So, after leaving Claiborne Farms it was time to head towards Loveland. But first, one last shot from Claiborne:
For this road trip I wanted to stay off of main highways and take more backroads. Before I left Lexington I did a little looking around on Google Maps, and found a little town called Georgetown OH that would fake my GPS into taking me on a back road. Then I noticed that Georgetown is the home to Ulysses S Grant’s Boyhood Home. Well, I HAD to go there, right?
First here are some photos from the drive. I don’t remember what town this is but I thought it was quaint. Still in KY.
This bridge surprised me – it was so big and seemingly in the middle of nowhere! It is on Rt 62 crossing the Ohio River from Maysville TN into Ripley KY.
Hard to read the sign but it says: “Ohio – Find It Here”
Here’s another view of the bridge after I crossed it. I’m surprised there wasn’t a scenic view point to look at it.
After crossing the bridge and driving on a windy road for a little bit, I arrived at my destination!
Here are some interesting tidbits from the tour:
- US Grant was actually born Hiram Ulysses Grant in 1822. Due to an administrative error his name was listed as Ulysses S. Grant. When he went to West Point he unsuccessfully tried to get them to correct the record.
- Grant’s father ran a tannery across the street. Grant really hated working there and preferred almost any labor to that so he did whatever he could to avoid working in the tannery (his brother, however, didn’t seem to mind it)
- Grant was actually an excellent horseman – riding in his graduation ceremony at West Point. He was known as a ‘horse whisperer’ and many people tried to get him to help them break their horses
- Following his two-term presidency, Grant and his family spent 2 years touring the world. He invested the family’s savings into a financial firm at which is son was a partner. The other partner swindled investors and Grant ended up bankrupt. Soon after he was diagnosed with incurable throat cancer.
- To provide for his family he reluctantly agreed to write his memoirs. He died in 1885 at age 63, just days after completing the book. His long-time friend Mark Twain published the book, which became a financial success for his family and has never been out of print.
As it happened, I walked in right after a tour started so I got in on it
The mattresses are supported by ropes which would need to be tightened from time to time. And this is a trundle bed!
The town of Georgetown OH
The county courthouse:
Random store on the way out of town
Quaint movie theater in some town while I was sitting at a red light. Wow – after I typed that I thought, ‘I wonder if I can figure out what town this is in.’ Then I went on Google Maps and typed “Midway Theatre OH” and found out that it is in Bethel OH!
I noticed some “United Dairy Farmers” gas stations. Turns out the ‘local’ dairy farmers were looking for a way to make more revenue, so the gas stations sell their dairy products as well as gas. From what I learned, the dairy products are just ‘okay.’
Anyway, I finally got to my friend Laura’s house and got a tour of the house. This is the basement / movie room. They are Marvel Fans, so …
We went out to a happy hour, which was enjoyable, and then hung out at home for a while before calling it a night. Next day was ‘tour around Loveland’ day.
First up – the Loveland Castle aka Chateau Laroche:
If you want a lot of detail about the place, here is the link: http://www.lovelandcastle.com/
But here’s a brief summary. Chateau Laroche was the brainchild of Harry Andrews – and he singlehandedly (at least 99% anyway) built the castle himself, by hand. He collected rocks in the Little Miami River (next to which the castle is built) and carried buckets by hand to the building site.
Harry objected to modern warfare – killing at a distance. He preferred sword-to-sword medieval combat. He served as a medic in World War I, contracted spinal meningitis, and was declared dead in 1918. By the time that he was declared undead — six months later — his fiancé had married another man. Harry seemed not to have minded, he stayed in Europe, visiting castles.
You may be wondering what “KOGT” stands for. Per the Chateau Laroche website:
The history of the Knights of the Golden Trail, KOGT, is almost as fascinating as the Castle itself. The castle actually can be considered an afterthought, incredible as that seems. In the early 1920’s one of Harry Andrews pet projects was his Sunday School / Boy Scout troop. He had a dozen or so boys that met regularly for Sunday School and Boy Scout activities. One of their favorite things was camping. As it happened; years ago the Cincinnati Enquirer, a local newspaper, had a promotion to establish a greater subscription base. If a person paid for a one year subscription in full, they received a plot of land on the banks on the Little Miami River in Loveland. Two of Harry’s scouts, it turned out, had parents that took advantage of the Enquirer’s offer and the donated the lots to Harry and his scouts. Harry and his scouts became regular visitors to the banks of the Little Miami. So much so that they took to leaving their gear at the campsite. But, between the elements, the wild animals and even people that stumbled upon their cache, their equipment constantly came out missing, damaged or unusable. Finally Harry had an idea, he would build two stone tents, to house their equipment and to provide shelter. If you have ever been a Scout you already know that each individual group, known as a troop, gave themselves appropriate names. Bears, Lions, Warriors are all typical examples. Harry’s troop was named the Knights of the Golden Trail. Now standing back admiring the stone tents he had built for his Knights, it is easy to imagine Harry’s 189 IQ clicking away…his Knights deserved a real Castle. The KOGT celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary in February 2002!
Chateau Laroche is also used as wedding venue, but the receptions have to be held somewhere else!
After our tour of Chateau Laroche, we had lunch and then walked a bit along the Little Miami and then around the town of Loveland itself
Later we went into Cincinnati to have dinner. Just a few photos from there.
Next time I’ll have to spend more time in Cinci – I just got a taste of it. Dinner was at a place called Lalo – Asian-Hispanic fusion – really good food!
Next morning I had to leave Loveland OH early because I had to be at Fallingwater PA by 4:00 for a sunset tour, and it was about a 7 hour drive (I took some back roads and also got on a turnpike). Stay tuned for that fantastic tour!