Mount Airy NC and the Mayberry Days Festival

nocarolina

Just out curiosity did you take some of the pictures while you were driving;-)

nocarolina:  I just love the "road" look of your tour.  Post more!!!

Yep, ALRUI, that's exactly what I did. I decided to do a little experimenting to see what my Canon was capable of, and found that I could take really nice photos out of the windshield with the car in motion, even at speeds of 50 mph or more. Be assured that I never do this without checking to see if anyone's close behind me, and if there is, I don't even try it ( I may be a bozo but I'm not crazy.  ) One of the nice things about driving these minor two-lane highways is that, much of the time, I have the road to myself, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get all these great "behind the wheel" shots.  

nocarolina


Yep, ALRUI, that's exactly what I did. I decided to do a little experimenting to see what my Canon was capable of, and found that I could take really nice photos out of the windshield with the car in motion, even at speeds of 50 mph or more. Be assured that I never do this without checking to see if anyone's close behind me, and if there is, I don't even try it ( I may be a bozo but I'm not crazy.  ) One of the nice things about driving these minor two-lane highways is that, much of the time, I have the road to myself, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get all these great "behind the wheel" shots.  

I wondered about that.  I thought the autofocus would lock on the windshield.

Talk about deja vu. Didn't I do this yesterday? Once again I found myself driving into downtown Mount Sterling, but this time there would be no overnight stay in town... I wanna go home!

Don, the autofocus is no problem during the day; it even works pretty decently inside of  well-lighted tunnels ( remember East River Mountain Tunnel about seventy pages back? ) Nightime is another story, though. Every attempt that I've made to photograph through glass after dark has been a total failure.

At Mount Sterling, I left US 460 behind and headed north on KY 11 towards Maysville, where I would cross the Ohio River back into the Buckeye State.

Flemingsburg is the only town between Mount Sterling and Maysville, and by the time that I had gotten that far north, the hills had almost completely disappeared.  

Just before entering Maysville, KY 11 crosses the AA Highway ( KY 9. )    

Here's a couple of shots of downtown Maysville...

The floodwall that protects Maysville from the Ohio River's fury is decorated with very striking murals.

After taking my photos in Maysville, I drove across the Simon Kenton Bridge to Aberdeen on the Ohio side of the river.

Back in Ohio and ready for the last leg of the trip ( yes folks, believe it or not, this trip report is almost over.  )

Before heading back west towards home on US 52, I drove down to Aberdeen's riverfront to take a couple of photos of the suspension bridge.

After Aberdeen, I put my camera away and didn't get it out again until approaching Cincinnati. I was too tired at this point to care about getting more photos; besides, the increasingly cruddy weather didn't lend itself to good picture-taking. Once I got close to Cincy, I decided to grab a few more shots before it got dark.

I am happy to say, and I'm sure that you're happy to learn, that the next two photos are THE FINAL ONES of this trip report ( your collective sighs of relief are deafening! ) Both are of the John Roebling Bridge, which carries traffic from Cincinnati across the Ohio River to Covington KY. Roebling, the bridge's designer, went on to design the Brooklyn Bridge. Cincy's suspension bridge opened to the public in 1866, and was the first bridge to span the river in the Cincinnati area.     www.cincinnati-transit.net/suspension.html 

nocarolina- Thanks for the roadtrip.  I feel like I was a passenger in your car along for the ride.
I'd been through many of the areas you travelled into, but didn't take the time to stop.  NEXT time I will! 
Thank you again.

By the time that I reached the west side of Cincinnati, it had gotten dark, so any additional picture-taking had become a moot point. It was dinnertime and I was getting hungry, but there weren't any places to eat along my route that I could live with; nothing but the usual national chains. It wasn't until I reached Harrison OH, where there's a Skyline Chili restaurant, that I decided to stop and eat. A five-way and two cheese coneys, along with a couple of cups of gas station coffee, fueled me up for the final 275 miles of my "epic" journey. I arrived back home around 2 AM, and promptly collapsed face-first on the sofa. 

A five-way and two cheese coneys, along with a couple of cups of gas station coffee

What a perfect ending to a fantastic trip

I loved the report and all the photos. You did an amazing job of (almost literally) taking us for a ride. I'm already looking forward to your next trip, whenever that may be.

Thanks for sharing it all with us

Thanks for the EXCELLENT road trip! Very informative & FUN:-)

I really love the trip reports on roadfood and this was one of the best. It must have been a lot of work to get this put together but I really liked coming home from work or later in the evening and seeing what had been posted. 
The shots of the Mt. Airy festival really make me think of planning to attend the next one.

 The whole thing was great. Thanks.

Allan

Thanks, Bob!  This was a great trip!  I can't wait for the epic journey you'll take us on early next year.

I enjoyed this post and hope that others will post roadfood trips and vacations.