Wednesday, Metamora, IN

Back in June or July when the four of us got together Doug found these cool places to go to when we were going to be in Cincinnati.

Our first stop this morning is Heritage Village north of the city. We arrived a little bit after they opened because we had a full day planned and lots of traveling to do. This place is made up of lots homes from the 1800’s in this park-like setting. A guide goes with you from house to house and explains the living conditions of the time. Ours started in the back with the oldest house from 1804. It was fun and interesting to see how through the years our quality of life has gotten better and better. Appliances, fabrics, and medicines made our lives easier and last longer.



Down the street we found an Arby’s to have lunch at (no it wasn’t on the same street as all of the old houses!)

We drove NW about 55.3 miles to Metamora, Indiana. There we found the Whitewater Canal State Historical Site that was the last remnants of a canal that was meant to take Whitewater Valley goods to the Ohio River for marketing. The project took 11 years to build the 76 mile canal starting in 1836. It never did reach the Ohio River and it did not operate for very long.



There was a cute little 19th century town here with museums, shopping, and eateries. Our main focus was taking a canal boat along the canal, drawn by two horses. It would go on the oldest wooden aqueduct in the US. The roundtrip only took about 25 minutes but it was fun.



Afterwards we stopped in a few of the stores that were open and found our favorite treat (ice cream) in the local candy store.

40 miles away in Aurora, IN we visited this great looking mansion on the Ohio River called HillForest. Karen and I had visited it before so we thought we would share it with Doug and Betty. It was built in 1855 for a wealthy man and the front is supposed to resemble the front of a steamboat. They painted it last year for $40,000 and it looks great.



We tried to cross the Ohio River on the defunct Aurora Ferry but since we couldn’t do it 4 years ago I don’t see why we thought we could do it this time. It hasn’t operated for many decades. Whoops.

Dinner – Subway

We headed up river to the Anderson Ferry and crossed the river about 8 miles downriver from Cincinnati. It is difficult to explain this unique car ferry but I’ll give it a try. The towboat is alongside the 12-car carrying platform. The nose of the towboat is permanently attached but the stern is allowed to swing freely. This allows the towboat to turn around without having to actually turn the car ferry around. Going one way across the river the towboat’s port side is against the ferry. Going the other way across the river the towboat’s starboard side is against the ferry.



We found a shortcut up the hill after getting off the ferry and found our motel quickly with excellent navigation by Doug.