My New series

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

It is me walking all over this town. I'm tentatively calling it The Streetwalker.
(And yes, this is a blatant ripoff of Mark Purdy's Walkabout column of summerpast.)

Btw, how gay that i boldfaced The Streetwalker.
And i did it again.

Anyhoo, Saturday I was in Madeira. In high school we referred to these folks as "deiroids."
Get it? Anyway, the Garvin urban hike series parked at Starbucks and went down Dawson toward Mcdonald Park.

Now understand this is Garvin in full hung-over fashion. The prior night was not pretty at Paddlefest. I mean I'm stumbling down Dawson vaguely remembering Lamont deriding Xeus for being a Maderia poseur....but I digress.

So I see some oldie and he is like "walking sucks." shocking. Then i make it down to this park. and there ends up being a kinda cool nature trail. i go down it and there is this grungy trailer park adjacent.

So i backpedal and go down a trail and see a whitetail. i see these all the time but i had fun with this one seeing how close i could get. you know, make forward, be still and watch him munch leaves, advance and freeze.. it was cool for suburbia.

so i come back and loop around the park. just the beginning of my hike but a flood of memories from my past. i remember playing baseball in this park against the mighty Madeira Wine Cellar who had a store on the hill that would become UDF.

There is also that cheesy nature store. Real men know this as King Kwik. Your father would coach you soccer, then wait patiently while you got an orange Faygo. This is the stuff that America was made of.

So I look up to that same lot and remember fooling around in a car in the parking lot that was "Double Happiness" and asking my girl to homecoming in the fall of 85.

In that day we called it "mandling." wow, car transactions seemed so much simpler.

I won't bore you with my history of Dominick's (Westy's) or the times we skipped CCD at St. Gertrudes for Video Venture and games of Jungle King.)

So I made it down Dawson and passed some of those fancy develpments ...you know the one....invariably called the Reserve or Preserve or something that sets them off. And defintely more joggers in this hood. gettin closer to the country club..minutes til you run into Kahn's Krazy.

So i make it down and take a left on Kenwood and go til the sidewalk runs out on the descent to Madisonville and turn back. round trip still took 1:50 all walking

There is a dude with a proud Xavier flag pretty much across from that firestation as you head toward Madisonville. gonna go ahead and say he's a great American.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

Actually a lot of these hikes in the recent weeks as I've been a vagabond..like Devou Park and Prisoners Lake and that awesome outlook on Panorama...but not fair to recall them. i aim to return. and don't get me started on snipe's hood.

but I'm hitting red river gorge for a few days. hope ya all have a fantastic 4th.

[wkrq59]

Fred, you're talking about the land of my birth out there in Madeira. Damn, man, you walked a ways. Used to sled ride down Dawson toward Miami from up at the top near Summit. Some JD threw a sled at me as I was speeding down the ice surface toward Maple. That was the day I learned about scalp wounds and how they bleed profusely. When you were CCDing it at St. G, was it the old church white wood, or the giant edifice it is today ? Lotta memories of that place where the Dominicans set the foundation and the Jesuits too over in 51. :cool:

[Emp]

I love it when Good Fred is in the house.

[Lamont Sanford]

Garvin -

You walked right past my little neighborhood off Kenwood. Swing bye next time for a mimosa.

You also walked past xeus' old stomping grounds near the Madeira Mart. I'm sure his folks would have invited you in for a glass of chardonnay.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

Fred, you're talking about the land of my birth out there in Madeira. Damn, man, you walked a ways. Used to sled ride down Dawson toward Miami from up at the top near Summit. Some JD threw a sled at me as I was speeding down the ice surface toward Maple. That was the day I learned about scalp wounds and how they bleed profusely. When you were CCDing it at St. G, was it the old church white wood, or the giant edifice it is today ? Lotta memories of that place where the Dominicans set the foundation and the Jesuits too over in 51. :cool:

Old school st.Gerties when they had Fr.McCarthy at the helm. He enjoyed a good Manhattan. I can remember when they proposed that Parish Center and the presentation for it. And now I guess they have the school in back.

Garvin ruled as the 7 a.m. mass altar boy in the summer. Me and Fr. McDonald. And Mr.Klekamp was often the only other person there.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

The Streetwalker: Mt. Adams edition.

Made my way up Elsinore and took a right down the hill near the Court Street walkway. I came back up Monastary and took a right at Celestial. Turned to face the city and there is a pretty good view all the way to Music Hall and Union Terminal. That patio at The Rookwood looks fun. Definitely on the list.

