Midwest Guest

Check out these great Midwest car collections! (Part 2)

I love visiting automotive museums, and it seems like I'm not the only one who loves checking out cool car collections here in the Midwest.

I recently thought it might be fun to post a collection of car-related story links from my own Midwest Guest archives, and decided to ask some fellow Midwest travel bloggers if I could share some of their car collection story links in my list as well.

There was, as I suspected, a number of great posts about Midwest car collections, and I ended up with a list of links large enough to do two posts!

Here is the second part of my list of Midwest car collection story links:

Visiting Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana-A trip to Fort Wayne was enough excuse for me to drive on across Indiana to check out the National Studebaker Museum in South Bend. I especially loved the glamour and style of the 1950s-era cars here featuring their bullet-nose profiles and sherbet-colored paint jobs. Other highlights for me included seeing the brand's earliest horse-drawn vehicles and the famous "Muppet car" (a specially-adapted bullet-nosed Studebaker used in the 1979 Muppet movie). Check out my story at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles-Connie put a story up about her experience at the Studebaker museum after I already finished assembling links for this series, but I figured I could squeeze a link to her story here. Check her take on the museum at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum draws car buffs and Art Deco lovers to northern Indiana-We originally discovered this museum after seeing a billboard along the highway during a long-ago ride back home after attending an Indy 500 race. I particularly love the museum's Art Deco-style architecture and its collection of 1930s movie-star-worthy cars. We've returned to this museum several times since discovering it more than 25 years ago. Check it out at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Pontiac Oakland Museum, Pontiac Illinois: Auto Nostalgia along Route 66-What do you do when your classic car collection is too large to store at your home? Open a museum, of course! Connie tells the story of a couple who opened a museum featuring vintage Oakland and Pontiac automobiles, along with other automotive memorabilia in (most appropriately) Pontiac, Illinois. Read about this museum, which is just southwest of Chicago, at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Photo: Connie Siokos Reed, used with permission

Peoria, IL: Wheels O' Time Museum-Adam takes readers on a tour of this fun museum near Peoria, Illinois that includes some cool classic cars as well as trains, farm equipment to toys of bygone years. The vehicle collection, housed in several different buildings, includes kid-pleasers like big, red fire trucks and curiosities for the adults like Hugh Hefner's limo. Check it out at the Visit Flyover Country blog.

Photo: Adam Sommer, used with permission

Effingham, IL: My Garage Museum-Adam also visited the My Garage Museum in central Illinois, where he and his family found a collection of VWs that included several versions of the beloved Herbie the Love Bug used in the Disney films featuring the cute car as well as some cool Corvettes and race cars. Check this story out at the Visit Flyover Country blog.

Photo: Adam Sommer, used with permission

National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky-Speaking of Corvettes, Nedra takes readers to the National Corvette Museum. I first read about this museum when I saw news reports of a 60-foot sink hole that opened up below part of the museum and damaged some of the vintage vehicles housed here. Check this story out at the Adventure Mom blog. It was sad to see images of the damaged vehicles at Nedra's post, but you can check out the latest news about the museum's work on filling in the sinkhole and creating new display space on the museum's Facebook page.

Photo: Nedra McDaniel, used with permission

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum-Katy checks in from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum where she shared her young daughter's fascination with wheeled vehicles and indulged herself with fantasies of wearing some of the beautiful Tiffany trophies on display as oversized jewelry! Check it out at the Indy with Kids blog.

Photo: Katy Mann, used with permission

Gilmore Car Museum expands and reopens for the season-I wrote this story several years ago after touring the museum and its beautiful campus in western Michigan. I understand the museum's expansion and improvements continue, and it's definitely on my list of places I'd like to return to check out again soon. I liked learning about the automotive companies that once called Kalamazoo home, seeing the story of Alice Ramsey (the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States) and stopping by the vintage diner on the museum campus for a snack. Check out the story at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Here are a few other Midwest Guest posts featuring big Detroit-area automotive events we've visited over the years.

