Dulcimers Galore

A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even know that a dulcimer museum existed let alone that it was within a dozen miles of my home. On the last Sunday of August, I visited the American Folk Music School/The National Dulcimer Museum and learned that the museum has been in operation for about two years and that the school it shares space with has been there for about five years.

US-42 (a.k.a., Reading Road) splits into separate north and southbound sections in Sharonville, OH, where the museum is located. The windows in the opening photo face the northbound lanes. The entrance and a parking lot are at the rear of the building. When I entered, Vickey Sasser, the knowledgeable and energetic lady behind the operation, had just started a museum tour with a group of people who knew much more about dulcimers than I did. Some were wearing shirts with the logos of assorted area dulcimer clubs and Vickie knew several by name.

There are, of course, factory-made dulcimers but most of the more interesting ones, which means most of those in the museum, are made by individuals. The wide variations in design, materials, and craftsmanship are part of what makes them interesting.

Some well-known builders or performers have multiple instruments in the museum. By far the largest collection of this sort is associated with performer Kevin Roth. That’s Vickey Sasser in the third picture holding a dulcimer that, if I understood her correctly, Kevin had made specifically for a single performance of the national anthem at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The museum is preparing a space for a collection of instruments from performer Bing Futch. Bing has performed and conducted workshops at the museum in the past and will be doing both again next June. Available right now is his video of a recent visit to the museum in which he and Vickie provide a much better overview than my few photos and uninformed commentary.

Although the bulk of the instruments displayed at the museum are mountain dulcimers, there are others including hammer dulcimers, autoharps, and flutes. Here Vickey is holding a hurdy-gurdy that I believe was made specifically for the museum. I have seen a few hurdy-gurdys in the past so already had some of my early misconceptions corrected but this one is small and simple and even opens for an up-close view of the internal workings. I think I finally understand how these things work.

Being open just two hours a month is clearly not a lot. Plus, due to another commitment, Vickey will not be opening the museum for its “last Sunday” showing in September. On the other hand, she is often on-site giving lessons and such so, if the scheduled monthly window can’t be made to work for you, there’s a pretty good chance it could be arranged for her to let you in that back door at some other time.

Trip Peek #138
Trip #68
Kids & Coast

This picture is from my 2008 Kids & Coast trip. I believe this is the only time that a rare fly-and-drive trip included visits with both sons which is at least equally rare. Leg one was a flight to Seattle, WA, where I rented a car then drove to visit my youngest son in nearby Bremerton. That was followed by a drive down the Pacific Coast to San Francisco and a visit with the other son. It all ended with a flight out of SFO. The photo at right is of me, the rental car, and the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree in Leggett, CA. I selected that as the highlight photo for the journal at trip’s end but found myself questioning that pick as I skimmed the journal in prepping this Peek. There is certainly no shortage of other candidates but picking just one seemed just as daunting today as it must have been sixteen years ago. Driving the Pacific Coast Highway and Columbia River Highway between offspring guided tours of Seattle and San Francisco make this one of the most highlight-packed outings I’ve even experienced.


Trip Peeks are short articles published when my world is too busy or too boring for a current events piece to be completed in time for the Sunday posting. In addition to a photo thumbnail from a completed road trip, each Peek includes a brief description of that photo plus links to the full-sized photo and the associated trip journal.

Trip Peek #137
Trip #132
Road Crew in the Fork

This picture is from my 2016 Road Crew in the Fork trip. The title describes a key aspect of the planned trip but does not fit the actual trip at all. The trip was scheduled around a concert by “America’s Route 66 Band”, The Road Crew, in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Shows at the Bluebird and Grand Ole Opry in nearby Nashville added to the trip’s planned musical content. The only one of those three shows I actually attended was the one at the Bluebird.

