CREAMY WHIP TUESDAY: GREENHILLS CREAMY WHIP


The official name of this Greenhills establishment is called "The Creamy Whip," as in the ultimate leader of soft serve. I'd say it's a suiting title after experiencing the delights of their flavors.







The Creamy Whip has one of the most organized hand-written menu displays in the city. If you're like me and like to read everything before ordering, you'll understand why this is important. Everything is categorized so you can go right to the section of what you're craving and pick a flavor.







Four items earned this whip a gold star:


1.) Strawberry Blueberry twisted soft serve
2.) Dole Whip soft serve
3.) Frozen bananas dipped in chocolate or cherry
4.) Cheesecake on a stick

Where else besides the State Fair can you find those last two items? Now I can indulge with frozen calories on a stick throughout the entire summer!


My berry twist cone was fruity and still filled my creamy desire of soft serve. My friend's Dole Whip tasted like fresh pineapples and is also gluten free and dairy free. It's a perfect treat for those with a sensitive stomach.



Strawberry / Blueberry twist


Dole Whip: tastes like fresh pineapples



The Creamy Whip has both the traditional walk-up window with patio plus an inside dining room; a rare find amongst creamy whips.  With so many unique features, I wish this location was closer to my neighborhood. Perhaps now we'll have a reason to visit Winton Woods more often.



Greenhills Creamy Whip is located at
15 Eswin Street, Greenhills, Ohio 45218

STREETCAR STROLL: JULY

Once a month, Noel Prows organizes a group to walk the route of the Cincinnati Streetcar to view and document the development of light rail in the Queen City. Each stroll of the entire route takes roughly three hours. During our previous strolls, we saw the progress of utility relocation taking place in Over The Rhine. New for July, construction is progressing along 12th Street and Elm Street, and utility relocation has started in the Central Business District on Walnut and Main Streets.




12th & VINE STREET





CHURCH REHABILITATION AT 12TH & ELM STREET
(on the streetcar route)










14TH AND ELM STREET




COURT & WALNUT STREET

(North of proposed streetcar stop at 9th & Walnut)



7TH & WALNUT STREET





5TH & WALNUT STREET



8TH & MAIN STREET






CREAMY WHIP TUESDAY: MOUNT WASHINGTON CREAMY WHIP

Nestled on the edge of Mount Washington along Beechmont Avenue resides one of the most organized, simplified creamy whips of the tri-state.





Originating as a bakery that has been around for decades, Mount Washington Creamy Whip scooped its way into the ice cream business six years ago. The atmosphere of an old-timey store greets customers with historic Cincinnati transit pictures hung on the wall, Coney Island memorabilia enclosed in a display case, and 1950s-style appliances lining the back counter. Remember the ice cream counter which George Bailey worked as a child in It's a Wonderful Life? You can find that expierence right here in Mount Washington.




With a straightforward menu, Mount Washington Creamy Whip offers three flavors of soft serve: vanilla, chocolate, and swirl. They also create sundaes and have eight kinds of "Toppers" which you can use for ice cream or in a milkshake. For those looking for a lighter option, the Rainbow Sherbert is a unique alternative.




Unlike the standard summer ice cream stand, all of these selections are organized on a single, clean, hand-painted menu board.  As someone who likes to read all of my options before making a decision, Mount Washington made this an easy accomplishment and I didn't even hold up the line. I opted to try chocolate vanilla swirl ice cream with a cherry dip top, as recommended by my friend Amy from Family Friendly Cincinnati. I also added gummy bears, as I rarely see this topping selection. My creamy whip companion ordered an Oreo Malt, which was one of the best both he and I had ever tasted. It was fresh, smooth, and had the perfect cookie-to-beverage ratio.




We enjoyed our treats in the Art Deco seating room, which overflowed with more nostalgia. The cherry on top of our experience was meeting The Most Interesting Man In The World in the parlour. He gave us advice we all can agree with: "I don't always eat at creamy whips, but when I do, it's Mount Washington Creamy Whip."




STREETCAR SOCIAL - JULY

An outpouring of support for the Cincinnati Streetcar gathered at Rhinegeist Brewery in Over The Rhine for July's Streetcar Social, hosted by Cincinnatians For Progress. The group organized a monthly meetup for transit advocates to mingle and discuss current events happening in the city. The success of last month's meeting garnered the attention of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, who reached out to be the featured speaker for the latest Streetcar Social.





“We’ve decided to name the maintenance facility the Center of Advanced Streetcar Technology, or COAST for short,” Mallory quipped to an amused audience, as he commented about the anti-streetcar group with the same acronym.


