A Slice of Ohio Part 1: Indian Lake - Summer2020 Episode 27.1
i'd like to thank trade for sponsoring this episode in this episode we are going to explore yet another slice of the buckeye state first we're going to spend some time in indian lake state park with old and new friends we'll go for a ride on a rare amphi car and a crazy fast pontoon boat [Music] then historic clifton mill a quick stop at columbus the state capital and ending at hawking hills on the foothills of the [Music] my appalachians irv wherever i want to be because i'm free in my rv well we are in the bokkai state ohio is one of those states that might surprise a lot of people it is relatively under the radar for most except for the locals and sometimes it feels like they want to keep it that way but in fact there is so much to see and do that i couldn't do it all in just one episode just like last summer when we visited putin bay on lake erie this summer we're doing yet another slice of the state beginning at indian lake on the western part and ending at hawking hills on the foothills of the appalachians what a coincidence that i arrived right behind our friend jim i swear we did not plan this [Music] as you probably know i am a coffee drinker i use espresso grounds for my cuban coffee my wife is she drinks regular so i got a little selection here for both of us but if you are like me you probably drink the same coffee all the time but not anymore i'm expanding my palate here and with trade you get to discover new coffees from the nation's best local roasters you just take a quiz and trade curates matches just for you you choose your delivery frequency and they deliver right to your door at the peak of freshness and as you rate matches trade will fine-tune your selection with coffees you will love all the coffee by the way it is roasted and shipped within 24 hours of ordering and they use compostable packaging so it is environmentally friendly and this coffee comes with information about the roaster and the notes for example this one is says look for notes of dark chocolate caramel and cane sugar i'm not even gonna put sugar on this one so i can taste all that by the way trade guarantees that you will love your first coffee but if by any chance you don't they'll send you a different bag for free oh that is good now you my viewers will get 50 of your first bag when you sign up this offer is valid for the first 100 people who click the link in the description take the quiz and enter the code travelrobert50 i'll put that in the description too by the way and free shipping is included well here we are indian lake campground here and there that's james rig over there it hasn't quite leveled yet and uh well yeah beautiful day here in in ohio ever since we arrived jim has been trying to coordinate with this gentleman joe shannon who owns some very unique watercrafts and they think he's arrived let me tell you it's been hectic it's been hectic the the boat is here the traveling buckeyes are here by the way hello there all right oh you got that oh you got the the the dji yeah i thought you got the new the new gopro i'm like oh i'm jealous yeah anyways here we are and um and jim i don't know it's this is like like an episode of my crazy ohio family but don't worry we'll at some point we're gonna we're gonna get it together and that was it wow look at the paint job on that thing it is a classic glastron carlson scimitar with t-tops it is quite a beauty actually [Music] this is traveling robert knees this is a traveling buckeyes what year is this boat so it's a 1980 it might be an 81 um glasstrong scimitar blastron still they're still in business um they were they were kind of a premier boat maker when they you know when the fiberglass went to fiberglass in the in the 60s so they're really popular in the 60s which was fiberglass the elvis had one um but then this this was their flagship in 80 or 81 i think they for three years 79 80 81 they made i think it was 500 of them and um they uh and half of them went to europe oh really yeah so we're thinking about 250 in the country and uh i i'd like to offer yeah yeah i like that i'd like to think this is one of the best examples left i've seen at least one other one online it looked probably better than this i've never seen that before that's awesome how do we do this so you can step here on the wood and then preferably down to here if you can't if you can yeah here we go perfect [Music] all aboard there we go here we go it is a truly beautiful boat one of those rare and unique things and as i hinted earlier joe seems to be a collector of such tomorrow we'll get to see another one even more unique i think we're on our way to cranberry resort waterfront bar and grill which is actually located on seminole island one of the so-called indian islands in the middle of the lake you can drive to it but it is much cooler to arrive by boat and it is such a beautiful afternoon here as we approach magic hour we are even getting some incipient fall colors here in late september [Music] so now zooming across the lake [Music] we are approaching the islands and this is one of those lakes with lots of nooks and grannies and i am so glad we hooked up with joe because this is one of those places best enjoyed with a boat [Music] well sunset is upon us we must be close to our destination yes there it is cranberries [Music] no no no pelicans i think they're like like seagulls or leg goals right there will be lake goals i think it is [Music] all right we made it we're gonna let them do their thing and then awesome yes beautiful and the beautiful time of the day to be here on the lake it's almost sunset as you can see [Music] oh i'm famished i haven't had a ruben since since kentucky like two years ago such a great time hanging out here [Music] and just like that they