2021-03-26: Day 4 of Turning a 1400 Mile Road Trip into a 3404 Mile Adventure! From Ohio into Indiana.

So today was Day 4 of our adventurous road trip where we turned a simple 1400 mile drive from NC to TX into a 12 day 3404 mile sightseeing tour! On this fourth day we finished traveling through Ohio and into Indiana, continuing to pick up new geocaching counties and finding more remnants of the old National Road. So come ride along with us as I share our geocaching adventures with you.

Waking up in Columbus, Ohio this morning, our first stop was for some Starbucks coffee. Well, Candy got a Starbucks coffee. I got the geocache in the parking lot (GC25QYX). Then we drove a few blocks away to a Dunkin Donuts where I then got a coffee and donuts for myself as well as a muffin for Candy.

Continuing our westbound roadtrip and following the Historic National Road (now US-40), we pulled into the Sunset Cemetery in Franklin County for several geocaches hidden here (GC77D86, GC4QFG8, GC54E7E, GC4ER7X). All three geocaches had a lot of favorite points awarded to them so we just had to stop by and find them. A nice Veterans Memorial was on display. But Jack's Cache was by far the favorite and even posted both a photo and video of it below. Be sure to have your sound turned up when playing the video!

(Turn Sound ON With Video!)

One of the advantages of driving the backroads on a roadtrip are the unexpected gems that get to be discovered along the way! Passing through the small Village of Lafayette in Madison County, Ohio, what first got me to stop was spotting this tour of Jeep history somebody had displayed on this fence. It was a perfect photo opp for the Geo Jeep Travel Bug!

Then taking a closer look at the old buildings along this stretch of the historical highway. This first one here I can't find much information on it. The plaque above the front entrance says "Deer Creek Tp, Sub-Dist No 1, 1906." I'm thinking it was an early school that has long been closed. One of the rear buildings has B. S. A. on it and can only assume that at some time in its historical past that the Boy Scouts of America had rented the building. If any of you can provide further details, please use the comment box below. It would be greatly appreciated.

This other building across the street is on the National Register of Historical Places. From the historical marker: "The Red Brick Tavern is a classic roadside inn and tavern from the heyday of the National Road. Constructed between 1836 and 1837, it was in operation when the road was completed past its front door. Over the years, the Red Brick Tavern was a popular place for travelers along the Historic National Road in Ohio. The Tavern hosted six presidents of the United States; John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachery Taylor, and Warren G. Harding."

Running north and south along the west side of Lafayette is Deer Creek. To claim a geocache in Madison County we went to the Deer Creek Cemetery (GC1ZDYX) which is next to the creek. While some of my favorite geocaches are cemetery caches, I was more interested in the geocache next to the cemetery.

Crossing the creek about a 1000 feet south of the current alignment of the National Road / US-40, spans the remnants of an early railroad bridge This Interurban bridge was part of the railway that was part of the Springfield London Columbus route. This railway was run by the Columbus London & Springfield Railway from 1902-1939. The Interurbans provided a quick and cheap alternative to regular railroad for transporting people. As for the geocache, well I couldn't find it. Along with many others. It has since been archived.

The next county over is Clark County. It's also where my next two geocaches are located (GCZEFX, GCRDQC). In 1841, Ezra Baker gave the township land to the northeast edge of Enon for a cemetery. Land was added to the Enon Cemetery in 1884, in 1906, and again in 1978. There are earlier burials than 1841, but these were moved from family plots. Three Revolutionary soldiers, two War of 1812 soldiers, many from the Civil War, plus soldiers of more recent wars, are buried in the cemetery. There is a Soldier’s Monument, bearing the names of 31 local men who died during the Civil War, but not necessarily brought home for burial.

Continuing westbound a few miles and dropping down into Greene County, we make a stop for a quick geocache in the corner of a parking lot to claim the county (GC104NY).

After Greene was Montgomery County and the next three geocaches. The first one was located at the Polk Grove Cemetery (GC3W2YG). The cemetery is located next to the Polk Grove United Church of Christ. Since I didn't have time to look around the cemetery, I'll just leave you with this little tidbit. What's the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard? A graveyard is what they used to call a cemetery located on church grounds.

The second geocache was another location along the historic National Road. Patty's Bridge (GC196PD), located in Englewood Metro Park, is named after the James Patty family who owned a 160-acre farm in Butler Township. The Patty's brick farmhouse, torn down in about 1975, was located on the high ground northeast of the bridge. The original stone abutments for the bridge are still in place and demonstrate the skill of the workman building the highway. The National Road was America's first interstate highway.