The annual North American International Auto Show always offers opportunities to see some of the latest automotive developments and car models. Check out my NAIAS stories from 2011 (Photo Friday: 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit Michigan) and 2009(Cars star at North American International Auto Show).

 

 

I've always thought that one of the most enjoyable ways to view classic cars is to see them at an outdoor show during the summer, and one of the best shows happens about a mile away from my home. Check out Photo Friday: Enjoying classic cars "Down on Main Street" in Clawson, Michigan for a story about this yearly event.

 

 

Check out one of the first stories I did at Midwest Guest six years ago about an event that continues to draw over a million folks to what organizers describe as "the world's largest one-day celebration of classic car culture", the Woodward Dream Cruise. Most of us who live here will tell you that the event unofficially spreads over the entire summer (if you want to count all of the unofficial pre- and post-Dream Cruise classic car cruisers and spectators along Woodward during the warmer months). Let's face it, this town is truly Car Crazy!   

 

 

Be sure to check out part one of this two-part series of Midwest car collection posts.

So many ideas for great future road trips, don't you think?

© Dominique King 2014 All rights reserved (unless otherwise noted)

Cincinnati Christmas Lights

Thanks to Terri Weeks, who enlightens Midwest Guest readers today with a great guest post about the holiday light show scene in and around Cincinnati, Ohio!

No matter what your entertainment budget is this holiday season, there’s a light display in Cincinnati for you. And I don’t mean just driving around your neighborhood. Here’s a roundup of a half dozen dazzling displays of light at various price points.

Light Up the Levee

Newport on the Levee has been decked out for the holidays with over a million lights. Every evening, starting at 6:10 p.m., a show of lights synchronized to music starts every 20 minutes. A 30-ft. Christmas tree is covered in multiple strings of lights of various colors. Other trees on the outdoor riverwalk blink on and off during the show. That’s over a million lights in all. While this is a fun show, I’m not sure it’s worth a drive to the Levee just for the lights, but if you’re planning to be there to visit the Shillito’s Elves, Newport Aquarium, or have dinner, it’s definitely worth a look.

Cost: Free (but you’ll probably have to pay for parking)

Creation Museum

Although this event has far more to offer than just lights, walking through the beautifully lit garden and seeing the reflection of the lights on the water is one of my favorite parts. This annual free event happens Friday and Saturday evenings in December and includes a live nativity and live dramatic performances in addition to the lights. For an additional fee, you can ride a camel or see a planetarium show. Arrive early; it gets very crowded very quickly.

Cost: Free (additional fee for camel rides and planetarium shows)

Sharon Woods Holiday in Lights

Colorful lit figures line the one-mile path of the Holiday in Lights display at Sharon Woods park. Pack some travel mugs filled with hot cocoa and load the kids in the minivan and enjoy the display. Many of the figures are animated. After you see the lights, stop in Sharon Centre for the free Santaland festivities that include performances, puppet shows, a train display, and a talking Christmas tree.

Cost: $12 per car

Pyramid Hill Holiday Lights on the Hill.

During the holiday season, this outdoor sculpture museum transforms into a drive-through light display with over two million lights displayed throughout the park. This beautiful display includes lit trees, figures, and a decorated pavilion.  You can literally see the sculptures in a different light, and all from the warmth of your car.

Cost: $20 per car on weeknights; $25 per car on weekends.

The Legendary Lights at Clifton Mill

This is the granddaddy of light displays. It takes six men almost three months to string up a total of 3.5 million lights. They turn the lights on each evening with a single flip of a switch, instantly blanketing the dark gorge with light. A light show synchronized to music plays once an hour. The covered bridge blinks on and off to the music. An outdoor miniature village and a collection of antique Santa figures are also on display.

Cost: $10 per person; Ages 6 and under are free.