I had taken my time on the drive down with an overnight in Louisville, KY, and visits to a couple of museums before hitting the Bluebird on my first night in Nashville. It was raining when I headed back to my motel and overnight the biggest snowfall to hit the town in thirteen years began to fall. That night’s show at the Ryman did happen but I and many others were unable to get there with several roads, including parts of I-24 and I-40, closed. The Road Crew show for the following night was canceled. I considered myself quite lucky to be ensconced in something of a poor man’s resort with a rather busy Waffle House connected by steps to a cozy and completely filled Motel 6.


Trip Peeks are short articles published when my world is too busy or too boring for a current events piece to be completed in time for the Sunday posting. In addition to a photo thumbnail from a completed road trip, each Peek includes a brief description of that photo plus links to the full-sized photo and the associated trip journal.

Flower Power Tower

With departure on a fair-sized road trip planned for Friday, there wasn’t much time for blog-feeding adventure this week, and I anticipated using a canned post. Then I remembered seeing some photos of an interesting but unfamiliar tower recently. It is inside Cox Arboretum MetroPark which is close enough that I do drive by it on occasion. I have visited the park in the past but that was before the tower was built and it isn’t visible from the street. I decided to stop by, grab a few pictures, and put off turning to canned posts for another week.

There is much more to the park than the tower and I certainly could not ignore the other attractions in real life. But I can in making a short blog post. I paused for a while on one of the benches at the base then climbed the tower’s 81 steps admiring some of the cool construction on the way up.

There are, as advertised, some great views from the top. And a chance to look over more eye-catching construction on the way down.

I snapped a picture of one of those flower-filled pots beside the benches while topside and pictures of some of its components back at ground level. Many more flowers are waiting to be photographed and there are plenty of trails to follow while seeking them out. 

NOTR and PPOO Part 1

I am sure that many readers recognize the acronyms in the title. For those that don’t know, they represent the National Old Trails Road and the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway. These two named auto trails cross the USA east-west not too far from each other and not too far from my home. I intend to utilize this pair in crossing the country twice. Although I originally planned to make the journey in a single outing, I am now resigned to spreading it over two trips. Part 1, which I have just started, follows the NOTR east from the Ohio-Indiana border and returns to that border on the PPOO. I will return to that spot in the fall and finish following the PPOO westward then wrap things up by driving the NOTR back to Ohio. The journal for that first day of the trip, which is largely staging, has been posted here.

Goetta Again

GoettaFest is that eight-day festival that is spread over two four-day weekends with a gap in the middle. Two years ago I made it to the first day of the first weekend. This year I made it — just barely — to the first day of the second weekend. I knew of the festival’s opening last week but had other things to do. When I did get around to thinking about this week’s itinerary, the predicted weather did not seem a very good match for outdoor activities. Several days of rain were predicted with possibly severe thunderstorms arriving just about the time of the festival’s opening. But, as opening time approached, those storms and even the rain were still marking time in Indiana. I decided to give it a try.

The Ferris wheel is new this year and “The World’s Only Goetta Vending Machine” might be too. I did not try it and now regret not studying it closer so I could describe it here. I believe this is the world’s only Goetta festival so one Goetta vending machine might be enough.

I have previously explained that the Cincinnati area has a near monopoly on Goetta and that Glier’s Meats has a near monopoly on Goetta in the Cincinnati area. The festival is officially the Glier’s GoettaFest. Next to the vending machine, there is a tent filled with Giier and Goetta information. The tent is a Goettafest fixture and I’m sure that the “Goetta Guy” has been here before but this was our first meeting. The “Goetta Guy” is Dan Glier, President of Glier’s Meats since 1977 and the second generation to run the company. Dan’s a very friendly fellow who is there to answer questions or just chat and that’s what we did. I was well aware that Glier’s Meats is located sort of across the street from Anchor Grill where I’ve consumed a fair amount of Gliers Goetta. Today Dan pointed out that the two began in the same year (1946) and have always been neighbors.

Here are a couple of other things that I had not seen previously but which may very well have been here before. I didn’t see anyone riding the mechanical bull while I was there but it was early and the bourbon bar was pretty much idle too. I suspect the two work well together.

Full-time music was happening on both of the festival’s stages with the Billy Brown Band opening on the west end and Red Hot Riot opening on the east stage. They would be followed by Vinyl Countdown and the Kevin McCoy Band.

Of course, there were plenty of food booths offering a variety of creative Goetta-based treats.

I opted for a Goetta Bun Link which, despite the word new on the sign and the fact that I’d never had one, were introduced in 2000. It was quite good and I even have a pseudo-drone shot for the truly curious.

I had every intention of riding that Ferris wheel and, now that I was fed, I turned my attention to it. There was no line but as I was about to approach the ticket booth, I felt the first drops of rain and noticed the breeze had picked up a little. I thought it over only briefly before heading for the car. I was inside the garage before the rain became steady and inside a nearby bar with a $2 PBR before it really cut loose. There was water running in the street when I left but the rain had slowed to a light drizzle.


I am disappointed that I missed my chance to ride the big Ferris wheel on Thursday but just seeing it reminded me of a time when giant “dueling” Ferris wheels were proposed for both sides of the Ohio River. It was just a few years ago that Newport, KY, had plans to build a 230-foot tall wheel on the flood wall near where GoettaFest’s 90-foot wheel was placed. At the same time, Cincinnati had plans to build a 180-foot wheel near the north end of the Roebling Bridge. In a sort of trial run, a 150-foot tall (137-foot diameter) wheel did operate at that point temporarily and I did get to ride that one. Read about it here.

A House Twice Storied

I have heard it said that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written in this house. It was not. Until recently, I had not heard that it was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book. It was.

Although the book was not written here, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, did live in the house at one time and the house has long borne her name. It has just reopened after an extensive restoration that recognizes its importance both as the Beecher family home and as a tavern and boarding house a century later.

There was a ribbon cutting for the restored Harriet Beecher Stowe House last Friday with special events continuing through the weekend. I missed the “Housewarming Weekend” but did reserve a ticket for the first regularly scheduled tour on Thursday. The site is closed Monday through Wednesday. I arrived early enough to look over the many informative panels placed around the grounds. Note the National Register of Historic Places plaque with both of the building’s claims to fame listed, beside the new entrance ramp.

Executive Director Christina Hartlieb was our guide, and, despite it being the first “regularly scheduled” tour following the reopening, it was pretty obvious that this was not her first time as conductor. I’m guessing that the “Housewarming Weekend” had given her and other guides ample experience. It is also the case that much of the information provided is about the house’s residents and unchanged by the restoration.

The house was built by Lane Seminary in 1833 as a home for its new president, Lyman Beecher.  The Seminary is a most interesting part of history in its own right. Particularly the slavery-related debates of 1834 and a related mass exodus of students that has been called the “first major academic freedom incident in America”. The tour began in the parlor where 25-year-old Harriet Elisabeth Beecher became Mrs. Calvin Stowe in 1836. The original part of the house has been restored to its 1840 appearance. A strip of original wallpaper once covered by a temporary wall has been saved and copied. In the kitchen, the original beehive oven and its surroundings have been retained.

Even though Harriet lived in Cincinnati for less than twenty years, it was here, with slavery in operation just across the river and fallout from it everywhere she looked, that the memories that became Uncle Tom’s Cabin were formed. In an upstairs hallway, beside a section of original brick wall intentionally left exposed, there is a photo of the Hartford, CT, statue of Stowe’s meeting with Lincoln. There is no recording and no proof that Lincoln actually said, “So you’re the little lady who started this big war”, but I like to think he did.

The Monfort family lived in the house from 1865 to 1930 and in 1908 they built a large addition. The addition’s exterior is currently painted white to distinguish it from the original building’s yellow. This was their formal dining room. During the 1930s and ’40s, it served as the Edgemont Tavern with a listing in The Negro Motorist Green Book. During that same period, the obviously updated second floor served as a boarding house. As a long-term residence rather than an overnight stop for tourists, only the tavern portion appeared in The Green Book. By coincidence, a traveling Green Book exhibit recently opened at the nearby National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and was the subject of a previous blog post.

So, no, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was not written here but its author did live here, and a lot of other pretty darned important stuff also happened here. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is back and ready to let you peek at 1840 and a little 1940 too.

Wassup, Big Boy?

Frisch’s Big Boy restaurants have been in the news quite a bit recently. In fact, when I sat down to write this article yesterday, a pointer to this photo essay was waiting in my email. It seems likely that the essay, like this article and my Friday outing, was inspired by not particularly cheerful reports such as this one from a few weeks ago. It was that article and other news of restaurant closings that prompted me to finally check out the museum that opened in 2018 inside Frisch’s Mainliner.

The Mainliner, Cincinnati’s first year-round drive-in, opened in 1942 and was named for an airplane. Several sources, including the Mainliner’s own signage, identify that airplane as a tri-motor but I think not. The plane that those sources are almost certainly referring to is the Ford Trimotor which was produced from 1922 to 1933. Boeing’s DC-3, which United Air Lines actually called the Mainliner when launched in 1937, would have been the most well-known passenger plane when the restaurant opened. The plane on the iconic Mainliner sign certainly looks a lot more like a DC-3 than a Ford Trimotor, and, despite the nose being a little extra pointy, I’m not aware of it ever having more than two propellers. At present it has none. I do, however, have a short video of the sign “at speed” from a few years ago. I’m sure there are more and better videos online.

The Mainliner was remodeled when the museum went in and has the latest generation of the Big Boy statue standing by the door. There are pictures here and here of previous generations on display a few miles away at the American Sign Museum. A cool mural greets customers right inside that door.

I sat at the counter and placed my order before walking over to the museum area. Only then did I realize that it contained what appeared to be some quite usable classic seating areas. There were people at one of the museum tables when I left.

In addition to the throwback seating, there are several signs and cabinets filled with artifacts in the museum. Among the artifacts was a reminder that once upon a time people might look for something to help them “dial the right number every time”.

I was probably still using a dial telephone the last time I had a Big Boy but it seemed the right thing to order today. Has corporate ownership brought a decline in quality that others say they see? Maybe, but maybe not. The sandwich was pretty much as I remember it although my memories aren’t very recent. I sensed the same slight understaffing that I feel in just about every restaurant I visit these days. No more. No less.

As I wrote this, it occurred to me that Frisch’s has been in my life longer than any chain restaurant. Although it’s no longer there, a Frisch’s restaurant sat at the edge of the seat of my home county. It was the place where, maybe once a year, the band bus would stop on the way home from an away game. When my friends and I began driving, it marked one end of our Saturday night cruising route. An A&W rootbeer stand marked the other. When I got my first co-op job in college, a Frisch’s was just about the only place within walking distance for lunch. The one at right is within walking distance of my current home and I stopped there on my Saturday afternoon walk. Rather than a Big Boy statue, this door is guarded by one of the Mr. Redlegs sculptures that were placed around the area as part of the Cincinnati Reds 150th Anniversary Celebration in 2019. Inside, a localized (Mason hosts the Cincinnati Open ATP Tournament) mural hangs on the wall. A big reason that I had not had a Big Boy in so long was not that I never patronize Frisch’s but that when I do I almost always have a fish sandwich. On Saturday I reverted to form.

I’m certainly no fan of corporations taking over privately held businesses. Maybe it was a decline in quality or some accountant’s idea of improved efficiency that led to those closures. Personally though, I’m more concerned about those missing props on the Mainliner sign.