Made my way down Celestial, or is that St.Gregory, to the walkway that heads over Columbia Parkway down to that fire station at Adam’s Landing. I believe that is Riverside. Then I came back up the hill. Sometimes I divert and take the walkway that heads to 6th St. Took a right onto Hill St. Whomever named that street really taxed his creative powers. As I descended Hill St. I debated with myself whether chimes are in fact noise pollution.

Then I went up Martin to the reservoir. Some dude at the climbing wall. Wended up past the water tower toward Krohn and took a left on Eden Park. There is also a nature trail that takes you to the lake if you cut through. Sometimes I take the road behind Krohn where that old guy can be found whittling walking staffs.

Circled and passed the riffraff that congregate at that Metro stop by the gazebo. Took a right and went up that nature trail that results across from Krohn. I think this is where they have the Vietnam Memorial. Btw, just shoot me if I ever end up at the Krohn Butterfly Show.

So I head back up to Mirror Lake. I circle half of it and cut through the ampitheater. Before doing so I notice several ruffians ignoring the NO SWiMMING ordinance. Scofflaws.

I am now near my old stomping grounds at The Playhouse where I sold desserts for a caterer when I was in school. I come up the Wrong Way where the Mt. Adams pool is located. I can’t believe I spent a year working there and never discovered this pool. I was anticipating some hotties slathered in oil, but it was more like husky Muskie season. Or Ladies Night at Slammer’s on Brotherton. I feel duped. I stop at the bench at the foot of PITP. Benches and drinking fountains are great inventions.

There was an attractive young lass walking her dog heading toward the pool. I don’t want to see more of her so much as I want to see all of her.

The views expressed in The Streetwalker don’t necessarily reflect that of XavierHoops.com management. Any characters resembling persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
If you think your neighborhood warrants being featured then shoot Fred a private message arguing the merits of your neighborhood.

[xudash]

You burnt some calories on your Mt. A walk-a-thon.

[Jumpy]

Fred, my suggestion for your next walk is a long one, probably best done on a weekend. You could start by touring all the colonial architecture of Avondale, heading down the hill to Over the Rhine. Then, head out towards the West End. Just don't forget your protection!

[xeus]

Old school st.Gerties when they had Fr.McCarthy at the helm. He enjoyed a good Manhattan. I can remember when they proposed that Parish Center and the presentation for it. And now I guess they have the school in back.

Garvin ruled as the 7 a.m. mass altar boy in the summer. Me and Fr. McDonald. And Mr.Klekamp was often the only other person there.

I still have my blue and yellow parish center tshirt somewhere. And it still fits.

Mr. Klekamp is still the only guy at 7am mass.

Lamont calling Cherokee Market the "Madeira Mart" shows he's an outsider.

All this typing makes me want to get an Orange Crush from Tanner's.

[Masterofreality]

Wow. No stop at City View for refreshments on Fred's Mt. Adams hike.

The man has really reformed.

These are wonderful dissertations from a man who wears pink hats.

[chico]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the five and dime/Calvin's Tropical Fish. Us Kenwood kids would invade that place all the time when we wanted a change of pace from the Kenwood Bev.

And you call yourselves Madierans.

[wkrq59]

I still have my blue and yellow parish center tshirt somewhere. And it still fits.
Mr. Klekamp is still the only guy at 7am mass.
Lamont calling Cherokee Market the "Madeira Mart" shows he's an outsider.
All this typing makes me want to get an Orange Crush from Tanner's.

