Rolling Along

If you followed me on Facebook today you read that Pete planned a surprise day where I had no idea when we left the house where we were going or what we were doing; started out at our favorite breakfast restaurant, Plain Folks Café.  From there we headed north to just outside Yellow Springs (home of Antioch College) where Young’s Dairy Farm is located.  Turns out they were hosting a Vintage Truck show.  From there we drove 40 minutes south to Lebanon (my hometown) where an antique car show was going on along with their annual Lebanon Blues Fest.

 

Regarding the car/truck shows, there was a time when I did not particularly enjoy such events, but these days I do.  Most of the show participants I really don’t relate to at all.  Some click my interest just because they are beautiful…like a truck or car with a big, old fashioned grill.  I have a particular fondness for 1955-57 Chevys…they are classics for my generation.  But beyond that, some just bring back wonderful memories that are always fun to relive.

Take for instance, between the two shows there was only one entry for a classic VW Combi.  Ahhhh, love that vehicle!!  It was in fact, the first car I ever drove.  The second new vehicle I ever purchased.  And the first vehicle I ever wrecked!

Dad had one that he used to run errands with when we had Hallsted’s Grocery Store in Pinellas Park, Florida.  It was particularly useful for picking up fresh produce at wholesale markets in Tampa.  One day I drove over with him.  The loading dock at this particular market was set up for receiving semi trucks, so the dock was at about the level of the top of the front window of the Combi.  An employee asked Dad to move it to another slot so that a larger truck could pull in where we were.  I was about 14, Dad handed me the keys and told me to move it.  I knew how to drive it.  Dad had been teaching me how to shift, etc in the parking lot of the store.  So, quite surprised, I grabbed the keys and jumped in started her up, put her in gear, moved her to the designated slot, and managed to push in the clutch instead of the brake as I approached the dock!!  Slammed into it hard!!!  Dad was not happy.  But it did stop!!!!

Also drove my 1973 Combi to Alaska, from Cincinnati to Fairbanks, up the Alcan Highway in June 1973.  That was an adventure.  Poor car was brand new, 12 days later, by the time it arrived in Fairbanks, you would never have guessed it was less than 6 weeks old.

At the end of the Alcan Highway!!!

A Sparkling MG

My brother, Jim, was always really tough on cars early on.  His first car was a Chevy around ‘56 or ’57.  He blew that one up pretty quickly.  From there he went through a series of cars, the only one of which I really remember was an MGB…what a cool car….much like the one pictured here.  My best memory of that car was riding in the back slot over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  I know lots of people who hate traveling over that bridge.  Me, I jumped in the back and off we went.  It was a very unique way to see the bridge, the bay and all that blue sky!!!

A few years later, when Jim was married, he and Sharon lost their first child, Lisa at the age of 5 due to a birth defect.  At that time Sharon was driving a GTO and I remember how she swore she would never sell that car cause Lisa had loved it so much. 

Really gorgeous!!!

Just Lovin' the Name

The Studebaker goes back even further.  Our family moved to Florida in 1957 from Ohio.  Back then Dad had a real thing for Studebakers…the only brand of car he would buy.  So we moved to Florida in a Studebaker Station Wagon, pulling a UHaul trailer behind with all our family belongings.

And finally there is the VW Bug.  I have owned 2; a 1968 model that I moved back to Ohio in.  Everything I owned in that car including a sewing machine and my golf clubs.  My second Bug was the newly remodeled version, a 2004 Convertible; loved them both.

Can I have it....PLEASSSSSEEEEE!!!!

So the day was well spent….a beautiful summer day, spending time with my honey and roaming down memory lane!!!!

WHY I LOVE CINCINNATI!!!

Driving down a suburban road today, one that I travel several times a week, I suddenly noticed how beautiful the drive was.  I was heading uphill; a heavy cover of trees on both sides of the road, with a bright blue sky above and the thought came to mind, how beautiful!  This was not in the country, but rather a well traveled road with houses almost invisible from the road, on both sides.  It is a suburban road.

One idle thought lead to another and suddenly I was musing about why I love Cincinnati so dearly. 

·         First, the geology … nestled among the seven hills of Cincinnati, often likened to the seven hills of Rome (never been there, but so they say…) with the Ohio River meandering through, if you get high enough, you find a beautiful view from any hilltop.  Our city forefathers had enough wisdom amongst them to appreciate the beauty of the hills and forests, and so set aside a considerable sum of acreage to become city parks through the eons.  Gotta love those guys.  Cincinnati is abundantly rich in green space.

