WEST VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA West, OHIO, INDIANA

VIRGINIA (Richmond, Arlington, Norfolk, Harrisburg)

Day 82/13 Sat Aug 23
The Awakening. Sand protected by a row of large rocks and covered at low tide, is a bearded man with a half head, left hand, right arm, left leg and right foot protruding. Z
This 72-foot (22 m) statue by J. Seward Johnson, Jr., depicting a giant struggling to free himself from the earth, is located at National Harbour. The statue consists of five separate aluminum pieces buried in the ground, giving the impression of a distressed giant attempting to free himself from the ground. The left hand and right foot barely protrude, while the bent left leg and knee jut into the air. The 17-foot (5.2 m) high right arm and hand reach farther out of the ground. The bearded face, with the mouth in mid-scream, struggles to emerge from the earth. It was Created in 1980 as part of Washington, DC’s 11th annual Sculpture Conference. Real estate developer Milton Peterson purchased the sculpture for over $700,000 in 2007 for installation at his new National Harbour development in Maryland. Crews removed The Awakening from Hains Point in February 2008 for its move to National Harbour. At the National Harbour development, the sculpture was installed on a specially built beach along the Potomac River. 

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, Virginia, dedicated to the memory of George Washington, the first president of the United States and charter Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22. The tower is fashioned after the ancient Lighthouse of Ostia in Ostia Antica (or Rome). The 333-foot (101 m). The memorial sits atop Shooter’s Hill. 
National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. One hundred eighty-four died as victims in the building and on American Airlines Flight 77 during the September 11 attacks. A small wall of granite has all the names. Under several small trees are marble “benches” supported on one end with a water channel running under each. The names of one to three people are commemorated at each bench. 
Tyson’s Corner Centre. A large mall with many of the large stores is separate. 
Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in Virginia on 800 acres (3.2 km²) along the banks of the Potomac River.
Native American petroglyphs have been discovered within the park on cliffs overlooking Difficult Run.
The Patowmack Canal, which George Washington partially funded, was a one-mile (1.6 km) bypass canal that began operating in 1785 to allow small barges to skirt around the falls and to distribute manufactured goods upstream and raw materials downstream. The park visitor center had the bottom portions of two wooden lock gates from the canal excavated in the 1980s.
During the construction of the canal, blasting powder, which at the time was essentially gunpowder, was used to blast through solid rocks. This is one of the first known examples of blasting powder being used for engineering purposes anywhere in the world. The canal was never a profitable enterprise. With the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the opposite side of the river and the oncoming age of railroads, the project was abandoned in 1830.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly. Part of the Smithsonian complex of museums, this air/space museum has an IMAX theatre and a massive Boeing hangar with hundreds of planes – war, space, passenger, balloons, hundreds of kinds of missiles, and German and Japanese planes. The highlights are the Space Shuttle, Concord (the fastest passenger plane used from 1976-2003, with a speed of twice the speed of sound), and the Lockheed S72 Blackbird plane (top speed 2,124 miles/hour, which flew at 30,500 feet, necessitating a pressure suit and a camera with resolution to 6 inches). Free, but $15 parking fee.
The Red Fox Inn & Tavern, Middleburg. Established in 1725, it is the oldest continuously operated original tavern in the US. It is lovely inside with lots of wood, beautifully framed art (mainly dogs, horses and a red fox). The host was unusually friendly and gave me a handout about the inn.
ON McDonald’s on my way to Harper’s Ferry. 

WEST VIRGINIA (Charleston, Morgantown, Parkersburg)

Day 83/14 Sat Aug 23
These were all long drives most often on narrow, winding and hilly roads. 
HARPER’S FERRY
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and includes the historic center of Harpers Ferry, notable as a key 19th-century industrial area), Shenandoah Valley in Jefferson County, West Virginia; Washington County, Maryland and Loudoun County, Virginia,.all within 50 miles (80 km) of Washington, D.C.,  “The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature.
The park was originally planned as a memorial to John Brown, responsible for what is by far the most famous incident in Harpers Ferry’s history, his 1859 raid and capture of the federal armory.
Old Town is essentially an open-air museum with shops reminiscent of past times: Shoe store, Hat store, Dry goods, etc. An elevated railway borders the south of the town.

