Cincinnati Riverfront

CINCINNATI, OHIO—City leaders have been working hard on redeveloping the riverfront with parks, businesses and living. It’s a destination—a place to do things, or just watch the river traffic pass by. The Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals both have stadiums on the riverfront. These images were taken in July, 2010.

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Cincinnati Riverfront. The Cincinnati Reds stadium, Great American Ball Park, is on the left. The Reds are the oldest professional baseball team in the USA. The Reds can trace their foundation to 1882.
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Stretching across the Ohio River, the Purple People Bridge is a walking bridge from Kentucky on the left to Ohio on the right.
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Amphibious boats like the famous Ducks, can give you a view of the river and riverfront.
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The Ohio River is a major route for goods being transported by barge and tugboats.

See you on the highway.

Brent

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Parkersburg, West Virginia, was called Newport when it was first settled shortly after the American Revolution. It was renamed Parkersburg in 1810 after a legal battle with the city founders and the Revolutionary War Veteran Alexander Parker, who was given a land grant.

Today, you can find lots of history to explore in this Ohio River Town, the 4th largest town in West Virginia.

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Parkersburg, Ohio Riverfront and flood wall.
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Barge traffic on the Ohio River.
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Riverboat paddle wheel transportation to Blennerhassett Island Historic State Park.
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The Blennerhassett Historic Home located on an island in the Ohio River, entertained many dignitaries in its day. Blennerhassett Island Historic State Park.

See you on the highway.

Brent

Tall Stacks Festival

CINCINNATI, OH—It was a fortunate timing that my wife and I were relocating to the Cincinnati area in the fall of 2006. I was in town looking for apartments and potential studio space for my photography business, when I happened to cruise to the downtown area to take a few photographs of the riverfront only to discover the Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Festival was underway. The festival was held every three or four years with a gathering of river boats.

I grabbed a few photos and then continued on with my mission.

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Unfortunately, 2006 was the last Tall Stacks Festival. There were additional attempts to hold the festival in subsequent years, but the economic times and lack of sponsors prevented the festival from happening.

See you on the highway.

Brent

Ohio River at Flood Stage

Cincinnati, OH—The Ohio River flooded in March 2011. I drove to Eden Park to see what it looked like from an observation point high above the river.

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This was just over flood stage, not nearly as bad as the Flood of 1937, which was more than 25’ above flood stage.

See you on the highway.

Brent

V-Strom and Givi Luggage

Riding season is just around the corner, and I hope to do much of my Ohio River Towns photography project on the motorcycle. So, I needed to equip the bike with sufficient luggage to make it utilitarian.

I have always liked the Givi brand of motorcycle luggage. They are rugged and good looking. Secondly, I love the way you can use the same mounts to put different bags on the bike. Below is a great example of how that looks. First, the bike without bags.

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You can see the new engine guards and the luggage mounting racks on the rear. Next, is the set of smaller bags I purchased when I first bought the bike. Givi E-22s. These are great for around town and running small grocery errands. I have used the smaller bags to go camping, also.

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What about a top case? I decided to go with the Givi Trekker series of bags. The 52-Liter top case will hold a lot of stuff like camera gear and audio equpment, and it doesn’t look too bad with the E-22s—just a slight difference in styling.

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Or, how about riding with just the top case. Many do. Without the side cases, it’s a narrower profile.

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For the bigger loads, such as motorcycle touring and/or extended camping, the full set of Trekkers will do just fine—52L top case and 33L side cases, better known as panniers.

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That’s some serious load-hauling capability. Still, it’s best not to try to carry everything. Think backpacking or minimalist motorcycling.

See you on the highway … along the Ohio River.

Brent