Robert Pence

Things are really happening in Akron; it's looking good. That's a big change from when I used to visit there in the 80s; Quaker Square had just about died by then, the whole town was drab and dreary, except for the campus, maybe, and I never did find a really good restaurant that was open evenings.

That's what makes it so delicious! I've seen some of those all-hetero forums, and believe me, honey, they ain't pretty. :wink:

Beautiful! Cincinnati should bring back the inclines to help make the city more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Next step after the streetcars.

That a lucrative business can be built upon the sale of manufactured collectibles is a testament to the frivolousness of our society. Longaberger baskets go in the same category with Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Hallmark knicknacks. A friend of mine laments that he has no space to build even a small model railroad layout in his house because his wife has filled every nook and cranny with Longaberger Baskets and continues to drag home more of them.

Heat is a pretty easy issue to address, A/C not so much. In the late thirties, Ford offered a Stewart-Warner gasoline heater as an option for those who wanted instant heat without waiting for the engine to warm up, or for drivers in extremely cold climates. The Corvair used a similar technology, and it probably would be fairly easy to design something similar using propane, like a scaled-down version of the heaters used in RVs. So far as I know, the combustion heaters were safe enough; I never read any reports of them starting fires or causing CO poisoning. Drivers got along without air conditioning until the 1950s, just about the time a lot of people were abandoning transit for private autos. Put in plenty of vents, and windows that open all the way. We're talking urban transportation, here, and if it gets too hot to drive, take air-conditioned transit. There were several builders of electric cars in the early 1900s -- Detroit and Columbia (the same company that made Columbia bicycles) probably were the best-known, and Milburn was another popular one. They were more refined in their design and appointments than the noisy, smelly, hard-to-start-and-drive gasoline autos of the time. Those characteristics made them appealing to many women who found gasoline autos crude, obnoxious and hard to handle (just like their men). Standard interior features included elegant touches like flower sconces. The basement garages in many finer city homes of the early 1900s were created for electric autos. One certainly wouldn't want to start a gasoline auto of the time in a space attached to the living quarters; gasoline engines of the time belched oil smoke and gasoline fumes when starting, and a careless or unskilled individual could cause them to catch fire.

Ditto. I've been single for so long that sometimes I forget how much I miss all the yelling, accusations and fights.

Good shots! You may be new to urban photography, but you have an eye for it. I agree with your comment about the interior of the Civic; I saw a movie there once with friends. I can't remember what film I saw, but I'll never forget the elaborate Italianate lobby and atmospheric ceiling. Even though it was sloppy winter weather outside, the appearance of clouds drifting across a starry night sky made me feel like I was outdoors on a balmy summer night.

It is. The hot springs in resorts like French Lick and West Baden Springs in Southern Indiana were sulfur springs, and the water was thought to be therapeutic both for bathing or soaking in, and for ingesting. Drinking the strong stuff will really clean you out in a hurry! The resort at French Lick bottled theirs and shipped it all over the country under the name, "Pluto Water." To make sure it would work as advertised, they spiked it with epsom salts.

The city is repaving a lot of streets this summer, and Washington made the list because it was badly deteriorated. Even the patches wouldn't hold any more, and there's heavy truck traffic. Washington and Jefferson are a one-way pair that used to be the official route of US 24, and even though US 24 now bypasses the city via Interstate 69 and 469, the truckers barrel straight through town because it's shorter. So far, the city has never had an administration with the balls to enforce speed limits or ban the use of trucks' engine brakes in the city, so it's a free-for-all. The weather has interfered with paving progress, and we only have the base coat now. After the surface coat is applied, the city plans to change the lane markings to restore parking to one side of the street. The planning department hopes that will calm the traffic and provide some disincentive for the truckers. The existing lanes are wider than the engineering standard for an interstate highway, so there's plenty of room for a lane of parking while still maintaining statutory requirements. My memories of this neighborhood go back more than 50 years, and for as long as I can remember it's been one-way with no parking.

A few architectural travesties, but some real gems, too. Nice-looking place.

Been there -- it's a rather nice farm town. They have a neat old-school fairgrounds there. Did you drink the local water? If you had, you'd know why they have a water store right downtown; Well water in that part of the border area is sulfurous. It has a yellow-rust tinge to it and smells like rotten eggs. Don't even think about making coffee with it; when you boil it, the stink will run you out of the kitchen!

Florida Guy, I like the embossing effect. Was that done with Photoshop filters? Back in the wet-darkroom days I saw it done by double-exposing a print slightly off-register and then solarizing it during development. It gave interesting effects and guaranteed unique prints, because you couldn't control or predict the exact outcome of each attempt. The unseasonably cold spring has given way to steamy-hot summer. Here's a cool-down shot: That shot is from a trainload of railroad-related slides and negatives that I just scanned and uploaded to my web site. That's a topic of limited interest on these forums, so rather than post all that work here, I'll just give a link for anyone who wants to see them. Once you're there, just click on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad thumbnail.