MARTINSBURG
Easternmost West Virginia. (Martinsburg). DARE
Belle Boyd House, Martinsburg. Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy. In 1862, she informed Stonewall Jackson the strength of the small Union force. She was jailed twice. In 1863, she sailed to England on a blcokade runner. In 1865, she wrote the book “Boyd in Camp and Prison. She died in 1900. Her father built this circa-1853 Greek Revival house. It is now the regional museum and Visitor’s Centre. Free

The Dark Side
Moundsville: West Virginia Penitentiary
Weston: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
White Sulphur Springs: Greenbrier Nuclear Bunker
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PENNSYLVANIA WEST (Pittsburgh, Altoona, Erie)
Flight 93 National Memorial. Part of 9/11 terrorist attack, this plane took off from Newwark International on a United Airlines flight to San Francisco with a goal to crash into a Washington destination (the Capital building?). However the passengers stormed the cockpit and crash landed the plane in a field near Shanksville.
The memorial is lined up with the flight path pointing to the crash site marked by a 17-ton boulder. It is far below the Visitor’s Centre along with the Memorial Plaza with the names of the 40 victims on white marble panels and the Debris field. The Field of Honour is a 1.2 mile tree-lined path to the Memorial Plaza.
The museum has a great time line of the entire 9/11 attack. All the flights were picked as they typically had few passengers and were long-haul flights to Californian destinations and would have a full load of fuel.
About one mile from the centre is the Tower of Silence which has bells that ring. Free
Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Johnstown. On May 31, 1889, the Fork Dam, an earth filled dam backing up the two-mile long Lake Conemaugh broke after over 24 hours of heavy rain. A wall of water up to 60 feet high drained the lake in 40 minutes and took 57 minutes to reach Johnstown killing over 2000 people. The dam had been built by a South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, a social club with several famous members (including the Carnegies an Mellons). The last body was recovered in 1911 in Cinncinati. The Dark Side. Free
Fort Ligonier, Ligonier. This fort dates to the French Indian War, part of the Seven Years War, possibly the first world war (it involved most of Europe and the NE US. It was built by the British General Forbes in 1758 after an arduous 300 mile journey through eastern Pennsylvania. It was the first fort west of the Allegheny Mountains, could hold 5000 men and was never taken by the enemy. The present fort is an entire recreation with several log cabins, ovens to make bread, several types of carts and the stockade, a wall of horizontal logs topped with outward facing log spikes.
The most interesting thing was a time-line not specifically related to the fort that listed all US wars and the American casualties: War of Independence 1775-81 – 25,000, WWI 100,000, WWII 400,000, Korea 36,000, Vietnam 58,000, Gulf War 0, War on Terror (Iraq and Afghanistan) 2,000. $17, $14 reduced
ON McDonalds east of Pittsburg

