Nomad Excursions into Northwestern Ohio

Ottawa Celebration Of Progress
175th Anniversary Mural in Ottawa, Ohio.

Today I had a state leadership meeting with the Christian Motorcyclists Association in Wapakoneta, Ohio at 11am. I decided to start the day bright and early and hit the road by 7am so I could launch on my excursion to locate several murals in some nearby small farm towns in north western Ohio. I left Newark and traveled through Columbus and headed northwest to my first stop in Bluffton followed by Pandora, Ottawa, and Columbus Grove, Ohio. I was able to locate all the murals I had found via research on the internet and catalogued my discoveries in a spreadsheet so that I would be able to locate and take pictures of the wonderful murals I had found in those respective cities.

By comparison, most of these towns were very small, but integral hubs to the farming communities nearby with several train track traversing across this area of Northwestern Ohio. All in all, this was a very productive ride enjoying a quiet sunny warm ride in my excursion to discover these treasures hidden in each community revealing some of the history and character(s) of the community.

In the coming weeks I will begin to share many of the pictures featuring the full sized murals and then broken down into smaller sections (panels) to see the wonderful attention to detail that is in these wonderful works of Americana.

Head west young man

It's been a month since my last post and I have covered a lot of ground courtesy of the Nomad.
Just 2 weekends ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to share my journey with my step-dad Ralph and discover the wonders that are out there in the communities of Ohio .

We met at my home and was kickstands up by 8am headed west south west to Lancaster, Circleville, Wilmington, Xenia, Yellow Springs, and Clifton Mills before trekking toward home. The day was sunny and the temps were skirting the 6o degree mark. I knew as the day progressed we'd be shedding layers as the day continued and the temps climbed into the upper 80s.

We started the day with me introducing Ralph to two wonderal Eric Henne murals in Circleville, Ohio. The one above is one of my favorites and is fun to interact with.

We then progressed to Wilmington and and met a wonderful couple heading to church whom prayed with us to keep us safe that day while on the road. From there we headed to Xenia and on into Yellow Springs, Ohio for lunch and to capture pictures of several murals in each of the respective towns we passed through. I was determined to especially locate and capture a mural of the artist known as Prince, which was located off the main strip in Yellow Springs in a back alley area.

If you're ever in Yellow Springs, plan to spend an entire afternoon exploring and enjoying the laid back atmosphere of this small but eccentric community. There are lot's of small shops to explore, several interesting restaurants, coffee shops, and more to enjoy! There are alot of interesting folks to meet and converse with too so expect to slow your roll and immerse yourself in the environment to enjoy a day with your loved one.

When we arrived near Yellow Springs, we stopped for lunch at Dona Margarota's Mexican Grill @ 1535 Xenia Ave, Yellow Springs. If you enjoy mexican food, I highly recommend stopping here. They have a very good menu of items to enjoy! The service was top notch, the food was wonderful, and we were not disappointed in our meals. We left with full bellies ready to move on and conquer the road and finish our mission.

From Yellow Springs, we headed to Clifton Mills and then headed toward home. In a future post, I will elaborate more and share more from this days' journey. There was so much to see and do in these communities we visited and I will definitely revisit with my sweety of 37 years of wonderful marriage.
Stay tuned and keep the rubber side down! - Nomad