turned into night see you tomorrow [Music] well good morning it's a beautiful fall morning here at indian lake state park in ohio it is a brand new day and i have a feeling jim has a whole action-packed itinerary planned for us so let's go pick up corey and hit the road unfortunately christy can't make it today morning first we're going back to cranberry because the owner jimmy has invited us to ride on his pontoon which is nothing short of spectacular that right there is sandy beach bridge built at a time when there used to be a great amusement park here here's the dam and that's a beautiful boat right there [Music] i just discovered jim's car has a sunroof much better for filming and we have arrived i'm gonna fly the drone while we wait for jimmy [Music] there's jim showing corey his drone there he is that's a nice pontoon [Music] sadly jimmy is no longer with us he died in a tragic accident less than three months after this was filmed which is very sad he was that guy who seemed to have everything a prosperous business all the toys his own island on the lake and the super nice gentleman i'm glad i got to meet him if ever so briefly you guys ready yep we're ready oh yeah [Music] now this has got to be one of the fastest pontoon boats ever i think we got up to 60 miles per [Music] hour [Music] yeah definitely a fun ride [Music] lots of boats lots of activity here on the north side of the lake as we make our way to akison's resort where joe is probably waiting for us with his empty car yes you heard correctly amphicar so far very impressed by indian lake and everybody has been so friendly [Music] there he is now look at that that's a beauty [Music] he's barb he's got like a bungee type straps in the front i got this side look at that it's an amphi car hey joe how are you boy how are you good man good man good morning that's beautiful 1965 1965 1965 amphicar i'm probably not completely up on my numbers so so don't quote me on all this but it was built they were built between 63 and 67 i think um the company went out of business in 1969 yeah imagine they didn't make too many of them right 3 900 3900 3900 i forget exact numbers yeah yeah they made 3 900. um we're not sure how many are left it was built for the u.s market they were built in west germany um so most of them came over to came over the united states but they didn't sell very well so a lot of them went back to went back to europe and no one knows how many there is a number floating around out there this is so cool well we're gonna take turns riding it and while they ride i'll capture all this from the air [Music] [Music] they came back to pick up barb who was reluctant at the beginning and off they go again [Music] up [Music] so [Music] i think it is my turn now [Music] so people always ask how the door seal on these and there's a double lip seal there's a seal here that gets replaced every so often and this is probably original and when the door is shut you pull this up and it sucks the door shut and then it's usually water and it does make a pretty water tight seal right it does make it watertight um this one really doesn't leak at all um years ago i had that door leak um for a bit it was so it got rusty from the inside and bowed out a little bit and so it had a small constant drip that i would run the village pump every so often but i've had that repaired and i haven't had any problems since so yeah i could be in the water for hours jimmy is going to follow us on the pontoon so they can take some b-roll which is technically a tritone by the way since it has three holes a couple of other things that people would seem to ask is the engine specs it said the engines out of a triumph but uh triumph harold it was a presence for the spitfire at the time it was the best horsepower to weight ratio that they could find so it's 43 horsepower [Music] we got some away from that boat [Music] and here's joe doing his own social media update such a cool guy [Music] this is the actuator for the propeller so i can just put it neutral there's a neutral i can put it reverse the same way um and they will work independently of each other and they will also work together so when i'm coming out of the water i can leave the propellers engaged and then put it in first gear so when you get a little head of steam going this is something that you don't see every day it's a car it flows [Music] well this was so much fun and such a unique experience but all good things come to an end joe thanks for the ride for both rides till we meet again [Music] i'm sorry ohio once but the secret is out this is a great lake and you wouldn't think so at first sight i mean it is kind of flat all around not a whole lot of topography but there is something about it isn't there [Music] lots of very nice houses all around the lake and you gotta love the lighthouse right [Music] oh there's the state park right there [Music] here's the revolving statue of virgin mary erected in 1964 and once part of the sandy beach park and there's once again the pedestrian bridge connecting the two sides of the park at one point known as ohio's million dollar playground but in spite of the virgin mary statue which was intended to bring families back the park fell into disrepair at some point in the 1960s and the rest is amusement park history [Music] if you really want that burrito you know you can just duck your boats and yeah and then you got donuts and there's a mcdonald's too around here that has that drive but yeah this used to be two amusement parks the catholic and the protestant and uh that's the bridge that joined the you know the the let's call it the ecumenical bridge yeah that story about the two amusement parks the one protestant and the other one catholic may not be entirely accurate seems dubious and i haven't been able to corroborate so take it