Day 85/15 Mon Aug 25
PITTSBURGH
Pittsburgh Glass Center. A glass studio whose main exhibit was a show of glass up for auction. There were some amazing pieces and I wonder how all this done. The workshops and history of Pittsburg glass were closed. Free 
Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh’s (Pitt) main campus. At 535 feet (163 m), the 42-story Late Gothic Revival structure is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest university building (fifth-tallest educationally purposed building) in the world, after the main building of Moscow State University. It is also the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world, after the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. First used in 1931 it is colloquially referred to as “Cathy” by Pitt students. It is a steel-frame structure overlaid with Indiana limestone and contains more than 2,000 rooms and windows. It functions as a primary classroom and administrative center of the university, and is home to the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Social Work, and a number of its departments, as well as the Frederick Honors College. It houses multiple specialty spaces, including a studio theater, food court, study lounges, offices, computer and language labs, 31 Nationality Rooms, and a 4-story-high, vaulted, gothic study and event hall. The building contains noted examples of stained glass, stone, wood, and iron work and is often used by the university in photographs, postcards, and other advertisements. Architectural Delights
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Wow, what a great glass house with a high domed roof. Special exhibits were on butterflies, summer flowers and Panama’s tropical forest.
Carnegie Museums. Parking was impossible and the area was mobbed by Penn students returning to class.
Strip District. In an older part of Pittsburg on the river, several restaurants and trendy restaurants have revived this district. 
Andy Warhol Museum. I’ve seen many Warhols all over the world. There were few surprised here. $25, $22 reduced. 
Randyland. Randy has created a very ecclectic collection of thrown away objects littering his yard and lower floor of his house. Even more prominent are all the signs on 2×6 short boards. Immediately on entering, I met Randy. After a fist pump, he immediately apologized for the place “I’m autistic” and “I failed kindergarten to grade 12”. He was busy looking for any glass or dangerous objects that needed cleaning up. I talked a lot about autism and directed him to my book. It seemed that he also had ADHD, common in autism. He handed me a pile of business cards and directed me to get one of the write-ups on a piece of paper. Randy has always been about helping others and revitalizing his neighborhood. Bizzarium.

Mattress Factory. Closed. A contemporary art museum (I dislike contemporary art).
Point State Park. A large piece of grass that extends under a freeway to a point of land on the river.
PPG Place is a complex of six buildings within three city blocks designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee. The buildings are all of matching black glass with silver metal trim with many jut outs and pyramidal ends to the towers. The buildings are recognized by their 231 glass spires, with the largest one 82 feet (25 m) tall and the surfaces of reflective insulating glass with over one million square feet of PPG’s Solarban 550 Twindow – 19,750 pieces. The primary building, One PPG Place, is a 40-story tower, with PPG Industries occupying half of the space. The complex also contains a 14-story building, and four 6-story structures. The lobby of One PPG is a 50-foot (15 m)-high entrance that features red glass. The building has 21 elevators, each with walls constructed of clear glass panels enclosing fractured glass.
The design of the building not only made it distinct, but created high energy-efficiency. Heat in the summer is reflected away from the building by the glass, while in winter infrared heat is reflected and contained within the building. The surface walls feature a barrier construction that effectively separates the interior walls from the exterior. The building also collects heat from computer equipment and recycles it throughout the structure. It opened in 1984.

Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines are two historic funicular railways, the last two remaining of 17 that still operate on original 1877 machinery. Originally built to carry workers, they now carry passengers up and down Mount Washington. The Duquesne Incline has red cars and has a nice museum on top. $5 return, Free if a Pittsburgh resident.
Cawley & Peoples Mortuary Museum, Marietta. A great museum with several hearses, embalming bottles, embalming techniques and a Packard car,
See only by phoning the active funeral parlour (
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WEST VIRGINIA
Wheeling Suspension Bridge. Historic suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River, dating to 1849 & once the largest in the world. It was the first bridge to span a major river west of the Appalachian Mountains and was important during the American Civil War. It was designed during the horse-and-buggy era, 2-ton weight limits and vehicle separation requirements applied in later years until it was closed to automobile traffic in September 2019. The main span is 1,010 feet (310 m) from tower to tower.

West Virginia Penitentiary, Moundsville, West Virginia is a retired gothic-style prison that operated from 1866 to 1995.

