Tag Archives: Ohio

Movie Review
Ohio: Wild at Heart
MacGillivray Freeman

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This just might be the ultimate selfie. It’s a big-screen movie ordered up by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources starring the natural resources of Ohio. Yeah, that selfie label is admittedly a real stretch — not only because it’s a 45-minute-long movie rather than an in-your-face snapshot, but also because it wasn’t the ODNR holding the camera. That was the talented folks at MacGillivray Freeman, makers of many outstanding features, including the subject of my first-ever movie review.

Of course, I watched Ohio: Wild at Heart at the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX® Theater in Cincinnati. I was there at its first screening on Friday. This is the third theater, after Toledo and Dayton, to add the movie to its schedule. It will soon be added by several others, as listed here.

The movie begins with the story of the recovery of the state’s bald eagle population from just four nesting pairs in 1979 to nearly 1000 nests today. The successful reintroduction of trumpeter swans to the state, with their removal from Ohio’s threatened species list just over a year ago, is a story told later in the movie. Other successful conservation projects, including major cleanups of the state’s waterways, are also documented. Governor DeWine, who was instrumental in getting the movie produced, emphasizes the word “education” when discussing it. He sees making Ohioans aware of what they have as an important mission. He has said, “If people love the rivers. If they love the lakes. If they love all the beauty of this state, they’re going to take care of it.”

MacGillivray Freeman does a wonderful job of capturing “all the beauty of this state” on the screen. There are gorgeous shots of swans on mirror-smooth lakes, and stunning aerial views of eagles in flight and in nests, of kayaks on rivers, and hikers, bikers, and dog sledders on trails. Yes, dog sledders! Before I saw this movie, this lifelong resident of the Buckeye state had no idea that dog sledding was a thing anywhere within its borders. That’s education.

There are people in the movie. Governor DeWine makes an appearance along with his wife Fran. There are enlightening conversations with folks enjoying all of the things I’ve mentioned, plus bird spotting, firefly watching, and much more. Narration is supplied by a true Ohio natural resource. Archie Griffin, the world’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, who was born in Ohio and played his high school, college, and professional football in the state, nails it.

The movie’s website highlights the quote “When we take care of nature, nature takes care of us.” I don’t know if I missed that exact line in the movie or if it’s a minor paraphrasing of a line I did hear and was impressed by enough to make a note of: “We make a commitment to restoring nature because nature restores us.” Both lines are insightful and worth repeating. I have no doubt that Ohio: Wild at Heart will do a fine job of making Ohioans aware of what we have, and I’ve a very strong hunch that it’s going to make a lot of other folks aware of it too.

Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.

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On Saturday, October 18, “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” opened at the Cincinnati Museum Center. I attended on Wednesday. The red shoe pictured at right is one of the first items visitors see when they enter the exhibit. Photos of the shoe, backed by the image of countless other empty shoes, have been used to promote the display. The wall-filling image boggles the mind as the realization that the owners of all those shoes walked into Auschwitz but never walked out slowly forms. The mind nearly breaks realizing that the photo contains just a fraction of such shoes.

Having seen pictures of that red shoe, and knowing that this was “the largest collection of artifacts from Auschwitz outside of Europe”, I probably could have predicted the question that formed as I moved into the exhibit and listened to the included audio guide. It’s a question that most of us ask ourselves anytime we give much thought to the Holocaust. “How could this have happened?” we wonder. The exhibit doesn’t really explain it, but it does tell some of the history. It describes and displays artifacts from the small Polish village that would become home to the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps.

Establishing that the “other” was responsible for all of Germany’s problems was essential. The “other” was mostly, but not exclusively, Jews. Blacks, Roma, homosexuals, and people with disabilities were among those persecuted by the Nazis.

This is the desk of the camp commandant, Rudolf Höss. Photos of key Auschwitz personnel are displayed nearby with an identifying legend.

Roughly 80% of those arriving at Auschwitz were sent directly to the gas chambers. The other 20% became slaves, and not many survived the starvation, beatings, and forced labor. Many more than three people occupied the three-tiered bunks. The concrete post held barbed wire, as seen in the photo in the background.

Some of the prisoners were “rented” to various privately held companies, but many were assigned tasks in the camp, such as removing bodies from the gas chambers or moving them through the crematorium. The first photo contains items from gas chambers and crematoriums. There is a “shower head” in the lower right corner. The gas mask in the second photo was worn by a soldier who dropped the Zyklon B once the chamber was sealed.

