Just about every week, since the late Spring, I have been taking the kids to different towns in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan on Tuesday nights - Jan's night out. We first went to many of these towns, such as Deshler and Fostoria, to watch trains, but lately Shaun has been taking an interest in going to to the downtowns to see all the old buildings. Over the summer we visited such places as Fremont, Monroe, Blissfield, North Baltimore, and Napoleon.
Having been to Fremont and Clyde, Shaun had been asking and asking to go to Bellevue, after seeing it was the next town east on the map. So, one rather cold Wednesday afternoon in late October, we all headed out there.
Bellevue, population 8,200, has one of the most intact downtowns in northwest Ohio, seemingly even larger than nearby Fremont which is more than twice its size. It is full of nice late 19th and early 20th Century brick commercial buildings, with a fair share of eating establishments open past five right in the downtown. Of course, some have been altered, but there appeared to be no gap-toothed sections where buildings had been demolished for parking lots. Nor were there any ugly 1950s aluminum facades that seemed to be commonplace in Fremont.
We walked through the downtown with Shaun pausing before each building and asking what type of business was in there. "What's in the place!" he would ask. He even noticed architectural features like bay windows.
Later we saw a train museum, complete with a actual train/car collision. We also saw several freight trains chugging through the network of tracks south of town. We also stopped at an antique shop, and had dinner at one of the local restaurants. It was a really nice place.
And what did Bethany say when we were driving through town. "Can we go to Bellevue again, daddy!?" (Even though we hadn't left yet).
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