It has a castellated Gothic, stone structure with turrets and battlements with 5 feet thick walls at the base, tapering to 2½ feet at the top.
The tour offered on this Monday was the History Mystery Tour which I found touristy. Some interesting things were: Its Gothic Revival architecture showed great strength and conveyed to the mind a cheerless blank indicative of the misery which awaits the unhappy being who enters within its walls. The state used prison labor during the construction and had a carpentry shop, a paint shop, a wagon shop, a stone yard, a brickyard, a blacksmith, a tailor, a bakery, and a hospital. Revenue from the prison farm and inmate labor helped the prison financially which meant that it was virtually self-sufficient. A prison coal mine located a mile away, opened in 1921, helped fill some of the prison’s energy needs. Conditions at the prison during the turn of the 20th century were good with education a priority with a school and library completed in 1900. However, the conditions at the prison worsened through the years, and the facility would be ranked in the Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities list. One of the more infamous locations in the prison, with instances of gambling, fighting, and raping, was a recreation room known as “The Sugar Shack”.
In 1929, the state decided to double the size due to overcrowding. The 5 x 7-foot (2.1 m) cells were too small to hold three prisoners at a time, but until the expansion, there was no other option. Two prisoners would sleep in the bunks, with the third sleeping on a mattress on the floor. In total, thirty-six homicides took place in the prison. One of the more notable ones is the butchering of R.D. Wall in 1929, after “snitching” on his fellow inmates, he was attacked while heading to the boiler room by three prisoners with dull shivs. On Wednesday, November 7, 1979, fifteen prisoners escaped from the prison. January 1, 1986, was the date of the most infamous riot in the history of the penitentiary. Since it was a “cons” prison, most of the locks on the cells had been picked and inmates roamed the halls freely. Bad plumbing and insects caused rapid spreading of various diseases and with the prison holding more than 2,000 men crowding was an issue.
From 1899 to 1959, ninety-four men were executed at the prison. Hanging was the main method of execution until 1949 and were public viewings until June 19, 1931. On June 19, 1931, Frank Hyer was executed for murdering his wife. When the trap door beneath him was opened and his full weight settled into the noose, he was instantly decapitated. Following this event, attendance at hangings was by invitation only. Beginning in 1951, electrocution became the means of execution. The electric chair used by the prison, nicknamed “Old Sparky” was originally built by an inmate.
Toward the end of its life as a prison, the facility was marked by many instances of riots and escapes. The facility is now used for training law enforcement and corrects practitioners with regular mock-riot drills. $18, no reduction.

PARKERSBURG
North End Tavern & Brewery. Dating from 1889, it has a very modern facade but older features inside (several high tables seating 8 and wood booths. There are several sports memorabilia and big screen TVs.
Blennerhassett Hotel. 1889 with a full restoration in 1986. Restrooms were common places on each of the four guest floors.
ON Burger King Parkersburg. The odometer passed 20,000 kms in Parkersburg.

Day 84/16 Tue Aug 26
OHIO SOUTH
Ridges. Athens: The Ridges (Lunatic Asylum). Formerly known as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, it is a former mental hospital now owned by Ohio University. It operated from 1874 to 1993 and is known for its association with the Kirkbride plan (which emphasized humane treatment and therapeutic environments) for mental health treatment, as well as its later history of overcrowding and controversial practices.
The asylum offered various therapies, including hydrotherapy, electroshock therapy, and even lobotomies performed by Dr. Walter Freeman. By the mid-20th century, the asylum became overcrowded, and practices like lobotomies became more common, even as the hospital faced increasing scrutiny. The only road access to the Ridges goes to an Ohio State campus. I drove up some narrow roads and one led to a cemetery that I thought was the actual hospital.

Serpent Mound Tentative WHS (30/01/2008) is a 1,348-foot-long (411 m),  20 to 25 feet wide, three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound, the largest serpent effigy in the world. Conforming to the curve of the land on which it rests, with its head approaching a cliff above a stream, the serpent winds back and forth for more than eight hundred feet and seven coils, and ends in a triple-coiled tail. The shape mainly consisted of a layer of yellowish clay and ash reinforced with rocks, then covered with a layer of soil. The serpent head has an open mouth extending around the east end of a 120-foot (37 m)-long hollow oval feature that may represent the snake eating an egg. However, some scholars posit that the oval feature symbolizes the sun, the body of a frog, or merely the remnant of a platform. The effigy’s extreme western feature is a triangular mound approximately 31.6 feet (9.6 m) at its base and long axis.
The mound contained no artifacts or burials that would help establish the mound’s age. The two leading theories are that the mound was built by either the Adena Culture (800 BC to 100 AD) around 320 BC or the Fort Ancient Culture (1000 to 1750 AD) around 1070 AD. From charcoal samples, it is conjectured that the mound was originally built between 381 BC and 44 BC, with a mean date of 321 BC. The more recent charcoal found in the 1990s is likely the result of a “repair” effort by Indians around 1070 AD.
The Serpent Mound’s coils are aligned with the two solstices and equinoxes yearly.