Other prisoners were forced to sort through the few possessions that actually made it to the camp. Prisoners referred to the sorting sheds as Kanada.

There were several benches placed throughout the exhibit. Many were positioned in front of screens showing videos of scenes related to the camps. All had a box of tissues placed at their center. There was no lack of tear-inducing images, artifacts, and stories in the exhibit. Nearly all of the items on display are from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The last picture is of a quote from the director of that museum about remembrance. I immediately thought of Eisenhower’s 1945 command, “Get it all on record now. Get the films, get the witnesses, because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say this never happened.” He was right, of course. That quote on the wall notes that today “…our efforts to build a more just and humane world are under threat.” Nearer the beginning of this article, there is a photo of a quote about  “…the disappearance of a number of quite harmless people…” It’s from 1938 Germany during the Nazi rise to power. As I read it, it occurred to me that it could have easily come from certain Central or South American countries a few decades ago. Or it could have come from somewhere not even that far away or that long ago.

“Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” runs through April 12, 2026.

The Holocaust and Humanities Center helped bring the Auschwitz exhibit to Cincinnati. Although a separate operation, it is housed in the Cincinnati Museum Center and throughout the exhibit’s run is offering discounted adult admission of $7.50 to anyone presenting an “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” ticket. This rate is available year-round to seniors and military.

Naturally, there is overlap between the Auschwitz displays and those in the Holocaust Museum. A notable example is this molded wall of abandoned shoes that echoes the red shoe and large photo from Auschwitz. But there are also a lot of differences. The museum has many interactive displays, and the story it tells is broader than the one with a specific concentration camp at its center. In particular, the museum continues the story well beyond the liberation of the prisoners with reporting on the post-war trials and tales of recovery.

When I spoke with a friend about the Auschwitz exhibit, I encouraged a follow-on visit to the Holocaust Museum, and it wasn’t just because of the broader story. The Holocaust is humanity at its worst. Studying it and acknowledging it is important and necessary, but it is hardly uplifting. The museum offsets that just a little by presenting recent examples of bigotry being defeated and human rights being defended. Your mood probably won’t be exactly celebratory when you leave, but it very well might be hopeful.

With every museum that exists, it is always possible to see something you’ve previously missed when you revisit. But sometimes that new discovery really is something new. That is the case with this recently installed interactive display featuring Albert Miller (1922-2023). Albert, who escaped Europe with his parents in 1940, then returned as a Nazi interrogator in 1943, tirelessly answers spoken questions about the life he lived.

I documented my first visit to the museum here. 

An Ohio Meeting

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It has been a long time since I attended an Ohio Lincoln Highway League annual meeting. Longer, perhaps, than I realize, as I can find no evidence of attendance since 2014. There seems to almost always be a conflict in my schedule, but not this year. Canton, the meeting’s location, is a little too far away to make the round trip in a day. When I planned an overnight in a nearby town, I discovered that the path there passed quite close to a favorite brewery. With that, I thought my itinerary was set.

However, when I was ready to head out on Friday morning, I realized that there was no need to hurry on expressways, so I swapped I-71 for US-22. That allowed me to stop for breakfast at Kim’s Classic Diner in Sabina. I typically sit at the counter, but was in a booth today and was able to get a shot of an empty counter when the area was briefly empty. I stayed with US-22 to Zanesville, and that let me stop by Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl for some French Vanilla Cherry Chocolate Chunk, which disappeared before I could get a picture. I then headed to that favorite brewery, Wooly Pig Farm, on OH-93. OH-93 is quickly becoming one of my favorite wiggly roads.

President Scott Little presided over the meeting. The league is comprised of three chapters, each of which has more or less monthly meetings throughout the year. This yearly meeting is the only one involving the entire state. Scott is also president of the Western Ohio Chapter and delivered the report of that chapter’s activities for the year.

Mike McNaull, of the Mid-Ohio chapter, and Ed Cannane, of the Eastern Ohio Chapter, delivered reports of their chapter’s activities. All three chapters do some things for their members’ enjoyment and an awful lot to promote and maintain the Lincoln Highway in their areas.