Cincinnati Zoo Festival of Lights

One of Cincinnati’s favorite holiday traditions, the Festival of Lights fills the zoo with 2 million LED lights. Trees throughout the zoo glow with light and walking paths become features like the Candy Cane Forest, Twinkle Trail, and Lollipop Lane. Swan Lake is the stage for a dancing light show. Be sure to bundle up because it takes at least a couple hours to see it all. If you get cold, you can step inside one of the indoor exhibits like Manatee Springs to warm up for a while. Visit cute characters including a gingerbread boy and girl and Blizzard and Snowflake, the talking tigers. Don’t miss the Winter Wonders puppet show—it’s entertaining for all ages.

Cost: $15 adults; $10 kids; $8 parking.

Text and Photos © Terri Weeks 2012. All rights reserved, used with permission.

Terri Weeks is a family travel writer in the Cincinnati area.  Her family is on a mission to visit all 50 states by the time her kids graduate from high school. She blogs about family travel in the US at www.travel50stateswithkids.com. TTerri is also a local travel guru in Cincinnati and is co-author of  Adventures Around Cincinnati: A Parent's Guide to Unique and Memorable Places to Explore with your Kids.  She’s also the Cincinnati Editor at www.wanderingeducators.com. 

Midwest travel links for November 2010

Check out some of these great Midwest-related stories I read online in this past month:

• Art Deco Landmark: Guardian Building-Kirsten Alana managed to drag in her heavy camera equipment (normally prohibited) and dodge security guards to capture these fantastic images of a real Art Deco gem in Detroit, Michigan. It's very difficult to capture the beauty of the Guardian Building with a hand-held camera, so my own shots never pleased me, but Kirsten's images really do capture much of the colorful grandeur of the classic building.
• Roebling's Last Gleaming-I fell in love with the Roebling Bridge when I first spotted it during a visit to Cincinnati. I became even more fascinated with the span after reading more about it and its link to the Brooklyn Bridge. Needless to say, I totally fell in love with Gordon Bombay's story from the Queen City Discovery blog and his stunning photos from atop the Roebling Bridge.



• Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky-Aaron, the voice behind The Adventures of the elatlboy, takes us on a tour of his favorite stops in this area along the Ohio River in Ohio and Kentucky. Just the mention of stopping at Skyline Chili makes me hungry!
• Halo Burger: Past, Present and Future-Bernard checks out this Flint, Michigan, classic (I love the olive burgers at Halo!) at the Flint Expatriates blog. He chats with the local chain's long-time owner and wonders if new generations of Flint residents will be able to enjoy the beloved burger as a new owner takes over the operation.



• Can I get that with a side of jet engine?-I remember when going to the airport to watch planes take off and land was a cheap date, so I enjoyed this post from Nicole at Arrows Sent Forth about visiting Hanger 5 in Columbus, Indiana, with her son. Mom and son enjoyed lunch while watching planes land and take off from a window by their restaurant booth. Can't think of many places you can do that in these days of heightened security concerns and theater!
• A Prairie Home Celebration-Minnesota photographer Valerie Jardin shares her photos and story about the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul at Travel Between the Pages. The theater, which celebrates its centennial this year, is home to Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" and earned a spot on the National Registry of Historic Places in August of this year.
• 50 Reasons to love Minneapolis/St. Paul-the staff at City Pages put together this eclectic list of Twin City favorites to remind residents of why they love their towns as they hunker down for yet another winter.
• Pikes Peak State Park, McGregor, Iowa-Linda takes us to Pikes Peak at Travels with Children. No, it's not the famous mountain in Colorado. This Pikes Peak in Iowa predates Colorado's Pikes Peak, but both bear the name of explorer Zebulon Pike. He visited the bluff named for him in the Iowa park that overlooks the Mississippi River as he traveled westward.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

 

Midwest travel links for August 2010

Check out these great Midwest-related stories I've read online this past month:

• Colorful Caribbean Floats-Charlie spotted some beautiful flashes of color while riding his bicycle through Detroit recently, discovering a workshop and artists creating floats and costumes for the city's Annual Caribbean International Festival Parade. Check out his story and photos of the workshop and the subsequent parade at Bikes, Books & A Little Music.