·         There was also that event where the Wisconsin Glacier, all those millions of years ago, approached Cincinnati from the northwest and managed to come to a halt in the middle of everything.  So, that is why you have flat fields of corn and soy bean growing in abundance to the north of us and the lovely rolling hills throughout the city, down to rivers edge.  If you really study the boundaries, you can easily find trilobites, etc. left by the receding glacier.  Want a hint?  Try French Creek in the city park of French Park.  

·         Cincinnati’s history is a treasure trove of richness.  Three presidents were born inside our seven hills….Grant, Harrison and Taft.  It played a vital role in the Underground Railroad, even weaving its role into the likes of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  The church that stood as a beacon of safety to slaves seeking freedom still stands today.  Migration west on the Ohio River and north from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into the Ohio River Valley was a contributing factor to the advancement of civilization west of the Allegheny Mountains. While Civil War battles were never waged here Camp Dennison was a major recruiting site for the Union Army and many regiments found their way home via the Ohio River.

Downtown Cincinnati

·         I love, love, love giving Friends and Family tours of the city and surround-ing area.  Ask, any time, any day, I’m there to do the deed.  A Cincinnati Tour starts downtown high above the city atop the Carew Tower.  From that vantage you can see the lay of the land in magnificent detail.  From there it is on to Fountain Square, across the river to view the homes that were sanctuary sites for the Underground RR, then up to Mt. Adams, Cincinnati Union Terminal, Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft Museum etc., etc.  More interested in the outlying areas, we can go to the Amish Country for fabulous baked  and canned goods, to the site of a meteor strike, ancient Serpent Mound, and again, on and on.  Just ask.

Cincinnati Museum Center

·         Cincinnati Summerfair – founded in 1968, the very year I moved back to Cincinnati from my 10 year stint in Florida, it began as a street fair in Mt. Adams.  During those years I was somewhat involved as an extra pair of hands to a boyfriend who was heavily involved.  From the streets of Mt. Adams to the grasslands of Eden Park and then onward and upward.  Today it is a weekend affair bringing artists of all types to the event to showcase their wares.  Back in the day as an added bonus for those who paid attention, there was a fabulous party 2 weeks prior for volunteers and sponsors.  I think the party was beforehand rather than after as after everyone just crashed and burned!!!

·         Cincinnati Bridges – yep, I did say bridges.  How many cities have a “Purple People Bridge”?  Formerly an auto bridge that reached an age of extinction except that someone had the smarts to convert it to a pedestrian bridge.  There is also the Suspension Bridge, slightly post  Civil War this bridge served as a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge….no kidding!!!

Suspension Bridge

·         Mt. Adams – One of the seven hills of Cincinnati, its history is so rich and lush it makes me blush!!  In my heyday it was my hangout, where I worked and lived.  But long before I wandered up ‘The Hill’ it was a family destination that took a full day to travel to by horse and buggy from downtown.  (Today you can do it in about 3 minutes).  Nicholas Longworth developed it as a vineyard which was destroyed by 1860 by Black Rot.  Eventually it transitioned into a hilltop neighborhood housing the Cincinnati Art Museum, Rookwood Pottery and one of the famous Cincinnati Inclines.  By the mid-1960’s it became home to a large contingent of ‘those damned hippies’ and by the late 1970’s transitioned even further into a young professional neighborhood.  For those of us who still linger on the hill, it holds wonderful memories.

Eden Park

·         Columbia Parkway – call me weird, but this is a main thoroughfare of the city that runs east to west paralleling the river.  My fondest memory of the 4 lane highway is when I first arrived in Cincinnati, driving out to Batavia to move in with my Aunt Madge.  The road is a 4 lane highway that depending on the time of day could be a serious challenge to drive.  Meaning that the two middle lanes had huge lights above them that were X’s or arrows…red X’s or green arrows.   If it was during morning rush hour and you were traveling into town, the two middle lanes had green arrows above them and you had 3 lanes to travel. The opposite direction had 2 red X’s above them.   If it was evening rush hour the arrows changed to accommodate the outbound traffic.  Now, these many years later it seems like a pretty easy concept to grasp…however, as an inexperienced 19 year old on her own for the first time, those arrows threw me for a loop.  I still remember the panic that set in my first time driving Columbia Parkway.  Sometime not to long after, the arrows went away and the lanes stayed as you would expect them to be.  But, it is a vivid memory.

·         Cincinnati and the region has one of the most stable economies of any city in the US.  Because of the highly diversified manufacturing/business base anywhere, when a downturn occurs, sure it hits us, but not as hard as say an economy that is supported completely by oil, or by steel, or by tourism, or whatever.  We have a little bit of everything in Cincinnati and the surrounding area.

So, I could go on and on, but instead why not come to Cincinnati and find your own treasure trove of wonderful experiences.  You will not be disappointed.