A presentation by someone from the National First Ladies Library and Museum, followed by a visit to the museum, had been planned, but the government shutdown scuttled that. Jim Cassler’s presentation on this summer’s tour of the Lincoln Highway’s middle third was a fine substitution. A tour of the eastern third happened in 2022, and the trilogy will be completed in 2028 during the centennial of the final 1928 realignment and the setting of the concrete markers.

The Saxton McKinley House, home to the library portion of the not-to-be-visited-today National First Ladies Library and Museum, is directly across the street from the meeting site. A visit to the Canton Classic Car Museum, about a block away, would proceed as planned.

One of the museum’s prized possessions is a 1937 armored Studebaker. There are definitely plenty of really cool cars here, but there is more. If a fragile lamp with a single leg is a “major award”, what might this four-limbed illuminator be? 

Possibly one reason I failed to photograph my ice cream at Tom’s was the conversation I had with a couple beside me. They were headed home to Kentucky after a vacation that included a stop for ice cream in Canton, which is where they learned of Tom’s. I reversed the story and stopped in Canton for ice cream at a place I’d learned of at Tom’s. The wooden booths at Taggart’s Ice Cream looked inviting, but I enjoyed my Black Walnut outside.

I was a little disappointed when I realized that the meeting date was the same as the planned nationwide No Kings protests. I would not be able to attend one in my home territory, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that the one in Canton would be taking place later than most, and I could possibly make it. A sizable crowd was already in place when I arrived about half an hour ahead of the scheduled 5:00 start, and it was still growing when I left for home about 5:30. A fellow I spoke with said this was already a bigger turnout than last time.

I’ll close with a reminder of why I was in Canton. I’m pretty sure Mr. Lincoln would be proud of the nation crossing highway with his name on it. I also think he would approve of the sentiments expressed in signs being held in demonstrations all across that same nation, though not necessarily of all of the language.

A River Roots Cruise (Lagniappe)

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The American Roots Festival is not Tall Stacks. It’s similar but not matching. Tall Stacks was a festival that happened six times between 1988 and 2006 on the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Among the reasons given for not reusing the name is a desire to paint the event as something broader than a gathering of riverboats and to associate it with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026. Whether or not that painting and association were necessary and/or successful is not my concern. I definitely enjoyed some of the musical offerings at Tall Stacks, but for me, the boats were always the reason for its existence, and that is even more true for me and the Roots Festival. The fact that I was heading out of town when the festival officially began, but not before a day of “advance cruises” took place, has a lot to do with that. A Wednesday cruise on the Steamboat Natchez from New Orleans is my only personal contact with the American Roots Festival.

I arrived downtown well in advance of the scheduled boarding time and slipped across the river into Kentucky to snap a picture that includes five of the nine boats in town for the event. The boat I would shortly be cruising on is at the far right of that picture, plus I grabbed one of it alone.

Back in Ohio, I parked near the public landing and walked to the river for a closer view of the boats. The Belle of Louisville is at the west end of the line. On the way to the landing, I passed the National Steamboat Monument and was happy to hear the whistles blow as I walked through them. That’s not always, or even often, the case.

I actually took photos of all nine boats, and a couple even came out OK. However, with the low sun, most were atrocious, and I’m reserving them for my own entertainment. I spent the remaining shore time taking some close-ups of the Natchez. This trip is something of a homecoming for the calliope on the left. It was built in Cincinnati between 1900 and 1910 by Thomas J. Nichol for the Steamboat Sidney.

A wide variety of cruises is available during the festival. This was a 90-minute “Beignets & Coffee” cruise. During the half hour allotted between boarding and departure, I listened to the excellent onboard Dixieland trio and downed my beignet.

That left me free to roam around once we were underway.

Built in 1975, the Natchez is pretty new for an authentic sternwheeler. She’s not entirely new, however. For example, the engines were in service aboard the Steamboat Clairton from 1925 until 1962, which means they are celebrating their centennial this year.

With breakfast and onboard exploration out of the way, I used the turnaround point as an excuse for an early lunch of jambalaya and Abita Amber. That container was absolutely stuffed with quite tasty jambalaya, which I completely failed to finish before realizing that we were nearing Cincinnati. About half of it came home to nourish me as I wrote this.

Not too long after I capped the jambalaya and stuffed it into my jacket pocket, we passed under the Big Mac Bridge and were soon facing the Roebling Bridge with the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums off to our right. Several other visiting riverboats were in motion on the river as we turned around and pulled into the landing.

