Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We had two full days available to us to get from Cleveland to Louisville which is only about 5-6 hour drive, so we decided to take advantage of a slow pace and get off the highway. Admittedly, I had never put any thought into what Ohio might look like, or have to offer so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite a scenic drive. It turns out it’s very hilly with twisty roads through large green sections. It wasn’t necessarily the easiest driving (thanks Jacob!) but it was pretty.

Because we had time to kill, and when in Ohio and all, we made a pitstop in Sugar Creek, the Little Switzerland of Ohio, the home of the world’s largest cuckoo clock. Unfortunately it doesn’t keep time in the winter, and so we didn’t get to see it in action, but it was a pretty little town. It is also the home to an unusually large collection of steins and decanters. They even have an entire chess set made solely of decanters.

We kept winding south along the back roads of Ohio to Amish Country. There is a large Amish settlement pretty much smack dab in the middle of the state. It seemed as good a spot as any to tuck in for lunch. At the Downtown Diner, they still make all of the burgers outside on a smoker – served the old fashioned way – on styrofoam plates. The diner is also home to essentially a hoarders paradise. It was FULL of old ‘collectibles’; two whole floors of them. We wandered the aisles, said “No we aren’t buying that” 1000 times and then left.

We decided to stop for the night just outside of Cincinnati. The previous night in the Super 8 was about as successful and luxurious as one would imagine we thought we would upgrade to a Hampton Inn, with a pool. We checked in, let the kids blow off a little steam, I got some work done, grabbed some supper and attempted to get some rest. In hotels we have one girls bed and one boys bed, and unfortunately for me, there are more girls than boys so it makes for a tight squeeze. At around 3am, I gave up, put Madeline on the floor switched sides on the bed, again, and got a few hours sleep. Luckily we have a 3 bedroom house waiting for us in Louisville.