Welcome to Stewart McMillin Tours

UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD TRIP  TO OHIO

&  KENTUCKY-April 16-19, 2021-I am going to begin this letter 

by talking about the MONEY.!!!!About Thanksgiving of 2020 I will begin receiving the  checks. ALL MONEY must be to Stewart by Feb. 1, 2021!!!!!! I need 40 people!!!!!!!!

 2020-(Sgl-$659) (Dbl-$375-each)   During this fabulous 4 day, 3 night adventure we will either visit or learn about the following Ohio Cities: Wilberforce, Springboro, Cincinnati*, New Richmond, Point Pleasant, RIPLEY, , Wellington, Oberlin.& Sandusky.   Kentucky cities will include, Maysville, Washington, & Mays Lick.Two homes with slavery will be in Mays Lick!!!.

    AUGUST 2- FRIDAY-  The beginning of our “WOW   ADVENTURE” happens at 9:00 AM from the Military Museum in Eastpointe. As we drive south on I-75 we will introduce ourselves, go thru Stewart's  handouts, watch relevant videos & have lunch on bus. Please bring your own lunch for the first day. Stewart will have plenty of soft drinks, water, snack stuff, apples and “sweets' for your pleasure. When we come to Dayton we will learn about Paul Lawrence Dunbar (he grew up here).Near Wilberforce we will learn about some of the UGRR history in this area..We then  drive thru Wilberforce University Campus & see historic markers & visit the Wilberforce Museum. (our 1st stop) This is the oldest private historically black college in the USA!  After visiting the Wilberforce Museum. we will see the “Cry Baby” Bridge & then the home of the 3rd Black Man who went to Westpoint--Charles Young! (our 2nd stop)  (the home that he was born in is in  Kentucky) I have seen it once in Mays Lick, Ky.

    Our 3rd stop will be Springboro, where we will visit a B & B which once served as a   “station”on the UGRR. In that home we will see a secret hiding place where fugitives could hide if necessary. Springboro once had over 20 homes that  were on the UGRR!!! We will see many of them.(outside only). We will eat at a choice of restaurants before we check into our Super 8 Motel. We will be spending two nights here. . 

    AUGUST  3-SATURDAY--Our 1st highlight today will be driving near the beautiful Spring Grove Cemetery in  Cincinnati(“Cinci”) (2nd largest Cemetery in the USA) where  we will learn about the final resting places of two very famous abolitionists---Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase &  Levi Coffin—a former “President” of the UGRR. Our 1st stop today will be the home where Harriet Beecher Stowe stayed in “Cinci. “ She wrote the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. This  experience at her home will be a REMARKABLE VISIT!! Our next stop will be lunch at a choice of restaurants in downtown “Cinci”.. The area is called “The Banks”. In the afternoon we will see one of  the HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP:---The fantastic FREEDOM CENTER on the banks of the Ohio River in Cinci.(1:30-5:00) You will never forget the sight of the SLAVE PEN! etc. After the museum, we will walk near the Ohio River reading historical markers.  We also will look across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky. A very sad UGRR incident occurred near here. We will learn about the horrors suffered by Margaret Garner (& her children) on their attempt to gain freedom.Dinner will be at a choice of places in “The Banks.

 AUGUST 4--SUNDAY-In the AM we will drive along the Ohio River. seeing romantic, historical, & relevant towns in Ohio associated with the UGRR. These include  Richmond, Pt. Pleasant, Moscow, & RIPLEY. Ripley, Ohio along with John Rankin, John Parker and a host of other brave people escorted or gave directions to thousands of people on the  UGRR. In Ripley we will climb FREEDOM HILL (optional). This is a steep walk where fugitives in the 19th Century escaped slavery in Kentucky & sought refuge at Pastor John Rankin's  home at the top of the hill in Ripley. We will have a tour of John Rankin's home. You will have a breathtaking. view of the Ohio River & Kentucky from the Rankin home. We will  then enjoy lunch at a choice of restaurants in Ripley. After lunch we will tour Main Street where we will see a number of “stations” on the UGRR including John Parker's home---an incredible  & brave abolitionist! We will tour his home also! After Ripley we cross the Ohio River & learn about the Historic town of Maysville, Kentucky. We will walk along the levee located on the Ohio River & view  beautiful murals. The murals describe the history & events in Maysville history.  

MURAL  INFO-

1-In 1803 Meriweather Lewis (of the Lewis & Clark Expedition) picked up the famous (also

  infamous) John Coulter enroute from Pittsburgh to Louisville where they meet William Clark.

  He was the first person  (other than Native Americans) to see Yellowstone Park & their

  geysers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (he left the trip early !!!!!)

2-Lafayette made a trip back to the USA from France about 45 years after his French  Army

   helped George Washington win the American Revolution. Lafayette was only 19 when he 

  came to assist the Continental Army. He left Pittsburgh on the Ohio River to come to Mays-

  ville. (same trip Meriweather Lewis  made in 1804)

3-Thornton Blackburn was born here. He and his wife Lucie escaped slavery in Louisville & 

  became famous in Detroit. His escape from a Detroit Jail started the first Detroit Race Riot in

1833. He had been placed in jail by slave catchers but, Detroit abolitionists broke in to the jail

  & he & his wife escaped to Canada.. Thornton owned the first taxi cab in Toronto!!! 

     Next we will go to Washington------ a quiet & relaxed village. Walking around this historic

  place seems to take  you back 200 years. It does not have all of the commercial activity so

  many historical  places seem to have. By far the most memorable  event in Washington was

  when Harriet Beecher Stowe first saw slaves being sold---and it horrified her. The result— 

  Harriet decided to write the book—Uncle Tom's Cabin. We then check into our Super 8 Motel,

  freshen up, & head downtown to Maysville to eat at Chandlers. (a black owned restaurant)

.     AUGUST  5-MONDAY --Today we get up EARLY for our departure from our Super 8 at 8:30!!!!!!!! We are going to Tour Augusta, Kentucky  & take a boat ride across the Ohio River.. Our Tour Guide will be Carolyn Miller & she is TERRIFIC!! Your experience on the boat will be quite different than the fugitives before the Civil War.. Those fugitives were just SCARED  TO DEATH but, their desire for FREEDOM outweighed anything else!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Carolyn will share many sites in Augusta that referred to slavery & the agony of that situation. About 10:30 or 11:00 we will leave Augusta & start our trek  back to Ohio. We will eat lunch at a Ponderosa Restaurant in Hillsboro, Ohio. After lunch we are off for Wellington where we will learn about the “Wellington raid”. That incident .really put OBERLIN ON THE MAP!!!. We then arrive in OBERLIN—our last  MAJOR STOP OF THE TRIP! We will learn about its history and some of the AMAZING PEOPLE who walked on this campus. We will tour the historic sites in Oberlin. I cannot predict our timing for this day. I hope we are back to Eastpointe no later than 9:00PM.!!!

*Cinci--this stands for Cincinnati. 

MISCELLANEOUS  INFO-Meals are on your own. I recommend you get travel insurance—866-877-3240-TRAVELGUARD.COM- You could also call  866-729-5215