Covid Journal, Day 91: Ohio Road Trip

55 this morning, with light showers. I was so grateful for the rain; I spent all day yesterday getting the walled garden in shape and planting herbs, beans, a couple tomato plants in there, and planting other flowers here and there as well. So today I did not have to water everything. What a blessing.

We sold some furniture at our Marietta booth and needed to take something new to replace it. So I thought we might get two things done: take a shelf and other things to the booth, and take a road trip to Stockport Mill in Ohio, a place I've been wanting to visit ever since I saw a friend's photos of the place. It's only a couple hours from home, and only 45 minutes from Marietta. So I packed a quick lunch of cheese, crackers, fruit, water and two big mugs of coffee, we loaded the van and we were off.

The booth work took less than an hour, then we were on our "official" road trip. We promised ourselves back in May that we would do this every week. You can see how well we kept that promise! This is our third trip since the pandemic locked us down. It's funny how quickly the days pass, with so much to do here that we enjoy that going out seems like a real effort.

But we needed the break, and came home resolved to go more often. Again that promise. Will we keep it? We shall see!

So here's a bit of what we saw along the way:

Big beautiful church in Churchtown. What a coincidence! This was, surprisingly, a Roman Catholic church. Generally Catholic churches are scarce around here, but this one seems well-established. According to its website, "Amid the lovely plateau and the upland fields of Churchtown the gleaming cross of St. John's bell, 150 ft. high, may be seen for many miles.  The Church is set like a jewel in a sea of farms and has stood there for over 100 years.  The Church itself came from that very earth not more than a half mile from where she now stands.  It was 1865, that George Schilling gave the clay from which James Farrel molded the bricks which compose her.

Before 1851, Mass was offered in the homes of Daniel Quinn, Thomas McGalrry, and Mary McAfee, but in that year, Fr. Peter Perry, Pastor at Marietta, blessed a roomy frame structure, built on land donated by Michael McDermott as the first St. John the Baptist Church.  ... In 1866 the present building, except for the bell tower and vestibule, was  started on land donated by Mr. Jurden."

Not far along the road, we saw this imposing farmhouse, with a fine collection of Amish buggies in the yard. You can't see in the photo I snapped, but there are Amish children in Sunday dress playing on a swingset. On the front porch, a group of Amish women, and peeking around the corner and obviously up to mischief, a group of little Amish boys, also in Sunday best.

This is the mill we came to see. And as you can tell, it was a busy day with lots of visitors which made us uncomfortable. A group of about 20 motorcycles pulled in just as we did, so we opted to leave and look around the surrounding area.

The mill's website offers the following history: "The historic Stockport Mill is the last remaining mill on the Muskingum River. And now it's a one-of-a-kind inn and restaurant. A mill has operated on this site since 1842. Construction began on the current structure in 1906. Its milling equipment was operated by electricity generated by turbines harnessing the power of the Muskingum River. Today, hydroelectricity again powers the Stockport Mill.

Milling operations ceased in 1997. But the doors re-opened in May, 2000 as the Stockport Mill Inn and Restaurant on the Dam. Great care has been taken in preserving the original architecture and building materials. Each of our 14 guest rooms is distinctive, and all offer private balconies overlooking the beautiful Muskingum River. A dining terrace wraps around the Mill's first floor restaurant."

The lady at the counter just inside the door told us they no longer offer outside dining because of birds and bugs. What a shame--such a perfect location.

This building across the street is even older than the mill, and was once a hardware/general store.

On the Mill's front porch. Maybe one day we'll come back and stay overnight, when travel is safer.

The view behind the mill. I'd hoped to be able to sit out here, but no such luck.

Another of the old structures in town and also older than the mill, this now houses the town's post office on the first floor.

This is a pizza restaurant, right on the river, with picnic tables outside.

We drove over the bridge across the Muskingum River to the lock on the other side, which afforded great views of the mill and the town,

and a picnic table. I spread the tablecloth I'd brought and we dined on Honey Sriracha cheese from the online shop Cheese Brothers, cracked pepper & olive oil Triscuits, oranges, and water. A feast, in a perfect location.

The lockkeeper was on duty, waiting for four barges to come upriver but they didn't arrive while we were there. It was he that told us much of the history of the town--and also that getting to any major shopping is a good 45-60 minute drive. He also told us that during the historic Great Flood of 1913, water reached the windows of the second floor of the mill. Amazing! The mill has survived many other floods on the Muskingum, although the locks and dams system has prevented the horrific floods of the past.

The Stockport Mill from across the river.

I am always fascinated by how the locks work. Boats pull into the slips, I think they're called, and water levels are raised or lowered so the boats can move on to the next level of the river. Pretty slick!

I was most intrigued by this marker and its story of "Old Jane," the first woman pilot on the river. I will need to look into that story!

A pretty heart-shaped leaf. Aspen?

More about our day in a later post. It was good to go, and as always, good to come home.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.