At a Halloween party in our 1960’s hippy costumes
Happy Roadtirement Halloween
Father of the modern tomato Alexander Livingston
Alexander W. Livingston (1821-1898), a Reynoldsburg, Ohio seedsman, in 1870 developed the first commercially successful variety of tomato. Known as “The Father of the modern tomato” his lovely house still stands and is part of a delightful park on what used to be the outskirts of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
Built in 1865, now on the National Register of Historic Places
Entrance to the house, which is open for tours
Vintage furnishings in the house
Information sign
The other side
Nice park and trails on the grounds.
This park is no doubt quite lovely in spring when the trees and flowers open up. There are some great old fashioned tire swings and even a teeter-totter for the kids to enjoy, and of course lots of picnic tables. The City of Reynoldsburg has made a great area for recreation for its citizens.
Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Reynoldsburg, Ohio
This beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral was constructed in 2006 after the local parish community had purchased 17 acres in Reynoldsburg, on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio in 2003.
The main entrance doors and triple domes
The Cathedral’s marquee
Mosaic over north door
Mosaic over south door
Mosaic over the main entrance doors
The history of the parishes is just fascinating, and somewhat hard to follow. Strongly recommend that if you are interested, go to the St. Mary website. Lots of history, lots of photos, and just lots of information. We enjoyed seeing this magnificent cathedral while visiting family.
16 bit bar and arcade in Dublin Ohio
We are here with family from Ohio and Seattle enjoying this neat arcade and bar.
The last rose
This will probably be the last rose of the season. Heavy frost and hard freezes are on the way.
Covid-19 lockdown: remembering March 2020
This is a post we published in March, 2020, after the Indiana Governor’s Executive order to shut down the state.
When the sound of a mower is relished
Our local NBC station showed a video on their noon news of the city of Indianapolis. The video was in black and white and showed scene after scene of the city with no people, cars, buses or any sign of life. Totally empty streets and parking lots made the shots look like they came right out of the last scene of the movie “On the Beach”, an apocalyptic movie from 1959.
Carry out only
Sher and I and our son were commenting on the video which led to the discussion of the quiet nature that has become our neighborhood. It seems as though most of the neighbors are paying attention to the Indiana declaration of “stay at home and work from home”. Very little traffic, even the guy with the extra loud Harley is not to be heard recently.
Then we heard someone starting up their lawn mower. Wow who would ever think that the usually obnoxious noise from a Briggs and Stratton engine would provide a twisted sense of normalcy to this COVID -19 pandemic abnormal situation. Thus the title of this post.
At times the pandemic lockdown feels like years ago, at times it seems like yesterday.
Honeysuckle flowers in May, berries in October
Flowering on May 18th
Berries on October 21st
Honeysuckle has both good and bad features, depending on the type of honeysuckle you have. We’ll be trimming this one back as it has spread considerably this year. Honeysuckles are known to take over an area.
The Lincoln Memorial Bridge over the Wabash River
One of two pylons on Indiana side of the bridge.
This bridge carries U.S. 50 Business across the Wabash River from Vincennes, Indiana to Lawrence County, Illinois. The east end of the bridge is in the George Rogers Clark National Historic Park. At this entrance to the bridge you will find two large pylons made of granite, each with a raised sculpture depicting a Native American Chief.
The bridge is what is called a deck arch design, and has two traffic lanes and wide pedestrian walks on each side of the roadway. It was opened to traffic in September, 1933, the same year that the George Rogers Clark Memorial was completed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the monument in 1936.
View from the George Rogers Clark Monument
Wabash River walk, Illinois is on the other side of the river
Parked after crossing the bridge
This was one of the attractions we enjoyed on our trip to Vincennes, Indiana in August of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. We had a spot at a nearby RV Park, and were able to maintain the then acceptable “social distance” and had masks available.
Chief Tecumseh statue
It is always fun when travelling to come across an interesting attraction. We found this striking likeness of the famous Chief Tecumseh near the Wabash River levee in Vincennes, Indiana. The statue is the creation of Peter “Wolf” Toth, a Hungarian artist, and is the most recent addition (the 74th) to the “The Trail of Whispering Giants” series of statues scattered across the country.
Abe Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois
The formal parlor in the Lincoln home
During our travels we have enjoyed some of the sights and historic attractions in Springfield, Illinois. The only US National Park in Illinois is the four block area that includes the home of Abraham Lincoln and his family. Lincoln only owned one house during his life, and it was this one in Springfield.
Today the home is completely restored including what is touted as original Lincoln family furniture and other items. You have to go on a guided tour of the Lincoln home. Tickets are free but you do need a ticket. The tickets are available at the information center. There were not a lot of people there today but there were a couple of bus loads of tourists. We did have to wait a couple of hours before our tour. On a real busy tourist day it might take a while to be able to take the tour.
The tour was quick, maybe a half hour at the most. I would have liked to really look at some of the furnishings of the house, but those NPS Rangers kept you moving, and by golly you better not even touch the walls or even the door jambs! I understand not wanting things worn out but to yell at a fellow who puts his hand on a painted wood door jamb? Oh well, it was still fun to see the Lincoln house.
A ‘classic’ view of the home
These parlor chairs are said to be Lincoln’s in this house. The NPS guide said they went into storage after Lincoln moved to DC. and were recovered.
Lincoln’s desk in his upstairs bedroom. Legend says he wrote his debates with Douglas at this desk.
Lincoln’s dresser with wash basin and pitcher and shaving gear.
When it is too cold to go to the outhouse…
The four block historic area around the Lincoln home on the left
There are lots of displays in the info center as well as a couple of short films. And of course the gift shop was packed with just about everything Lincoln you could imagine.
Roadtirement 