with a grain of salt but it is a good story nonetheless let's get back to cranberries so we can continue exploring by land [Music] i believe this was jimmy's island and look at this other island that's tiny [Music] i think we've had enough aquatic fun for one day so let's continue by land next we're going to this town called bell fountain for lunch but first here's tecumseh one of the indian isles oh check it out covered bridge i love covered bridges [Music] just outside belle fountain we encountered the highest point the whole state of ohio elevation 1549 and uh yeah this is it campbell hill i thought that the highest point as logic would dictate would be in the eastern part of the state by the foothills of the appalachians but no i was wrong it is actually here in this otherwise mostly flat area [Music] here we are belle fountain coming up here to the left after the logan county courthouse we are going to encounter court avenue the oldest concrete street in america in 1891 one george bartholomew invented a process for paving using portland cement and court avenue was the first street to be paved using that process we are hungry and there's a brewery the cleverly named brew fountain so let's partake we're gonna have ourselves some i'm going to have some ipas barb is going to have something i don't know what she's going to have we have two two dd's here designated drivers just in case jim you know see how gin parts i forget the name but it's an ipa yeah very nice cozy we got some pretzels and some wraps we just ate here at brew fountain i thought it was called brew fontaine but that's because we're in the town of belle fountain or belle fountain as jim says it is pronounced that is supposed to be a really good burger there and they have a pizza place but the name bell fountain comes from the french belfonten meaning beautiful fountain but the locals have adopted the anglicized pronunciation so belle fountain it is [Music] and now we're gonna drive on the oldest concrete street in america [Music] next we're gonna stop at the marion county village of morrill jim's hometown population 399. the village was named after samuel morrill the original owner of the town site and the post office has been in operation since 1877. [Music] jim must know have a thing for farm equipment because he just brought me to this farm that's his his biggest tractor all kidding aside this is where james dad and his siblings grew up and he knows i've been meaning to do a video documenting where our food comes from and what better place than here so maybe next time i'm in ohio we'll work on that he's in this group of people they're experimenting on farming different practices from the guys that do the records that's why it takes a lot more labor to do this corn beans corn beans but by doing it it gives the corn more more growth or more sunlight next up nothing fancy science and designs owned by jim's friend scott arnold the oldest sign shop in the area he actually started as a kid working with his dad and at the time it was all painted by hand he's been actually working on a special edition t-shirt we're going to be releasing soon and it looks like i'm gonna get to print my own shirt how cool is that [Music] okay my turn once again [Music] i'm getting good at this maybe not the big overhead the chickens are up top and below is where there's manure we're gonna start heading back it is friday and i have a live stream to do [Music] the round building is the jh manchester round barn built in 1908 it is the largest round barn east of the mississippi and we made it in the nick of time accessible bathroom corey here is filming a behind the scenes uh video with his gopro and that's something tonight we have to figure out how he can get me like that that memory card so i can get some of his footage and [Music] [Applause] i know [Music] so oh what is diner supposed to be a good place this is gold the lake monster you know the lake monster we're gonna have breakfast gym barb and the traveling buckeyes let's just cruise around the lake shall we this is the historic orchard island post office let's stop once again by the location of the old amusement park besides the amusement park this was once the location of a great dance hall all that remains is the recently renovated bridge all right steep grade foot traffic only 25 grade yeah it is an old bridge not necessarily ada compliant this is the view from the top looking north towards the lake and our lady of fatima here on the right [Music] [Music] all right let's go back down we're running late let's go back to the campground hitch up and we're gonna start heading south towards clifton gorge state nature preserve and historic clifton mill both near a town coincidentally called clifton but first let's pay a visit to the dump and portable water stations [Music] i forgot to show you but they have like a courtesy sewer hoses so you don't have to pull out your own they have uh they have sewer houses that's pretty cool ohio state parks thank you now we're gonna fill up with potable water and uh and off we go there's jim in front of me he's gonna park in the overflow and ride with me [Music] jim is actually coming with me for this leg of the trip i'm coming to see you barb kicked me out all right see you in atlanta we'll have to bed out build on the bedroom all right i'll sleep in the town yeah yeah i'll i'll make the dinette for for jim it's going cold i gotta get out of ohio before snow starts falling and gem goes south we've still got more to explore next we're going to clifton mill as i said clifton gorge columbus and hawking hills but more about that on the next episode until then thank you so much for watching and see you on the road once again i'd like to thank trade for sponsoring this episode i'm writing writing in my rv
2021-04-06 16:21
