In March of 1913, massive rainstorms over Easter weekend caused the Miami River to swell and break through the levees built to contain it. Water rushed through downtown Dayton reaching depths of 20 feet. The flood would do $100 million in damage, destroy 20,000 homes and take 360 lives. Miamisburg was devastated with much of the city underwater.
Relief efforts arrived with the Red Cross setting up tent cities to provide shelter to the displaced population. Miamisburg resident Sherman "Cocky" Porter volunteered to try and help feed the people and the relief workers. Trying to feed hundreds of people a hot meal is no easy task, so Porter decided to cook up a huge batch of hamburgers and pass them out to the crowds. They were a hit…
I love baseball. I couldn't quote batting averages off the top of my head nor could I tell you who's won every World Series, I simply love the game. I love the sight of a ball field with its crisp white lines, the call of "cold beer, peanuts, crackerjacks" from the vendors climbing the bleachers and the sound of a well hit ball as it leaves the bat headed for the outfield. I love the history and tradition of the game and how it has often marched alongside, and evolved with, the history of the country. You can probably imagine my excitement then, when, while visiting the city where professional baseball began, I was able to also view the largest private collection of baseball memorabilia in the world.
The Green Diamond Gallery, in suburban Cincinnati, is a magical place filled to bursting with some of the most awesome mementos to the history of the baseball. While it's not a massive place, I spent three hours there trying to take it all in…
As I've traveled the country, I've visited a lot of small towns. Some are thriving, some are faltering, and some are just plain crumbling. When the Plaza Theater sat empty for almost 15 years in downtown Miamisburg, Ohio, it was symbolic of the latter two. When it opened in 1919, the 700 seat Plaza was the heart of a thriving downtown. People came downtown to do their shopping, catch up on the gossip and see a show. The theater closed its doors in 1968, but the building lived on as the new home of Sor-rel's Western Wear, a successful apparel and equipment store. After a solid 26 year run where the business thrived, the Sorrel family sold their store off in 1994. Eight years later, it was closed and the theater-turned-western-store would sit empty right in the middle of a struggling Main Street. Downtown Miamisburg, like so many small towns, had ceded its business to strip malls and chain stores outside the city limits…
Sadly leaving Athens County behind, I stopped for a brief visit at the Buckeye Furnace State Memorial. Tucked back in the woods, this was a great place to learn more about the production of pig iron, an industry that brought a lot of wealth to the region. I had the place all to myself but could imagine the small community which once stood there and kept the furnace going. This was another of Appalachia's hard labor industries, and one that disappeared as the iron ore dried up and the nation's demands shifted to steal. It was a cool place to visit.
From there I headed out to the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande where I had a big breakfast for lunch and wandered around the property for a while. I learned the story of Bob and how he started with a steakhouse, but soon started making sausage as well. This sausage would catapult his business into one of Ohio's best known names.
Inspired by murals he had seen across the state in Steubenville, Dr. Louis Chaboudy hoped to create something similar in his hometown of Portsmouth. In 1992, he commissioned Robert Dafford to begin work on a project which would last 10 years. Over that time period, Dafford painted over 50 murals which stretch 2200 feet along the Ohio River. These murals tell the history of Sciotto County and of the people who have lived there. It is a wonderful project which I really enjoyed visiting. The local Visitor's Center provides brochures and even a cell phone tour for your visit. Unfortunately I was shooting into the sun while I was there, and all of the murals are different sizes making it difficult to crop them and still have a nice layout for this post, but I still thought that they were wonderful and wanted to share them with you today. Enjoy!
Founded in 1849 on the Ohio river and due to the area's rich iron-ore content, Ironton grew to be one of the largest iron producing regions in the world. The iron industry continued to grow through the latter half of the 19th century, and Ironton prospered. As the area's iron played out and the nations demands transitioned towards steel, Ironton's prominence diminished. The decline of the iron industry, coupled with two devastating floods nearly wiped out Ironton. Today it is a shadow of its former self, but still has some fascinating buildings that hark back to an earlier time. Driving through on a beautiful afternoon, I had to stop and take some photos. It was a really cool city to visit and I don't have to use too much imagination to picture it during its heyday. Enjoy!