• Chicago and Milwaukee: Large Public Art and Placemaking-Public art pieces in Chicago like The Bean and a huge American Gothic sculpture are big tourist draws. Jeramey takes a look at <heh> Chicago's latest piece of public art and argues that Milwaukee could benefit from emulating Chicago's penchant for large pieces of statement art. Oh, and check out Milwaukee's Bronze Fonz, which is exactly what you probably think it is-the Fonz of Happy Days fame immortalized as (you guessed it) a bronze statue.

• Backyard Adventures: 100 Acres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art-Check out this outdoor arts park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Arrows Sent Forth. Traveling with kids? This story also has some great tips about the terrain, rest rooms, parking, picnicking at the museum, and more.

• Evansville Otters Baseball for Southwest Indiana-There is still a bit of time to take in a baseball game this season, and Erik takes readers to a game with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League at Indiana Insider Blog. I enjoyed hearing about the team's historic 95-year-old ball park and its connection to the movie, "A League of Their Own".

• Thriving in the BWCAW-Join Rob and his family on a canoe adventure in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It's been a while since we visited the area ourselves, but I vividly remember the quarter-mile downhill portage and the quarter-mile uphill portage we did during one of our day trips, so I can feel Rob's pain as he talks about two miles worth of portages during his trip at The Intense Traveler. But it's all worth it!





• Looking at the End of Summer from the Lighthouse Steps- The marble, Albert Kahn-designed William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse on Detroit's Belle Isle is a real beauty, so I particularly enjoyed taking a closer look at this unique tower at Belle Isle Home.

• Road Trip Music: Indiana-Kerry explores the Midwest and its music at Music Road. Check out this profile of Indiana folksinger Carrie Newcomer (born in Michigan, by the way) and other Midwest musician profiles at Kerry's site.

• Discovering Musical History on Race Street-Michael takes us to historic Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, in his Soapbox Cincinnati story. Popular music legends like Hank Williams, Patti Page, Flatt & Scruggs, and Bull Moose Jackson (an early R&B artist whose song, "Big Ten Inch Record", some music fans may remember best as an Aerosmith cover) all recorded at Herzog Studios.

• Highway 100-Travel the length of this Minnesota highway via video in a matter of minutes! I enjoyed this little virtual vacation at the Nokohaha blog.





• 7/79 video takes views on unique visual tour of Cincinnati's center-Driving into the Ohio River? Seeing Cincinnati-area landmarks like the Roebling Bridge or The Ascent in nearby Covington, Kentucky, from the air? Randy posted this virtual vacation on Urban Cincy.

Do you know of any other Midwest-related blogs I should check out?

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: John A. Roebling Bridge connects Ohio and Kentucky

I posted the story of the John A. Roebling Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky yesterday. This bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, is especially fascinating because it was a prototype for the famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

As usual, when it comes to bridges and cool architecture, I had more than enough photos to use with my story. So, here are a few more photos of the bridge, a statue of its designer and the floodwall murals depicting historic scenes from the region's history (see yesterday's story for an enlargement of one of the murals depicting a scene that supposedly inspired author Toni Morrison as she wrote Beloved).

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Cincinnati

Things To Do
Covington

Roebling Bridge links Ohio, Kentucky and Brooklyn

One of the things I love about travel is finding interesting sites that make you curious to learn more about something.

The John A. Roebling Bridge spanning the Ohio River to connect Cincinnati (Ohio) and Covington (Kentucky) fascinated me from the first time I laid eyes upon it. The stately brick arches, bright blue paint and the sign identifying it as the "John A. Roebling Bridge - 1867" looked a bit incongruous next to the modern riverfront buildings in both cities. The contrast was especially sharp approaching Covington and the ultra-modern Daniel Libeskind luxury residential complex, although The Ascent complex echoed some of the curves and bright blue color of the old bridge.

The John A. Roebling Bridge had pedestrian walkways, so it became a must that I walk across the bridge and snap a batch of photos from nearly every imaginable angle!

