Filed under: Ohio | Tags: cleveland, dusk, lake view cemetery, lost factory
*
I’m restless. I can’t stop, I have to be moving, doing something – reading (a lot), taking photos (a little). I thought this morning about what I would write, and realized I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to talk about late fall, how the early setting sun makes me miss Osijek. Or how the deep blue sky settling into night around an abandoned factory in Cleveland made me want to scale the fence and run across the empty lot, just to stand under the building’s enormity. I get these urges when we travel to pull over the car and walk across a field, or through a town that I’ve never been before. I wanted these images to tell their own stories.
*
*
*
*
*
a brief moment of solitude in the busy market
cannolis from theresa's bakery
rooster roasters
meah
more pastries from theresa's bakery
a bustling saturday afternoon
a view from a bridge
euclid avenue
garfield monument at lake view cemetery
waiting for an early dinner at melt, cleveland heights
an empty storefront on the west side
getting lost, you never know what you may find.
Filed under: Ohio, Pennsylvania | Tags: beaver county, christmas, east liverpool
**
For years I spent Christmas away from home, trying to avoid the stress of the holidays. One Christmas in Key West, where I spent 80-degree days riding my bike around the island, getting a kick out of palm trees strung with garland. Another year in Osijek, where half the city celebrated on the 25th, then Epiphany on January 6th. Decorating for the season was slowly catching on, even a decade after the Balkan War, but every once in a while, on my walks home from the Center for Peace, I caught a glimpse of a lighted star in someone’s window. My landlady had a potted tree with blue lights in our courtyard which stayed that way till spring. But now the holidays are a lot easier with Jeff, who cares as much about this time of year as much as I do. We roasted a chicken one year just the two of us, got engaged in Florida the next, went for Chinese at New Dumpling House the next two, and spent an entire weekend snowbound in West Virginia. We have amazing friends who have become our family. I am lucky and thankful, reminding me that maybe this holiday isn’t so bad after all.
sad santa
beaver valley bowl
toronto, ohio
beaver, pa
route 65
Filed under: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia | Tags: newell bridge, nuclear power plant, shippingport, storm
Doesn’t it feel as if Pennsylvania is always under construction? Detours routing us to other roads, which is a good thing — sometimes we find places we normally never see. Sometimes it is frustrating, roads taking us in circles. I have pretty good directional instincts. If home is west, then I’ll keep driving until something looks familiar. There is no hurry. Is it even possible to get lost in America?
detour
cooling tower
newell bridge detail
Filed under: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia | Tags: autumn, ivy, world's largest teapot
Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania
ivy
chester, wv
negley, oh
the house on the (haunted?) hill
company store and herbs
unveiling beard season
Filed under: Ohio | Tags: east liverpool, flea markets, junk shops, rogers
Friday found us tri-state treasure hunting in Ohio, West Virginia and PA. First stop Rogers, where Jeff found a $15 guitar and I bought fresh beets, winesap apples, Hungarian kielbasa, pickled garlic and green beans, rolled butter and wax peppers. A storm chased us out of the flea market and into our favorite East Liverpool fleatique where Jeff had a hard time resisting yet another guitar (they’re piling up in our house, I’m telling you). And then a last stop to the Fiestaware factory, where we discovered their yearly tent sale. The place was a madhouse — towers of dishes shaking, clay dust flying as people tried to find the ‘best’ Fiesta-seconds. I love fall (insert happy dance).
windows. negley, ohio
mirror hearth. east liverpool, ohio
gerber talkback phone
vintage wedding gown
tessie talks
more treasures await you
broken fiesta
scary
Filed under: Ohio | Tags: pabstolutely 2010, royal oaks tavern, twin towers (the band), youngstown
This post is testament to the things I do for the one I love.
Jeff’s band, Twin Towers, played Youngstown’s 3rd annual Pabstolutely festival, featuring 17 bands, lots of tattoos, ironic tees, skateboarding on a giant screen TV and a puke machine. The emcee announced that the first person barfed around 3 pm shortly after we arrived in town, so we knew we were in for a long day. But for a more innocent, g-rated option to beer, one of the vendors peddled nostalgic candies like Dots and Idaho Spuds, and this is where I discovered Valomilk, a more chocolate-y, marshmallow-y cousin to Mallo cups. I’m hooked for life.
John Roman and Twin Towers
Twin Towers
a quiet moment away from the crowd
the infamous puke machine (the man in the photo didn't barf though)
opening scream
JR controlling an overzealous fan
happy
behind the scenes
enjoying the show
he didn't move the whole time I fussed with my camera to take this picture
guest of honor
Filed under: Ohio | Tags: biblewalk, mansfield, matsos, reformatory, richland carrousel park
Where else can you ride a merry-go-round, go to jail, and then repent for your sins? Nothing embodies a day of good vs. evil like the town of Mansfield.
the warden's room
The lower part of Mansfield is full of empty warehouses and factories, and on a Sunday, it looks like a ghost town. But sit on a bench in the main square and enjoy the discordant circus tunes cranking out of the Richland Carrousel Park. The 52 figurines were hand-carved locally at Carrousel Works and features the kinds of animals one would only ride in fairy tales – an ostrich, a giraffe, and my favorite – a horse with a mermaid’s tail.
crumbling wall
Our main goal for Mansfield was to tour the notorious Mansfield Reformatory. Once a Civil War army post, the fortress-like structure is most famous for being the movie set for Shawshank Redemption, as well as the video sets for Godsmack, Lil Wayne and Marilyn Manson. Our star-struck tour guide gave us a sanitized, Hollywood version of prison history, and we left there learning very little about the people who once inhabited those cell blocks.
