Another Cincy area trip, and a few extras

My semi annual trip to the Cincinnati area produced a few more neon photos than my last one. Most of these pics are from the Newport on the Levee area. Enjoy!

The Red Bull sign, the first in this post, was at Arnie's. The Art on the Levee, DEB, Dewey's, and Jefferson Hall were all at Newport on the Levee. Elberts was on Monmouth Street in Newport..very cool old meat store sign. The Pharmacy was taken a bit south of downtown Newport, near South Gate, KY. Those were all taken on Sat. 5/5. The "RESTROOMS" sign was taken at Pizzeria Uno in Dublin, OH on the afternoon of Friday, 5/11. They had a much cooler sign inside as well but was not lit. I asked them to turn it on and they told me it was on the fritz. Boo. It's going to be HOT this week..time for some warm evening neoning!

South Campus Gateway Part I, and a few extras

I did this short mini-tour of the South Campus Gateway area back at the end of March. It was daytime/daylight so I will definitely be back for a night time tour (hence why this post is labeled as Part I). Some great neon here, but it was a bit melancholy, as this is a completely different place compared to when I was a student at OSU some 15+ years ago. Either way, I captured some good shots, including the iconic Longs Bookstore neon sign and clock. Even though Longs really only exists in memory, as it is now a Barnes and Noble. All Gateway photos taken the late afternoon/early evening of Fri. 3/30.

That Long Sign is amazing..I have admired that for nearly 20 years now. Here are a few other things I've been able to shoot over the last month or so:

The beer case/display at the Dublin/Perimeter Loop Giant Eagle, off of Avery Road. Used to be a Big Bear. Taken the afternoon of Fri. 04/06.

The 343 Bar in the Arena District, formerly The Frog Bear and Wild Boar. Taken Sat. 04/07. Look for a tour soon. Awesome weather and opportunities coming up!

Leftovers..

A few pics I have on my phone, not from any specific tours per se, but some neons I caught while out and about throughout the month of March.


1. This appears on the outside/façade of The Boulevard, taken the evening of Tue. 3/13.


2. Subway..Eat Fresh! Not many Subways feature neon. This is inside the Walmart in Hilliard, taken Sat. 3/10.

3. This is on the back wall by the fish and aquariums department of Jack's Pet Shop at Graceland. Taken Fri. 3/23.

Hoping to get out and do some neoning tonight and this weekend!

The North Market

This has always been one of my favorite places to be in Columbus. I have been in the market many times, mostly when I lived in Victorian Village way back when (well, ok, about 10 years ago) and German Village. Now that I don't really live close to the city center, I don't get to stop here as often as I did when I lived somewhat closer to downtown. But today we took the day off and I had been wanting to get some of my favorite Portuguese chouriço, which is pretty hard to get in Columbus and I know The Best of the Wurst, in the North Market, was one place that carried it. While the large iconic neon sign over the front of the building is one of the top 20 probably in Columbus, the inside of the public market has neon signage as varied as the tenants who do business here. Some awesome neon, to go along with the awesome food and goods sold here. It was pretty crowded for a Wednesday, mostly the downtown office crowd on lunch hours, so there wasn't a picnic table to be had on this beautiful early spring afternoon. Got a beef brisket sandwich with green beans from Holy Smoke BBQ (VERY good, though not as good as
RayRay's ) and ate up in the "balcony" area. All pictures were taken the afternoon of Wed. 3/7.













So glad we decided to come here today, got a few great things, an amazing lunch, and ended up doing a short impromptu tour..all on a sunny mild afternoon. More information about The North Market can be found
here.

West Jefferson

West Jefferson (often just called 'West Jeff" by locals) is a small village on the outskirts of the Cbus metro area, in eastern Madison County with US Route 40 as the town's main drag. Though the official MSA extends to all counties surrounding Franklin, it can be safely said that once you are west of West Jefferson, you are no longer in Kansas anymore. Well, until the small city of London, then there is pretty much nothing until you get to Springfield. It reminds me of most of the Columbus exurbs in that it looks much like Delaware, Circleville, or Lancaster, only it is much smaller. I only went as far as the western edge of 'downtown', but sadly, there were only 2 examples of remarkable neon. I guess if I had went further west there is a large office park area, but it was late, and there were cops, and I didn't want a late night ticket or have some country-type folk assuming I was up to no good. But anyway, I snapped the two neons I saw in West Jeff. Also, the first pics taken for this in Madison County. Taken the evening of Wed. 2/29.


Cool insurance agent sign. Well that's about it from West Jefferson. I know Delaware and the other outer suburbs/exurbs have more neon. Now that I have reliable wheels, and spring coming up, I will be in neon OT!

I had these on my phone..

Yeah..oops. My gf Ramah shot these way back, in either December or January. A furniture store on Roberts Road approximately halfway between I-270 and Hilliard-Rome Road. It is right next to the US HealthWorks near Walcutt Rd.






A few more files I have on my phone taken at various random times throughout the month:


The Red Robin on Rome-Hilliard Road. I caught the outdoor roadside sign way back in early 2008, but was inside for dinner the night of Mon. 2/27 when I snapped these. Cool interior signage. There was also a print in there of a bowling neon, probably from somewhere in California.

Probably the physically smallest neon I have shot for this project. Taken inside the display case by the entrance to Texas Roadhouse on Rome-Hilliard, on the evening of Fri. 2/17. It's maybe 8 by 8 inches.

We went to a newish bar/restaurant on Hall Road in Galloway (far SW side of Columbus)called The Boulevard for karaoke night, and while the place is nice (looks sorta like a Don Pablo's but with a French twist maybe) and rather spacious for a bar, it only had ONE neon. ONE. This is it. It's a cool neon, but the place could use more. It definitely has more the feeling of a slow restaurant than a bar, but maybe it's much busier on weekends than a Tuesday night. Taken the evening of Tue. 2/28.

February..short but sweet

While I haven't been able to do any full length tours recently, I have made the best of the little time I've had with a few small but fruitful photo shoots. I struck gold (or neon blue and red..) on a short trip to Grove City earlier this month, as well as at a temporary exhibit at COSI. And I snapped my first picture in Pickaway County for this project (no, not Circleville, but that will come soon hopefully). Going to a "new" bar tonight and hoping it has some interesting stuff! Look for the tour..I mean it.

Taken at the "Race" exhibit at COSI, which has been there since last month and should be there a bit longer. Very interesting exhibit, concerning the origins, history, and relationships between race, culture, ethnicity, and skin color. This neon is part of a larger display which contains visual and audio information about a study involving race specific medications. There was also a blood pressure test center, similar to those seen in supermarkets. Taken the afternoon of Sat. 2/4.




More great finds in Grove City. Was here to take our friend to get her repaired car from DART. These businesses are along US62-3, also known as Broadway, through downtown Grove City. The Grove City Lanes sign is probably in my Top 20 or 30 in the area. The Ernie's sign flashes, so I will be back for video! All pics taken the evening of Tue. 2/7.



Amy's Pizza. If one continues down Route 62/3 well past Grove City and into terra incognita, you will come to the small towns of Harrisburg and Orient. Very small country towns surrounded by winding hillish roads and farmland. Hard to imagine it's only about 20 miles or so away from the downtown of the 15th largest city in the country. This is my first and so far only sign snapped actually located in Pickaway County. Also, this sign does flash, and I have video, but it's smallish in quality. Also some dude thought I was taking a picture of him. LOL. Taken the evening of Mon. 2/20. Long story why I was in that area, which I don't think I previously have ever been.

Look for a tour soon! Need to take advantage of this mild winter!!