There are a number of bridges spanning the river at this point, but the John A. Roebling Bridge holds several distinctions. The bridge, completed in December of 1866, was the first to span the river and, over 140 years after its opening, still serves as a crossing for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

The bridge served as a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, also designed by Roebling and seen to completion by his son, Washington A. Roebling. Washington Roebling also supervised work at the bridge over the Ohio River while his father planned the Brooklyn Bridge project.

The decade-plus construction period for the John A. Roebling Bridge also echoes the 14-year effort that it took to complete the Brooklyn Bridge by 1883.

I thought again of my walk across the Roebling Bridge as I finished the massive David McCullough book, The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was, after all, the Roebling Bridge that led me to tackle reading McCullough's 562-page book about the building of the famed New York bridge.

McCullough's book is a detailed account of the Brooklyn Bridge construction and both Roeblings' part in its design, execution and the fascinatingly gruesome manner in which both bridges claimed the health of father and son. John A. Roebling died after a workplace accident at the Brooklyn Bridge and subsequently contracting lockjaw. Washington A. Roebling experienced years of impaired health after contracting the bends as a result of his work at the Brooklyn Bridge. The book was technical in parts, but offered some interesting insights into bridge construction, technology and politics of the time.

But first, there was the John A. Roebling Bridge between Cincinnati and Covington.

Increasing ferry traffic on the Ohio River between Ohio and Kentucky drove the desire for a bridge between the two states. Ferryboat operators and steamboat companies were understandably less than enthused about the bridge proposal. Cincinnati's role as a major Underground Railroad conduit for slaves seeking a safe route north to freedom also led others to oppose the bridge because they felt would ease the journey for escaping slaves.

Bridge construction eventually began in September of 1856. Inflation and war caused construction delays throughout the Civil War.   

The central 1,057-feet span was the longest in the world when the bridge opened to traffic on January 1, 1867. Its larger cousin, the Brooklyn Bridge, became the longest bridge upon its 1883 completion.

Be sure to visit look for the Roebling statue and historical marker on the Kentucky side of the river when you visit the John A. Roebling Bridge, as well as the Roebling Murals. The 18 murals, on the floodwalls near the bridge, represent the largest public art display in the area and depict scenes from Covington, Northern Kentucky and the bridge's history--like this mural "The Flight of the Garner Family". The Garner mural shows the family's 1856 run across the frozen river toward freedom, an event that the murals committee says helped inspire author Toni Morrison as she wrote Beloved.

© Dominique King All rights reserved

Photo Friday

 

 

We enjoyed walking over the beautiful Roebling Bridge from Cincinnati (Ohio) to Covington (Kentucky).  Designed by engineer John Roebling and opened January 1, 1867, the suspension bridge became the first bridge to span the Ohio River and was a prototype for New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.

Links and information in story updated 2020

The Roebling Bridge has a fascinating history, and you can learn more about it at Cincinnati Transit’s site or the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee site.

 

As we neared Covington, I spotted a blue-and-white high-rise dominating the city’s skyline and marveled at the juxtaposition between the solid old bridge and the modern building full of sharp angles soaring high into the sky.

Architect Daniel Libeskind designed The Ascent at Roebling’s Bridge, a 22-story luxury residential complex completed in 2008. Libeskind, also named as the master planner to rebuild the World Trade Center site in New York City, designed the Ascent’sunusual angles to maximize the site’s river views.

 

Approaching the building, I took a few shots straight up towards the highest point of the building. The effect of looking at it from the ground almost gave me a vertigo-like sensation, but the effect of seeing the building close up was impressive.

 

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2008 (updated 2020)

Photo Friday

We ventured across the Ohio River one rainy afternoon during our recent Cincinnati trip to visit neighboring Newport, Kentucky for a little geocaching.

Links and information within this story updated 2020

Our search for a virtual cache took us to the World Peace Bell. The bell, a project managed by Cincinnati’s Verdin company and billed as the “world’s largest swinging bell”, is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 66,000 pounds. Installed in 1999 at the Millennium Monument site in Newport, the bell first rang at the site on January 1, 2000. A French foundry cast the copper/tin bell and Cincinnati/Newport area companies created most other components of the bell and tower.

