Camp Dennison Civil War Scoot

Yesterday was a beautiful day with mild temps, low humidity, and plenty of sunshine. So I set off on an afternoon of riding the C3, with no particular destination in mind.

I started my ride by slowly scooting down some winding back road twisties along a little creek about 3 miles from "the cottage-by-the-mall". This country lane is all but hidden from the darting eyes of frantic car drivers and manic moto mongrels who are always in a hurry as they traverse the landscape.

I never knew it was here myself until I became a slow scooter rider.

This is the main road down into the valley where I then traveled a back road into Milford:

Here along this creek bed I came upon a doe, who stood quietly on the side of the road and watched me glide by as I hit the kill switch on the bike and immersed myself in silence tinged by the sweet rush of the stream and birdsong:

I was not able to capture a photo of the doe as she turned and bounded off into the woods before I could pull out my camera. Such a beauty!

Not my pic, but I felt she deserved a tribute!

I then rode along on a main lower valley road after this which eventually led me into the village of Milford.

Here I stopped in a little Catholic cemetery to rest in the shade:

I rode around for a while in the old part of the village and then headed out SR 126 to seek out a popular small grocery that sits beside the Little Miami Bike trail.

Here I stopped to grab a bite to eat and to explore some of the new historical signage that they have added alongside the bike trail.

I parked the scoot near the picnic tables and went inside and came out with a mett and a Pomegranate-Berry Vitamin water and some peanut butter Ritz bits:

After a snack I headed a few miles down the road to the The School House Restaurant at Camp Dennison. The greenery in front of the restaurant was pretty overgrown, so I took some photos from the sides and back of the building:

The restaurant is actually the original two room school house from 1863 that served the children of Camp Dennison through 1952. More history and details about the school house and restaurant owners, the Millers, can be found on their website listed below.

Camp Dennison was a Union Civil War camp that bordered the rail road line that ran alongside the Little Miami River. This same rail path is now the Little Miami Bike rail trail.

Here at the Camp 1000s of Union and Confederate soldiers were stationed and Morgan's raiders invaded Ohio along the nearby rail tracks. Interestingly, President Lincoln's campaign train also traveled these same rail tracks at one time. It is one of the few designated Civil War sites in the state of Ohio.

There are lots of historical markers near here in a little Civil War memorial park and more historical detail can be found in the links below:

Here is the Waldschmidt House which served as the headquarters for Camp Commander:

I tried to capture the details of the school house signage, but it did not come out very well. You can see the photo of the school house as it looked in 1863, however:

In back of the school house sits a little general store. Next to this is a little area where geese, ducks, and frisky goats usually are romping about. Today there were no goats and only one lone goose:

Now I am wondering where my beloved goats are and there was no one around to ask, unfortunately, as the restaurant did not open until 4. I hope they return soon!

Some rustic art around the general store entrance:

I turned and saw a baby bunny!

She was hopping right beside the front entrance:

The restaurant serves up all their food "family style", meaning you sit at a table with a big "lazy susan" turn pad and they bring in your main course of fried chicken or country fried steak or whatever and then everyone at the table gets the same sides.

Usually these are mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, green beans, kernel corn, homemade cole slaw, tossed salad (with awesome house dressing!), and homemade dinner rolls.

The day's menu is drawn up on the school room black board and you are seated in the classroom while you eat!

The food is fabulous and a carry out bag lasts several days if you need to stop and go while on the run rather than dine in.

Their pies and cakes are extra special Nummy!

The restaurant is where I usually park when I bring my bike to the Little Miami Bike Trail as it runs behind the restaurant.

Directions to the area:

Take Route 50 out of downtown toward Mariemont. Continue on through Terrace Park until you come to the Milford Bridge and Bike Trail head traffic light.

Turn left here onto Rt. 126 and follow it out to The School House Restaurant on your left.

There are many nice 2 lane slow roads to explore out from this point and into Indian Hill and Loveland.


Related Links:

http://www.theschoolhousecincinnati.com

http://littlemiamibiketrail.com/">http://littlemiamibiketrail.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Dennison

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Welcome_To_Ohio_History_Central

http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2013/07/ohios_new_john_hunt_morgan_her.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_in_the_American_Civil_War


The Classic Car Rally Scoot, Part 2

So after I left the School House Restaurant in Camp Dennison I scooted down SR 126 into the village of Old Milford and got on Rt 50 heading east.

I turned right at the traffic light at Rt 131 and rode over to the River's Edge commercial area.

Here there is a popular steak and burger joint that was hosting a classic car rally. They seem to have a lot of motorcycle related events and motorcycles were everywhere!

(This photo is the property of Quaker Steak and Lube restaurants.)

I parked my Yamaha C3 among the Harleys and got off to explore the expositions...

Here was an old hearse that caught my eye...

There were many beautiful cars, some antiques, some customized, showing their stuff...

So many! I took some photos of some of my favorites...

Not sure why this "kid" was posed inside the engine compartment. The sign revealed no clue and there was no one around to ask. I thought it was creepy, yet sort of cool...

I love old trucks! Here's one that brings the Schlitz right to your door...

Grandpa must have lost his choppers while working on this engine...

A flaming hot Lincoln...

A '55 Chevy! The first car I ever rode in as an infant coming home from the hospital...

A "mini me" version is hitching a ride on the rear ledge...how cute!

Beautiful custom paint jobs that sparkled in the sun! Love that lime green...

