Saturday Drive

A couple of weeks ago we set out to discover a little more of our local area with a leisurely Saturday drive. Our main destination was Adams County, Ohio where there's a small Amish community, and we took the long way there by crossing over the river and exploring the small towns along Route 8 in Kentucky first.

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We first came across Augusta, Kentucky, a quaint tiny town right on the banks of the river. The town has a population of a couple thousand people and is only 1.6 square miles in size.


What I loved about it (aside from the fact that George Clooney lived here!) was the simpleness of it. It harkens back to small town America.


We drove through "downtown" and along Riverside Drive where larger homes face the river. We may have considered stopping for lunch except that I'm not entirely sure there was anywhere to eat. It hasn't been changed for tourism, and I don't recall seeing one franchise of any kind. It just seems pure Americana.

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If the good folks from Augusta were to go the "city", I reckon they'd be referring to Maysville. It's just a few miles east along the river and has one of the few bridges across to Ohio. I wish we'd taken more time to explore here, and I look forward to a return visit to do just that.


Maysville reminds me of a river town captured in time with original facades along the main streets and old brick structures. It appeared to have a lot more to do in the way of local shops and restaurants and bed and breakfasts.


Neither of these were our main destination but were lovely to have visited. We made our way back into Ohio.


We made one more stop in West Union, Ohio to see Blake Pharmacy, "an old style 60's drugstore with a soda fountain that is still serving five cent cokes; just like they did in 1961, serving milkshakes and sandwiches too." It was located right on the courthouse square and reminded me so much of my dad's hometown of Harrisville, WV. We sat at the soda fountain counter. We ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, a tuna salad sandwich and a pimento cheese sandwich, all with chips, a milk and two 5-cent cokes. The lunch total came to $4.50. Love small towns.


Finally, on to Amish country. Near West Union there's a small community. We drove the beautiful farmlands, explored the covered bridges (or tunnels, as Adam called them), and admired the furniture craftmanship at Millers Bakery, Bulk Food and Furniture and Keim Family Market and Deli. Adam especially loved testing out the outdoor playsets.


It may not have been our most riveting getaway, but we enjoyed the quiet family time.