Signs! Signs! Signs!

Woke up to a glorious day - sunshine!!!  Seems like it has been forever since we saw the sun.

When I'm traveling and I arrive in a town, one of the first things I do is go to the Tripadvisor website.  This website lists different attractions for the particular city that you are interested in.  People who have visited the city write reviews and sometimes you can find some really interesting things to do or see that you normally would not even know about.  So today was the day that we were going to see the American Sign Museum based on reviews from Tripadvisor. 

Just the thought of the American Sign Museum amused me but the thing that really got me was that if you signed up for a tour they would take you to a working neon shop which I thought would be fascinating.  I made reservations for the 11:00 tour and we headed across town.  We ended up in sort of an industrial area which gave me pause for a minute but as soon as we passed thru the security gates I knew we were in for a treat.

Besides what you see above, they also had a giant pink pig on wheels plus a few other oversize signs.

We gathered with several others for the tour.  The Sign Museum mostly has signs from the early 1900s to about 1970.  We started with basic trade signs - the type where you would display what your shop was about outside - such as a big wooden hat if you were a hatter, or a wrench if you sold tools.

As people became more literate, signs started using letters to advertise.  They became quite fancy.  These signs used glass etching and also actual gold leaf.  Gold leaf is extremely delicate and it must have taken many many hours to create these signs. 

We then moved on to the old movie marquees of the twenties and thirties.  This was the era of the light bulbs - hundreds and hundreds of light bulbs spelling out what was showing.  They also had movie show posters which were all drawn and colored by hand.  A lot of movie houses had on staff somebody whose job it was to create these posters.

We then moved on to the Neon age.  In the beginning you would only see two colors depending on which type of gas you used.  Neon would produce red and argon would produce the blue color.  Then they started making glass tubes that had color painted on the inside and all of a sudden you could have any color of neon that you wanted. 

The displays were amazing - I felt like it was Vegas or The Great White Way.

This was 20,000 square feet of glowing pizazz.   Our tour guide would talk about the individual signs and how the museum acquired it.  They also had another 20,000 square foot warehouse filled with signs that were just waiting to be displayed.

After we saw the signs, we moved to the Neon factory.  The neon artist showed us how they take glass tubes and bend them into the shape that you want.  Electrodes are attached to each end and then you fill the tubes with neon or argon.  Once you hook up the electrodes to electricity, they glow.  There is no heat and they seem to last forever.  It was fascinating.  I'm thinking I need to take this up as a hobby (or maybe a career?)  I highly recommend anybody visiting Cincinnati, check out the American Sign Museum.

On the way back to the RV, we stumbled across the Spring Grove Cemetery.  This was also highly rated on Tripadvisor so we swung through.  This place was massive.  Many people use this Cemetery as a park to picnic or jog in.  I don't think I've ever seen so many mausoleums or such impressive statuary and grave markers.  It was almost like everybody tried to outdo their neighbors when they decided on how they wanted to mark their graves.  I think they give tours - that would be something that I would find interesting to do. 

One of the mausoleums:

After our little cemetery side trip, we got back to the RV and set up some chairs and sat out in the sun, just enjoying the day.  This was just a wonderful day - laid back and interesting also.

Culture R Us

Woke up to a rainy day but that is ok - we have indoor activities planned.

Today is Tony's birthday - as is tradition in our family, when it is your birthday, you get to do and eat whatever you want. 

We started the day taking Miko for a walk around the campground.  It was sort of lightly misty when we left on the walk - halfway through it started pouring.  I bailed out of the walk leaving Tony and Miko to soldier on.  Tony at least had an umbrella but Miko came back totally drenched.

We left Miko in the RV and headed back into Cincinnati.  We were going to the Cincinnati Museum of Art.  Finally a little culture on this trip.  I had heard great things about this museum and what I had heard was so true.  The museum's collection was quite expansive.

Entrance to the Museum:

 

The Grand Staircase

 

 

The special exhibit that was showing was called American Gothic.  It had several paintings from Grant Woods, Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry. 

Interesting facts about the painting American Gothic:  The models were Grant Woods' sister and the town dentist who was not thrilled at all about posing.  When the painting became famous, Iowan farm women were not pleased.  One even telephoned Grant Wood and told him that she wanted to smash his head in.



I was amazed at the pieces of art that we came across - Picasso, Monet, Manet, Seuret, O'Keefe, Van Gogh, Hassam, Cassett.  There was quite an extensive collection of Tiffany glass which is always wonderful to look at.  I guess I never thought of Cincinnati as being a cultural center.  Travel is always so enlightening.

We ate lunch in the museum café.  I had flat bread with sweet Italian Sausage, Manchego cheese, caramelized onions, candied walnuts. Lovely.  Tony had scallops on a bed of orange quinoa with pea pods.  Don't we sound like elegant diners?

Got home in time for naptime at the RV, followed by cocktail hour and then a small little hike with the dog. 

General Butler to Cincinnati

Today we are moving on to the big city - Cincinnati.  It is only an hour and a half drive - what could go wrong?  Well let me tell you - rain, rain, rain - oh and road construction. 

We took off in a timely manner and headed north to Cincinnati.  It was a pretty drive, lots of rolling hills of the mountain variety.  Leaves are just starting to change here.  Overcast clouds for the first part of the trip. As we approach Cincinnati, the heavens opened up.  There is a long long hill down into Cincinnati or Cincy as the locals seem to call it.  If there wasn't so much rain, it would be quite picturesque. 

Lots and lots of traffic of the truck variety plus the aforementioned road construction - lane closures and very narrow lanes.  Our campground is on the north side of Cincy, we are coming in from the south so we have to go completely across town.  Total white knuckle driving. Uneven lanes that are making the china crash and bang. 

We headed for Winton Woods Campground which is a county park in Hamilton County.  We will be staying here for three whole nights - I am really looking forward to this.  The best part is that we will have full hookups - water, electricity and sewer.  PLUS - full TV and internet.  Does life get any better than this?  The developed section of the park is very much like the traditional RV park - sort of an open field but there is quite a bit of space between the sites.  The undeveloped part of the park where there is just electricity is lovely - right on a lake and lots of trees.  Oh well, one must make sacrifices for looonnnngggg hot showers. 


This is the view from one of the sites along the lake - peaceful.

Anyway - got all set up with all of our civilization trappings - had a bit of lunch and headed out to the William Howard Taft Birthplace.  President Taft was handpicked by Teddy Roosevelt to succeed him as president  and then ended up disappointing Teddy by not following Teddy's direction. Teddy believed that the president could do anything not specifically prohibited by law whereas Taft felt that a president could only do what was specified by law.  Totally different styles.    It was an interesting homesite - mostly reproductions and info from when Taft grew up in the house in the late 1800s. 

When we got back to the RV, I learned that there were laundry facilities available for campers.  Wash Day!!!  Did a couple of loads of wash.  As I'm heading back with my nice clean laundry, the sky has turned quite black and there are really strange pinkish grey clouds rushing in.  I stop to take pictures (which didn't turn out) when all of a sudden I realize - this is some nasty weather coming - siren type weather.  I run with my laundry bag through the park and get to the RV just as the rain and wind starts.  It is raining so hard that you cannot see two feet out the windows.  Massive storm system coming through.  I felt very bad for the tent campers.  Of course we were nice and snug although a little nervous because of the way things were shaking.