Some Schwinn banana seat classic bicycles got in on the show...

The sun was beating down intensely and "Hoot" was calling my name from the "Hog Pen", so I saddled up and rode toward home...

It was a pretty nice rally, complete with music and food. I really enjoyed myself!

I did not get a tee shirt because they only took cash, and I had none on me as has become my habit. Oh well, maybe next time!

Ride to East Fork State Park

Easter Sunday was absolutely beautiful this year and the lush green countryside kept calling to me. And since it was Sunday, my favorite day to ride, I took off on the Buddy with no particular destination in mind.

On Olive Branch Road I passed this low-lying log cabin situated on a little fishing lake. I stopped to admire the view and watch some ducks paddle over the pond's glassy surface:

About 25 miles east of my neck of the woods in Clermont County is the East Fork Lake State Park. I decided to head out that way and do a little exploring.

The East Fork Lake is an "artificial" lake, which means years ago the Army Corps of Engineers basically flooded the valley and farmland and created this huge lake. Kind of like they did in "Deliverance" when they flooded the land to make this huge lake. Kind of fascinating, kind of creepy.

The park has several access points and I entered it from the area where the camping sites are, which is off of Old SR 32.

Sadly all these camping sites are occupied by concrete parking pads for RVs! No tent camping so there went any idea of riding out here and camping solo or with a group on the scoot.

They do have primitive backpacking camping on the other side of the park, but I am a bit timid for that. Particularly since there have been multiple Big Foot sightings around the park! No, I am not kidding!

So I scooted into the park from Old SR 32 between Williamsburg and Batavia and parked my scoot at the camp store, hoping to get some maps and learn more about the park:

Here at the camp store I bought a tee shirt with a heron on it and a Payday bar and some lemonade to wet my whistle. The lady in the shop was very nice and offered me lots of information about the area.

I honestly had not been here in a few years and so got a good overview of what is at the lake: boating, fishing, camping, hiking, mountain biking trails, a paved bike trail, horseback riding, and miniature golf to name a few of the many things to do at the lake. There is also a paved bike trail that runs from the park to Williamsburg.

I left the camp store and headed out into the camp site area to see what it was like. There were many sites and many of them were "pet friendly". The settings were quiet and nicely nestled back among the the trees and grassy slopes. I counted very few campers and all of course in RVs.

Down at the boat launch I looked out over the expanse of the lake where a few people had set up to fish from the outlying pier:

The boat launch was very busy with lots of boats being hauled out and put in the water. They were lined up all along the parking lot:

Looking out over the water there was this island of trees which appeared pretty in the otherwise utilitarian setting of the boat launch:

Looking at this reminded me that this lake actually flooded out many farms and a few villages. Old timers will tell the stories though I am not sure there is really any definitive history detailing the scope of the lost villages and farms. I plan to try to do some local research on this in the county.

There is evidently some fine backpacking in the park and this website offers some additional facts about the East Fork lake and trails:

http://backpackohio.com/eastfork.html

From this site:

"Head about 30 miles due south from Caesar Creek Lake and you'll hit the shores of William H. Harsha Lake (a.k.a East Fork Lake). This 2160-acre man-made lake created for flood control in 1978 is the centerpiece of East Fork State Park-one of Ohio's largest.

Man's history in this area dates back to 3,000 years ago when the mound building Hopewell and Adena Indians occupied the area. Some of their handiwork stills remains in the southern section of the park. Fast forward to the late 1860s, when gold was mined at two locations in the park's vicinity. This minor "rush" resulted in the formation of the Batavia Gold Mining Company, whose existence didn't last a year.

Like Caesar Creek, East Fork is located in the glaciated Till Plains, so expect similar topography. Despite advancing development from the west, low rolling wooded hill, abandoned farmlands and swampy lowlands create the park's landscape and lay protected inside the park's boundaries.

East Fork Wildlife area occupies approximately 2000 acres at the eastern one-third of the lake. The areas woodlands contain beech, sugar maple, red and white oak, shagbark hickory and wild black cherry trees. The wetter lowland forests are composed of silver maple, American elm, black gum and sycamore. The meadows and remnant prairies contain big blue stem grass, purple cone flower and more."

More about the park's history and natural beauty can be found here:

http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/eastfork#history


Directions:

Scoot down Summerside Road from Old SR 74 behind Eastgate Mall.

Turn RIGHT onto Barg Salt Run. Scoot out this until you come out at Round Bottom Road.

Go RIGHT on Round Bottom Road and pass Tealtown Road on your RIGHT. As the road gently curves left, turn RIGHT onto Binning Road.

Follow Binning Road out to the stop sign at the bridge (on your left), but go STRAIGHT ahead and follow this sweeping road out past the new condo development on your left.

At the stop light of Amelia-Olive Branch road (which you are on) and Old SR 74, turn LEFT.

Follow this out until it dead ends and turn LEFT. Go down the hill to the light and turn RIGHT and follow this into the village of Batavia.

Here you can explore a bit and then head out of town on Old SR 32 toward the Clermont Mercy Hospital area where you will see Bauer Road on your LEFT.

Continue on STRAIGHT out Old SR 32 then travel on a few miles to the entrance to the park on your RIGHT.

There are plenty of places to eat, gas up, or use the restroom along the way, especially if you take Bauer Road to your left out of Batavia and go over near Clermont Mercy Hospital.

If you like cemeteries, a pretty one is just on your left as you head up the hill on Old SR 32 out of the village of Batavia.