I had been here in 2020, but the road was blocked. Free (theoretically there was an $8 parking fee but there was no one there.

CINCINNATI 
Purple People Bridge. Previously a vehicle bridge, the north lane is absent, the south lane still drivable and the narrow centre lane, a cement pedestrian lane. I crosses the Ohio River and connects Newport, Kentucky and Cincinatti. It is an old fashioned steel truss bridge painted blue/purple.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. I didn’t go as I didn’t feel I had much to learn. 
Ascent at Rebling Bridge is a residential building in Covington, Kentuckyin the greater Cincinnati area. It sits along the Ohio River across from the Roebling Suspension Bridge. It was commissioned in 2004 and was completed in March 2008 at a cost of approximately $50 million. Many newspapers have associated the Ascent with a trend toward signature architecture for residential buildings.
The building stands 293 feet (89 m) tall, 22 stories (comprising a lobby, parking level, amenities level, and 19 floors of luxury condominiums) and ends in a sloped spiral roof. The concrete structure slopes outward from its base on its eastern face and is clad in a glass curtain wall.^[4] It houses 70 condominiums.
The building is unique round cone shape narrower at the bottom and a steeply sloping roof. The windows are blue with cement rectangles. The bridge is a vehicle bridge with the south lane pedestrian side. It is a suspension bridge over the Ohio River with piers on each side.

Carew Tower is a 49-story, 574-foot (175 m) Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Cincinnati and is the second-tallest building in the city, it was Cincinnati’s tallest from 1930 until 2011. The tower is named after Mabley & Carew department store proprietor Joseph T. Carew, who was the namesake of a previous structure on the site.
From 1930 until 2022, the tallest of the complex’s three towers housed commercial offices but was beset by high vacancy rates and financial difficulties. In 2022, the tower was sold to convert it into a primarily residential building.
An art deco skyscraper with a stone 5-story bottom and a brick tower.
Tyler Davidson Fountain. A wonderful dark bronze fountain with many layers and statues. A winged woman is on top (water comes out of her hands), 4 statues under scallop shells, four statues sitting on animals (a snake, duck and 2 fish), cherubs, and a pool.
Greater Cincinnati Police Museum. An incredibly busy museum cluttered with everything police: badges, uniforms, hats, guns and a few crime stories. $8, $7 reduced
Cincinnati Fire Museum. The pride is a big engine. Also hand pumpers, ladder carts, a steam pumper, helmets and parade hats. $10, $9 reduced
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains is a Greek Revival church dedicated to Saint Peter’s imprisonment and liberation. Opened in1845. The striking single spire is made of pure white limestone and is 224 feet (68 m) high and the columns are 33 feet (10 m) high, symbolizing the number of years in Jesus’ life.
The interior is distinctly unique with Greek-themed mosaics depicting the Stations of the Cross, its ornate Corinthian columns and its massive bronze doors. The crucifix is by Benvenuto Cellini, the murals by Carl Zimmerman and the mosaic in the apse is the work of Anton Wendling.
In the mid-1950s, it underwent significant restoration and expansion. Architect Edward J. Schulte designed new transepts, a rectory, a sacristy, and archdiocesan offices. The church was re-dedicated as a cathedral on November 3, 1957, amid celebration and fanfare.
Wow, don’t miss this spectacular church. Outside is an unusual octagonal bell tower and several fluted columns. The inside has fluted columns with corinthian capitals, the Ways of the Cross are full length abstract paintings, an elaborate coffered ceiling, a great full-size mosaic at the back of the altar, a side gold altar at the cross, and a wealth of Greek revival elements.