New Stuff to Look At

New exhibits opened at two Cincinnati museums yesterday. A major expansion at the American Sign Museum doubles the length of its sign-filled Main Street and The Negro Motorist Green Book finally makes it to the National Underground Freedom Center. The two exhibits simultaneously became available to the public when both museums opened their doors at 10:00 on Saturday. American Sign Museum members, of which I am one, were able to see the addition at a ribbon-cutting celebration on Friday evening.

While awaiting the planned ceremonies, attendees were treated to refreshments and entertained by the Rob Allgeyer Trio as excitement built. We could look into, but not enter, the newly filled space beyond the uncut ribbon.

Speeches were few and reasonably short. Executive Director David Dupeecoul and Museum Founder Tod Swormstedt spent much of their time thanking folks for their help in getting the addition funded, built, and filled. Mayor Aftab Pureval’s brief speech was, in noting what having the country’s largest public sign museum means to Cincinnati, also one of thanks.

When ribbon-cutting time arrived, Tod and Aftab were joined by ASM Board Chair Michael Mattingly. The intention was to cut the ribbon in synch with the signs being illuminated but that turned out to be a little time-consuming so a little watching and waiting was required.

More music awaited in the new space. The first group encountered was Jake Speed and the Freddies. I believe the fellows with the chairs are Mechlem & Ruzsa and the couple standing is StringDaze but it could be the other way around.

And there was more food, too. This lite bite station happens to be under the actual canopy from Cincinnati’s Famous Maisonette restaurant. Another member preview took place back in May when painters were still working on the storefronts. I chatted with the Colorado fellow who was working on the Maisonette. At that time it looked like this. I only ate once at the Maisonette but ate several times at its sister restaurant, La Normandy. When I mentioned this to the painter, he told me that he planned to put that name on an upper window and there it is.

I also captured these signs during that May preview. The East End Cafe sign was lit but the area was rather empty otherwise. The Lenny’s window was painted but empty and the Full Service was still in process with the pattern laying nearby.

The Ioka Theater marquee and all the signs around it sure look good now but it was definitely a work in process back in May. The marquee fronts a real theater that will be used for presentations.

There is a lot more to the expansion than Main Street but that is where I found myself standing awestruck a few times Friday evening. I believe I’ve seen something new on every visit to this museum even when nothing new had been added. Now there is a whole new section to explore and some things have changed in existing areas as a result of the expansion. My next visit is going to be a lot of fun and so will several after that.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was supposed to open its nationwide tour in Cincinnati in the fall of 2020. The tour was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic declared in the spring of that year so that it is ending rather than starting in Cincinnati. On its opening day, Candacy Taylor, the exhibit’s curator, would be giving a tour to museum members then making a presentation to everyone interested. I looked forward to hearing Taylor speak for the third time.

The members-only tour was in process when I arrived and the exhibit, though open, was congested. I opted to fill the time by revisiting other parts of the museum and taking a few pictures.

At 11:00, Taylor was introduced to the audience for what she called “an author conversation”. Rather than delivering prepared remarks, she answered questions. Almost everyone in attendance seemed familiar with her book and probably half, having taken part in the morning’s tour, were familiar with the exhibit. There was no shortage of good questions.

The mentioned book, for any who don’t know, is Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America which I reviewed here. I obtained my copy when I heard Taylor speak in Indianapolis in February of 2020. That was the second time I heard her speak but was probably the first time we actually met. I had a pleasant chat with her today before the presentation.

I entered The Negro Motorist Green Book exhibit after the presentation. The Green Book identified places where Negro travelers were welcome as they were decidedly not welcome everywhere. It was published from 1936 through 1967. It was not the only such book but none of the others were anywhere near as popular or successful.

The Green Book was created by Victor Green and its name comes from him rather than from the book’s color. Among the artifacts in the exhibit is a 1959 letter from Green soliciting listings and advertising. The earliest editions of The Green Book focused on New York but it ultimately grew to include all sorts of businesses throughout the entire nation.

