by Howard Snider # 93064

The Rally scheduled for 2005 in my home town of Lima, Oh. has brought many new things into my life. First and most of all it’s my first National, and being one of the few BMW owners in this area, I volunteered to help in any way possible. So before I could blink an eye, I am one of the co-chairs of the hospitality committee.  To me this means I have to be very knowledgeable of my area, its history, scenic areas, great places to eat, shopping, and of course riding the area roads. I thought I knew the first items pretty well so I concentrated on the riding part.

In the course of my scenic rides in the area, I have met many new people, seen things I have lived near for most of my entire life and never seen. I stopped at places to eat that I never considered before, and answered hundreds of questions about my R1200 CL.

Today I went for a cruise thru some scenic areas south of the rally site over roads seemingly designed with cruising in mind. Starting near my home I traveled down south on Rt. 235 heading for Rt.245 located south of Indian Lake. Enroute I happened across a small Restaurant named Ma and Pa’s at the intersection of Rt’s 235 and 47. With a name like that who could resist a stop for coffee and conversation. Not me! Inside there is a small lunch counter with 3 stools, a couple of small tables with some near the window, and a side room with more tables. I took a seat at the counter, ordered my coffee and a piece of custard pie. It soon became oblivious from overhearing conversations that this was a regular stop for most of the patrons who appeared to be locals. The good natured bantering going on quickly led to my involvement and a feeling of peace and contentment. The coffee was strong and the pie very delicious. It was my need to complete the ride that drew me away from this small happy place and back on the road.

Shortly thereafter I arrived at the intersection of Rt.235 and 245. So began a ride down a road heading east to Marysville, OH. That was smooth, over small hills with sweeping turns that just screamed for more speed. Torn between looking at the scenery and paying attention to the turn, I quickly decided to slow down and cruise easily so I could look around more. I saw farmers harvesting corn and soy beans, trying to beat the scheduled rain coming in. I saw trees ablaze with leaves of colors an artist would be hard pressed to paint. I saw small children playing in piles of those leaves, and animals in the fields eating or just laying around enjoying the sun. I passed thru small towns with people walking the sidewalks enjoying the same things I was. It seemed like no one was working, except for the farmers, all seemed to be relaxing. What a way to live.

I came to a small town named West Liberty, OH nestled in the hills. At home I had read about this scenic area so I looked for Maries Candies, a chocolaholic’s nirvana. And I wasn’t disappointed. This is a definite must revisit spot for me. They had over 80 varieties of chocolates, peppermint chews, peanut brittle, our famous buckeyes, and even old fashioned hard candies. These chocolates are even better than Godiva’s. All this nestled in a renovated train station, in itself a place to see.

Pulling myself away reluctantly (notice a pattern here), I rode about a mile outside town to the 1^st Piatt Castle. The second one is another mile down Rt.245. The Limestone rock homes were built in the 19^th Century and were lived in by the Piatt families until about 1985. Now they are open to public viewing at a single or combined fee. The wood inside the homes came from trees growing on the property and milled right on site. A great place to see how each generation adapted their house during changing times. Although still privately owned museums, they are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Leaving the sedate grounds of the second castle I continued down the road another mile to the Ohio Caverns. The largest and most beautiful of all caverns in Ohio, the tour is about a mile in length and you will see crystal stalactite and stalagmite formations. The formations are in a constant stage of development and the coloring is unexcelled. The temperature is a constant 54 degrees and the air is fresh .It is located on a 35 acre facility directly above the caverns with a picnic area and shelter houses if you desire additional rest. In addition, there is a souvenir and gift shop on the grounds. If you’ve never been in a cavern it’s a must see.

After all these stops and meeting lots of nice folk, I started the road towards home. Coming up Rt.30 from Marysville headed toward Kenton, I passed thru a small town named Mt. Victory. This place has 14 antique shops in a town of less than 700 people. They are litterly next door to one another. If you can’t find it here, I don’t know where else to look. This town borders our local Amish area so there are homemade items everywhere. On the way out of this town I saw a sight out of the early 1900’s. An old Gulf gas station with glass tops on the pumps. Purchased in July of 2004, it has been in the process of renovation by an individual and is not open for viewing but I was able to look thru the windows and see a checkerboard sitting on a pickle barrel, penny candy jars on the shelves, old license plates, and numerous other items.

As it was starting to get late and I still had 40 miles to ride, I didn’t have time to cruise the back roads in this Amish countryside as I had hoped. Oh well, an excuse for another day ride. All in all, traveling these roads, surrounded on both sides with farms, hills, and trees in their fall suits, made this one of my most enjoyable rides, and taught me plenty about my home State of Ohio. I know you will enjoy it as well. See you at the rally.