I visited SUNY Plattsburgh on that trip. I was on a quest to see three exhibits of work by artist Rockwell Kent, and one was a permanent exhibit in a gallery in the library there. In addition to the paintings and illustrations for which he was best known, Kent designed dinnerware, textiles and jewelry. The SUNY campus feels rather austere to me despite the sculpture garden, but I did enjoy the Rockwell Kent gallery.

Looks like a charming, cozy neighborhood.

How 'bout this beauty? South Bend, Indiana

Beautiful photos!

Gorgeous stuff!

I'm not familiar with the Jersey Shore, but I once spent my summers at the Southern Delaware and Maryland beaches, from Lewes down to Ocean City. It's sort of similar in appearance to some of those, but except during storms it rarely has waves of any size and it lacks the saltwater smell that's one of the things I love about the Atlantic beaches.

Been there, done that! I had a train to catch. I guess I could have taken a later train, though, or picked up cold carry-out to see me through the train ride. There were a couple of empties rolling around the end of the car when I got off the train at Michigan City. But then there's the drive from the station to my motel.

Indiana Dunes State Park - June 16, 2008 Indiana Dunes State Park, established in 1925, encompasses 2,182 acres at the southern tip of Lake Michigan and includes dunes and wetlands accessible by several miles of hiking trails, and approximately 3 miles of sand beaches. When I took these photos temperatures were in the high sixties to low seventies with brisk wind, so there wasn't a lot of beach activity. The air was clear, though, and the sun was bright and the lake was beautiful. To prevent the further loss of vanishing rare habitat to thirsty heavy industries like power plants, steel mills and refineries, the U.S. Congress in 1966 approved the designation of a large tract of land adjacent to the state park as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Parents were admonishing these children, "Don't get sand in your hair!" Hah! The industry in the background with the tall smokestack is the coal-fired NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) power plant at Michigan City. The state park bathhouse houses restrooms, changing rooms, showers and space for the lifeguards, and on the second floor, a cafeteria. The building was built in 1929 and is well maintained. The space in the foreground was once occupied by a later hotel that was removed in the 1970s. Views from the second-floor stairwells. Over the past couple of years Indiana has invested heavily in the park, reconfiguring the entrance, updating the campground and generally overhauling the infrastructure. At the point where I took this photo there used to be a big cylindrical water tank with an observation platform on top that gave magnificent views. I was disappointed on this visit to find the water tank ..., well, to not find the water tank. Porter Beach is just west of the state park beach. The beach here is public, but all the surrounding property is private and there are plenty of signs to let you know. The summer homes cover a pretty wide range, and some of the properties look like somebody is waiting for the right offer for the building site. A few years ago this place housed a concession stand. It doesn't look habitable now, but I could see a light on inside. The building type looks like an old-fashioned beach resort hotel.

South Shore is a shining example of commuter rail done right; they continue to invest in equipment and infrastructure, they run clean trains on time and their people are courteous and friendly. It's a poke in the eye to the naysayers who contend that public agencies can't do anything right. For a day trip, I recommend boarding at Millennium Park Station and riding to Dune Park. From there it's about a walkable mile to the beach and there are several miles of good trails through varied terrain in the state park. One-way fare is $5.50 weekends / $6.65 weekdays, and weekend trains run every two hours. South Shore schedules and fares are here and Indiana Dunes State Park info is here. Jeff, it's a Nikon D200 DSLR with the 18-200 VR lens. It's something of a beast to carry around all day, but it gets good results. I had a pretty good time shooting those; the weather was perfect, and I had about an hour and a half to kill, so I spent it all in one corner of the loop.

Phabulous Photos! Perhaps Mother Nature was trying to stop the earthy music. :roll:

Thanks for posting those, KJP. I had hoped to attend that event, but obligatory personal and family stuff piled up for that week and the upcoming one.

Wow! That's amazing! Thanks for showing that.

I love the little building on the right. It could be cute as a button, fixed up. I believe Delphos was an important point on the Toledo St Louis and Kansas City Railroad, locally known as the Clover Leaf for its shamrock herald. The Clover Leaf became part of the Nickel Plate, and was the NKP's route to compete against the Wabash RR for traffic between St. Louis/Kansas City and the Great Lakes. When both NKP and Wabash came under control of Norfok & Western in 1964 or thereabouts, Clover Leaf traffic fell off rapidly. Now the line exists only as bits and pieces operated by various short lines serving local industries and grain shippers. Farm-country towns and villages along the Clover Leaf dwindled to near-nothing when their grain elevators lost their rail connection.