Day 2 - Bellevue to Port Clinton - Two Far 2024 - Courthouse Tour

May 5, 2024

Day 2 - Bellevue to Port Clinton

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We left Bellevue this morning with only 35 miles to ride, thinking it would be a relatively short and easy day. It was relatively short, anyway. A 12-15 mph headwind took out the easy part.

Our first stop was at the Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum. Those of you who've read our previous journals know that Kerry loves museums of all types, large or small and well or poorly done. This museum is considered to be a well done, excellent train museum. When we arrived, we found that it would not be open until 2 1/2 hours later. It was closed, locked-up, unopen, no one there. That, of course, didn't stop Kerry from spending time there. He walked around and took pictures through the fences and read what signs he could see. We did learn that Henry Flagler, who built a railroad and then several large, elegant resorts along Florida's east coast, grew up in Bellevue.

We remained on the North Coast Inland Trail until we got to Fremont. This section was in better condition than the section we rode yesterday.

This section of the trail was also a "rail with trail" with an active rail adjacent to the trail. We had to stop and watch a couple of trains pass.

There were several fields of young wheat that had dandelions growing thickly along the edge of the trail. Intentional or just weeds growing?

We also saw our first newly planted field of soybeans. You really can't see in this picture, but there are tiny little leaves emerging.

Fishing on the Sandusky River is very popular in Fremont.

The first of our two county courthouses today was in Fremont.

Across the street is a park which has gone through various names and uses over the years. In 2020, it was dedicated as the Veterans Memorial Park. It has monuments honoring all of the US armed forces.

This place was previously known as Flag Park.

The park contained a large granite globe. The continents were created by etching the polished granite and the detail was quite amazing.

It also had this. There was no information about it in the park and we couldn't find anything about it online. Anyone have any ideas?

The second county courthouse we visited today was the one in Port Clinton, seat of Ottawa County.

This courthouse is not surrounded by the usual town business district. Instead, the area around it is residential. The park across the street appears to be a neighborhood recreational area.

A Sunday afternoon football game in progress.

There were some very attractive plants in the courthouse landscaping beds. We know very little about plants, but these looked pretty to us.

This shrub this with the long branches and red flowers was very interesting.

We have a nice room for our five night stay at a Best Western. In addition to a comfortable, nicely furnished room, we have dedicated tandem parking - no crawling over or around the tandem for five days. We even have a back door to the parking lot so we can roll right out of the room ready to go.

Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 85 miles (137 km)

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