In rural Ohio, the most whimsical venue for an alfresco dinner isn’t a lakeside terrace with umbrella-topped tables or even the lush garden of a charming pastoral inn. It’s a 158-year-old covered bridge that narrowly dodged demolition. For the sixth year in a row, Union County’s 1868-era Pottersburg Covered Bridge will host lunches and dinners during the summer and fall where guests sit around a long communal table under string lights and taste some of central Ohio’s best farm-to-table fare. Plates of locally sourced meat and produce are served to a soundtrack of guitars strumming and cicadas singing. Open side windows offer a panoramic view of farmland that sprawls in all directions.
For 20 years, the bridge has sat along a retired rail bed that was paved to create the 1.9-mile North Lewisburg Multi-Purpose Trail. Before tucking into a feast of comfort foods, lunch and dinner guests learn about the landmark’s turbulent history and eventual eviction from its original location less than a mile away. The story starts in the 19th century, when legendary Union County local Reuben L. Partridge, aka “The Bridge Builder,” engineered the structure to carry horse-drawn carriages across Big Darby Creek in Marysville.
After Honda established Marysville as its North American hub in the ‘80s, officials were faced with a choice to either demolish the bridge to make way for a road that could accommodate more vehicle traffic, or to take on the painstaking process of moving it to a new location. They chose the latter, and in 2006, it was set over a dry channel on an abandoned section of the Erie Railroad line outside of North Lewisburg.
The experience begins on a narrated trolley tour that departs from one of six nearby wineries or breweries: Camp Brewing Basecamp, Dalton Union Winery & Brewery, Happenstance Brewing Project, Ill Mannered Brewing Co., Rhetoric Brewing Co., or The Taphouse at Retreat 21. The trolley then cruises around town to three other historic bridges out of the county’s seven—Buck Run Covered Bridge, Spain Creek Covered Bridge, and North Lewisburg Covered Bridge—before arriving at the scenic meal spot, where string trio Second Story Acoustic strums a folksy welcome.
“It’s more than just a meal,” says Grace Croswell, sales and marketing manager at Union County Tourism. “It showcases what makes Union County special, with local food and drinks from wineries and breweries, local farms, and local caterers. It celebrates our county’s past heritage with the covered bridges as well as our current businesses.”…