Back on shore, I paused at the top of the landing to gaze at the Natchez one more time before heading to my car. Cruising up and down the Ohio on a steam-powered sternwheeler can definitely play havoc with one’s sense of time. That’s no doubt why I didn’t question seeing Mr. Clemens heading toward the very river where he got his pilot training half as much as I might have otherwise.

This blog did not exist during the Tall Stacks period. There was, however, an Oddment section with entries not related to road trips. An entry was made for the final Tall Stacks event in 2006. It is here.

Because of my plans to leave town on Thursday, I finished writing this Wednesday for publication as the regular weekly post on Sunday. But it began to bother me that, although there would still be a day of the festival left at that point, at the moment nearly all of it remained. There was at least a small chance that it might be useful to someone if it appeared on Thursday instead of Sunday. So here it is: a blog post published on a normally silent day of the week. I’ll put up a canned post on Sunday, and this will be, as the folks in NOLA say, lagniappe.

One for Sun(flowers) in Ohio

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Remember last month’s Two for Four in Ohio post, when one of the targeted museums was closed and the sunflowers were barely out of the ground? At the time, I noted that the projected date for Tecumseh Land Trust blooms was near the end of September. Well, the end of September is near, and the blooming sunflowers are here.

Thursday morning’s rain ended, and the forecast said it would not be back until evening. That wasn’t correct, but I did manage to get my visit in before the rain returned just past noon. This time, I was not alone. There were about half a dozen cars parked in the designated area next to the flowers, and some small winged beings hanging out right in their midst. Here’s a closer look at the bloom in the center of the opening photo.

The ground was wet but apparently not actually muddy, as a few of the humans from the parked cars ventured out into the field to take selfies surrounded by yellow flowers. Most, however, walked around the edge like I did. Just before I left, a group of women arrived with their young daughters wearing some very pretty dresses and posed the group at the field’s edge for photos. I worked at keeping all wingless creatures out of frame.

Even though none of the sunflowers said a word, I left with the impression that they were glad to see me.

A Thoroughly Modern Attic

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Museums in small towns are sometimes referred to as the village attic. Some of them really do resemble an old farmhouse attic with little filtering or organization of objects displayed. Most, however, display items in an organized manner that avoids looking overcrowded. Part of how this is accomplished is by being selective in what items are displayed and having only a portion — often a very small portion — of the museum’s collection on display at any one time. As the state’s attic, the Ohio History Connection is very organized, with a rather tiny fraction of its collection on display and the bulk stored elsewhere. Last year, it got a brand new “attic”, and on Thursday, I got to see it.

The occasion was an architectural tour preceded by a reception and presentation. I didn’t realize that food would be available, but I did realize that it was National Cheeseburger Day. I enjoyed the lemonade, but I skipped the food because I had just left Urban Gourmet, where I had celebrated the holiday.

The tour began with a presentation in the auditorium. Several people gave short presentations about different aspects of the project, which began several years ago with the Collection Care Center opening in June 2024. I happened to catch architect Carlos Lugo at the podium.

Following the presentation, we all went out to our cars and drove from the museum, past Ohio Village, to the Collection Care Center on the north side of the campus. At the door, the fifty or so attendees were split into smaller groups to tour the building.

The group I was in began our tour in the actual storage section. Among the wide range of things stored here are lots of fossils. Some are authentic, while others are cast copies. 

The bones of mastodon feet aren’t typically found intact in the wild. These are castings from assembled fragments. I thought a shelf filled with mastodon feet was pretty unusual, regardless of whether they were bone or plaster.

There is an enclosed loading dock at the other end of the building with offices, lab areas, and an extra-wide corridor in between.We paused in that corridor to learn about the building’s use of pre-formed concrete to speed construction and about other efficiency-focused aspects of the building. We then went outside to learn more about the climate control systems. I have the impression that the majority of attendees were architects. For many, hearing these details was as practical as it was entertaining. I was very impressed by the thoughtful answers to the building’s many unique requirements, but that was probably fueled as much by things I didn’t understand as by those I did.

Our last stop was just outside the front door after we passed back through the building. Here we learned about the landscaping. Native plants are used, and there is no mown lawn. There are some paved as well as gravel paths with a few benches along the way. Several glacial erratics encountered during excavation have been incorporated. The place has been incredibly well thought through, both inside and out.

