Serenity on the Back Roads; Wooed To A Simpler Time

We all have childhood memories, some good, some not so good. In June of 2022, I had a chance to revisit a child hood memory that you can probably relate to.

It all started with a trip down to Dayton, Ohio for our grandson’s high school graduation party. Everyone, including us take the highway for the most efficient travel time management. The only problem with taking the highways is that you don’t get to see ‘small town America’. So, on this particular trip we chose to take the back roads down through mid Ohio.

Ohio in the summer is incredibly beautiful. It is nestled between the western side of the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania to the east, and the flat lands of Indiana on the west. Ohio has some of both of those attributes. Not to mention the north coast following along the shores of Lake Erie, which is where we live.

Our journey started out like many others before it. We plotted our trip using the old atlas map. Filled the car with everything that we would need for the next couple days, and off we went.

As we headed south, we passed through so many quaint small towns reminiscent of many of the classic Norman Rockwell paintings. The downtown areas were adorned with American flags hanging on the telephone poles accompanied by full round brilliant colored hanging baskets bounding with flowers. The main streets were lined with an array of stores and restaurants along both sides, enticing patrons to come and window shop or sit down for a nice cool glass of sweet tea. The occasional church sat on the corner with their beautiful architecture and tall bell towers.

We drove through the small town of Milan, Ohio, which is were the birth place of Thomas Edison is. It had many of the same attributes as many of the other small towns that we drove through. you could almost feel the history and imagine the your Thomas Edison playing and investigating curiously throughout this place.

Still further south we traveled. By this time, lunch was quickly approaching as our grumbling stomachs would attest to. We anxiously awaited a satisfyingly good lunch. We pulled into the timeless small town of Waldo, Ohio. We parked off the street next to an amazing mural on the side of the building. As we walked around the corner to the entrance we approached the sign over the door stating; G & R Tavern, Home of the Famous Bologna Sandwich, Est. 1962. We knew that we were in for something really good. We sat at one of the few open tables across form the bar. Everyone knew everyone there. As somebody else would walk through the door, the were met with first name greetings, and talk of the day. It was noticed among the regulars that we were new patrons to this establishment. Everyone was so nice and polite. Not because we were unknown, but they were that way to everyone in the restaurant. The very timely waitress took our orders of the fried G & R Bologna Sandwiches with pickles and cheese. A few short moments later our sandwiches arrived. The fried bologna was about 5/8 of an inch thick! Boy, was it good! Childhood memories came flooding back. Once again I was 7 years old eating my favorite bologna sandwich. Only better! I am sure that you can relate to this experience in your own life. They are also know for their cream pies, and ohhh they looked good. Unfortunately, after eating the sandwich, there was not any more room for pie, and I am pretty sure that it wouldn’t have traveled very well. Not trying the pie was my only regret as we left this homey place. After saying good bye, we hopped back into the car for the final leg of our journey.

Driving down route 23, we past the Olentangy Indian Caverns in Delaware, Ohio. It is a series of caves formed by an under ground river millions of years ago. The caves were used by the Wyandotte Indians as a protection from the harsh weather and from their enemies the Delaware Indians. Artifacts in the caverns indicate that it was used by the Wyandotte Indians as late as 1810.

Our last stop was in Historic Dublin, Ohio. The city was named after Dublin, Ireland. The streets, little shops, and restaurants exude the Irish countryside. When we were there, it just so happened to be during the PGA Memorial Open which is played at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin. All the street names had dedications to PGA players of past and present.

The day was getting long and our time was running short as we left Dublin and headed down to Dayton with the anticipation of family fun and celebration with loved ones from near and far. Thus, our road trip came to a pleasant and well deserving end. We look forward to more off highway road trips in the near future. We enjoyed the slower pace, pure enjoyment and the beauty of seeing our little piece of America.