Road trip: Ohio and Illinois

I had to get back home, but wanted to see a few things on my return to Minnesota after sailing in the Caribbean. I left Mick and Sue’s farm outside of Walton, KY, and drove ten minutes down Beaver Road to Big Bone Lick State Park, a popular recreational and historic site. The name comes from the fossils of large mammals: mammoth, mastodon, elk, caribou and others that were likely drawn to the brine springs and salt licks here that provided necessary dietary minerals. I took a short hike to see the resident bison herd (and a cool snail), then I was on my way. Map link: Big Bone Lick State Park, Union, KY

I crossed the Ohio River, which separates Kentucky from Ohio, then stopped at the birthplace and boyhood homes of Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union Army during the Civil War and our 18th president. Born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, OH, his initials were mistakenly switched to U.S. on his appointment to West Point. He served with distinction in the Mexican-American War, left military service, then rejoined at the outbreak of the Civil War. After conducting successful campaigns at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, President Lincoln gave him command of all Union armies, and Grant relentlessly pursued the Confederates under Robert E. Lee until the war’s end at Appomattox Court House, earning him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. He and his wife Julia were invited to attend Ford’s Theater with Abraham and Mary Lincoln on April 14, 1865 (the night Lincoln was assassinated), but declined due to travel plans. Map link: U.S. Grant Birthplace, Point Pleasant, OH

Grant was unanimously nominated at the 1868 Republican National Convention and won the Presidential election in a landslide—at age 46, the youngest president yet elected. He easily won reelection in 1872, but his second term was rocked by scandal and corruption. In 1880, he pursued a third Republican nomination (it was allowed then) but lost to compromise candidate James Garfield, who was later assassinated after only 199 days in office. 

Ulysses S. Grant birthplace

Next I headed northeast to Columbus, the state capital and Ohio’s most populous city. Originally a collection of native settlements along the Scioto River, the city was named after explorer Christopher Columbus (for reasons unknown) and became the capital in 1816. During the 19th century, it became a major manufacturing hub and center for organized labor—Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor here in 1886, and the United Mine Workers of America started in the old City Hall in 1890. Today, Columbus is home to Fortune 500 companies Cardinal Health, Nationwide Insurance and Huntington Bank as well as (The) Ohio State University. Established in 1870, it is the third-largest public university in the country, with nearly 67,000 undergraduate and graduate students. After a quick look around campus and a walking tour of Downtown Columbus—complete with statehouse selfie—I was back in the truck. Map link: Columbus, OH

Bonus Question: Which of these doesn’t belong? Mom, Dad, Sis, Bro. (answer at end of post)

I passed through Indiana, then spent the night somewhere in north central Illinois. The next morning I drove to Dixon, the hometown of Ronald Reagan—actor, politician and our 40th president. Born in 1911 in nearby Tampico, Reagan, his older brother and deeply religious parents moved to Dixon in 1920. He moved to California in 1937 at the age of 26, where he became a popular actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild and state governor in 1966. In 1980 he easily defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter, survived an assassination attempt, and won reelection in 1984 against Carter’s vice president Walter Mondale in one of the most lopsided victories in American presidential election history, winning every electoral college vote except the District of Columbia and Mondale’s home state of Minnesota. The Reagan Era remains an important period in the American conservative movement, characterized by supply-side tax cuts, business deregulation, military buildup and the end of the Cold War. 

In the center of Dixon is the Reagan Peace Park, where a replica of the Berlin Wall is on display, complete with fake graffiti, to honor Reagan’s 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, where he famously challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” The citizens of Dixon tried to obtain a slab of the original wall, but were unsuccessful. In 2001, they decided to construct their own, and were able to procure a small chunk of the original, which is embedded inside.

On the north bank of the Rock River, I stopped by a statue of Captain Abraham Lincoln, as he appeared when serving in the Illinois Militia during the 1832 Blackhawk War. It is the only known statue of Lincoln in military uniform. Map link: Dixon, IL

Ronald Reagan boyhood home 

Reagan Peace Park

Captain Abraham Lincoln

Just outside of town in unincorporated Grand Detour, IL is the restored home and blacksmith shop of John Deere, who built the first steel plow here in 1837, followed by many other implements that revolutionized farming. Originally from Vermont, Deere relocated to Illinois to escape bankruptcy proceedings. He set up a forge and developed a steel plow that he believed was better suited to the thick Illinois soil than the traditional cast iron. He was right, and within three years was selling 75 plows per year. Today, the historic site is operated by the John Deere Company, a Fortune 100 corporation headquartered in Moline, IL, with 2025 global revenues of $45.7 billion.

John Deere historic site

My last tourist stop was Galena, IL, where Ulysses Grant lived before and after the Civil War. After his first 15 years in the army, Grant moved to Galena in 1860 and joined the family leather goods business, but left for the Civil War the following year. After the war, Grant returned to a hero’s welcome in Galena, and was gifted the large brick home that the family had been renting. Three years later, he was off to the White House, and although he kept Galena as his legal residence, he only visited occasionally until his death in 1885 from throat cancer. While he lived in Galena a short time, Grant is the town’s most famous citizen—besides the restored historic home there is a Grant Museum, Grant Park, Grant Birthday Weekend celebration and an annual Civil War reenactment. Map link: Galena, IL

Crossing the Mississippi River at Dubuque, IA, I had a clear view of the Port of Dubuque Harbor, where Kathleen and I spent an enjoyable couple of days in September of 2023 aboard Dragonfly. Post links: https://dragonflyboating.blogspot.com/2023/09/wheres-your-mast.html and https://dragonflyboating.blogspot.com/2023/09/dubuque.html

Five hours and 270 miles later, I was back in the Twin Cities. I stopped by my mom’s apartment in Hopkins to say Hi, then went home to pack for a visit to Boston for Danielle’s graduation the next morning. This was a quick trip, but I’m glad that I got to see some new sites, and another state capitol.

Bonus Question Answer: Mom, Dad and Sis are palindromes; Bro is not.