Last Day – On the Road Home

…continuing with the series of posts resulting from our late summer road trip to Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

This was our final day on the road...but we’d had a great time and packed a lot of sights and scenes along with a bit of family time into this adventure.

We were in no hurry to get home so I skipped the boring but much faster I-75 Interstate Highway, and from Cincinnati south we followed US Hwy 27 all the way into Tennessee.  FYI, US Hwy 27 was first designated with that number back in 1926.  It stretches all the way from Ft. Wayne Indiana to Miami Florida.

Along the way in northern Kentucky we passed through the town of Falmouth.  That’s where we spotted this historic cabin.  The Alvin Mountjoy Log Cabin is the oldest house still standing in Falmouth.  It was built ca. 1792 by Alvin Mountjoy, one of the town’s first settlers.  Mountjoy was a Lieutenant in the 3^rd Virginia Continental Line at the Battles of Princeton and Trenton during the Revolutionary War.  It was at this home that the peace officers, magistrates and commissioners met on July 4, 1799 to draw up Falmouth’s city charter.  Ca. 1776, the town began as a settlement known as Forks of Licking.

In the latter half of the 1900s, Falmouth has seen some rough times.  In 1964, the Licking River went 19 feet over flood stage and put most of the town under water.  In 1968, an F4 or F5 tornado leveled many homes in the town.  Then in March of 1997, the Licking River did it again, this time reaching 24 feet above flood stage, leaving 80% of the town underwater and killing 5 residents.  Lucky that the Mountjoy cabin is still standing.

Since we’d started our drive on this day in Dayton Ohio and we’d skipped breakfast, it was time for something to eat.  Laurie looked for restaurants on her phone as we approached Cynthiana Kentucky and she found a promising place for us to stop.

Biancke’s Restaurant was founded by Guido Bianche and his wife Clementina Poppini in 1894 as a combination fruit stand and restaurant.  Guido died in 1909 but Clementina continued to operate the restaurant until she died in 1952.  Their children, Joe and Amelia continued the business.  Biancke’s has been in this location since 1930. 

The current owners bought Biancke’s in July of 2019 and they live in the apartment above the restaurant.  The restaurant’s website reports that some of the former staff still help run and manage the place.  Biancke’s is located in downtown Cynthiana...

Of course, any restaurant that bake and sells homemade pies is a winner in our book.  With several hours of driving ahead of us, we did refrain from having a slice of pie…or worse yet…purchasing a whole pie.  Besides, we were looking for breakfast if possible.  We made it just in time as the cutoff for breakfast is 11 AM. 

I read a bit about the history of Biancke’s and I noted that they used to have an old-fashioned soda counter…and that they’d employed some locally well remembered ‘soda jerks’.  Well, the counter is still there but it’s stocked with promotional t-shirts and decorated with restaurant memorabilia. 

FYI, my mother met my father in the mid-1930s when he was working as a soda-jerk in a local drug store in Jackson Michigan.

Of course, the Specials Board boasts that Bianche’s has been serving home-cooked meals for 126 years!  I would have liked to try that Pan Fried Chicken…one of my favorites.  Timing is everything.  You don’t see Salmon Croquettes on too many menus in this day and age. 

The dining room areas reminded us of the “Supper Clubs” that are especially popular in Wisconsin.  Dark ceilings and walls, cozy with lots of wood paneling.  Of course, the walls are crowded with photos and more memorabilia.  The 21^st Century is marked by that large TV screen…

For my breakfast, I ordered the “Country Boy’s Favorite”. ($13.00) Not a great photo of either portion of my meal… It included 2 eggs easy-over, a fried pork tenderloin, home fries and biscuits with a cup of sausage gravy.  Yes, that is Tabasco on my potatoes and eggs.  Everything was cooked as requested, the sausage gravy was above average and the home fries were excellent.  Other meat options included bacon or a grilled chicken breast.

I stayed away from a larger breakfast, which would have caused me to fall asleep at the wheel after an hour or so… It is the “Big Boy Breakfast”, 3 eggs cooked to order, the diner’s choice of a full slice of country ham, 2 fried pork tenderloins, a hamburger steak or fried catfish.  Also hash browns or home fries, toast or biscuits…and a cup of sausage gravy. ($15.00)

Laurie ate a lighter breakfast than I did… She ordered the “Just for Mama” morning menu offering. ($10.00) It included 2 eggs cooked easy-over plus some very nice bacon plus a couple of biscuits.  We were both very content and ready to hit the road after this pleasant stop.

The lunch and dinner menus at Bianche’s Restaurant are fairly extensive… Lots of burger options and sandwiches along with a variety of appetizers and entrees.  Smothered Chicken, All You Can Eat Catfish, a Kentucky Hot Brown and Fried Banana Peppers are examples of the variety available.  I have to admit I’ve never seen Fried Banana Peppers on a menu before.

Bianche’s Restaurant is located at 102 South Main Street in Cynthiana Kentucky.  They are open daily but close early on Sundays.  Phone: 859-234-3443.  Website: https://www.bianckes1894.com/.

FYI, Cynthiana is located along both sides of the South Fork of the Licking River.  This town of about 6,300 residents was named after Cynthia and Anna Harrison, daughters of the man who had donated land to establish the town center.

Cynthiana was featured in the movie “Blues Brothers 2000” as well as in the comic book series “The Walking Dead”.

As we passed through Paris Kentucky, I spotted the old Paris railway depot.  The photo shows what it looked like when it was the center of commerce for the town.  In 1853, the first trains came through Paris from Cincinnati and in 1854, branch lines to Richmond, Winchester and Louisville Kentucky began operations.  This depot was built in 1882, receiving 4 ‘fast trains’ each day along with 4 locals that stopped at smaller towns and settlements along the tracks.  For many years, this late American Victorian style wooden depot with a tin roof served as the passenger station of both the Louisville and Nashville as well as the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroads. 

The railroads…and the depot…helped Bourbon County farmers export their products, with cattle, sheep and hogs going to Chicago meatpackers.  Presidential candidate, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt stopped here to make a ‘whistle stop’ speech during his run for President on the Bull Moose Party ticket in 1912.  The only thing more exciting than that was the arrival of the circus train with all their equipment and animals.  By the late 1960’s, the last passenger train pulled away from the depot.  The depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the early 1970s, the Chesapeake Railway System gave the depot to the city on a lease that could be terminated at any time…but the railroad kept the land the depot sat on.  A number of businesses occupied the old depot over the years but in 2017, a local family bought the depot from the city with the condition that it be historically preserved.  They also managed to purchase the land from the CSX Corporation.  The result is the Trackside Restaurant and Bourbon Bar that now occupies this historic depot.  For more about this restaurant/bourbon bar go to https://www.tracksideatthedepot.com/.

From Paris Kentucky onward, we just drove along taking in the sights and scenery…but not taking any more photos.  We were finally homeward bound!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave