Urban Hike…Downtown Cincinnati

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Travel Spirit

Yesterday, I went on a two-hour “urban” hike through the streets of downtown Cincinnati with my hiking club. Like many people, I’ve taken my own City for granted and am excited to be doing more things around my hometown. We started our hike at Fountain Square…

In the winter there is a temporary ice skating rink set up…

As you can see, I like to display my photos as a collage now-a-days, because it doesn’t take up too much space that way…so I can display more photos.

We stopped in a few hotel lobbies to view their holiday decorations and to warm up briefly from the chilly weather (30’s) outside.

I discovered many new sites while walking…this statue of Abraham Lincoln is cool…didn’t even know it was here.

The two big buildings on the right are the Procter & Gamble headquarters.

Some of my photo collages are just for art’s sake…combining a variety of photographs that have interesting textures, colors and/or shapes.

A major grocery store in town is the Kroger chain. It was started in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, who invested his life’s savings-$372 (roughly equal to $8,739.34 today) to open a grocery store in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Cincinnati. Kroger was the son of a merchant, and his slogan was simple: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” In the 1970s, Kroger became the first grocer in America to test an electronic scanner. It is the second-largest grocery retailer–behind Wal-Mart–with over 3,600 stores located mainly in the midwestern and southern states.

Our newspaper is The Enquirer and Macy’s is a popular department store.

The Cincinnatian Hotel is one of the upscale hotels located downtown…

There were gingerbread creations on display…

We stopped at Cadillac Ranch…a restaurant/bar…for a late lunch. They have a mechanical bull to ride. I haven’t tried it yet.

The photos below are of Garfield Place. In 1882, after the assignation of James A. Garfield (1831-1881), the short-lived Ohio President, the two block “park avenue” was memorialized as Garfield Place in 1882.

As we walked through the Netherland Hotel, I was surprised to discover that it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

There was a lovely water feature in the hotel…

The two photos on the right are large “graffiti” paintings on buildings and the photo on the left is in front of the library. It’s a sculpture of books!

This is one of my favorite shots…

An Urban Hike is a great way to learn about your own City…so don’t let the cold keep you from getting outside!

Cincinnati Art Museum and The Way

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Travel Spirit

I had an artsy day today. Enjoyed spending a couple of hours at the Cincinnati Art Museum. One painting stood out to me. The Road Under Trees, by Claude Schuffenecker..1888.

Next I went to the Esquire Theater in Clifton to see the movie, “The Way”. I really enjoyed it.

Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American, who travels to France to recover the remains of his son, who died in a storm hiking the pilgrimage route known as the Camino de Santiago. Tom decides to hike it with his son’s ashes, to honor him, meets some interesting people and develops a deep bond with them. The movie was very inspirational!

THE WAY, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, was filmed entirely in Spain and France along the actual Camino de Santiago.

I first became aware of this 800 km pilgrimage a few years ago and it’s on my bucket list. What’s interesting is just in the past few days, it has come to my attention through two sources, another blogger, Anita Mac at TravelDestinationBucket and a facebook friend who just saw the movie.

Also…the painting I was drawn to at the Museum appears to be someone hiking on a trail. I believe I’m destined to traverse it!

According to Wikipedia…

The Way may refer to a spiritual path:

The Way or “Tao” of Taoism
An early term for early Christianity (see also The Two Ways)
The Way of the Cross, a Catholic devotion to the Passion of Christ.
The Way (church) (Japanese: 道会, michikai), a Japanese movement founded by Matsumura Kaiseki in 1907
The Way International, a Biblical research, teaching and fellowship ministry founded by Victor Paul Wierwille in 1942.
The Way of Madonna Della Strada
The Way, or Dō, of any number of spiritual and martial disciplines stemming from Japanese culture.
The Way of the Buddha Dharma, or Buddhism
The Way of Shinto
A term used for the Two by Twos church, commonly known as The Way, Meetings, Workers and Friends, Cooneyites or The Truth

Positive Energy Adventure – Colorado/New Mexico – 8/2011 – Day 7

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Travel Spirit

We went to the Santa Clara Corn Festival today. The Indians from that particular Pueblo dress in their traditional garb and do dances. There is drumming and it is a spiritual occasion. It was a hot day and I didn’t have an umbrella…so I baked a bit. We were there for about 5 1/2 hours…whew! You’re not allowed to take photos…in fact I witnessed the security guards taking away a couple of the attendees cameras. Kathy had met one of the Indian women who invited us to have lunch, so we located her home and enjoyed dining with them.

Photo courtesy of New Mexico Magazine

After cleaning up at the rental from the hot and dusty day, we walked along Canyon Drive, where all of the upscale art galleries are and enjoyed the variety of creativity that is alive in Santa Fe. You’re not allowed to take photos inside…so I took them of the outdoor works of art…

As we were walking from gallery to gallery…something beautiful to look at everywhere…I looked up at this tree and found more beauty!

That evening we went to the famous outdoor “Santa Fe Opera“. We had standing room tickets, but since they didn’t sell out, they let us sit down. The backdrop of the setting sun was gorgeous. This particular opera, “Wozzeck”, wasn’t very good…but I enjoyed it anyway!

What girls do on a girls’ weekend

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Travel Spirit

This weekend I went on my annual girls’ weekend with my friends Sherry, Gina and Dee. This was Dee’s first trip with us. The tradition started almost 20 years ago with a trip to Put-n-Bay and the destinations have included Myrtle Beach, Red River Gorge, Ky, Indianapolis, Shawnee Nat’l Forest, and Nashville, to name a few. Typically, we would find a cabin with a hot tub and the weekend consisted of eating, drinking, talking and hiking. But more recently we’ve been heading to cities for sight-seeing and listening to bands. I’m usually in charge of finding the accommodations and booked a 3 bedroom condo in the Highlands section of Louisville for the weekend that I found through VRBO online. It was in a great location, within walking distance to restaurants, boutiques and a large park with walking trails.

The Highlands reminds me of Yellowsprings, Ohio. It was an eclectic blend of boutiques selling handmade jewelry, vintage clothing, books and wares from around the world; cozy coffee shops, a yoga studio, art galleries, and many restaurants that varied from Indian to Asian.

This painting caught my eye in one of the shops!

An interesting sign…

While walking down the street we were stopped by a local T.V. reporter wondering if we’d be interested in giving our opinion on pornography pop-ups on the internet. So…being it was a new experience…I volunteered. I don’t remember most of the questions, but I’ll be able to view it on their website.

We had fun trying hats on in one of the shops…a little pricey for me at $190 per hat!

It was a beautiful fall weekend for our escape…so we went hiking in Cherokee Park.

We went to a bar that caters to the over 40 crowd called Jim Porter’s Good Times Emporium. Boasting three live bands (Pop, Rock and Blues) we had a great time dancing most of the evening! Our husbands don’t particularly enjoy dancing…so we indulged ourselves!

The following evening we dressed for Halloween and our first stop was 4th Street Live in downtown Louisville.

We stopped a man on the street to take our photo before we left the condo…he was a bit shaky I believe! As you can see, Gina was a girl scout! But what was remarkable about it, was that it was her uniform from when she was 9 years old!

After having a very tasty dinner at the Red Star Tavern, our plan was to party downtown…but it seemed a little dead…so we took a taxi back to Jim Porter’s.

Being “Supergirl” I had to pick someone up, so I chose this girl…but the photo turned out too blurry to post!

This girl “the naked girl costume” won third place in the contest at Jim Porter’s. I didn’t think it appropriate to take a picture of the front, although it wasn’t real!