pittsburgh, pennsylvania to louisville, kentucky

A dead horse I've always enjoyed beating is that it's never about the destination, but the journey. First articulated many years ago after reading Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene, it had been a pillar of life's enjoyment for many years prior to that. So, today I was reminded of it and embraced my inner Pennsylvanian, enjoying the scenery while floating in the "fast" lane and having a look around. I know now that I'm more likely to let myself be diverted and curious if I don't have a reservation lined up. So from now on, I stop outside what's likely my destination and check Priceline. 

My commitment to roadside Hampton Inns and dinners out of the back of my car has hit a tricky snag. It seems the lure of a hotel in a historic building with a museum (it's work-related)! and eclectic chandeliers dispensed with the little commitment I had to financial discipline. Once the hotel was in the bag, it seemed that the right thing to do was order the flight of neighborhood bourbons and reflect on the day.

• West Virginia needs some love. I saw tiny houses that looked like they were plonked on neglected land the way you might put a house or hotel on Baltic Avenue. 
• There was a roadsign with a photograph of a miner in a hardhat with coal on his face with a note that said "Don't let black lung steal your time", an ad for a personal injury lawyer. 
• There were many billboards about Jesus, my sins, eternity, and one that was painted black and said in red "Hell is Real". with a Munch Scream face. Some were in the middle of what are probably cornfields, handmade and hand painted.
• Some of Ohio was beautiful and flat and reminded me of a Truman Capote movie I must have seen. Or of the Netherlands, only brown instead of green and no windmills.
• A work phone call necessitated I stop in Columbus, and the part I landed in (google: best coffee shop columbus) was adorable, reminiscent of Savannah with small, old, red brick buildings (see below).
• Louisville is cool. I arrived just before sunset and ran out to capture the silvery Ohio River,

​Thank you for the recommendations, I didn't stop in Cincinnati, but will know for next time. 

An example of some of the houses in the sweet neighborhood in Columbus where the coffee shop, Tiger in the Snow, is. As it turns out, with no wifi. 

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Riverboat In Louisville on the Ohio River at that silvery time of day 
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Bourbon flight, because you have to
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Car outside and part of my hotel, 21C, that is supposed to be a hotel and museum.