Although we visited around noon, the bell didn’t ring during our visit, and the nearby center and store dedicated to the World Peace Bell wasn’t open.

However, we got credit for finding the virtual cache located at the bell, and you can see a short video clip of the bell ringing on YouTube.

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2008(updated 2020)

 

Cincinnati Cuisine

We weren’t sure what to expect in the way of Cincinnati cuisine beyond the ubiquitous Skyline Chili, but we uncovered some interesting menu choices during a recent stay in the city.

The specific restaurants we enjoyed appear to no longer exist, but Chef Jean-Robert De Cavel still has several eateries operating in Cincinnati. Check them at The JR Group.

We set out on foot from our downtown hotel, The Cincinnatian, in search of dinner one afternoon and found JeanRo Bistro, a French-style bistro a few of blocks away.

It was early enough in the day that we ordered from the lunch menu, which included classic French dishes like Croque Monsieur, steak frites and, my choice, Mussels Mariniere avec Pommes Frites. Well-prepared meals, attentive service and décor that included French posters, photos and artifacts from the owner’s collection, along with an eclectic mix of customers that included local business people and out-of-town tourists, made for a wonderfully cosmopolitan experience in the Midwestern heartland.

Later that weekend, we walked across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky and had brunch at Jean-Robert’s Greenup Café

Tucked into a three-story house and filled with locals, the café had a distinctly neighborhood vibe.  There was a small outdoor patio, but the heat of the day and the walk over from Cincinnati made eating inside the more pleasant option the day we visited.

The menu offered choices like omelets, pastries and Eggs Benedict. I ordered the Croque Monsieur with two eggs sunny side up (in other words, a Croque Madame), and it reminded me of similar sandwiches I ate when I visited Paris a few years ago.

JeanRo Bistro and Greenup Café are part of a small group of Cincinnati restaurants owned by Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel. Born in Roubaix France, Jean-Robert came to Cincinnati in 1993 as Chef de Cuisine at the city’s Maisonette restaurant, according to a bio in a press kit at his restaurant group Web site. He opened his first restaurant, Jean-Robert at Pigall's, in 2002.

We didn’t make it to the more formal Pigall’s, but that just leaves somewhere new to eat the next time we visit the city!

Reading an issue of Midwest Living Magazine before heading down to Cincinnati, I found an ad for a restaurant called Hugo. Having loved the Low Country cuisine I sampled in Charleston, South Carolina, the idea of a Low Country-inspired restaurant in Cincinnati intrigued me.

We found Hugo in an unassuming strip mall location nearly 10 miles out from the city center (thanks to our trusty GPS!).

Inspired by the Charleston cuisine Chef Sean Daly prepared working in that city’s restaurants, the menu and the elegant dining room represented a fusion of “down home cooking and high-class flare”, according to Hugo’s Web site. The restaurant’s name comes from a particularly devastating hurricane that hit South Carolina.

Traditional appetizers like fried green tomatoes and corn fritters were comfortingly familiar, yet included imaginative twists like the chili jam that accompanied the fritters. My shrimp and grits entrée with a taste of Tasso ham was a nicely spicy take on the creamier version I remember eating in Charleston.

Of course, you can’t visit Cincinnati without eating the city’s signature Skyline Chili.

The chili has a uniquely cinnamon-like taste, and diners enjoy it one of several different ways.

I like the traditional “3-way”, Skyline Chili over spaghetti and covered with finely grated cheese, topped off with a generous dollop of hot sauce. The 4-way is a 3-way with diced onions or beans, and the 5-way includes both diced onions and beans.

Skyline Chili outlets are plentiful around the Cincinnati area and a budget-friendly option for a quick meal. You can buy canned Skyline Chili to take home from the restaurants or from many area grocery stores.

© Dominique King 2008 (updated 2020)