Geir Collections and Research Museum. This holds the overflow of the Cincinnati Museum at Union Terminal. The gates were all locked and no entry was possible in this obscure museum.
Vent Havey Museum. About ventriloquists. It was closed but I wish it were open.

Creation Museum, Petersburg, Kentucky. It promotes a pseudoscientific form of young Earth creationism (YEC), portraying the origin of the universe and life on Earth based on a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative of the Bible. It is operated by the Christian creation apologetics organization Answers in Genesis (AiG).
The 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m²) museum cost US$27 million, raised through private donations, and opened on May 28, 2007. In addition to the main collection, the facility has a special effects theater, a planetarium, an Allosaurus skeleton and an insect collection. The 300 employees must sign a statement of faith affirming their belief in AiG’s principles.
Reflecting young-Earth creationist beliefs, the museum depicts humans and dinosaurs coexisting, portrays the Earth as approximately 6,000 years old, and disputes the theory of evolution. Scientists, educators, and theologians have criticized the museum for misrepresenting science and expressed concerns that it could harm science education, and even some Christians have expressed concern that its rejection of scientific consensus could damage the credibility of Christianity and its adherents. Tenets of young-Earth creationism enjoy substantial support among the general population in the United States, however, contributing to the museum’s popularity. Creationist exhibitions lack “valid connection with current worldwide thinking on their chosen discipline” and with “human knowledge and experience”, and are not in their view museums at all.
Its sister attraction is the Ark Encounter and combination tickets are sold.
My experience. About the literal interpretation that the world was created in 7 days. Parking was $15, $20 for oversized vehicles (I avoided this by parking near the entrance and walked in) and the museum very expensive. I asked about the price complaining about the $59.99, 49.99 reduced rate. A guy behind the desk said I could go for free. First, I got lost in the recreated forest (I assume the Garden of Eden) with a suspension bridge and wood bridge. The museum is massive and is a total pile of bullshit. Dinosaurs are the most common part of exhibits. Free (because I broke all the rules).
ON McDonalds east of Indianapolis. 

Day 85/17 Wed Aug 7

INDIANA (Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne)
INDIANAPOLIS/CARMEL/FISHERS
World War Memorial Plaza. A tall obelisk surrounded by a fountain in the middle of a grassy park. I thought this NM site also included the museum in the large building across the street. It has good exhibits on all the wars the US has been in with a concentration on Indiana residents and their roles.
These next three museums are in the River Park: Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (I should have gone to this but was tired of spending $25 on each museum), Indiana State Museum (didn’t look interesting), and the NCAA Hall of Champions (7.50 but I had no interest). I was parked illegally and was concerned about getting a ticket so saw none. 
Indianapolis Museum of Art. Wow, don’t miss this museum. It has great pieces across a wide range of art. I especially liked the Benin masks and the Design section. I spent an inordinately long time, at least 3 hours and read virtually every write up on each piece (but not in the religious art bit and cruised through the China and Japan bits). The Norman Rockwall was special, many pointillism pieces, plus one Van Gogh, one Monet. $19.99 reduced.
LIkewise, I didn’t see any of the following: Rhythm! Discovery Center. Permanently closed, Indianapolis Zoo, Indiana Medical History Museum, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
I spent a lot of time of time talking about travel with one of the docents.
ON McDonalds about 10 km north of Indianapolis.

