Anniversary Road Trip!

What do you do for your 32nd wedding anniversary when there is a COVID-19 pandemic?

Well, when your wife says "we need to go somewhere!" you get creative and figure out that you can drive across the state on Route 32 for your 32nd wedding anniversary.

State Route 32 Sign

So, on the day of our wedding anniversary, August 20th, we drove from Newtown OH to Marietta OH and saw some interesting sites along the way.

Our first stop Thursday morning was East Fork State Park just east of Batavia.

After a short break at the lake (see what I did there), we continued our drive east and stopped by the historic Buckeye Furnace State Memorial, just southeast of Jackson.

Once we left the Buckeye Furnace, it was a short drive to Athens OH. Between Athens and Belpre we stopped at a rest area and found The Healing Chapel, "Ohio's Smallest Church"

Once we arrived in Marietta, we found our lodging (The Lafayette Hotel) and then took a walk through historic downtown and enjoyed dinner by the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers. 

Here's a picture of Victoria sitting on the USMC bench in Veterans Walk of Honor in Marietta the evening of our trip across the state of Ohio.

The next morning, we had a nice traditional breakfast in the gun room of the hotel. Here's a picture of one of the gun displays.

After breakfast, we took another walk to find The Castle, which was built in 1855.

On our drive back home, mostly on Route 50, we stopped at Lake Hope State Park. The lodge and cabins sit atop a hill which is almost surrounded by the lake itself.

After enjoying our brief time at Lake Hope, we made our way to Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Adena Mansion & Gardens Historic Site was our objective there. According to historical lore, the Seal of Ohio was based on the eastern view from Adena. Here are a couple of pictures of that view.

Our last stop of the day before arriving back home was for Victoria. She was very excited to learn of the Country Crust Bakery near Bainbridge OH. It is located in a small Amish Mennonite community.

 

We enjoyed apple (Barak) and peach (Victoria) "frye pyes" and brought some cinnamon bread and apricot jam home with us. 

Overall, a very enjoyable trip commemorating our 32 years of marriage. As Victoria reminded me, we're now halfway to our 64 years :-)