The chauffeur’s hat is not directly related to The Green Book but to the Jim Crow era which made the book necessary. I recognized it instantly from a story Taylor told in Indianapolis and which is included in Overground Railroad. Ron Burford, the man quoted, was Taylor’s stepfather.

Much of the exhibit features businesses that were listed in The Green Book. “Then and now” images often appear of those still in existence.

Road trips on Route 66 or any other highway do not generate the same sort of nostalgia for people of color as they do for others but there are a couple of Route 66 connections in the exhibit. One is an Esso quote from Route 66 historian and author Joe Sonderman. Part of The Green Book‘s success can be attributed to the fact that Esso stations carried it. The cash register is from the historic Threatt Filling Station currently being restored near Luther, Oklahoma, on Route 66.

The Negro Motorist Green Book will be at the Freedom Center through October 13, 2024. The Main Street extension and other additions will be at the American Sign Museum forever.

Parade, Precip, Parade, Precip, Boom

The next day’s weather did not look promising when I went to bed on July 3rd. I had earlier noted a few parades that were candidates for my Independence Day agenda but the predicted full day of rain made actually attending any of them seem unlikely. That was still my opinion when I first checked the forecast after waking up but a closer look revealed that rain, although certainly on the way, might not arrive until very late morning. I decided to venture out to nearby Maineville where a parade was scheduled for 10:00 AM.

I found a parking spot less than a block from the parade route and at the appointed time heard the national anthem being sung a few hundred yards away at the town center. A few speeches, which I couldn’t quite make out, followed and the parade began to move about 10:10.

A lawn tractor pulling a trailer full of Girl Scouts passed shortly after the 1943 Farmall at the top of the page. More Girl and Boy Scouts followed along with cars, motorcycles, and jugglers. Ain’t that America?

It’s also very American to have politicians and local businesses promoting themselves in parades. I don’t know that I had ever seen a hearse in a parade but when one of those local businesses is a funeral home there is no question that it belongs. A festival was taking place in the town’s park but the skies were threatening and I headed home following the parade. Rain started falling before I got there.

I used to have a Maineville address although I did not live inside the village. Somehow, I had never attended an event there before today. I also once had a Loveland address but it was well inside the city limits and I have attended many events — including several Independence Day celebrations — there. Their parade was scheduled for 7:00 PM, the afternoon rain ended way before that, and the next round wasn’t due to arrive until much later. Parking for my second parade of the day was not nearly as convenient as it had been for the first. I parked outside of town at the high school and rode a shuttle bus. 

I don’t doubt that the parade started right on time but I was some distance away and it wasn’t until about 7:25 that the parade’s first vehicles passed by. Right behind the lead police car was the parade Grand Marshall George Foster, former Cincinnati Red and member of the Big Red Machine.

The name Loveland has led to the city’s longtime association with Valentine’s Day. Each year, volunteers see that thousands of cards are stamped with the phrase “There is nothing in the world so sweet as love” and the local postmark. The parade featured both Miss Valentine, Joan Dawson, and The Valentine Lady, Becky Giver. There is a nice article about the Valentine Ladies here

The parade also had Batman, the Loveland Frogman, and its own big red tractor. The frog is there to to promote a new event called Return of the Frogman which is certain to be interesting.

And there’s that hearse again although this time it does not mark the parade’s end but only that the end is near. This parade ended with a horsedrawn, steam-powered, fire pump.

More rain was predicted but it was not imminent. I took the shuttle back to my car where I awaited the fireworks. Rain did fall briefly while I waited but it stopped before the show began.

The city’s show began promptly at 10:00 and lasted just under fifteen minutes. Individuals had been setting off fireworks in various nearby locations before the official show and some of those picked up again almost as soon as the big display ended. In addition to those, which were beyond the surrounding trees, someone began launching rockets from an open area right next to the parking lot. It was nothing like the high-flying Loveland-sponsored show we had just seen but definitely not too shabby.