Ohio, Week One

Our first stop in Ohio was at the Eldora Speedway near the town of Rossburg, Ohio. Eldora is a well known racetrack among racing fans for its fast track and great racing. The track is now owned by Tony Stewart, the ex-NASCAR driver. My brother and I had wanted to meet here for a race sometime but with his passing last year it was not meant to be. The first night's race was rained out so they held the whole two days of racing on Saturday. The track lived up to its reputation and the racing was fast and furious. 

Our second stop in Ohio was in Springfield to check out the three huge antique and collectable malls in the area. Josie did find one bowl for her collection. From Springfield we drove east to the Ohio River and the town of East Liverpool, Ohio. East Liverpool bills itself as the Pottery Capital of the World, due to the fact that at one time there were over 300 pottery factories in the area. The Hall  factory that made the pottery that Josie collects was one of the them. It was just shut down this year by the company that bought is a few years ago, Homer Laughlin. Homer Laughlin is the only pottery left in the area and they have lasted this long due to their very popular Fiesta Ware. We did stop in and check out their factory store later in the day. 

We visited the Museum of Ceramics in downtown East Liverpool and saw many of the fine pieces of pottery that have come from some of those 300 potteries. Josie then hit the jackpot at the local antiques and collectable mall, where she found 11 pieces of her pattern. She celebrated with a chocolate martini at dinner that evening. 

During our stay in the Ohio Valley we were actually staying in Chester, West Virginia, just across the river from East Liverpool. Chester lays its claim to fame as having the world's largest teapot. Our camp site was right on the river and we enjoyed watching the tugs pushing the various barges up and down the river.

​​Tomorrow we drive north to the shores of Lake Erie.