Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:
Marshall Fredericks' Cleveland War Memorial Fountain-Justin tells
readers about one of Cleveland's iconic pieces of public art at his InACents
blog. But did you know that the artist, Marshall Fredericks, had a studio in my
hometown of Royal Oak, Michigan for many years? I interviewed Fredericks by
phone for a story I did for a local newspaper quite late in his career, but his
health was declining and he died before I could visit the studio and do a
longer feature about him. And did you know that the Star Dream statue standing
on a plaza between the library and City Hall in downtown Royal Oak was a
preliminary study of the Cleveland fountain? Fredericks has several iconic pieces around
the Detroit area, including the Spirit of Detroit that sits in front of the
city's Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. Cincinnati Union Terminal by Alfred Fellheimer, Steward
Wagner and Paul Phillipe Cret-Touring this building at the Cincinnati Museum
Center is definitely on my Midwest bucket list! The team at Visualingual offers
a comprehensive tour of this building with its beautiful Art Deco details. Of course, it was the architecture geek in me
that spotted Paul Phillipe Cret's name in the title and knew that French
American architect was also responsible for the design of another Detroit icon,
the Beaux-Arts and Italian Renaissance-styled Detroit Institute of Arts. A Newbie's Travel Guide to Detroit-Eric shares a guide to
some of his favorite Detroit gems at the Rustwire blog. Eric says that the
first thing many visitors ask to see is the blighted sections of the city rife
with "ruin porn" (and I've also found this to be true), but focuses
on some of Detroit's more interesting treasures in this story like Eastern
Market, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Belle Isle and the Riverwalk. Oz Trivia in the Great Lakes State-Movie makers filmed much
of the recent movie, "Oz the Great and Powerful", in Michigan. Kath
points out that the Midwest has a few other strong ties to L. Frank Baum, the
author of the popular children's classic. Check it out at the Great Lakes Gazette. Where He Wrote: Rolvaag Penned Giants in a Cabin-Hasn't
every writer fantasized about a quiet retreat where they could enjoy
uninterrupted writing time? Check out the Road Trips for Readers blog where Thea
writes about the northern Minnesota cabin where author Olaf Rolvaag wrote a
classic novel, Giants of the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie, about a pioneer family's immigration to America's Great Plains. Travel-it's later than you think!-I'm a big fan of traveling
"right in my own backyard" here at Midwest Guest, so this story at
the Nebraska Outback blog appealed to me for a couple of reasons-its emphasis
on making the most of a short trip to a nearby destination and because it was a
chance to read about a couple of South Dakota destinations we enjoyed visiting
several years ago: the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore and the beautiful
Black Hills area. Amish Acres-Carrie shares her story about visiting Amish
Acres at the Indiana Insider Blog. We've
visited the Amish areas in and around Elkhart County in Northern Indiana, but
we've yet to visit Amish Acres in Nappanee to go to the Round Barn Theater or
tour the Old Order Amish farm. Sounds like another great idea for a road trip
to me! Door County: From Trolls to Ice Cream, and Perhaps the
Weirdest In-Between-One of my favorite vacation memories as a child was taking
a horseback ride with my father near Ephraim, Wisconsin. It started to rain
during the ride, causing our horses break into a gallop as we headed back to
the barn and thrilling me with a swift ride through the woods. India shares her
memories of a swift bicycle ride along the lake in Wisconsin's Door County and
a look at Ephraim's Scandinavian charm at the Wandering Educators blog. The "Ghost Ship"-I loved Ronny's story about this
abandoned ship near Cincinnati, Ohio. He offers a meticulously researched and
illustrated history of the story of a ship that began life as a luxury yacht launched
from Delaware in 1902. The ship was a fishing vessel, saw service during both
World Wars, carried tourists around New York City and had a cameo in Madonna's
"Papa Don't Preach" video before it purchase by a Cincinnati man. A
crew piloted her from New York City to a spot along the Ohio River west of
Cincinnati. Today, 27 years after its last voyage, the sadly deteriorated ship
sits, abandoned, in the Ohio River. Check it out at the Queen City Discovery
blog. Rockford, IL: Rick's Picks-Check out Adam's story visiting Rockford,
Illinois and seeing a cool exhibit at the city's Burpee Museum featuring the
favorite guitars and music of one of Rockford's most well known residents, Rick
Nielsen of Cheap Trick. I saw a few of Nielsen's guitars at an exhibit of Rock
Stars' Cars and Guitars a few years ago at The Henry Ford here in metro Detroit
(an exhibit that included that five-neck Hamer
guitar), so it was fun to get another glimpse of Nielsen's unique axes. Check
it out at the Visit Flyover Country blog. That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you
have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share? © Dominique King 2013 All rights reserved
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