Day 3: Ashland to Maysville, Ky.

After spending seven hours in the car yesterday, we welcomed today's itinerary—an easy 40 mile drive from Ashland to Maysville, Ky. Highlights included lunch at the Buckeye Dairy Farm, a potty break in the basement of a former tobacco shop dating back to the 1800s, and an evening spent strolling the neighborhoods of George Clooney's boyhood town. No we didn't see George (who occasionally visits) but we did meet a man who had seen George's dad walking his dog earlier in the day.

Budget
Breakfast: free at hotel
Lunch: $13.30 (Buckeye Dairy Bar)
Dinner: $27.12 (Carota's Pizza, Augusta)
Gas: $36.61
Hotel: $69.11 (Best Western Maysville, Ky.: clean and well-located; free breakfast; swimming pool.)
Total: $146.14

Highlights

1) Portsmouth, Ohio
A posting in a Chowhound forum brought us to this Ohio town, directly across the river from Ashland, Ky. I was dead-set on eating at this place after reading this descriptions of the Hamburger Inn:

This tiny hole-in-the-wall has been around since the 20s, and serves the most amazing small burgers you will ever find. The burgers are moist and perfectly cooked, placed on a soft bun, sprinkled with a little salt and topped with pickles.

I wanted to cry. The Hamburger Inn was closed—as in shut down forever. But that seemed to be the case with most downtown Portsmouth businesses, except for a string of fast-food restaurants next to the highway (and we made a pact that we'd steer clear of chains on this road trip).

I later read on Wikipedia that the Portsmouth economy has declined ever since the 1980s when the steel mills closed due to foreign competition. Now, it's known for its prescription drug epidemic. In 2011 NBC aired a special show called In-Depth: Hillbilly Heroin that took a look at the effects of drug use on locals.

Down the road we found the Buckeye Dairy Bar in West Portsmouth....

And after driving all over the depressed downtown Portsmouth in search of a place to eat, we were excited to follow this tidy little path. Many road-side burger spots are run-down and dirty. This one was spotless and well-landscaped, and the young high-school kids working the window were friendly.

We considered ordering the pork tenderloin because it was unbelievably cheap.

But the wise (and thrifty) foodie couldn't resist the Buckeye Burgers for $1.75.

Lunch for a family of four cost only $13.30—and that included bacon and cheese on my burger, a vanilla shake and a sweet tea.

2) Shawnee State Forest
What should a family do after burgers and shakes? Hit the trail!

We walked under a canopy of impossibly green trees in the Shawnee State Forest, which spreads upward from the Ohio River just west of Portsmouth. The trees aren't as tall as those in our California forests but they seem greener. Look up into the canopy and you see a sea of neon green.

3) Maysville, Ky.

I learned about Maysville from The New York Times. A 1986 article read:

Maysville [is] a skinny town squeezed between the river and a steep hill where houses stand on descending terraces. Seen from the hill, Maysville is immediately appealing. You see rooftops, green trees, the white spire of the Mason County Courthouse and the sweep of the Simon Kenton Bridge crossing the river to Aberdeen, Ohio. (Not only are accents different across the river but some people in Maysville will also tell you that Ohio people look different.) It's a friendly place. A visitor who'd stopped to study the walking guide map was spotted by a Maysville resident who came up, beaming. ''Honey,'' she said, ''if you need help, I hope you'll ask. Anybody!'

After reading the article, I decided that we needed to spend some time here and I booked us a night at the Best Western Maysville Inn.

As soon as we parked our car and started to stroll through town, which was sleepy on a Sunday afternoon, a Maysville resident approached us (just like in the Times article!). She wanted to know where we were from and asked if we needed anything. Turns out my son was on the verge of peeing in his pants, and so Bobbie opened up her art studio housed in the skinny building pictured above, and led my son into the basement of what was once a tobacco shop.

"Don't worry!" Bobbie said to my son, who looked frightened to be walking down into a dark basement. "I'm not going to cut your ears off." Bobbie sent us off with some note cards featuring her pen-and-ink drawings of historical buildings in town and gave us some tips on where to eat.

Because it was Sunday, most businesses were closed, including the well-loved Chandler's. Cincinnati residents drive an hour along the river just to eat here.

The Russell Theater gained fame for its world premier in 1953 of Maysville native Rosemary Clooney's first movie, "The Stars are Singing."

A series of murals painted on a massive flood wall, protecting the town from the river, tell the town history.

A bridge connecting Maysville and Aberdeen, Ohio, is one of five replicas in the country of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

One of the many historic and beautiful buildings in Maysville.

An old Pharmacy.

4) Augusta, Ky.

There are many reasons to love this river town, just down the river from Maysville. George Clooney grew up here, and who doesn't love George? But also this town's old buildings and homes are well-kept, the streets are tree-lined and shady, and the main street opens up onto the river. While many towns on the Ohio are shut off from the river by huge flood walls, Augusta practically falls right into the water with a grassy park sloping down the banks. This is a place where you can get intimate with the Ohio, and on the evening when we were there, the river looked spectacular, glistening under a setting sun.

Let's get back to George...because I have to admit that's the real reason I dragged my family to Augusta. This is a photo of George's aunt Rosemary's house. The house is now owned by Dr. Steve Henry, former Ky. Lt. Gov., and his wife, Heather French Henry, former Miss America (who was born in Augusta), and they have turned it into a Rosemary Clooney museum, which was closed on the day we visited.

George's parents are a few blocks away on Fourth Street. I met a local who had just seen George's dad walking the dog that morning but I felt silly asking him for the address. The locals seem respectful of the Clooney's privacy. "We don't get all excited and starstruck when we see them," one Augusta resident told me. "They're just real people who have done a lot for our town. And George is quiet and really nice."

This is a famous restaurant called the Beehive (one of George's favorites, I'm told). It was closed in February 2011 after a slow winter but a new owner is re-opening it in July.

George Clooney isn't Augusta's only famous resident named George. The grandparents and parents of General George Marshall lived in this house. Marshall was chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II, and at the end of the war British Prime Minister Winston Churchill hailed him as "the true organizer of victory." Marshall made the cover of Time magazine as Man of the Year. As Secretary of State, he helped crafts the Marshall Plan, and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.