American Byways

The 20th annual Bockfest 2012 was held on March 2, 3 and 4th in downtown and Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio. A celebration of the city’s German brewing heritage, of Over-the-Rhine and the coming of spring, The event was named after bock beer – a dark, rich lager that was originally brewed by German monks for sustenance during Lenten fast.

Prior to Prohibition, the dozens of breweries in Cincinnati would introduce their seasonal bock beers around Lent. But the tradition was not reintroduced until 1993, when the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewery Company released Christian Moerlein Bock. Today, the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company and the Hudepohk-Schoenling Brewing Company continue to be an integral part in Bockfest. For this year, three bock beers were released: the Emancipator Doppel Bock, Hudepohl Festival Bock and Schoenling Bock.

Bockfest’s parade began at 6 PM after a heavy rainstorm. Led by a goat that pulled a keg of beer, a motorized bathtub from Arnold’s Bar and Grill and the Sausage Queen, the parade began in front of Arnold’s before proceeding down Main and McMicken Streets towards Bockfest Hall, or the Christian Moerlein Event Space on Moore Street. The diversity in the participants is what makes Bockfest great: a trojan goat, “bocking” dogs, monks and musicians.

Erwin Dobler was the 2012 Bockfest Parade Marshall. Dobler had immigrated to the United States from Bavaria Germany in 1959 and has been involved in keeping the Cincinnati German-American community connected to their heritage. He has formed the Enzian Tanzgruppe to celebrate a Bavarian form of dancing, and was one of the founding members of Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest.

Following the parade, there was the blessing of the bock beer, which featured Franciscan Monks blessing and then tapping a ceremonial keg.

Here comes the Trojan Goat led by k. Jenny Jones!

Keith Baker, Joseph Schneider, Randy Bailey, Cliff Jenkins, Eric Evans pull the Trojan Goat down historic Main Street.

Jim Tarbell, former owner of Arnold’s and otherwise known as Mr. Cincinnati, plays an integral role in Bockfest.

Further Reading

• Bockfest in 2010 and 2012

A view from the Appalachian Highway looking towards the small community of Lawshe along the former Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad (now Norfolk Southern) at sunset. A church is softly illuminated by the waning sunset offset by clouds from a recent storm.

It had been about two years since I last trekked to Yellow Springs, Ohio to visit Clifton Gorge, but in my time in the hippie-filled and liberal-infested region home to Antioch College that I have grown to love and appreciate, I have only been through the narrow river gorge three times, one for spring, fall and winter photography. I remarked then that it was one of my favorite scenic and recreational destinations, partially because of its ruggedness and also because of its unique flora and topography amidst rolling farmland and small towns.

Clifton Gorge is a loose definition that includes three parks lining the Little Miami River: Glen Helen to the south, John Bryan State Park in the center and Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve to the north. Glen Helen is comprised of a wider valley with the Little Miami River snaking through, featuring the remains of a dam that once held back water used for skating and boating for a resort, the Yellow Spring that the town is named for, and 400 year-old trees. John Bryan includes more rugged topography, with a narrowing valley and a diverse collection of spring wildflowers that is not found in any other part of southwest Ohio due to the towering trees, overhanging limestone cliffs and different soil conditions. And Clifton Gorge is in stark contrast to both Glen Helen and John Bryan, with a canyon that is both deep in height and narrow, featuring numerous small waterfalls, pools and sheer limestone cliffs, in addition to the remains of two mills. It is the diverse nature of these parks that helped mark the Little Miami River as a State and National Scenic River.

But this trip focused on photographing Yellow Springs and Glen Helen in the late fall. Most of the leaves by this point had dropped but it was still scenic none the less. A festival celebrating Halloween was ongoing in Yellow Springs – called Yelloween, and mild weather made for a perfect trip north. Find more photographs of Glen Helen after the jump »

A waterfall crashes down between steep limestone cliffs at Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve.

The travertine mound and grotto at Glen Helen.

A view of the old dam at Yellow Springs, which was used when Glen Helen was a resort. The lake was used for boating and skating in the early 1900s.

The Yellow Spring at Glen Helen flows year round and has a strong iron consistency.

The old Lilly’s Grocery in Lombardsville, Ohio rests quietly with a fresh coat of paint along Ohio State Route 73.

Lilly’s Grocery, now closed, along OH 73 west of Lombardsville, Ohio at sunset.

Cincinnati always blooms out during the spring time, in ways that are rarely captured, studied or admired. To many, they are just blips in a sea of buildings as the car passes by, but by stepping out and admiring the hundreds of different species that are cultivated or blown in, one can appreciate just what plant diversity Cincinnati really has.

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

You can’t argue with the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. The following were taken during the annual Tunes and Blooms event that was held every Thursday in April.

Blue Jacket Hyacinth

Blue Jacket Hyacinth

Pink Pearl Hyacinth

Pink Pearl Hyacinth

Banja Luka Tulip

Tulip about to open

White narcissus

The crowd at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden was awaiting a musican to perform during the annual April Tunes and Blooms Event.

