Kelley Views: Wheeling to Herman (part 1)

One room school in Prosperity, West Virginia

Driving from D.C. and heading west, we followed I-74 through the western arm of Maryland, and then we chose to go “off-interstate” through very hilly, pretty West Virginia countryside. We were struck by a throwback one-room school house along the way in Prosperity.

Wheeling West Virginia was delightful. It’s a historic town on the Ohio River with a mining, manufacturing and river transport background. We discovered the quirky Later Alligator Café right on the edge of the Old Marketplace, which is now an arts and crafts center through the oldest commercial district. Later Alligator specializes in crepes, interestingly, and has many other dishes. Our dinners of the sandwiches "Not Mush Room in Here" and "Deja Vu" (and house specialty tomato basil soup topped with puff pastry) and our lunch the next day were delicious. Ruth took time to research Hofmeister family history at the county courthouse and historical society.

Later Alligator Cafe in Wheeling based their decor on local history, primarily Wheeling Steel a major influence on the city's past.

Granville Ohio is a pretty town that looks much like it probably did 100 years ago. Houses and buildings are well maintained and it is set in rolling countryside about 30 miles from Columbus. We really enjoyed visiting Ruth’s friends Sue and Gary McKaig from mid-1960s days in Los Angeles days. From there we again drove off-interstate, through rolling farmland and small towns including Bloomington, Ohio, on our way to Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is built on seven hills (actually more) along the Ohio River and those geographic factors define the historic city. We visited Mariemont just outside Cincinnati, where Tom’s father grew up; we walked around central Cincinnati and its famous Fountain Square; and spent some time in the Contemporary Arts Center; then the Cincinnati Art Museum, a world class institution in this city that has appreciated the arts since the city's founding in 1788.