Ohio Day is done. Of course, it started in Pennsylvania (where there were snow flurries on April 4) and we had to cross the West Virginia panhandle to get there. Crossing through Wheeling, I caught a glimpse of the worst motel we ever stayed at, a Comfort Inn that overlooks I-70. I remember a room filled with mildew and the desk clerk, before she finally moved us, telling us that it only smelled that way because no one had used it in a long time. She grudgingly moved us to the other side of the motel, which was not much better.

But that was then. Yesterday, we buzzed by and soon found ourselves in Ohio, near St. Clairesville (where I left my credit card two years ago). We whisked by there, too.

That’s when, with some trepidation because the weather was still off and on problematic, we decided to get off I-70 and travel via US 40, the old National Highway. We got off at Old Washington OH (see a pattern?), a very small town. Traveling quickly, I noted that much of the country along the road was quite marshy. Soon I realized that it was not marshland, but oversaturated forest and farm land. And then Highway 40 was closed due to standing water. And no, there was no warning, no marked detour and none possible. We had to backtrack and get back on the Interstate at Old Washington.

By the way, a digression. Going all across Ohio, largely off the Interstate, we only saw 3 Trump signs. Four years ago we would have seen dozens. One of the three was at Old Washington, where a house had a big Trump sign, a Trump flag, an America First banner

Back to the main text: We got back on Highway 40 after a few miles and had no additional problems the rest of the day. Highway 40 is pleasant enough, with a few historical sites and buildings. We only stopped once more that morning at a 50 vendor flea market. They had nothing of any interest to me that I saw, and I can’t imagine much of it ever being sold. Sort of like a large store filled with Goodwill rejects.

We noticed several other antique malls. Any would I am sure have been better. But we were done with that for the day.

We got to Zanesville about 12:30. A town about the size of Washington PA, formerly a pottery center, it was named after Ebeneezer Zane, an ancestor of writer Zane Gray, who was born there. And it’s the home of the Zane Gray Museum. A county seat, it has a wonderfully ornate county courthouse and a few historic homes. It has a sizeable central business district with a lot of vacancies and, we thought no restaurants at all. Then we found the Downtown Exchange, a unique food court with about a dozen small stands – pizza, Greek, Japanese, Mexican, Sandwich, desserts, coffee shop and more, and a good amount of common seating. Not bad and certainly not expected. But Zanesville seemed a bit lost and forgotten, and apparently is very different from what it used to be.

Then, after some discussion, we decided to stay on 40 and drive right through Columbus, knowing that would add an hour to our trip. We don’t know Columbus at all and it was worth doing. East of the city, the suburbs of Bexton and Reynoldsburg hold miles of upscale shopping, downtown Columbus is filled with attractive tall buildings, as well as the Ohio State buildings and so on. Moving west, the neighborhoods are maybe a bit more sketchy, but interesting. It looks like a city worth a few days as a tourist to be sure.

From there it was across the western part of the state, farms, towns, rain, clouds, hills, plains. The only city of note is Springfield , which seems much more vibrant than Zanesville. Then, without fanfare you are in Indiana and almost immediately after that in Richmond, another old, old place.

We will explore Richmond today. But last night we went to another large Italian restaurant, Galo’s. I’d give it an A. We had eggplant Parmesan and breaded cod over pappardelle. Strawberry gelato for dessert. It’s not downtown, but in a large building of it’s own, near a big mall. The dining room is very large and ornate, a unique design where most of the tables are within a round area, but behind the round area, the room is square with other tables and the bar located a step or two up.

Then, back to a different Hampton Inn to prepare for Indiana/ Illinois Day, and falling back an hour.