Any day upright on two wheels is a good day. Our ride from Clarksville, Tennessee, to Maysville, Kentucky, was full of twisting roads and canyons with rivers. This ride was special. Majestic horse farm after horse farm. We get to Maysville and check into the French Quarter Inn. For dinner, we walk through the town to Caproni's on the river.
"Caproni's has been a Maysville dining tradition since the 1930s as a sandwich shop for railroad workers. But in 1945, Leo Caproni, along with his brother Alfred and sister-in-law Lea Caproni, purchased and operated the restaurant for many years. Located beside the Amtrak railroad station and along CSX tracks, overlooking the Ohio River, at the base of what is now Rosemary Clooney Street. A fast freight and passenger train roars by within feet of diners."
At dinner we learned that Maysville was the hometown of Rosemary Clooney. George Clooney was her Nephew. Rose is a famous singer and actress in her own right whose work spanned 3 decades. Her most famous role was in a White Christmas with Bing Crosby. But you still hear her songs in commercials and in the media today.
We found out that the Clooney house was a museum in Augusta, Kentucky, in Rosemary's old house. So, of course, after breakfast at the Delite Cafe, we have to make the 20-mile trek up the Ohio River to Augusta.
What a treasure. I’m a big movie buff, so all this stuff is fascinating to me. George, to me, was just getting into the family business. His mother and father still live here. George has recently purchased a home here in his ancestral homeland. Mainly to visit his mother and father. The town seems to have a habit of guarding their privacy which is a great thing.
The house was spectacular, with costumes from her movies and singing career. Although she is not of our generation, she still is recognizable reinventing herself in the 1970s. I was surprised to learn that Goerge Gershwin was from the same street. It is no coincidence that a culture like this doesn’t happen by accident.
This is a great example of how interconnected we are. How family and contacts can evolve. The funny thing is I had completely forgotten about her. In the 1950’s she starred in a movie with Bob Hope, a comedy “Here Come the Girls.” After the movie, Rosemary and Bob became lifelong friends. I remember her singing on the Bob Hope Specials, which I tried not to miss as a kid and teenager. I was strange like that.
After this, we ride a short loop in Ohio. The weather is not cooperating with us today. We dodge a few thundershowers in the hills above the Ohio River. To me, this is the good stuff of traveling. Special tidbits of things you’d never thought to expect. Things that you remember for the rest of your life. Maysville is a fantastic town a great destination, Tomorrow we plan to ride some new roads in east Kentucky. Well, we ran into a little trouble. Not going to make the Underground Railroad museum. Terri picked up a nail in her rear tire. After getting a tow truck, we are at the Harley dealer now in Lexington, getting her rear tire replaced. Because of the changing weather conditions, we decide to cut our trip short and head home. The ride home was a dance with the weather.
There is nothing like riding a big V-Twin into a thunderstorm. You smell and see the rain way before you feel it on you. The clouds form before you in a marvelous dance. Sometimes the rain starts slowly; other times, it's like hitting a wall of water. In the southern heat, it is refreshing, like jumping into a swimming pool. A relief from the thick soupy warm air flowing around you before the storm. Riding in weather like this is a chess match with nature. With live radar, you can plan your route around the storms. Ultimately nature ends up winning. Even with the weather, it was a good ride. We went to some new places and took some roads we never had ridden before. We did finally make it home.
It was a good trip; we had planned to be gone longer, but the weather threw us a curveball. There are a lot of roads to ride in east Kentucky; we just scratched the surface.