Tulips abound at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Purple Creeping Phlox in the foreground, and red Columbine's rise in the back.

Eden Park

Eden Park is one of Cincinnati’s most popular parks. It contains the free Krohn Conservatory, overlooks and plenty of open space.

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum has just become more convenient to access, since I recently moved from Over-the-Rhine to Northside. The amount of plant diversity is astounding.

For even more Cincinnati, check out my partner web-site, UrbanUp, for even more photographs of downtown, Over-the-Rhine, North Avondale and more!

The Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is located in Cincinnati, Ohio within the Mill Creek valley, and was chartered by a special Act of the Ohio General Assembly in 1845. Spring Grove is one of the largest not-for-profit cemeteries in the United States, and it’s manicured 733 acres are host to thousands of visitors every year.

This was my first trip to Spring Grove in my two years of living in Cincinnati, so I spent much of my day here. There are 48 photographs in this gallery, along with a brief history and description.

A curious fish stopped to look at me for a few, brief minutes.

Flowering dogwoods reflect in a lake.

Wild Blue Phlox

Round Leaved Ragwort

Mahketewah Lake

Cornus florida dogwood frame Willow Water.

Soldiers Monument was crafted by Randolph Rogers in Rome, Italy in 1864. Section 23

I’ve also added a few photographs to the Alms Park gallery. Located in the historic Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood on the east end of Cincinnati, the 94-acre Frederick H. Alms Memorial Park on Mt. Tusculum offers a breathtaking view of the Ohio River and Lunken Airport. The point was originally nicknamed ‘Bald Hill’ for the clearing created by Native Americans, who cleared trees to have an sightless view of the early settlers of ‘Columbia.’ Later, the land was owned by Nicholas Longworth who used the property to produce Catawba wine prior to the Civil War. It was later sold to Federick H. Alms, who donated it to the Cincinnati Park Board in 1916.

A statue of Steven Foster, who was known as the 'Father of American music.' While living in Cincinnati, he wrote his first successful songs, 'Oh! Susanna' and 'Nelly Was a Lady.' He lived in Cincinnati from 1846 to 1849.

Be sure to click through to Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum and the Alms Park galleries for more photographs! Enjoy this springalicious update!

Cincinnati comes alive with color during the early months of April. Having visited the Washington D.C. area last year for their annual Cherry Blossom Festival, I decided to spend this spring season wandering about Eden Park to photograph various early blooms.

Starting out with a sunrise from Eden Park overlooking the Ohio River.

A view of the iconic 172-foot high water tower built in 1894.

Mount Hood Daffodil sweep across the landscape at Eden Park.

Tenby Daffodil

Click through to Eden Park to find dozens of photographs from one of Cincinnati’s finest parks. It appears that the weather is staying stable, warm and dry for at least this week. Get out there and enjoy it!

Didn’t mind the foot of snow Cincinnati had just weeks earlier. And the deep overcast skies that dominated the winter scene.

It was time for Bockfest!

Cincinnati is home to the world’s oldest Bock festival, and the city’s deep connection with its beer heritage is well evident in this event. For those who are not aware, the Queen City was once home to 38 breweries, one for every neighborhood and then some, producing so much that it was the fourth largest manufacturer of lager in America. Cincinnatian’s also drank every city in the United States under the table, consuming two-and-a-half times more beer more than any other: forty gallons of golden hues per resident in a given year were consumed, mostly concentrated in the deeply German-ethnic neighborhood Over-the-Rhine.

I photographed the parade and took part in the events over the weekend that spanned the weekend of the 5th of March. Click through for more information and history of Bockfest and to view the full 56 photographs in the gallery. Enjoy!

Jim Tarbell, also known as Mr. Cincinnati, makes his way down Main Street.

Arnold's Bar and Grill, the oldest bar in the city, represents at Bockfest.

The trojan goat of Cincinnati!

2009 Sausage Queen

Snowmageddon has made its appearance in Cincinnati, Ohio as we marked our record snowfall for the month at 23.1 inches, besting the previous record of 21.4 inches that was set in 1914. On February 16, the city received up to 8.3 inches of new accumulation, adding to the storm on February 9 and 10 that piled on 6.6 inches, and the storm on February 5 and 6 that dumped 8.1 inches of snow.

That brings the total accumulation this winter to 35.4 inches, or 20.5 inches more than last year at this point. For an even more dramatic comparison, for all of last winter, the city received 21.5 inches of snow.

Selected below are photographs of Cincinnati and Hamilton County during the last three snowfalls.

Alms Park in Cincinnati draped in snow.

An overlook from Eden Park provides a panoramic view of Kentucky.

Mirror Lake at Eden Park.

Sharon Creek at Sharon Woods.

Enjoy the Snowmageddon that has paralyzed Cincinnati! You know that I’m enjoying this winter weather very much.