Founded in 1849 on the Ohio river and due to the area's rich iron-ore content, Ironton grew to be one of the largest iron producing regions in the world. The iron industry continued to grow through the latter half of the 19th century, and Ironton prospered. As the area's iron played out and the nations demands transitioned towards steel, Ironton's prominence diminished. The decline of the iron industry, coupled with two devastating floods nearly wiped out Ironton. Today it is a shadow of its former self, but still has some fascinating buildings that hark back to an earlier time. Driving through on a beautiful afternoon, I had to stop and take some photos. It was a really cool city to visit and I don't have to use too much imagination to picture it during its heyday. Enjoy!
I've been very lucky to have spent the last week and a half in Athens County as I start my journey around Ohio. I had the opportunity to visit my friend, Will, and do some work for the local Visitor's Bureau while enjoying many of the events put on by Ohio Brew Week. I'm not used to spending this much time in one location, but I'm sure glad I did. While the city of Athens is a modern college town, the surrounding area has deep roots in an industrial past. First salt, then coal, brick and lumber have all played their role in the history of Athens County. While it's definitely time for me to be moving on with my exploration of Ohio, I didn't want to leave without taking you on a photographic journey through the county and the things I found out here. Enjoy!
While I have been based out of Athens, Ohio for the last week and a half and have slept in the same campsite the whole time, I have been out and about exploring Athens County which has been really awesome. While it is time for me to get moving again as I want to see the rest of Ohio and Michigan before summer turns to fall, it has been nice to spend some time here and get caught up a little bit before pressing on. While I am leap-frogging over Kentucky to get here, I hope to return there in the fall when the leaves are changing and I can have a really good look around.
Coming into Athens County, with its rolling hills and coal mining history, it is definitely good to be back in Appalachia. I've spent a lot of time in Appalachia over the last few months, so this makes for a nice transition into the Midwest. Having seen dramatic differences between the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee and the Mississippi River floodplains in West Tennessee and between coastal South Carolina and the Upcountry, I am prepared for the differences I expect to see between this Ohio and the Ohio on Lake Erie. And I'm looking forward to it.
I first met Will Drury at the corner of a bar in the middle of a parking lot on the edge of an island in the middle of the Caribbean. The bar was Duffy's, an institution in Red Hook on the east end of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Will had arrived that day to take over management of Duffy's and I was a regular there. Duffy's was right down the hill from my apartment and I didn't even have to cross the street to get there. I liked Duffy's because the clientele was a good balance of locals and tourists. While most people who lived on the island tried their hardest to avoid the tourists during their down-time, I loved interacting with them. It was great to welcome them to our little island and help them with their plans, and I never tired of their enthusiasm…
The southeastern corner of Athens County, Ohio sits right across the Ohio River from West Virginia, making it a perfect transition as I begin my month-long exploration of the Buckeye State. While the city of Athens is home to Ohio University and exhibits all of the best qualities of a quintessential college town, you don’t have to drive far before it becomes clear you are definitely still in Appalachia. As I drove the back roads and explored the history and culture of the area, I found it both new and familiar at the same time. The history of Athens County is fascinating, and in this post I’d like to tell you all about it through six stops I made as I visited the region.
It's been a few weeks since last we met. I've been spending some time with friends and family both at home in Washington D.C. and on the road with my dad in West Virginia and my brother and his kids in New Hampshire. It was nice to be with my people for a while and to take a break from the challenges of being on the road. I needed a little time to think and reflect and not have to worry about where I'm going to sleep tonight. It's been eight months since this project began, and it needed a little reflection and redirection. I have now entered Ohio, my fifth state, which when I leave will mark 10% of the journey complete. While I had hoped to spend a month in each state and be further along than I am, the whole point of the trip is not to be rushed and to see what I want to see. Before I move forward, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on the journey so far, and where I see this going in the months and years to come…
If you've been following my travels, you know how much respect I have for traditional arts and crafts. In an era of mass-produced crafts imported from China and sold at every Pier One and Crate & Barrel, I consider myself very fortunate to stumble across someone using traditional methods to produce hand-crafted items. When I was introduced to Sarah Brown this past weekend as someone doing traditional letterpress printing, I knew I had to find out more. Sarah and I sat down to discuss her craft and some of the projects she's been working on. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became with the process and the more respect I had for the patience required to create these products.
Hello everyone! It's been another quiet week at home here in Washington D.C., trying to get caught up on my work and spending time with my friends and family. The cicadas are out here and the lightning bugs are in full force giving our backyard its own summer sound and light show. Despite being in the city, we have a wonderful array of birds, rabbits, squirrels and other wonderful critters running around the backyard. The weather has been significantly cooler than it was down south, and overall it has been very good to be home.
Last Thursday I got together with a lot of my old friends from around town and around the country over at my friend James' house. It was wonderful to catch up with so many good people in one place at one time, but was a little overwhelming after being basically by myself for much of the last 6 months. It was definitely a good evening though…
Tennessee is one of the country's most visited states for music lovers, and for good reason. From the Birthplace of Country Music in Bristol to the one-time home of W.C. Handy in Memphis, Tennessee's musical tradition dates back to the very beginnings of recorded music and beyond. Cities like Memphis and Nashville have multiple options for great live music seven nights a week, and incredible museums like the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum provide plenty of information when you finally wake up. Tennessee is a great destination for any fan of American roots music, and will no doubt leave you tapping your feet and humming along. I'm going to break this post into East, Central and West Tennessee for easy reference. Also, be sure you check out my Spotify playlists for Tennessee…
The Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways project is one of the most comprehensive and far reaching statewide tourism initiatives I've ever encountered, and one of the best. The time and energy that must have been put into this project is staggering, but so are the results. Essentially, Tennessee has done all your off-the-beaten-path research for you, and all you have to do is follow the signs to your next adventure. The Trails and Byways program features 16 trails covering 5,225 miles of road and all 95 counties in the state. There are printed brochures for each trail and online resources as well. During my 5+ weeks in Tennessee, I found myself on several of these trails and found them to be a really great resource. It was an enormous undertaking by the state Department of Tourism, but I think other states could follow their lead in an effort to bring tourism dollars to smaller communities and lesser known areas of your state.
If you are a fan of pork ribs like I am a fan of pork ribs, then Tennessee is one of the places you really have to go. Good Tennessee ribs get a dry rub of spices and are then slow smoked over a wood fire. Back in the 1950s in Memphis, Charlie Vergos combined his father's Greek spices with some New Orleans style cajun seasoning and turned scrap-meat into something altogether magical. Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous still sets the standard for ribs in Tennessee and is definitely one of my favorites. In my travels around Tennessee, I stopped into a few different rib-joint though and found some great spots around the state. While Rendezvous ribs still tops my list, some of these places gave them a run for their money…
Hello everyone! It's been a restful week at home in Washington D.C. I've been trying to catch up with friends and family and catch up on sleep. I'm doing pretty good on both fronts. I've been working hard on my next podcast which should be out by the weekend. I spent most of the end of last week at home in the cool, cool air-conditioning finishing up the research and starting to write my second Tennessee podcast. I took lots of naps. I also got to catch up with some of my old pals around town and see what everyone's been up to since I've been gone these last six months. Everyone seems to be doing well which is great to see…