I've been very lucky to have spent the last week and a half in Athens County as I start my journey around Ohio. I had the opportunity to visit my friend, Will, and do some work for the local Visitor's Bureau while enjoying many of the events put on by Ohio Brew Week. I'm not used to spending this much time in one location, but I'm sure glad I did. While the city of Athens is a modern college town, the surrounding area has deep roots in an industrial past. First salt, then coal, brick and lumber have all played their role in the history of Athens County. While it's definitely time for me to be moving on with my exploration of Ohio, I didn't want to leave without taking you on a photographic journey through the county and the things I found out here. Enjoy!
I first met Will Drury at the corner of a bar in the middle of a parking lot on the edge of an island in the middle of the Caribbean. The bar was Duffy's, an institution in Red Hook on the east end of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Will had arrived that day to take over management of Duffy's and I was a regular there. Duffy's was right down the hill from my apartment and I didn't even have to cross the street to get there. I liked Duffy's because the clientele was a good balance of locals and tourists. While most people who lived on the island tried their hardest to avoid the tourists during their down-time, I loved interacting with them. It was great to welcome them to our little island and help them with their plans, and I never tired of their enthusiasm…
The southeastern corner of Athens County, Ohio sits right across the Ohio River from West Virginia, making it a perfect transition as I begin my month-long exploration of the Buckeye State. While the city of Athens is home to Ohio University and exhibits all of the best qualities of a quintessential college town, you don’t have to drive far before it becomes clear you are definitely still in Appalachia. As I drove the back roads and explored the history and culture of the area, I found it both new and familiar at the same time. The history of Athens County is fascinating, and in this post I’d like to tell you all about it through six stops I made as I visited the region.
The Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways project is one of the most comprehensive and far reaching statewide tourism initiatives I've ever encountered, and one of the best. The time and energy that must have been put into this project is staggering, but so are the results. Essentially, Tennessee has done all your off-the-beaten-path research for you, and all you have to do is follow the signs to your next adventure. The Trails and Byways program features 16 trails covering 5,225 miles of road and all 95 counties in the state. There are printed brochures for each trail and online resources as well. During my 5+ weeks in Tennessee, I found myself on several of these trails and found them to be a really great resource. It was an enormous undertaking by the state Department of Tourism, but I think other states could follow their lead in an effort to bring tourism dollars to smaller communities and lesser known areas of your state.
If you are a fan of pork ribs like I am a fan of pork ribs, then Tennessee is one of the places you really have to go. Good Tennessee ribs get a dry rub of spices and are then slow smoked over a wood fire. Back in the 1950s in Memphis, Charlie Vergos combined his father's Greek spices with some New Orleans style cajun seasoning and turned scrap-meat into something altogether magical. Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous still sets the standard for ribs in Tennessee and is definitely one of my favorites. In my travels around Tennessee, I stopped into a few different rib-joint though and found some great spots around the state. While Rendezvous ribs still tops my list, some of these places gave them a run for their money…
If I'm going out to have a drink and I'm not going to see live music, I try and seek out the best dive bars wherever I am. I have a nose for them and usually know a good one when I see it. I've been asked a few times what makes a good dive bar, and the truth is that the answer to that question would be different for everyone. For me, a dive bar is in no way synonymous with a dump. There are some really bad, unfriendly, filthy bars in this world - those I classify as "dumps". A dive bar to me is a friendly neighborhood bar, full of locals, where drinks are cheap and conversation flows. If these places are on Yelp or TripAdvisor at all, they probably don't have over 3.5 stars because they aren't what many people are looking for. They aren't fancy and most don't have expensive or expansive beer lists. The usual wine selection is "red or white?". There are probably neon signs on the walls, and oftentimes, for reasons I can't explain, Christmas lights. Somewhere on the wall is a photo of someone nobody remembers, but they were important enough to the patrons at some point in the past to put their photo up. The bartenders are generally friendly…
