By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
In the middle of our spring trip to southern Ohio in 2012, we made our way to the historic town of Shawnee.
As is usual for us, we were on the backroads for too long, and it was past lunchtime when we got into town. But, as is also usual, after a local told us they did have a town park and where it was located, we couldn’t stand to drive past anything on our way. We decided we could wait just a little longer to eat, and to photograph our way to the park down one street. And, after lunch, we would come back up the next street photographing our way back.
When we arrived at the park, there was a playground area, with two small children playing, and their mothers nearby at a picnic table with a baby in a stroller.
We drove on past and went to a shelter further down the road. We got our food out of the cooler and headed to a picnic table. We built our sandwiches and fixed a quick side dish and began to eat.
And then we saw the two young ones from the playground equipment heading our way. They came over and said hello, and then climbed up onto the picnic table and started chatting away.
They told us how hungry they were and that they weren’t allowed to go home until their mothers said they could. They kept chatting away, asking us questions, but they kept emphasizing how hungry they were.
Soon, the mothers gathered their things and came over to collect the kids. They said they hoped they weren’t bothering us and we told them they were no trouble, but they were hungry. They laughed, and said they were heading for home.
After they left, we finished our lunch and packed up the car. Then we headed for downtown to see what other historical things we could find.
Down the road from the park, we could see the mothers and children up ahead walking towards home, and Joann couldn’t resist putting the window down and calling out “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” They laughed, we laughed, and we each headed on our way.
There was a lot to see in this small town, and you’ll find out more about that in a future blog, but suffice it to say, we still had several hours of photographing in town. When we thought we were finally finished, we started to head out to the highway. But then we noticed an old brick building that we knew we had to capture before we left.
Joann got out and was setting up her equipment, when a van went slowly past on the road we had just left. Someone rolled the window down and shouted, “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” and then everyone in the car laughed. Joann started to laugh as well. It was the two ladies from the park with their children.
After wishing each other a good day, they drove on, and Joann finished up her photographing. Finally we hit the highway and were on our way.
I hope someday we end up near Shawnee again. It was an interesting, historic town, and I’m sure we didn’t find everything. Plus, you never know who you’ll meet.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Thanks for this fun story and pictures of those interesting old buildings! Sounds like a very cool old town.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of old doors, windows, and the buildings they adorn. Thanks for the fun human interactions you shared, too!
ReplyDeleteWonderful Pictures and Marvelous Interactions! :)
ReplyDeletePhyllis, Jean, and Stephanie, thanks for the comments. We hope to get back to Shawnee some day. We always enjoy the historical architecture we find, but some of our best memories are of the people we meet along the way.
ReplyDelete