For a much better overview of the project than I’ve provided, I suggest an article and video published by The Columbus Dispatch when the center opened. It is here. 

 

More Cars, More Coffee

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There’s a bit of a chain reaction going on here. Last week’s visit to the museum at 4 Speed on 50 was the result of the previous week’s stop for a hamburger at the diner there, and this week’s visit to Horsepower Farm is the direct result of that museum visit. As Steve Ashcraft and I were saying goodbye at the end of my museum tour, we did some name checks on other car collections in the area. As if to demonstrate just how oblivious people can be to attractions in their own neighborhood, Steve mentioned Horsepower Farm, which is less than fifteen miles from my home and which I had never heard of. A check of the Farm’s website revealed that their monthly Cars & Coffee would be taking place on the very next Saturday, so that’s where I headed yesterday morning.

Horsepower Farm came into being as a place for Opie Willis to store his growing car collection. It has become a scenic event center where numerous public events are held, and which can be rented for private events such as weddings and meetings. I believe the first Saturday of every month Cars & Coffee is the only regularly scheduled event open to the public. It is adjacent to a residential area that has lots of these “PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY AND QUIETLY” signs displayed, and I have no doubt that anyone ignoring the signs would not find a very friendly welcome at the farm.

There were signs pointing in both directions for parking, and I didn’t realize that a more proper area for mundane cars like Subaru Foresters was to the left until after I drove past the garages and the main area for cool cars. It’s a very non-judgmental crowd, and no one complained or even looked at me funny. Even so, rather than immediately driving back through the area, I parked at the far end of a large open space and walked back.

I naturally looked over some of the cars parked outside, but cut my walk short to step inside the main building. These are, I assume, some of the cars in Willis’ personal collection.

There are several objets d’art mixed in with the cars. Although it’s out of sequence, this seems like a good place to include a full-length shot of that beautiful stainless steel “Horseplay” in the opening photo.

I did not get a car count, but it was way beyond respectable, and the variety was pretty incredible.

Here are a few of my favorites. I think I did mention variety.

When I walked back to my car, I paused to look a little closer at the Hudson “tribute car” parked near the main building. I found the interior, some of which is explained here, especially interesting. I don’t recall ever hearing of holes for on-the-go tire wear checks, but I did some searching online and learned that it was truly a thing in the early days of NASCAR.

So, even though I had to go to Indiana to learn about it, I now know that one of the best Cars & Coffee gatherings in the area is only about half an hour from my home. You can bet your bippy and your VW roof rack that I’ll be back.

Two for Four in Ohio

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After my return visit to an outstanding Ohio museum last week, my thoughts rather naturally turned to other Ohio museums when considering activities for the mostly open following week. I settled on two I had never visited, then added a sunflower field and a nearly new member of the World’s Biggest club to create a four-stop Friday outing. Although I reached all four, only two can be counted as successful visits.

I actually knew there would be no blooming flowers at Tecumseh Land Trust before I left home. When I initially made my plans, I’d found some general information indicating that the field operated in August and September. A few days later, I learned that projected bloom dates for 2025 were near the end of September.

Of course, I considered dropping the field from my agenda, but my appetite was already aimed at one of my favorite restaurants in nearby Yellow Springs. So I stuck with the circuitous two-lane drive and breakfast at Sunrise Cafe rather than the direct but boring expressway route to my second stop. Maybe I’ll come back for a meal — with flowers — next month.

This was what the trip was more or less built around and what I anticipated being the trip’s highlight. Instead, it provided only an accidental selfie. I believe that when I first became aware of the National Barber Museum, all visits were by appointment only. At some point, regular hours on Fridays and Saturdays were added. I was disappointed when I saw the closed notice, but since I was there just a bit before the scheduled opening, I did what I probably should have done earlier. I called. I spoke, I assume, with museum director Mike Ippoliti, who explained that a lack of volunteers and his own recent foot surgery prevented normal operation at present. He expected regular hours to return in a few weeks. I wished Mike well in his recovery and headed to stop number three.

I missed the first two iterations of the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum. The first iteration was assembled in a shed at Paul A. Johnson’s home. After Johnson’s death in 2010, the nearly 3,500 sharpeners and the shed housing them were moved to the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center near Logan, OH. In 2024, the deteriorating shed was replaced by the building on the right side of the first picture. By then, the collection had grown to somewhere around 5,000 sharpeners when the widow of Florida collector Frank Paredes donated all the sharpeners he had amassed to the museum.

