River Road (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Lancaster: houses, camping, living)

[Ridgerunner]

I recently had the privilege to drive from Portsmouth to Cincinnati on U.S. 52 and was captivated by the natural beauty and Early American architecture that I saw. The town of Ripley was especially charming. I would appreciate any information on that area that anyone can provide.

[Pathwalker]

The little bit I know about Ripley is that it was a major stop on the Underground Railroad.

Perhaps one of these sites can give you more information about the town. You're right - it is a quaint, picturesque little place.

Ripley Ohio : Freedoms Landing

Experience Ripley

Ripley Museum - Ripley Ohio

Brown County, Ohio

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by WCRob

The little bit I know about Ripley is that it was a major stop on the Underground Railroad.

Perhaps one of these sites can give you more information about the town. You're right - it is a quaint, picturesque little place.

Ripley Ohio : Freedoms Landing

Experience Ripley

Ripley Museum - Ripley Ohio

Brown County, Ohio

Thanks, WCRob.

[LancasterNative]

This is an absolutely wonderful part of Ohio! It feels like you're in the South...

Adams, Brown, and Clermont counties are often referred to collectively as "Ohio's Bluegrass Region" because of both the physical/natural characteristics of the area and its people/culture. Fishing, camping, hiking and hunting are popular here. So is auto racing, arts & crafts, country music—and of course, Bluegrass!

Sorry if I sound like a local travel/tourism director—seriousy, no-one's paying me I just love this area of Ohio and it's an awesome place to be

[Ohiogirl81]

Ripley is a neat little town. A friend of mine owns a river-related gift shop there, and is active in trying to shed the town of its old river-rat reputation (probably perpetuated by snooty river-rat Cincinnatians, LOL). I always find something new and fascinating when I visit.

[cincyUK]

Originally Posted by LancasterNative

This is an absolutely wonderful part of Ohio! It feels like you're in the South...

Adams, Brown, and Clermont counties are often referred to collectively as "Ohio's Bluegrass Region" because of both the physical/natural characteristics of the area and its people/culture. Fishing, camping, hiking and hunting are popular here. So is auto racing, arts & crafts, country music—and of course, Bluegrass!

Sorry if I sound like a local travel/tourism director—seriousy, no-one's paying me I just love this area of Ohio and it's an awesome place to be

The reason why it's the best part of Ohio is that it has nothing in common with Ohio itself, and more like KY. Cincy on the river is part outer blue grass region of the US...

Bluegrass region - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Pathwalker]

Originally Posted by cincyUK

The reason why it's the best part of Ohio is that it has nothing in common with Ohio itself, and more like KY. Cincy on the river is part outer blue grass region of the US...

Bluegrass region - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's a bit of a slap in the face, isn't it? The reason why a part of Ohio is the best part is because it's like a different state??

I guess Ohio is a real hell-hole, isn't it. Surely there is nothing good about Ohio, is there?

[LancasterNative]

Originally Posted by cincyUK

The reason why it's the best part of Ohio is that it has nothing in common with Ohio itself, and more like KY. Cincy on the river is part outer blue grass region of the US...

Bluegrass region - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No wonder!

[esya]

I work with a friend here in Denver who still has relatives in that part of Ohio. He goes back for a week every year at thanksgiving and to deer hunt. He loves it, and we always enjoy talking about how beautiful it is, but the reality is all his relatives that are still there are really struggling financially. There are not too many ways to make a living. In a place like that you garden, can or freeze everything, and hunt, and actually use all the meat you get, and do whatever else you can to make ends meet. We all used to do it more in rural Ohio but now so many of us live in the city or suburbs, we can't imagine it.

I used to live in that idyllic part of Ohio (and yes it is like Kentucky because of the Terminal Morraine, those of you who had Ohio geography) and my grandmother lived in southwestern, not southeastern, Ohio, in Hillsboro, another nice hilly area, but again, it's not like Cleveland or even Cincinatti because....it's not. She milked cows, made butter, canned food, made her own bread, and sewed her clothes. It just was not that long ago.

The farmhouses, a lot of them, were Greek Revival vernacular and it was shocking to me to see so many of them destroyed in the New Orleans floodwaters--to me they were always farmhouses. Sadly, most of the more humble Greek Revivals, which were a HUGE architectural trend, one of the first truly American housing stocks, have been destroyed leaving only the fancier mansions of the wealthy that are not at all the same.