Richland Carrousel Park
Our group was too large, and any time we stopped to take photos, two crabby volunteers who clearly found it annoying that we were taking pictures of peeling paint and broken toilets, told us to keep moving. But the light piercing through the cracked windows was so amazing, that enduring the kindergarten treatment was worth it.
The black mass in the center was not there when Jeff took this. A ghost?
Up the road from the prison is Biblewalk, Ohio’s ‘only wax museum’ as if every state has a hundred of them. The five of us were psyched to see how kitschy this place would be, but as soon as we walked into the lobby and heard the tinny church music piping through the museum gift shop, a sudden skepticism washed over us. Despite our fears, we paid our $5 and followed a man over to the building next door to see the “Blood of the Christian Martyrs” tour.
photo by Jeff and me
The man led us into a pitch dark room. He flicked on the lights and explained the only rule – no cameras (of course) — then pressed a button on a wall and left. There were 13 dioramas, each narrated by a disembodied voice coming somewhere out of the wall. I thought about taking pictures anyhow, but something stopped me. I felt as if something were watching me and it sure wasn’t Him.
mechanical bible scene in the lobby of Biblewalk
By this time we were worn-out from listening about Godsmack videos and Christian martyr deaths. And hungry. We drove around for over an hour, trying to find a place that was open on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend.
sculpture made of discarded jewelry, Biblewalk
Dan found a beer pub in Wooster via the GPS that sounded fine, but it ended up closed. We walked towards the town center and I spotted a pizza joint. “We’re eating there, ” I said, tired of driving around. “It could be the most hideous meal ever or it could be the most awesome food we’ve eaten on this trip.”
the descent. photo by jeff
Matsos is awesome. It’s like walking into your grandmother’s dining room, dark wood and photographs and long tables of families sharing plates. The menu is an extensive mix of Greek and pizza specialties. Jeff and I shared a mozzarella and egg pizza, and Bill ordered the famous spaghetti pizza.
It is what it sounds like – pizza with spaghetti baked right on it. Mr. Matsos explained to our table that when his son was younger, he was sick one day and wanted something special to eat. So Mr. Matsos made him a pizza with hot dogs, a pizza with cheese and the now-famous spaghetti pie. “I called different cities all over the world,” he said. “No one serves spaghetti pizza anywhere but here.”
sci-fi. photo by jeff.
We finished our meal with bowls of Neapolitan ice cream, courtesy of Mr. Matsos, who also sent us on our drive home with free coffee and iced tea. I left that place sated and happy, wishing it were closer to Pittsburgh.
“It’s because of your pretty camera,” Beth said. “He thinks we’re from the media.”
Of course. The camera. Travelers finding pieces of home away from home.
exit
Filed under: Ohio | Tags: amish, berlin, chalet in the valley, holmes county, millersburg, Ohio
We’ve always been curious about our Amish neighbors to the west, so Jeff, Bill, Beth, Dan and I trekked two hours out to Holmes County, Ohio to get our fill of horse-drawn buggies, patchwork fields, and a shoefly pie or two.
starting out in the early morning
Most of our road trips are flea market motivated, and Holmes County Flea promised the largest and best in the area. But this one disappointed us. Picture rows of endless dollar store aisles selling tube socks, bamboo gardens and vanity mugs. Jeff and Dan did find some awesome Amish straw hats for only $5 (made in China) and an armful of Devo-looking white coveralls.
enjoying a snack from Berlin Chili Traders
Berlin, the Holmes County seat, is the New York City of midwestern Amish country. It was mind-boggling how busy the streets were, a mix of buggies, mini-vans and motorcycles. We bought lemonade from a group of brightly clad Amish children posted outside of a boot shop and were lucky to find free hot dogs, courtesy of Berlin Chili Traders, which we washed down with tiny cups of locally-made shagbark hickory syrup. I was digging the local foods, but the crowd and the heat made us crabby. I was also curious to check out our haunted hotel.
the only Amish photo I felt comfortable taking
Hotel Millersburg is a beautiful Victorian building right on a main street filled with little antique stores, my favorite — 55 West and Co., filled with drool-worthy, affordable retro furniture and clothing. It’s a sleepy town, and once the shops closed at 5, it was as if everyone disappeared into the walls.
I harbor dreams of small town living in a cottage, or a giant Edwardian home, with an overgrown, shabby English garden. Lots of quiet to get projects done. But then I wonder, where the hell would we go to watch freaky Spanish horror films or eat Indian food? A long way I’m guessing since this part of Ohio feels cut off from the world.
lost on the side of a road and I saw this
While one cannot get a bowl of mattar paneer in this neck of the woods, one can “have dinner in Switzerland today!” at Chalet in the Valley. We wanted Amish kitsch, but Swiss-kitsch did just fine. Our waitress, dolled-up in a red dirndl and Heidi-braids, encouraged my camera-clicking as we dined on bratwurst, fried chicken and sauerkraut balls, which I have to hunt down the recipe for because they are so amazing. We even had an accordion serenade for our table. And while we spent the rest of the evening getting lost on back country roads, thanks to Bill’s GPS navigator, we still had a hilarious time in Holmes County.
No shoefly pie though. That’s a Pennsylvania Dutch thing.
Al Zimmerman, polkas and waltzes from the Olde World
Amish hat
Hotel Millersburg lobby
55 West and Co.
cuckoo gallery
Guggisberg Cheese