You guys are talking about "recent" Madeira. My grandfather, George Potter's concrete block firm supplied the materials for a subdivision that included the north end of Maple Avenue. My dad was one of the first ushers at the little white wooden church just north of Shawnee Run Road. The school was the original two-story brick structure with the older bricks which fronts on Miami Ave. there were classrooms of some sort in the basement, five or six classrooms on the first floor and the nuns residence on the second floor. Sisters Cecilia (principal), Albertine first & second, Theresita, (3rd & 4th), Augusta (5th &6th) and Cecilia (7th & 8th). My mother later taught second grade when the faculty expanded and Sister Mary Austin (two blue tickets --lunch room thing) joined faculty. The church basement was the lunch room...I was a skinny lil altar boy who dropped the book the first time he served. Fr. Rogers who had a dog named Mike was pastor and Fr. Durbin, who had been a WWII chaplain in the Asian theatre was the assistant.
Old story but true: When FR. Rogers used to hear confessions, he often took his dog Mike into the confessional with him. Mike would lie on the floor in the little corner room which served as the confessional. One Saturday morning, an older woman who was staying with a parish family, I think she was a relative, was brought to the church to go to confession which she did at her parish church on the other side of the city every Saturday without fail. She went into the confessional and began her confession and in the midst of her extreme list of venial sins, according to another penitent in line who had to move further away because the lady was hard of hearing and loud of voice, Mike cut an extremely loud fart and accompanied it with an apparently terrifying growl. The poor old lady jumped up off her knees and ran out of the confessional and out of church screaming God help me!"
Fr. Rogers came out of the confessional and tried to find her but she had left the building.
Oh, and my dad was also the school's first football coach. a volunteer non-paid job. I remember him calling the eighth grade boys on the team( I was a seventh grader) a bunch of "Sleeping Jesus," because of their laziness. He only coached a couple of practices after that.
Oh, and I remember watching the last two innings of Don Larsen's perfect game on the TV in the front window of Meyer's Hardware store just south of the railroad tracks on Miami. The glare from the afternoon sun made visibility a serious problem.
The years were 1943 to 51..:eek:

[xeus]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the five and dime/Calvin's Tropical Fish. Us Kenwood kids would invade that place all the time when we wanted a change of pace from the Kenwood Bev.

And you call yourselves Madierans.

We (note the proper use of the subjective pronoun) locals called it the Dime Store. Nothing like hitting the Dime Store on the way to Friendly's after a tough day of Dominican nuns.

[nuts4xu]

I grew up in Mt Washington, or Mt Wershington as us locals called it.

Can't help you uppity Kenwood Maderia types, that was a rich neighborhood compared to the Mount.

There is no section 8 housing in Kenwood or Madeira, yet we have a couple of such dwellings here high on Mt Washington hill. That gives us street cred...can't get street cred trekking through Kendale or Kenview, no matter who you are.

[wkrq59]

I grew up in Mt Washington, or Mt Wershington as us locals called it.
Can't help you uppity Kenwood Maderia types, that was a rich neighborhood compared to the Mount.
There is no section 8 housing in Kenwood or Madeira, yet we have a couple of such dwellings here high on Mt Washington hill. That gives us street cred...can't get street cred trekking through Kendale or Kenview, no matter who you are.

Nuts,
you're confusing Madeira with Indian Hill . All of our neighbors were working stiffs with very little snob- or uppity thoughts. Even the area known as Kenwood Euclid to Montgomery north to Camargo east and Shawnee Run west. That was Kenwood in my day and almost all of it was empty field and farm land. BTW, Gert Stoll's place, a roadside stand on Euclid at the bottom of the Hill Between Hosbrook and Kenwood Rd. offered the most wonderful corn in August you could ever taste. The string beans weren't bad either.
:logo::shield::sword:

[Juice]

I grew up in Mt Washington, or Mt Wershington as us locals called it.

Can't help you uppity Kenwood Maderia types, that was a rich neighborhood compared to the Mount.

There is no section 8 housing in Kenwood or Madeira, yet we have a couple of such dwellings here high on Mt Washington hill. That gives us street cred...can't get street cred trekking through Kendale or Kenview, no matter who you are.

Sutton Rd. has become a mini-OTR

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

Dateline: Oakley, July 2, 2011

I head out at 1:10 on a smoggy Cincy summer day. The dog days appear to be upon us. It seems earlier every year.

Head out on Madison by the 20th Century. Got my Steve Earle tickets for the 27th, do you? It is then that I see my new hero. He is the Jackie Robinson of middle aged white guys. Of course I’m talking of beer paunch runner who goes shirtless. He is a trailblazer who goes where many of us with german goiters are afraid. I hope for a day when we all can feel as comfortable as oh Bulbous One. Obama should work on some sort of program.

Run into one of those ACLU petition kids crying about collective bargaining. I hesitate but finally relent and sign Snipe’s name and address. I take a right on Kendall. We are 1.5 miles in according to Google Earth. What an unexpected delight. I love serendipity. Pretty street. A guy has a rock garden but doesn’t get my Spinal Tap miniature Stonehenge reference.

Anyhoo, I travel down this Kendall with Withrow on my left. I go down to the dead end and turn around. There is a nice pool as I turn left onto Grovedale. Somebody has an interesting yard sculpture, American flags are plentiful. I pass under the railway overpass. Cool neighborhood though some of it comes up to 71. If I remember right I’m on Markdale.