The incredible collection includes sharpeners I remember from my school days, and some even older than that.

Just over two months before I got there, the town of Oak Hill, OH, erected this giant acorn and declared it the World’s Largest. As far as I know, Raleigh, NC, never claimed that the big nut dropped there on New Year’s Eve was the World’s Largest, but, having some experience with that particular acorn, I was curious about how they compared. It’s not really close. The Raleigh acorn is 10 feet tall, while the height of this one is 15 feet and 5 1/2 inches. That and other statistics are noted on a nearby sign. However, when I went looking for the dimensions of the Carolina nut, I learned that some folks in Silver Springs, MD, may have a legitimate challenge to Oak Hill’s claim. Take a look here. It doesn’t appear that the Guinness record trackers were involved in any of this, so where it all will lead is unclear.

Sunflowers had yet to arrive at the Tehcumseh Land Trust, but I did find some standing tall in the Pioneer Garden at the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, and that lets me end this post on a bright note with a bright bloom.

Back to the Bikes

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I have thought of revisiting the Bicycle Museum of America quite a few times in the more than two decades since my first visit. Sometimes it has been when I’m looking for a target for an interesting day trip, and sometimes it has been due to something more specific. The most recent specific event that triggered thoughts of the Ohio museum was my visit to the Cycle Through exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. When I started getting serious about a trip to the bicycle museum, I naturally took a look at the journal for my 2002 visit and noted that I had driven a bit of OH-66 to get there, and that naturally reminded me that I had driven its full length a couple of years later on the first day of a two day trip. The museum visit journal is here. The journal for the OH-66 drive is here.

So, I headed to Piqua, OH, and the southern end of OH-66 at US-36. It has become a little fancier over the years and now sports a “BEGIN” tag. That the more famous Route 66 will reach its centennial next year is getting a lot of attention. The centennial of Ohio’s Route 66 was last year, but I missed it. I wished the route a belated 100th as I started my drive. Although I drove all of OH-66, the museum was the trip’s focus, and I did not make a lot of other stops.

Cars parked on the street in front of the museum kept me from getting a clear picture of the building. It and other older nearby buildings housing restaurants and such are well maintained and picturesque, and make New Bremen quite an attractive town. The attendant, whose name I have absolutely no excuse for not asking, was extremely friendly and helpful. One of the things I learned while planning this trip was that the museum owned one of four surviving Schwinn bicycles from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. I suspected that this might be the one I had recently seen in Cincinnati, and started to ask. I did not quite get my question fully formed before learning that not only was that customized DX Cruiser on loan from the museum, but so was every other bicycle in the display. I should have known that. The Cycle Thru! description on the Cincinnati Art Museum’s website notes that it is made up of “over 20 bicycles from The Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, Ohio”. Just one more thing I missed.

The museum contains a replica of an 1816 Draisine, which is the earliest known use of motion to balance on two tandem wheels. There are, of course, quite a few penny-farthings among the historic vehicles on display. When I first heard that name many years ago, I initially thought it had something to do with cost, but soon learned that it came from the idea that those big-wheeled bicycles looked like a large British penny coin paired with a small farthing coin. In the middle of all those historic bicycles is something that looks more like a farthing-penny. It’s an American Star Highwheel, which tried to make things a little safer by putting the little wheel in front. The H.B. Smith Manufacturing Company, makers of the American Star, also patented a steam-powered bicycle, and yes, I would like to see one of those.

In fairly short order, inventors applied gears, chains, and straps to eliminate the need for a huge wheel to achieve a decent speed, and the penny-farthing became a thing of the past. In addition to those on display, the museum has one on rollers with “trainer steps” for anyone wanting to give it a try. Of course, inventors did not stop inventing. A different way to go riding with your friends can be seen on the wall behind the steps. Bicycles with driveshafts existed before the nineteenth century ended, and inline skates clearly aren’t as new as you might think.

Backed by one of the museum’s windows is a replica of a monocycle from 1869. The museum also has one of just thirty existing Monovelos from 2008. Monocycles are just plain weird. Fitting between these two date-wise is a 1998 motorized version at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville.

