Driving from Ohio to Switzerland

 Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

Just gotta hold still for the shot...

Taking the Rising Star Casino Ferry

Today we took a road trip to pick up 2 new counties and have an adventure.  I was lamenting leaving two island counties (circled below) empty.  They are a bit out of the way.  They aren't on a US Interstate and not on the way to anything in particular.  All of the routes Google said to take took me the long way around the Ohio River so I dug into Google Maps and started scanning along the river for a bridge or ferry crossing.  I found a Ferry Crossing!  It isn't shown on Google Maps, I think, because it's private.  I did some research and The Rising Star Casino Ferry is free for this year.  The website didn't say you have to go to the casino to use it so I felt good using it.  If it had stipulated we go to the casino we would have and put a dollar in the penny slots to pay our fee.  The ferry connects Boone County Kentucky to Ohio County Indiana.  Switzerland County Indiana is a 10 minute drive south-ish along the Ohio River.

Ohio and Switzerland Counties, IN

Google shows the ferry "dock" but doesn't show or acknowledge a crossing.

Donna sees the ferry coming!

There it is.

After the other cars drove off we drove on.  We got on facing the opposite direction so the ferry goes back and forth without turning around.  At least all of the ferry didn't turn around but part of it did!  Notice the tower with the driver on the left side.

When the ferry leaves "dock" (which is just a road that drives into the river) the pilot part of the ship pivots over to orientate to the direction of the ferry.  It's something I have never seen before.  At this point we aren't really moving forward much.

Here it is after the pivot driving us to the other side of the river.

We love a good ferry ride and even more so when it gets us a new county!

Looking backwards towards Kentucky.

Rising Star Riverboat Casino

We decided to stop by the casino.  We drove by and I was just going to take photos but we decided to go in and experience the whole riverboat casino.

All of the non gambling stuff is in the building in front of the riverboat except for the sportsbook.  I guess they can have that "on land"

The narrow hallway is where the pier ends and the riverboat begins.

You have to be 21 to cross onto the boat so they can have cigarette machines on the boat.  There is a guard stopping minors from going on.

The riverboat was 4 floors.  It looked quite a bit like the riverboat in Ozark

The outside are of the top floor was very rundown.  We went out but it felt like we weren't supposed to be out there.

A disused outside bar

An outside view that shows the walkway from land onto the boat.  It is pretty seamless, by design, from the inside.

I found Tiki Elements in the outside bar.  There are also bamboo shelves on the back wall there and 2 bamboo frames that don't really frame anything now.

Ohio County!

Every good casino needs a wall of celebrities including...

Wayne Newton!

Tom Jones!

Engelbart Humperdinck!

And Wayne Brady!

After our casino stop we continued on to Switzerland USA!  It was a short nice drive along The Ohio River.

We didn't stop to take a photo but Google Maps shows the nice Switzerland USA sign.

After enjoying being in Switzerland we turned around and backtracked, mostly, to Newport KY to go to Kroger.  It was a really great drive that started out of frustration of either missing out on 2 counties or doing a less great drive.

That's it for today.  If you missed A Picnic in the Park check it out.  We had a picnic in the park.

St. Louis to Cincinnati via Indiana and Kentucky

 Cincinnati, OH

Camping Road Trip!  We took a selfie along The Wabash River at Harmonie State Park.

Three Nights Camping

On Saturday said goodbye to St. Louis and headed east.  On the first day we took a path through Illinois picking up 7 new counties in IL and 1 new county in IN.  We spent the night in Harmonie State Park IN.  It was right on the Wabash River which separates Illinois and Indiana to the west and eventually works its way down to The Ohio River.  It was a huge campground and we happened to pick a good loop.  Most of the loops were packed with families having fun but we ended up in a loop that had old people being quiet.  It was great and we got to see 2 new life birds, Wood Thrush and Northern Parula.  

Looking for The Wabash and Wood Thrush and trying to avoid ticks.

Spring!

Prepping the morning pour over.  I saw the lady bug on the filter before I poured.  I placed it on a nearby tree.

Not a bad place for breakfast.  I listened to Wood Thrush sing their cool song.

On Sunday we headed down to Kentucky and then back up to Indiana grabbing counties along the way.  We added 3 new counties in IN and 3 new in KY.  We camped at Lincoln State Park in Indiana.  The State Park has preserved nature as well as some places like a church where Abraham Lincoln grew up attending.  It's also the final resting place of his sister, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby.  Across the highway is The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.  We stayed in the Gobbler's Run loop which doesn't include power so it appeals to a different group of campers during non summer months.  Those campers include us and 1 other couple in a van with solar and battery backup.  It was an incredibly quiet night.  Off season camping is THE BEST!

The Indiana Tourism Center is frozen in time.  Complete with conical paper cups,

A 70s wooden clock, a tornado tracker phone,

And a counter with no one working it.  I am told they have a person there on holiday weekends.

The Simpsons!

This is our empty campsite loop.  The other couple was on the other side of the restrooms behind me and around the corner a bit out of sight.

It was really windy so we had our Step 2 (step 1 is setting up camp) in the van and questioned the legality.

Francis had his dinner in the van too.  This shot makes him look like an oddly proportioned Chupacabra or something.  Rest assured, he is fine and not oddly proportioned. 

 On Monday we left Indiana and headed into Kentucky again.  Our trip took us through 6 new IN counties and 4 new KY counties.  When we got to My Old Kentucky Home State Park it was windy and we noticed that we were about a mile from the Heaven Hill Bourbon Distillery so we headed over there to see what was what.  After checking out Heaven Hill we went on to Maker's Mark and also picked up a bonus county in KY.

The Heaven Hill Experience is pretty new, built in 2021.

You don't have to book a tour, you can just see the free museum, gift shop, and bar.

You can smell the different oak char levels.

Up to the bar!

We shared an ounce and a half pour of their barrel select, only available here.

Kentucky pretty much looks like what you expect, at least in the touristy bourbon areas.

The Maker's Mark distillery grounds are very pretty

Again, we didn't book a tour, we just visited the gift shop.

Dipping your own bottle was free once you bought the bottle which is priced at MSRP.

Hot wax requires PPE

A 1 minute tutorial is all you need.

I did the thing!

The finished product!

My Old Kentucky Home State Park was mostly a golf course.  We ended up picking one of the nicer spots but it wasn't a super great nature experience.  It was 1 mile from a bourbon distillery.  

On Tuesday we left Our Old Kentucky Home for Our New Cincinnati Home.  Our drive took us through Lexington KY, a place we have long talked about visiting and maybe even living in for a while.  We picked up 7 new KY Counties and 1 new OH county on the drive and stopped by Lexington for lunch and a beverage.  

We had lunch in the most hipster place possible, a shipping container inside a nursery.  The food was delicious!

Francis enjoyed the smells and the sun even though it wasn't that warm.

We are now in Cincinnati and getting settled.  We still need to find a monthly parking garage that has room.  The place seems great and is in a great location just on the edge of the Over The Rhine neighborhood with lots of bars, restaurants, and shops.  Stay tuned for our Cincinnati adventures!

If you missed Where The Missouri Meets The Mississippi you can read it via the link.  We went to the Missouri and Mississippi Confluence point.