Ohio - Day 16 - Mansfield, Malabar Farm, Mt. Gilead

Mt. Gilead State Park
Thursday, 16 May 2019

Remember I said when I first got Lily how odd her tail seemed?  She's such a big fluffy cat she should have a big fluffy tail, but instead it's just a skinny little thing.  Well, this morning I actually managed to get this photo and you can see that tail for yourself.  It just shows she's contrary in more ways than one.

On our second morning walk today, Gracie was walking behind me as usual (drives me crazy) and Dexter suddenly decided to attack her (their version of playing).  Behind my back.  While I held her leash in one hand and his in the other.  They're both strong.  The falling over into the mud part wasn't so bad.  It was the serious straining on the muscles in my upper right arm that was the problem.  I was very lucky because no permanent damage was done, but it seriously hurt.  And kept on hurting.  I haven't been able to lift my arm all day or, in fact, use it for much of anything.  Driving with it like this is now a nuisance.  Except we have reservations at another campground that I've already paid for so off we had to go.

today's route

Driving south from Sandusky I saw miles and miles of flat fields.

After a few miles I started to wonder just where I was when I passed Groton, which I'd thought was in Connecticut.  Apparently it's also here.  And then I passed a sign showing the road to Greenwich.  A little later on I came to Shiloh, then to Shenandoah - an abrupt leap southward in the ol' naming game.

I met the first railroad crossing in Ohio that actually wanted me to stop for a railroad train - all 131 cars of it.  (I had plenty of time to count.)

The farther south I went the more I started to see small rises in the road - a change from the flatness near Lake Erie.

In Ohio, cities seem to be called corporations.  I saw a sign that said I was entering Mansfield Corporation, and I've seen many others.

Mansfield
Note that the greeting is written on grain elevators.  This is an internet photo, and there were many more of those things to the right of the photo.

Mansfield has several claims to fame.  The one most people know about is that this is where most of "Shawshank Redemption" was filmed.  I've never seen this film but apparently there's a very committed audience out there, because there's a Shawshank Trail that leads folks to all the important sites of the movie.  And this year there's a big celebration planned in August for the 25th anniversary.  Here's the link, if you're one of the fans.  https://shawshanktrail.com/

The reason I was interested in Mansfield is, of course, their carousel.  Not having gotten tired of them at the museum yesterday, I had to get another fix.

Mansfield is an old town

the carousel building downtown

Mansfield has ample free parking downtown, which meant the stores and restaurants were busy.  Nearby was the Hursh Pharmacy, since 1898, they say.

This carousel was made by Dentzel which, I now know, made the Philadelphia style of carousels.  Not that I can tell the difference.  But I do appreciate the carving and detail a little more than I did.

This carousel uses a Stinson Band Organ, not the Wurlitzer Organ made in North Tonawanda, NY, that I usually see.  (I only noticed because I'd learned about them when I was at North Tonawanda last year.)  Stinson is made in Bellefontaine, OH, and says they produce the "Happiest Music on Earth."

Crestline
This little town is a few miles west of Mansfield and I was there looking for a shop, which didn't seem to exist in real life - only in internet life.  While I was driving around there I saw Vitro, The Glass Company, a claim I thought worth investigating (there are other glass companies after all) and learned they say they're Mexico's leading glass manufacturer and one of the world's largest, and they have plants all around the US.

I passed a very large garden with quite a few people working in it and learned that a nonprofit called Emmanuel's Bread, that helps gather food and supplies for the needy, has Emmanuel's Garden, more than an acre that grows produce to donate to the community.

I passed a company called Hempy Water and, of course, assumed it had something to do with marijuana so, of course, looked it up.  Quel disappointment! - they sell water softeners and water filtration systems.

Back on the road
I passed a sign saying I was on the Historic Lincoln Highway Byway.  Not being too clear what Lincoln had to do with Ohio I looked it up and learned something different.  The Lincoln Highway was begun in 1913 and was the first roadway system created for the new automobile.  It was intended to go from New York to San Francisco.  In Ohio the route has been changed as new roads are constructed, but it generally runs from a point near Pittsburgh, PA, across the state on its way to Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  In some places you can still see the original bricks of the roadway.

I passed another sign saying I was on the Johnny Appleseed Historic Byway.  I do know a little about that, which is that the last confirmed tree to have been planted by Mr. Appleseed (aka Mr. Chapman) himself is still growing on private property in Nova, OH.  I passed the road that goes along there today but didn't go down because I knew I'd never be able to see the tree.

Speaking of which, not far south of Nova is Jeromesville, where the world's largest sycamore is growing, also on private land.  It's worth taking a minute to go to this link just to see this monster tree.   https://ianadamsphotography/biggest-tree

on Stout Road

Online directions took me down some roads I shouldn't have been on, but one of them was really pretty.  I couldn't find anywhere to pull over to show the trees making a canopy across the road, but at least you can see how green it all was. 

And you can see that when I say the road had no shoulder, it really didn't have a shoulder.  This one also didn't have a center line, but I guess they're more casual about that here.  What was also casual was the big white mastiff or something that was walking casually down the middle of the road.  He finally noticed me and stepped to the side.

Malabar Farm
I was heading for this place for the sole reason that this is where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall got married and I wanted to see what it looked like.

Malabar Farm, owned by Louis Bromfield

he was Bogart's best man 

It's being run now as a place to stay and a resource for conservation of various kinds - I picked up a brochure about how to build a nesting box that a Bluebird will be able to use without much competition.

the swallows are happy here too

They also rent out their facilities for weddings for others who are interested in that famous marriage.  This article includes a sympathetic account of that event from 1945.   www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/bogie-bacall-wedding

On the road to the campground I passed a sign saying the Mid-Ohio Atheists were participating in the Adopt-a-Highway program, which I found sufficiently startling to look up.  This is the 7th year they've done so, and they do it to demonstrate to the community that atheists are also good citizens.