 

The Mayor's presentation was complimented by visuals of progress, including utility relocation along the route, the interior design of a CAF-manufactured streetcar, and facility renderings. He explained how Cincinnait's streetcar will have state-of-the-art technology that will be the first of its kind to operate in North America. With the construction contract officially signed with Messer, citizens can expect rail to be laid in city streets starting this fall. 

Rendering of the streetcar maintenance facility to be built on Henry Street.



 
Among the crowd of over 200 streetcar supporters in attendance were City Councilmembers Chris Seelbach, Wendell Young, and Laure Quinlivan, as well as representatives for Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and City Council Candidate Mike Moroski.

Cincinnatians For Progress selected Rhinegeist for their July meeting, as it is one of the latest businesses to open along the streetcar route. Formerly the Christian Moerlein brewery, this location is one of many abandoned historic structures to be rehabilitated due to the promise of the rail transportation.


A crowd gathers at Rhinegeist for the Streetcar Social
Cincinnatians For Progress Co-Chair Derek Bauman greets guests at Rhinegeist
Prior to his presentation,  Mayor Mallory sat down with guests to answer questions about the streetcar

City Councilmember Chris Seelbach chats with
Michael Moore from Cincinnati's Dept. of Transportation & Engineering
UrbanCincy technologist, Travis Estell, and City Councilmember Laure Quinlivan
listen to The Mayor's presentation at the Streetcar Social
 
City Councilmember Wendell Young waves hello at the Streetcar Social
Streetcar supporters mingle before Mayor Mallory's presentation

Copies of City Beat's Top 10 Misrepresentations of the Cincinnati Streetcar Project were distributed at the meeting.

MT. AUBURN INCLINE CLIMB

East of Christ Hospital resides remote park, perhaps the most inaccessible piece of pubic space in the city. Surrounded by the twists and turns of dead end streets, Jackson Park once hosted the beginnings of suburban public transit in Cincinnati. In addition to its electric street railway, Mt. Auburn was home to the Queen City's very first incline.

Mt. Auburn Incline construction via CincinnatiViews.net


Mount Auburn Street Railway rain from Fifth and Main Streets Downtown to Auburn Avenue on top of the hill. The difficulties of mounting Jackson Hill, particularly in the winter, led the electric street  to adapt an incline system, inspired by Pittsburgh's Monongahela Incline which was erected in 1870. Two years later, Cincinnati opened Mt. Auburn Incline.

via CincinnatiViews.net


via CincinnatiViews.net


Like other inclines, Mt. Auburn built an entertainment establishment at the top of the hill: Lookout House. Six hundred passengers a day and a million persons each year rode the incline and likely patronized the resort. Sunday became their busiest day, as the Lookout House boldly ignored liquor laws and served beer and wine on the Sabbath.

Lookout House via CincinnatiViews.net


A series of untimely events led to Mt. Auburn Incline's demise. In October 1889, eight passengers were aboard the car when a mechanical error launched it full speed from the bottom of the hill, sending it crashing into the top station. After a moment of dangling, the car broke loose and plummeted back to the bottom where it collided with a grocery store and sent the roof cascading 100 feet down Main Street. Three days after Mt. Auburn Incline reopened from the horrific accident, then-judge William Howard Taft ruled against the incline in a court case regarding vehicular interference with telephone lines. It closed permanently in 1898.

Our journey to the top of Cincinnati's steepest incline began in an inconspicuous vacant lot at the corner of 8th Street and Glenway Avenue. Marked only with a billboard, it was hard to imagine the site once being a bustling venue of commerce and transportation on the West Side. Along the way, we snapped pictures of the remnants, including stone walls, wooden stringers, concrete with structural imprints, sheave wheels, and even old rail! - See more at: http://www.cincywhimsy.com/2013/07/price-hill-incline-climb.html#sthash.8fstqzqR.dpuf
Mt. Auburn Incline Wreck via CincinnatiViews.net




As part of the Cincinnati Incline Climb, our journey to the top of Cincinnati's first incline began at a stairwell at Main and Mulberry Street.  Now known as the Main Street Mosaic Steps, this quiet area was once one of the main transit arteries of Cincinnati. Remnants of the incline can still be viewed from the foundation, a reminder of the bygone era when the Queen City was once called "The Paris of America."




MT. AUBURN INCLINE

Hike Difficulty Level: ★  
Length: 960 feet
Height: 312 feet
Steepness / Grade:
35% and 25%




Cat of the Mt. Auburn Incline

Medical bracelet found on the stairwell



Jackson Park, at the top of the former incline.

Jackson Park: great views for photography