what about the plastic animals?

Grandparents and the Y Bridge

The insane slide was an unexpected bonus on my way into Putnam Park.  My reason for going was to get a view of the Y Bridge.  Zanesville's Y Bridge is the only three-way vehicular bridge in the country.  The bridge crosses both the Muskingum and Licking Rivers.  Depending on how you turn you can cross the bridge yet remain on the same side of the river.  The current bridge is the fifth in a series of Y bridges that goes back to 1814.

If you've never heard of the Y Bridge you've never been to Zanesville.  Zanevillians (Zanesvillites?) are very proud of the bridge.  As they should be!  It is featured on every piece of tourist literature for the city, county and surrounding region and there is a mural of the bridge downtown, not far from the bridge itself.

I've now driven over the Y Bridge, walked across the Tridge, the three-way pedestrian bridge in Midland, Michigan, and driven over the bridge formerly known as the Triborough Bridge in New York (which looks like a three-way bridge but is actually three separate bridges).  Now I feel motivated to visit Ypsilanti so I can walk over the only other three-way bridge in the U.S.  I wonder if there is an authority that issues certificates of completion for such things?

Also a source of pride is Zanesville native and current NBA star Kevin Martin.  His grandparents live across the street from Putnam Park.  Now that he's hit the big time Kevin really ought to spring for repairs to the crumbling front steps before grandma takes a nasty spill. 

The Zanesville Slide

Check out this slide in Zanesville!  It is in a park on the south side of town.  If my camera did video going down the slide would look something like this but without the teenagers (who mutter a couple of casual f-bombs in case you want to avoid such things).

Neighborhood OMG! OMG! OMG! News:  HarlemCondoLife has evidence that the Frederick Douglass Circle construction is almost complete!  The original stated completion date was November 2005.

Ohio Mine Disaster

Heading north from Athens on Rt 13 I came upon a sign that cryptically said "Ohio Mine Disaster Site" with an arrow pointing to the right.  Being on vacation it only seemed proper to check it out.  About a mile past the small village of Millfield was a historical marker and smoke stack.

On November 5th, 1930 a spark ignited the methane in the mine.  Eighty-two people died in the explosion or were trapped and died of carbon monoxide poisoning.  It was the worst mine disaster in Ohio history.  Hours after the explosion nineteen miners were found trapped three miles from the main shaft.  Millfield holds a memorial service every year on the anniversary of the explosion.

Closer to Millfield, and on a much lighter note, is the upcoming junk-van-into-the-creek disaster.

Harriet Goes Green

I pass by the Harriet Tubman statue every couple of weeks.  Something about it has been bothering me since this summer.  Yesterday I finally figured out what had changed.  Harriet's clothing is a lot greener than when she was installed two years ago.

Sticking with the neighborhood, Harlem Bespoke found an 1893 photo of 116th and Lenox - complete with cows!  Near as I can tell the swampy field is either where my building sits today or across Lenox from my building.  Very cool!

Two Diners

Red Line Diner, St. Albans, WV

Court St. Diner, Athens, OH

I didn't eat at either of these diners, but they look nice.

Great Allegheny Passage

Yesterday's paper had a story about the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail that runs from McKeesport, PA to Cumberland, MD.  I was on that trail!  I had a very pleasant ride through Connellsville and up to Dawson and back one morning.  The arch greets riders as they head south into Connellsville.

Tortured

Downtown Charleston has a small arts and entertainment district.  There was a folk singer playing at this nice little bookstore/coffeehouse on Friday night.  Not knowing what else to do in Charleston, I stuck around for a while.  I didn't return for the local author on Saturday as I had to meet Dane and the Mothman up in Point Pleasant.

Harlem Roofline

Taking a break from saying anything today.  I just liked the top of this building on 126th Street.

Also, the police need your help.

The Burger Carte

The Burger Carte is in Smithers, about ten miles downstream from Hawk's Nest.  Given the name I ordered a burger, fries and coke.  All were good and dinner cost something like six dollars.  Later that evening I learned that I really should have ordered a hot dog here.

According to West Virginia Hot Dogs, the Burger Carte serves one of the best West Virginia-style hot dogs in... West Virginia!  If you follow that first link you'll see that a West Virginia hot dog is one that includes a steamed bun, wiener with yellow mustard, chili and creamy cole slaw.  Adding insult to injury, in my criss-crossing of the state over the next week I was never again near a really good hot dog joint (or HDJ in WV Hot Dogs parlance).  I must return some day.

Hawk's Nest, West Virginia Style

A couple of years ago I visited the Hawk's Nest near Port Jervis, NY.  On my recent trip I decided to get off the interstate and take US-60 from Lewisburg to Charleston, WV.  Route 60 was my introduction to winding mountain highways through West Virginia.  Part of the route goes through Hawk's Nest State Park, where you can hike to a dramatic overlook of the New River.

Needing electricity to run a plant downstream, Union-Carbide began mining a three-mile tunnel to divert the New River in the early 1930s.  In digging the tunnel, workers, primarily African-Americans who were paid less, assigned more dangerous jobs, and charged more for rent in company housing than their white counterparts, came upon silica.  Many of the workers contracted silicosis, and few lasted as long as a year.  Union-Carbide's subcontractor on the tunnel admitted to causing 109 deaths.  A congressional investigation put the total at 476.  Other estimates ranged from 700 to 1000 deaths but the true total is not known.  Union-Carbide never took any responsibility for the silicosis, but the Hawk's Nest Disaster did become the catalyst for many worker safety regulations involving silica dust.

On a less grim note, I have no idea what language that sign is written in.  I read it once and it didn't make sense.  No headway was made upon a second reading.  Assuming the problem was mine, I took this picture so I could look, at it later, while resting in a hotel room after dinner.  A month and many dinners later the sign, still does not, make sense and it, has affected how, I use commas.