boards and no upright radiator.
1938 Packard Twelve, $5,320 when new.
1930 Cord L-29
1935 Auburn 851, every car was tested to do 100MPH
Early Auburns Gallery, 1903-1924
Original design studio.
The Cars of Indiana
Gallery of Racers and Record-Setters
Advertising offices and Office of the President
Gallery of Auburn, Indiana Automobiles
Gallery of Special Interest Automobiles
I will return.
Nearby is the National Auto & Truck Museum housed in another original Auburn building.
This is where Auburns were serviced.
Just a few hundred thousand dollars sitting there....
That'll buff out.
This was the final assembly area for Auburns.
Now it is a mish-mash of eras and styles.
Want!
After the series ended, there were 19 General Lees left and 17 survive. This is the second I've seen.
The lower level is where they did prototype work, now it is home to an expansive truck collection.
Back on the road heading north to west.
You know you're in Amish country seeing many furniture stores, general stores and everything seems to be named 'Yoder'.
Shipshewana is big on tourists and the Amish angle.
Always have to get a Whoopie Pie from Amish bakeries.
Saved lunch for not touristy Middlebury.
Took a seat at the counter and eavesdropped on the locals.
Their slow roasted, hand-pulled pork.
Dad lived in Elkhart from 1977 to 1980. The best memories of childhood are in this town with Dad.
Welcome to Gary, Indiana.
Where I, obviously, got out unscathed.
These pictures aren't selective, drove a chunk of the town and it is ALL like this.
Roads are war zone like.
Neighborhoods have houses that may or may not be occupied.
Schools left to rot.
This is where the Jacksons grew up before fame.