Thomas Jefferson was president when construction of the road began in 1807. It started in Cumberland, MD and reached this part of Ohio in about 1838. The original route of the National Road took it due west of Patty's Bridge and into Harrisburg (now Englewood) Ohio. After Englewood Dam was completed in 1922, the National Road (which later became U. S. Route 40) was rerouted to the south and over the dam. By 1840, the National Road was completed to Vandalia, IL and then later to St. Louis, MO. Today this road spans the entire United States from Cumberland, MD to San Francisco, CA.

We stopped for one more geocache in Montgomery County. It was for a tasty treat at the Esther Price Candies chocolate factory (GC44BKB). It was an expensive geocache. Yep, we bought about $60 worth of chocolates by the time we left!

 

Our final county geocache for Ohio was a quick roadside stop in Preble County (GC2PMGT).

Crossing over into Indiana, the first county is Wayne County. And for our next geocache we stopped at the Old National Road Welcome Center (GC1WJPK). The Indiana portion was built between 1829 and 1834, linking the eastern seashore with the western interior. The automobile revived The National Road in the 1920's. As cars and trucks took to the road, the federal government established a nationwide network of paved, all-weather highways.

The Old National Road was one of the first routes designated under the new federal highway numbering system in 1926, US Route 40, a transcontinental highway. Once again, the new road gave way to new opportunities. Like the blacksmith shops and taverns of the past, gas station, diners, and motels lead the way to a new era of prosperity. Until the 1970's, with the completion of Interstate 70, US-40 was one of the country's primary east-west routes.

Next door over in Henry County, my geocaching county stop was at the New Lisbon Cemetery (GC8RFP1). After finding the geocache, just a quick glance around and a photo before continuing down the road.

Wanting to make up time and get to Indianapolis before it gets too late, I hop onto Interstate 70. The next county is Hancock County. We stopped for a quick westbound rest area geocache (GCPTZV).

We finally pulled into Indianapolis and I head to the Indianapolis Speedway. But it was too late. The Speedway was closing. From there we drove to the south side of the city to the Holy Cross and St Joseph Cemetery. I was here once before way back in 2007. I was once an over-the-road truck driver. The trucking company I worked for had a terminal several blocks away. While I was there getting the truck serviced, I saw online that there were some famous interments in this cemetery and walked down to see them.

Now they have some much needed upgraded headstones to replace the neglected and broken previous headstones. And a new historical marker which reads: "There are few better known names in automotive circles world wide than Chevrolet. Millions drive the Internationally respected cars, but few know that the company and its revered name originated with three brothers, Louis, Gaston and Arthur Chevrolet. Of Swiss heritage, their story is one that reflects the very foundation of American society. Louis migrated to America at the turn of the 20th century, and after earning enough money, sent for his brothers.

"The brothers immersed themselves in automotive technology as designers, mechanics, and racing drivers. All three raced multiple times in the famed Indianapolis 500, with Gaston winning the 1920 classic. Capitalizing on their huge popularity, Louis founded the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911. And, despite leaving the firm in 1916, the automotive giant retains the name."

After Gaston won the 1920 Indianapolis 500, he died later that year in a racing accident. Louis died of a heart attack in 1941. Arthur retired in 1942 to Slidell, Louisiana where after suffering from depression, he committed suicide in 1946.

To get credit for Marion County, we went to Concordia Cemetery just a block away. There we found two geocaches to complete the spot on the map (GC2B3N9, GC2B45F).

That was it for Day #4. We drove up to Crawfordsville in Montgomery County. That's the next county we need and the next location of our geocaches. So we found a place to stay there for the night. Tomorrow we'll finish up Indiana and start into Illinois. I look forward to seeing you back again.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2020-03-29: Roadtrip Day 3: Driving Through Mississippi and Alabama on the way to Georgia

Welcome back to day #3 of our east coast roadtrip from Texas to Georgia. For today we travelled through Mississippi and Alabama. We gotta long day ahead with a lot of stops, history, cemeteries, counties, and geocaches. So let's get rolling... 

After checking out of the hotel and grabbing breakfast, we found a quick geocache (GC30XDE) right next door to start the day with a Leflore County find. The next three geocaches were quick roadside caches for Carroll County (GC4GX44, GCQ0DW). The last one (GC11P5Y) was down by this creek where supposedly a family of bobcats were living. I even brought my good camera with the zoom lens just in case, but didn't see anything.

Still traveling eastbound on US-82, we stopped at the Old Middleton Cemetery (GC5J1PN) for a Montgomery County geocache find. The Middleton Cemetery was established in 1833 and has 126 interments with the last being in 1910. Then the cemetery was abandoned and went unmaintained for nearly a century. Finally there was an interest in the cemetery once again and most of the headstones were found broken and scattered. In 1992, the Winona Lion's Club cleaned up the 2 1/2 acres, reassembled the broken pieces, and arranged them together as a memorial.