The museum has about 800 bicycles in its collection, so even with twenty on loan in Cincinnati, there is no problem keeping a couple hundred on display. The challenge is picking which ones that will be. That’s the same challenge I have picking which photos to post. I could go on and on, but I’m going to cut it off here with a pair I have at least a tiny personal connection to. My first motorized vehicle was a 1948 or ’49 Whizzer. The one pictured is a 1950. That’s a 1949 J.C. Higgins Colorflow in the other photo. My first new vehicle was a 1960 J.C. Higgins Flightmaster that is the subject of what I believe is the most popular post ever on this blog. The Flightliner post is here. A post on the Whizzer is here. Before leaving, I learned that the museum has a 1960 girl’s Flightliner in storage. Flightliner fans, keep your eyes peeled. It could come out someday.

I did make a couple of stops beyond the museum, but they were related to my 2004 OH-66 drive rather than to OH-66 in general. Where the route ends at US-20 in Fayette, I was happy to see an “END” tag that was not there in 2004. I celebrated completing the route with a Budweiser in the same building where I celebrated in the same manner twenty-one years ago, but the name was now Freddy’s Place instead of Harry’s Tavern, and the Bud came in a can instead of a bottle.

I also repeated my dinner stop in Archbold, where Mom’s Diner was not only still in business but had a new pseudo-neon sign hanging out front. With the exception of a few details, the inside looked essentially the same. I did not record what I ate in 2004, but today I had the fish sandwich special. The place was fairly busy when I arrived and just about full when I left. That not only kept me from taking many photos, but it also interfered with my jukebox playing. In ’04, I played “That’ll Be The Day”, but today it wasn’t an option. In ’04, I had the juke box all to myself, but that wasn’t at all the case today. By the time I settled on “Rock Around the Clock”, someone had beaten me to it. My quarter went for “Mack the Knife” by Louis Armstrong and His All Stars.

Circus Time

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When I bought my ticket to the 20th Century Circus, I didn’t realize that it would be held on Renaissance Festival grounds. It wasn’t a secret. The banner on their website’s home page says “at the Ohio Renaissance Festival”, but I just wasn’t paying attention. I saw that the circus would happen in Waynesville, and although I know that is the home of the festival, I just did not make the connection. Only on the day of the show, when I went looking for detailed directions, did I realize what should have been obvious.

The big top is placed in the open field just outside the main entrance to Renaissance Village. The festival associated 1572 Roadhouse Bar-B-Q is open a couple of hours prior to show time, and the empty village (the festiva returns in August) is open if you want to roam around. I splurged and bought a Front Row ticket. Premium Seating and General Admission are also available. Premium, it appears, is row two, and general admission is row three. I’m guessing that if more tickets were sold, more rows would be added.

The 20th Century Circus advertises itself as being set in the 1920s, and some audience members were dressed in period outfits. The acts in a 1920s circus are essentially what I’d expect in a circus of any era. The evening got started with some juggling and tightrope walking, aerial acrobatics, and a little clowning around.

It seems quite possible that I haven’t seen a spinning plates act since Ed Sullivan went off the air, but, as I did then, I enjoyed watching the performer run back and forth to try to add plates while maintaining those already spinning. Although it was only for a few seconds, this guy did get plates spinning on all six sticks, but I missed getting a photo.

Balance and acrobatics are central to a variety of circus acts, and there were several impressive demonstrations of both.

As intermission neared, we were treated to a catchy little tune about that circus and carnival staple, cotton candy. Of course, a little popcorn fits in quite nicely, as well.

There was more juggling in the second half, but flaming hatchets replaced the soft balls. I never did get an in-focus shot of the performers on the rotating ladder, but I did better on the lovely song and dance duo.

The hula hoop competition between volunteers from the audience was close, even if it didn’t last too long. I think the winner made it about 1 1/2 revolutions. The other two competitors were tied at zero. Someone stood up when the knife thrower asked for a volunteer, but cooler heads prevailed. The real winner of the hula hoop contest didn’t even joke about risking an audience member interfering with her swirling balls of fire.

This looks kind of like one of the stunts from the first half of the evening but the chairs are a whole lot bigger and so is the distance to the ground when the handstand is performed. Just assembling and disassembling the tower of chairs is rather nerve wracking to watch.

No troupe members and only a few baloons were harmed during the performance. They will be back every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the rest of July and it’s a hoot. The pulled pork (and probably the other stuff) and beer selection at 1572 Roadhouse is pretty good, too.