Day 85/18 Thur Aug 28
I filled my propane bottles at a U-Haul, the most consistent and best place to get propane in the US. 
World’s Largest Ball Of Paint, Alexandria. Far out in the countryside and a significant detour, this is small house in the middle of nowhere. The door to the paint ball was open and I walked in, looked around and then left. I was met by the owner, a former house painter. The giant yellow ball hangs from a winch with a displayed weight – 11,570 pounds. A book details all the painters, the number of their coat (presently 30,120) and home town. He wrote the coat number with a black sharpie on the ball.
He got into this when playing ball with a friend and an errant ball landed in gallon of paint. That original ball hangs in a corner – 22 pounds. In 1977, he started on this ball. People from 68 countries have been involved. 3500 visited in 2025 and is not unusual to have the small room packed. He wanted me to sign the wall with thousands of names and messages on the walls and ceiling. He showed me his entries in the Guiness Book of Records and Ripleys Believe It Or Not. I told him about his entry in Nomad Mania.
He wanted to talk – and I believe he continues because he genuinely likes talking to people. Bizzarium.
Elwood Haynes Museum, Kokomo. Elwood Hayes (1857-1925) built the first gas powered car in the world in 1894 and stared the Haynes motorcar company and produced 60,000 vehicles by 1915. The house is full of memorabilia, photos, a 1905 car in the living room, exhibits on Delco and other manufacturers based in Kokomo. It is furnished like a normal house with a great master bedroom. Donation 
Cole Porter House and Museum, Peru. Cole Porter, one of the most urbane members of the great American songbook writers, was born and spent the first 10 years of his life in the American Midwest, in this Victorian home in Peru (pronounced “PEA-roo”).
Porter was born in 1891 to one of the wealthiest families in the state, the grandson of J. O. Porter, a coal and timber magnate. The elder Porter intended for his young grandson to become a lawyer, and sent him east to attend the Worcester Academy and later Yale University. At both schools, the young Porter found that he enjoyed playing piano and escaping overnight to New York with his companions rather than studying.
He defied his grandfather’s wishes, did not become a lawyer, and instead went on to become one of the iconic American composers. He left behind works like Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes as part of his lasting musical legacy, the soundtrack to the 1920s and ’30s.
Cole Porter’s musical career undoubtedly began in Peru. After mastering piano and violin before the age of eight, Porter’s mother helped him to write his first operetta. His father was a poet, and it’s believed he influenced Cole’s unique rhyming ability. Additionally, the town was not only a farming community but also a winter home for traveling circuses, the whimsical nature of which may have informed Porter’s sensibilities.
Though Porter rarely returned to the Midwest, preferring instead to reside in New York, California, Venice, and Paris, he kept it with him wherever he went. The songwriter was said to have ordered Arnold’s Fudge from his hometown shipped to wherever he was in the world. When his wife, Linda Lee Thomas, died in 1954 Porter had her buried next to his mother in Peru’s Mount Hope Cemetery. He joined them there after his death in 1964.
As for his stately childhood manor, it was first divided into apartments after the Porters moved into finer lodging. Over the decades the building fell into disrepair, and was discovered to be housing a meth lab. The Ole Olsen Memorial Theater purchased the building in 2004, and the building has been restored to its former glory as he Cole Porter Inn. Guests can relax in the rooms where the young musical genius got his start.

SOUTH BEND
Studebaker National Museum, Studebaker began in 1852 when brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend building horse-drawn wagons and carriages. In 1890, they started with electric cars (launched in 1902) and gasoline-powered vehicles in 1904.
Their popular models were the Champion, Commander, Big Six, and the futuristic Avanti. During World War II, Studebaker produced 2.5-ton trucks with many sent to the Soviet Union. In 1954, they merged with Packard but later reverted to the “Studebaker Corporation” name. However, the South Bend plant closed in 1963, and the company ceased car manufacturing in 1966. 

After two log cabins and the first church, a second (and the present) church was started in 1870 and finally finished in about 1890 with 450 square meters of glass in 116 windows and over 1,200 panels of glass. 

Indiana Dunes NP is the 61st national park declared in 2019. The park runs for about 20 miles (32 km) along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Today, most of the coastline has been settled for use as homes, factories, and businesses, with some areas reserved for public parks. A factor leading to the desire to preserve the dunes was the disappearance of the Hoosier Slide, a particularly large dune along this shore when the sand was used to make glass and with additions, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became a reality in the 1970s.
Four major glacial lake periods created the Indiana Dunes. Longshore drift transports sand southward along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. As they encounter streams bringing water from inland, sandbars are created and each sand spit would become a dune ridge.
Where I entered the park, there was a massive dune that seemed to create an unclimbable barrier. 

GO TO ILLINOIS CHICAGO