Sep 13, 2024 – One River, Three States

There are people out there old enough to know what a broken record sounds like, so when I say that the RV is the best way to travel in this country, you know I’m sounding like a broken record. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, there is no better way to travel the United States than in an RV. You visit communities you never knew existed, you take the time to explore obscure places and you hear firsthand the most interesting stories from people all over the country. That’s priceless, so I won’t get into the risk benefit assessment, cost analyses or comfort space quotient of RV traveling; instead, I will get to the point of this blog and say, thanks to the RV, Vivian and I have been to Rabbit Hash and Big Bone Lick.

Southern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and northern Kentucky are not at the top of most travel itineraries, but that did not deter us from spending more than a week in that area. With plans to stay at a campground near the Ohio River that separates Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio from each other all within a relatively short distance, I had some extensive Atlas Obscura research to do if we were going to fill our time exploring the area.

One of the primary reasons we chose to stay where we did was the charming river town of Madison, Indiana. This beautifully restored town has 133 blocks of historic landmarks. Once an important place for river commerce via steamboats, Madison’s boom ended with the railroad, after which it fell into a “century of slumber”. Now it can proudly say it contains the largest contiguous national historic landmark district in the U.S and people flock to it for the hydroplane races, Indiana’s oldest farmers market (yes, those tomatoes are getting a little ripe), a riverfront, the downtown art and music scene, and the popular Clifty Falls State Park.

During most of our stay, temperatures reached high 80s and it was dry as can be. To avoid wasting time, I called Clifty Falls State Park and asked if there was any water to see before we ventured out to the park. The abrupt answer was “Absolutely not”. So, no waterfalls for us. But we did visit a nearby state park in Kentucky, Big Bone Lick. Mostly, I wanted to see the bison – yes, there are bison in Kentucky. Unfortunately, the bison were just as elusive as the waterfalls, but we did learn some interesting history that begins with the Ice Age.

During the Ice Age, the southward movement of large sheets of ice drove animals further south and many of them came to the area, which is now northern Kentucky, not far south of Cincinnati. Here, the giant mastodon, bison, stag-moose, ground sloth and mammoth found a hospitable and life-sustaining environment with abundant mineral springs. That was over 12,000 years ago. What’s left are the bones of these animals.

Disappointed at missing the bison, we left the park and drove to nearby Rabbit Hash, because well, why not? With a name like that, we had to see for ourselves. Rabbit Hash is an unincorporated river community in Boone County, KY established in 1831. While the origin of its name remains up for debate, the most plausible one is the abundant local rabbit population was driven to higher ground during the Ohio River flood in 1847. Consequently, the prolific animals became an ingredient in a special stew called ‘hash’.

The most notable building is the Rabbit Hash General Store, or what the locals refer to as “The Center of the Universe”. The building had survived three major floods. Anchored into the bedrock with metal rods, the building withstood total submersion in the 1937 flood. Unfortunately, it succumbed to a fire in 2016. The community came together and from salvaged 1800s materials, the store was rebuilt within a millimeter of the original, according to the reconstruction contractor.

It was on the front porch of the General Store where we met Pablo’s campaign manager. Pablo was one of many candidates running for mayor of Rabbit Hash. It all began in 1998 when no one in the community of Rabbit Hash wanted to be mayor. So, the people did the next best thing, they chose a dog to be the honorary mayor (apparently, cats are scarce in Rabbit Hash).

The appointed mayor, a mutt named Goofy died in office at the age of 16 in 2001. The mayor’s seat remained unoccupied until 2004. At that time, the community decided to run a mayoral race every 4 years in conjunction with the U.S. presidential election. Several canines were in the running that year, but it was Wilbur the French bulldog who came out ahead and remained in office until 2020.

With only 6 weeks to the election, Pablo’s campaign manager was hard at work and according to the official early voting count, Pablo was the frontrunner. But as with most elections, anything can happen. As it were, Boone, the Bluetick Coonhound won by a large margin with Pablo coming in second, which was enough to give him Rabbit Hash Ambassador status shared with third place winner, Ruby. Not sure how Boone won the race, but it may have had something to do with his campaign slogan, “Have a drink at noon and vote for Boone.”

We had one more full day planned and that was to visit downtown Cincinnati, specifically to see some art at the renowned Taft Museum and Cincinnati Art Museum.

The thought of too much art is inconceivable to me, but visiting these two extraordinary museums in the same day made it possible. By the time we walked out of the Cincinnati Art Museum, I was overwhelmed by the comprehensive collections of European Art spanning seven centuries, a large collection of African and Asian art, a brilliant photography exhibit, and works of art from every recognized American artist you could possibly think of.

And here is where I get back to my original point – the best part of all this site-seeing was that we came home at the end of each day, as we do every day when we are on the road, exploring the country’s hidden gems and famous icons. Home on wheels – no stone left unturned as long as we can keep going.