More quick roadside geocaches to pick up some new counties in Mississippi: Webster County (GC7BW83), Choctaw County (GC7BW7J, GC7BW7B), Oktibbeha County (GC3WMG1), Clay County (GC48PN6, GC2DQQ2, GC3D99T), and Lowndes County (GC3CG7V, GC7ER16).

Continuing east on US-82 and crossing over into Alabama, our next stop was the Funderburk Family Cemetery (GC1X277). Located along US-82 on the west side of a tiny community of Coal Fire in Pickens County. Originally called Fundee, it was the combination of two settling families; the Funderburks and the DeLoaches. The name was eventually changed to Coal Fire or sometimes called Cold Fire after a local creek. A post office was established in 1871 but closed in 1927. This small family cemetery was downhill closer to where US-82 is today. When the widening of the highway to 4-lanes began, the state moved the thirteen graves further up the hill into the woods as you can see from the photo below. The graves date from 1850 to 1898.

Guardian of the Cache

One more quick geocache on the other side of the Coal Fire Community (GCVMR1) and we continued down the road.

The next three geocaches were in the Corinth Church Cemetery in Tuscaloosa County (GC333MN, GC4AR5A, GC4AR4T). I found two of them but had to DNF on one. This cemetery has over 600 interments dating back to 1860. The one that caught my eye though was this more recent black headstone with the mural on it.

Our next stop was near downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the site of the State Capital Ruins for a virtual cache (GC7B7T6). In 1825, the Alabama State Senate agreed to move the capitol from Cahaba to the thriving town of Tuscaloosa. The building was completed in 1829 and had this beautiful copper dome that could be seen by all the passing vessels down the Warrior River below. The building was fashioned in the Greek Revival, and the Federal styles of Washington D.C. and Thomas Jefferson. The building was used as the capitol until 1846.

It was at this time that the state capitol was moved to Montgomery, down where more commerce was being conducted along the Alabama River with the majority of the states population. Tuscaloosa lost over half its population after the capitol was moved. The building was then given to The University of Alabama who seldom used it so they leased it to the Baptist Convention who established the Alabama Central Female College. In 1923 it burned down and was suspect to faulty wiring as the cause.

On the parameter of the square now known as Capital Park, sites a few historical buildings. This first one is the Old Tavern. Built in 1827 three blocks east on Broad Street, it was also a stage stop and inn frequently used by political leaders while Tuscaloosa was still the state capital. It was moved here to Capital Park in 1966.

When Alabama became a state in 1819, Tuscaloosa also was incorporated as a town. The following year in 1820, the McGuire-Strickland House was built. The house stands to this day as the oldest wooden framed home in Tuscaloosa. Originally located at the corner of Greensboro Avenue and 15th Street, this home was built for the county’s first probate judge, Moses McGuire. The home later served as the manse or preacher’s home for the First Presbyterian Church from 1844 to 1866. The house was bought by the Strickland family in 1866 and remained in the family for over a century until 1969 when it was given to the newly formed Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society. Around 1970 the home was moved from its original location to Capitol Park where it is currently used as part of the Capitol School.

On the southeast side of Tuscaloosa is the Veterans Memorial Park and our next geocache (GC8BFBG). Some of the displays here include the Vought A-7E Corsair II, a 5 inch / 25 caliber "Dual Purpose" secondary artillery gun from the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, a M60A3 TTS Medium Tank, and a Bell UH-1 Iroquis (Huey) Helicopter. This memorial was built on the site of the Northington General Hospital, a U.S. Army hospital operating here during World War II.

But of course my favorite was the Willys Jeep decked out in Air Force colors. Here's my GeoJeep TB with Uncle Willy.

Leaving Tuscaloosa and getting back down US-82, our next stop was a quick parking lot find at a Walmart in Bibb County (GC1K0NY).

And finally, our last geocache of the day was an old virtual cache called Just Plain Spooky (GCB13A) located in Autauga County. All the locals who live in Prattville are aware of this display, but visitors do not know about. Mr. Rice started this display in 1987 and added more to his collection year round, until he passed away in 2003. He wanted to 'spread the word'. His collection has been documented in a book that they have at local bookstores around Prattville and Montgomery. The photo I took is just a small section of what is probably four times the length of the display.

Well that's another 300 miles behind us, another 23 caches and almost 12 hours later. Time to stretch out and relax a bit. And tomorrow we'll start all over again! See ya back here real soon...

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.