Ohio has been an experience! I've seen Highway 666 to Celestial Street over this past week, and pretty much everything in between.
First, Cincinnati. We loved Cincinnati. Why? Perhaps it was the feeling you got that you'd stepped about 100 years back in time. Perhaps it was the beautiful architecture. Or maybe it was the fact that there are about six bridges over the Ohio River to get to Cincinnati and it's just fun to drive over bridges. Whatever the reason was, it worked, and we loved Cincinnati.
One thing that struck me while we were in Cincinnati was Kentucky Pride. I had no idea that it even existed, but there is a ton of state pride in Kentucky! We'd be somewhere in Ohio (but close to Kentucky) and say something to someone about how much we love the area when she'd reply, "Yes, Kentucky is the best." Even though we were in Ohio. Or we went to church in Kentucky and when someone asked us where we were from, I said that we were from Utah. She replied, "Oh, my sister lives over there in American Fork... But there's no way I could live anywhere but Kentucky." She said this second part rather quickly, as if admitting that a blood relative lived somewhere other than Kentucky was a blight on the family name.
One other part we loved about the Kentucky-Ohio border was the food. Oooohh, was the food good! We stopped at a family diner kind of place (Village Family Restaurant in Waynesville, OH) where I got a Texas BBQ burger with bacon and Pepper Jack cheese, fried potato skins smothered in cheese, chives, more bacon, and sour cream, and topped it off with a slice of peanut butter pie... and Dallin got a salad (he split the piece of pie, though). Did I feel like a fatty? Yes. Did I regret my choice? Not at all.
I was surprised at the amount of wildlife we saw while we were in Ohio! I saw some raccoons, dogs, deer, cats, opossums, and even some porcupines and a wild turkey... all dead on the side of the road. I think Ohio has probably the worst roadkill service out of any of the states I've been in... Or perhaps the animals just die so quickly that it's impossible to help. Whatever the case, I would have preferred to see all of those animals living.
Roadkill aside, Ohio really was awesome. Whether in the old cities or in the beautiful countrysides, it was a beautiful state. We're already looking forward to our next visit! Tonight is our first night in West Virginia - it already has a lot of character. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes....
