details of recent trip to Jeffersonville, IN.

[osbourne]

After massaging the trusty old 2002A for several evenings, my wife and I departed the Pittsburgh area on the morning of Sunday, 11/8 and headed down along the beautiful Ohio River. The weather actually turned out warm and sunny (I had been prepared for cold, damp weather on this trip), making for a very pleasant drive. Avoiding all of the "Lemming Trails" (aka Interstates), we still followed more main roads than I really wanted. But, with close to 500 miles to cover, in one day, some route compromises were in order. My wife is hyper-active and long trips make her a bit.....uhhh......testy sometimes.

The '02, with 74,000 original miles on it, ran flawlessly, which it always has since the day we drove it off the showroom floor in April of '72. This car has never skipped a beat in the 37 years our family has owned it.

By the time we reached the outskirts of Cincinnati, my wife was doing the adult version of "are we there yet, Daddy?". However, I would rather take a good old fashioned ass whuppin' before I would jump on the Lemming Trail. So, our Lemming Trail time for the out-bound trip amounted to maybe 30 minutes, to skirt the southern end of Cincinnati and get us to the Indiana line.

With the late start my wife imposed on us ("7AM!! You didn't say anything about leaving that early" How about 10AM?), there was no way to avoid doing the last hour or so after dark. But, we pulled into Jeffersonville around 7:30, and checked into our B&B (The Market Street Inn, which was very, very good). The weather was just plain balmy, so we went for a walk along the river, ending up at a seafood restaurant just a couple of blocks from our B&B.

The next day, after visiting clients in Jeffersonville, we took the Bimmer for a short drive along the road on the river-side of the floodwall, down to the Falls of the Ohio state park. Got some nice photos of the car, the floodwall murals and the Falls of the Ohio before it got dark (BTW, they're doing a very nice job of renovating/reclaiming the historic downtown area of the city, in which our B&B is situated). Then, after meeting some of our Porsche 356 friends for dinner, back to the B&B for a good night's rest and a 9AM start for home. This time, I made sure I took all of the Indiana roads running right along the river. As a kid, working on Ohio River towboats, I had often thought how nice it would be to blitz these roads in an '02. Finally got a taste of them. Not bad at all.

Would have loved to take some time to do some exploring in Madison, but we needed to be home by mid to late afternoon. Sooooo, in response to my wife's pleas, we jumped on the nearest Lemming Trail (I-275) as we approached the Ohio line, then took I-71 to Columbus and I-70 to withing 10 miles of home.

The only remarkable thing about the return trip was the way the '02 ate up the Interstate at 4200-4300 RPM. It was really just loafing along, sounding very relaxed and un-stressed. LOVE THAT SOUND!!! Also, the original seats are still very comfortable and my wife has designated the '02 to be her classic of choice for long trips.......she likes it even better than our 356B S-90 coupe, which is saying a lot for the Bimmer.

Anyway, we're both looking forward to using the '02 next summer for a NY wine country tour, as well as for a trip to Rockford, IL for a family reunion (family's all from Pittsburgh.....go figure), plus some BMW-specific events.

So, when I finally do get to realize my dream of doing an Ohio River Valley Tour, from Pittsburgh to Cairo; Jeffersonville's Market Street Inn and the adjoining historic district & Falls of the Ohio state park will definitely be included in the itinerary.

I'd love to post some photos, but the forum doesn't seem to be receptive to that idea. Sorry.

[BillWilliams]

It is fun to drive these cars and enjoy the organic nature of them.

Glad you had a good trip

[osbourne]

It is fun to drive these cars and enjoy the organic nature of them.

Glad you had a good trip

Thanks, Bill. I completely agree. Only problem I seem to have is that I don't ever want to stop driving at the end of the trip.

Heck, if I'd known how good the weather was going to be, last week, I would have taken the '02 to Vermont for Thanksgiving, instead of the Passat.

[Jim_75Sahara]

Let us know when you pass through the Cincinnati/Dayton area. There are quite a few of us around. In May of this year, I hosted a gtg at Salt Fork State Park (near Cambridge, OH) which would have been w/in reach for you it sounds like. You might consider heading to Vintage at the Vineyard (May 28 - 30) in Dobson, NC. There will be a caravan pulling out of here once again for Vintage '10.

[osbourne]

Let us know when you pass through the Cincinnati/Dayton area. There are quite a few of us around. In May of this year, I hosted a gtg at Salt Fork State Park (near Cambridge, OH) which would have been w/in reach for you it sounds like. You might consider heading to Vintage at the Vineyard (May 28 - 30) in Dobson, NC. There will be a caravan pulling out of here once again for Vintage '10.

The days leading up to our departure were so hectic that I didn't actually settle onto a route plan until that morning....which meant that I didn't have time to double-check estimated mileage and travel time, which earned me a big "you OWE me, mister", from the spousal unit.

Cambridge is certainly within easy reach, for us. Let me know when you do another event in that area.

Re: V@V. This is an event that I really would like to attend, but it looks like it will either conflict with or be too close to the annual Memorial Day Weekend Tour that a group of us from the Pittsburgh area Porsche 356, MG and Triumph clubs do. Small group (usually 4 to 8 cars) running strictly back roads, staying in B&B lodging and partaking only of local restaurant, winery & micro-brewery offerings.

I'm pretty sure, however, that we will be doing the Stowe Vermont event (forget what they call it) next October.

[THE1ST3]

Was the seafood restaurant Kingfish? One of my favorite spots to go when I am home in KY. Just "discovered" the one in Jeffersonville this summer. Just curious...

[osbourne]

Was the seafood restaurant Kingfish? One of my favorite spots to go when I am home in KY. Just "discovered" the one in Jeffersonville this summer. Just curious...

Yes it was. We also took two of my clients there for lunch, on Monday. Usually, you can't count on much for seafood at inland restaurants. But this place was pretty decent. We got very good sevice there, too. The view of the river is very nice, too.....although I discovered that I can no longer identify the passing towboats by their silhouette, after dark. Time marches on, I guess

[THE1ST3]

I have been getting the "Fishbox for Two" there for 20 plus years. I just made myself homesick! LOL

[eurotrash]

If you'da honked, I could have almost heard you..

[osbourne]

If you'da honked, I could have almost heard you..

Yeah, it's unfortunate that I didn't have time to make some stops along the way and meet some of you guys. But, we were kinda pressed for time in both directions. Had we been able to get an early start on the out-bound leg, and had I done a better job of route planning on that leg; we would have had time for some "social stops" along the way.

For the return trip, I had to get back to Pittsburgh in anticipation of having to go out and survey a barge immediately upon arriving home. As it turned out, I didn't have to do that survey until the following day, but I didn't find that out until we were just west of Wheeling. My work schedule, due to the nature of the industry I serve, is a constantly evolving thing.