YEAR ONE: STREETCAR CONSTRUCTION

This week marks the first anniversary of construction beginning on the Cincinnati Streetcar route as the City signed a contract with Messer/Prus/Delta Railroad Joint Venture (MPD) to complete the work. We've been documenting the development of infrastructure once a month since it began. Compare the pictures below to see how the project has evolved over the past year.

12TH & WALNUT STREET

2013

2014

12TH & VINE STREET

2013

 2014

 12TH & RACE STREET

 2013

2014

MUSIC HALL AT
14TH & ELM STREET

2013

2014

 LIBERTY & ELM STREET

2013

 

2014

FINDLAY MARKET ON ELM

2013

 

2014

Installing the first catenary poles for the overhead wire.

  

RHINEGEIST AT
HENRY & ELM STREET

2013

 

2014

 

HENRY STREET

2013

2014

STREETCAR MAINTENANCE FACILITY
AT HENRY & RACE STREET

2013

2014

 

RACE & LIBERTY STREET

2013

2014

CENTRAL PARKWAY & WALNUT

2013

 

2014

GOVERNMENT SQUARE AT
5TH & WALNUT

2013

2014

THE BANKS ON 2ND STREET

2013

2014

 

 

4TH & MAIN

2013

 

2014

 

6TH & MAIN

2013

2014

8TH & MAIN

2013

 

2014

CREAMY WHIP TUESDAY: NORWOOD DELITE

Norwood Delite has certainly withstood the test of time. Sandwiched by an apartment building and elementary school, it's easy to see that the young population keeps this creamy whip in business. The facade built with shades of brown and salmon pink will immediately transport you back to the 1960s and carefree summers as a child.

Keeping it simple, the ice creamery serves up vanilla, chocolate, and swirled soft serve, as well as eight FlavorBursts featuring vanilla swirled with a flavored syrup. Norwood Delite is also know for being "e-cone-friendly," offering most of their treats in a cone or waffle bowl instead of styrofoam cups in order to reduce waste. To encourage customers to select a cone for their treat, the owners have invented different flavors of cones to pair with ice cream flavors, and even created a sundae in a waffle cone with your choice of fudge, strawberry, caramel, or pineapple topping plus whipped cream and a cherry.

During our visit, we tried an Oreo cone with peanut butter FlavorBurst softserve. They also offer chocolate chip cookie cones, which would pair well with the regular vanilla or chocolate soft serve. If you're going for one of the more exotic fruit FlavorBursts, I'd recommend sticking with a traditional waffle cone.

With several outdoor picnic tables, small parking lot, and ample on-street parking, Norwood Delite is that old school, no-frills creamy whip you adored growing up.


Norwood Delite is located at:

4490 Forest Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45212

COCKTAILS WITH CURATORS

Cincinnati Museum Center is taking off their white artifact-handling gloves and picking up the silver tumbler in their after-hours series: Cocktails With Curators. Throughout the year, the museum will showcase their knowledgeable curators and allow guests to speak one-on-one with them about their favorite exhibits. Typically, curators aren't accessible for the general public, as they're busy working behind the scenes planning the next great exhibit to be featured at the museum. Cocktails With Curators brings the experts, and all their fascinating stories together with guests in a relaxed happy hour setting.

We attended a session with Scott Gampfer, Director of the Cincinnati History Library, held inside the Cincinnati History Museum. Guests were welcomed with light hors d'oeuvres, a selections of wine, beer and cocktails including the specialty drink of the evening, a lemon drop martini.

Later, Gampfer gave our group a personal tour of the Museum Center's newest exhibit: Treasures in Black & White, a gallery of historic photographs of Cincinnati spanning over the last 100 years. Handpicked from over 800,000 images in the collection, Treasures features 65 rare depictions of the Queen City. From Babe Ruth's visit during the 1947 All Star Game to architecture, Ruth Lyons, 1884 Courthouse Riots, World War I, streetcars, and chilling images from the 1937 flood, the selection tells the heartfelt story of Cincinnati's good times and bad.

When asked about his favorite picture, it was difficult for our curator to choose just one. Like most images, a select few resonate personally. For Gampfer, it was the telephone ladies that brought back memories of his grandmother: a line of women employed to connect calls on the switchboard for Cincinnati Bell.

 

Whether you can recall the stories first hand or have heard the legends passed down through generations, Treasures in Black & White is guaranteed hit home visually. Be sure to check out the exhibit as well as future Cocktails With Curators events, featuring paleontologist Brenda Hunda and the exhibit Cincinnati Under The Sea, or explore more Cincinnati history with collections curator David Conzett.

CONEY ISLAND BALLOON GLOW

For 15 years, hot air balloonists have been congregating at Coney Island on July 3rd to light up skies in a unique way. Dozens of 99,000 square foot canvas lay spread across Moonlight Mall, inflated one at a time using a large fuel-powered box fan and propane burners, which blast 2-3 megawatts of heat to lift the balloon. In comparison, that's a force equivalent to powering one diesel locomotive or three P-51 fighter aircrafts.

This balloon was my aesthetic favorite!

Igniting in intervals, the balloons inflated at dusk then intermittently lit their burners to create a fascinating glow show, illuminating the rainbow of patterns in the different canvases. Some were lit in patriotic red, white and blue, while others used vibrant blues and greens, bold stripes, or even one balloon that resembled a golf ball.

Difference between sedentary and glowing (below)

After the hour-long show, Rozzi's Fireworks kept skies bright with their dazzling fireworks display over Lake Como, located at the entrance to Coney Island. Not only were people watching from the park, but folks had pulled into the grass alongside Kellogg Avenue and stopped on the 275 exit ramp to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.

A gorgeous way to kick off the Independence Day weekend, Coney Island Balloon Glow continues to impress and awe with this hometown tradition.