Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:
Sixth Street Bridge in Grand Rapids-This post by Farlane at Michigan in Pictures spotlights the 544-foot-long wrought iron bridge built in 1886 by the Massillon Bridge Company of Massillon Ohio and reminds me of bridges with similar histories in Michigan (wrought-iron spans built by Ohio bridge builders during the 19th century) and not to be confused with Grand Rapids' landmark Blue Bridge. Check out the excellent article at the Historicbridges.org site cited by this post for a more complete history of the Sixth Street span. You can also check out Historic Highway Bridges of Michigan by Charles K. Hyde (who taught several classes I had at Wayne State University in Detroit).
Flying Hot Dog at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-We've seen this flying hot dog multiple times at the R&RHOF+Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, but we've yet to be able to make an image of it to share with Midwest Guest readers, so here's a nice shot of it by Karyn at Sand and Snow...and everywhere in between! We first got a membership here when the museum opened in 1995, but we haven't been able to visit in recent years since the museum lifted its prohibition on visitors being able to document their trips with their own images. Returning and making my own images there is definitely on my Midwest Bucket list!
Celebrate Indiana's Special Sites during National Parks Week-Kayleen gives readers of the Indiana Insider blog a nice round-up of the three National Park Service sites in the Hoosier State. This year sounds like the perfect time to visit as the NPS celebrates its 100th anniversary and Indiana also celebrates its 200th year as a state! Check out Indiana at 200: A Celebration of the Hoosier State to learn more about Indiana's Bicentennial.
6 Reasons You Need to Go the Detroit This Year-Jessica writes about how Detroit's story of doom and gloom is slowly changing to a story of "comeback" in recent years. While those of us who live in the area are well aware of its problems and its new-found charms among hipsters who pride themselves on discovering places before their widespread popularity among mainstream travelers, here's a list of Motor City highlights. Check it out at the Viator Travel Blog.
101 Things to See and Do for $10 & Under in the Kenosha, WI Area (Part 1 of 4)-I bookmarked this site as we were planning a visit to Kenosha this summer, and some of Tony's suggestions like taking in a Kenosha Kingfish baseball game and climbing the Southport Lighthouse were high on our to-do list! While it doesn't look like this trip will happen for us this year, I'm still keeping this list for future reference. Check it out at The Walking Traveler blog.
Family Focused, Center City Activities Abound with the Return of Baseball Season-There is much to do in Cincinnati, Ohio, whether or not the Reds make a playoff run according to Randy at the UrbanCincy blog. Check out this video focusing on family fun in the Queen City, which reminded me a bit of some of the things we saw during our own trip to Cincy and a Reds game (you can link to the video here if it doesn't automatically pop up at the blog). Also be sure to check out a recent guest post from Jessie here about Cincy's Findlay Market.
What Happened to the Minneapolis Music Scene?-Aaron Renn (a.k.a. The Urbanophile) posts his ponderings about the Minneapolis music scene in the wake of Prince's untimely death this past month. Aaron muses about the importance of the city's music scene and wonders about the fading of its wider impact over the years since Prince's 1980s heyday--as opposed to the music scene in a place like Detroit, which seems to continually reinvent its musical culture in a variety of ways while remaining relevant to a wider audience today. Check it out at Aaron's self-named blog (that I first discovered as The Urbanophile blog a handful of years ago.
Wright in Racine-The grandson of the global manufacturer SC Johnson hired an architect during the 1930s to design the company headquarters in southeast Wisconsin with the instructions "don't make it too unconventional". The architect? Frank Lloyd Wright. And the building? Well, Wright certainly seemed to allow his imagination to fly with a structure featuring concrete flying saucer forms and a roof of glass tubing that still attracts many tourists today to tour the futuristic building as part of a cross-state tour of various buildings designed by Wright. Yup, this place is definitely on my Midwest Bucket List. Check out Beth's post at the Midwest Weekends blog.
Seward Johnson Sculptures in Crown Point Portray Real Life-Connie did a double take when she realized that a pair of men she saw on a city street in Crown Point, Indiana were actually sculptures and part of a public art project in the northern Indiana city. This summer saw a new public art installation of the realistic sculptures by artist Seward Johnson at Crown Point, and Connie files this report about it at the Midwest Wanderer blog, which includes a couple of familiar looking figures like the ones I saw four summers ago at a similar display in Carmel near Indianapolis, Indiana! Also be sure to check out Connie's recent guest post at Midwest Guest about Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois.
That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?
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