Day 17 - May 27, 2023. Dry Ridge, KY - Maysville, KY

So - today was a bit of a logistical jigsaw puzzle.  We had a 75-mile ride with about 5000 feet of climbing plus a headwind.  And - we had a 2pm tour pre-arranged in the historic town of Old Washington.  The ride itself (with SAG stops) would likely take me about 8 hours.  We were leaving at 7, so the math wouldn't work for me.  In fact, only 2 e-bikes and half the tandem rode the whole thing (Lise switched to her single bike at 40 miles).  Some rode in the van the whole day, and about 9 of us bumped to 40 miles and rode about 35.  Both vans were loaded up!

The first 40 miles looked lovely - small, quiet roads, but lots of hills!  And - the wind actually wasn't too bad until just before the 9 of us hopped out of the vans.  Even having bumped the first 40, I figured I should ride fairly hard to get to the Old Washington Visitor Centre before 2.  More of the same - quiet roads, and lots of hills.  Just a few pics.

There was some confusion at the Visitor Centre.  The woman there told me our 2pm tour reservation was actually 4 more miles down the road.  After having Linda straighten things out, we were indeed in the right place.  Dana gave us a great walking tour - almost 2 hours.  

Although this house didn't have a plaque outside, it was actually quite interesting.  On our audio tour in Louisville a few days ago we followed the story of Lucie/Ruthie and Thornton Blackburn all the way to Toronto.  Blackburn's case in the Canadian courts established the principle that Canada would not return slaves to their masters and thus was the safe terminus of the UGRR.  Apparently Thornton was born in Maysville and lived in this house from age 3 to 14.  He was purchased as a three-year-old to be a playmate for a sickly white child.  That child died when they were 14 and Thornton was sold again.  

Some fun facts about Old Washington:

• incorporated in 1786
• named for revolutionary war hero George Washington
• 462 inhabitants in 1790
• the first postal station and the first public waterwork system west of the Allegheny Mountains
• the postal station was a distributing point for the entire Northwest Territory, which included Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
• slave ownership and slave auctions were common leading into the 1850s.  At the time, slave auctions were considered by some as a form of entertainment
• Harriet Beecher visited in the 1830s-40s, and drew upon her experience as a witness to slavery and slave auctions when writing her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin

Back on the bikes for the final 5-ish miles into Maysville, which is right on the river.  It looks like there would be a ton of stuff to explore here as well - including the National Underground Railroad Museum and the Kathleen Savage Browning Miniatures Collection.  Oh well - we can't see it all, I suppose.  We're staying at another nice hotel tonight - The French Quarter Inn.  Right by the water and by lots of murals on the old flood wall.

Another long day tomorrow as we work our way back downriver to the Cincinnati area.  We'll be going through some particularly rich UGRR historical towns (eg. Ripley).  Unfortunately we'll be through there before the museums open.

Maysville, Kentucky

Population 8873 (2020).  In 2000 the median household income was $27,813.  Maysville is historically important in Kentucky's settlement.  Daniel Boone is among the city's founders.  Maysville was home to one of the largest tobacco auction warehouses in the world for most of the 20th century.  It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, and an important port on the Ohio River.  Rosemary Clooney is from here as is her brother, Nick Clooney, who is the father of George Clooney.  

Stats for the day:

Distance:  52.6 km / 32 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  828m up / 928m down.  2718' up / 3043' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  743m up / 854m down.  2438' up / 2802' down.

Weather:  22C - 26C.  A really beautiful, sunny day.  Headwinds but not too bad.  I didn't get on the bike until almost 11, so it had warmed up nicely by then.