I continue through with Downing on my left. Eventually make it back to Madison. I continue up and past Dana ‘til I turn onto Beech Hill. I take this to Pogue then I make a curious turn onto Fairfax and I’m suddenly in the hood. For a brief stretch I feel lily white. Me and my Xavier shirt and my Masters hat. Part of me doesn’t have a problem being mugged as it means somebody noticed me.

On the left is Owl’s Nest Park. A field provided by the Reds Community Fund. You see the Reds, with Joe Moron Morgan, want more African Americans to play someday in the major leagues because they are racist against all the successful Hispanics who play the game better. I know I stay up at night upset Cueto is taking the job of Tyrone from Vine st.

I make my way back past Bonbonnerie and I think about having Fred Garvin’s Bakery Crawl. We start at the Servatti’s in Hyde Park Plaza. I start with an asiago bagel. Then we head to Aglamesis in Oakley Square for ice cream. Then to Busken’s at Edwards for a cookie, or schnecken depending on time of year. Then to Bonbonerrie for whatever they have. Finally, I hit Graeter’s in Hyde Park Square for a turtle sundae.

So I’m on Fairfax and take a left toward East Walnut Hills. Wow, suddenly nice homes. What a juxtaposition. Then to my left I see people frolic and play in their tennis whites. At first I think I’m dehydrated and hallucinating. But I’m not as I plainly see a sign for the Cincinnati Tennis Club.

I can’t believe my eyes. 40 seconds before I’m on Fairfax as a prospective mugging, now I’m walking by this tennis club and people are looking at me like I might break into their BMW’s. Michael Harrington was right, there are two Americas. I’d just never seen a more dramatic demarcation of the two. I mean they even had a DMZ in Korea, not here.

I circled back and made my way down Would Ave. And Armand and back. I noticed a stench in the air but realized it was just the odor of aged money.

So I make my way across the street to Grandin, past Summit, and continue past the Cincinnati Country Club. Several of them are returning to their cars post round. They don’t look to be suffering from the down economy. In fact I’m not sure they are aware
.
I’m starting to get thirsty. This usually consists of me fantasizing about that Don Meredith Nestea commercial when he backs into a pool. Alas, none of these people want me in their pools. A pond would be good for me.

I start thinking about Icees and the summers of ’88 and ’89 when I worked for a service department. I was 18 and 19 and we loved our Icees. I liked to go with the hybrid cherry and blueberry. Never understood the guy who would go with cola. Cola Icees might as well be free. It all might have to do with us being up all night getting dehydrated at Clifton’s Kilgour's.

So I wind around Grandin, to Grandin Ridge and up Alpine Terrace near Skip’s old place. I’m starting to get really dehydrated and wobbly. Make it up and cross down Paxton to the square. Head up Linwood and take a left up Herschel to the park. See a guy on the stoop with his kids eating watermelon and using their Frisbees at plates ice cream social style. God bless America.

Plenty of holiday bunting on Herschel. Take a right on Principio toward Ault Park. I believe The Ref lives in these parts. Finally make it to the playground water fountain and go beserk. Refill my water bottle.

Make such a scene that I leave and walk over to the fountain at that Lunken overlook and do the same ritual. Use the can and make my way back up Observatory to Herschel and back to Erie. Plenty of signs for the kid's bike parade; they have this in Snipe's neighborhood but they first give the kids vests...made of Kevlar.

Arrive back home and the clock reads 4:45. I chug a Cool Blue Gatorade and a glass of water. Then i start on the Weyerbacher Golden Monkeys. And that is why you're reading me now.

Overtures have been made from Westsider Benwar so next installment will be crossing the great Divide that is East side/West side. He has assured me adequate protection from the random West sider that likes to hurl 40's at passers by.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the five and dime/Calvin's Tropical Fish. Us Kenwood kids would invade that place all the time when we wanted a change of pace from the Kenwood Bev.

And you call yourselves Madierans.

That place rocked. It was Madeira's Villager. Love those places. Here in Oakley I worry the small places get killed by the endless summer construction on Madison.

Also, don't know if I mentioned my year at Madeira's Camargo Food Shop while in school. Familiarly known as the Green Shack. Or Green Shack of Slack since it was green and employed potheads like myself. Kroger crushed that place.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

Nuts,
you're confusing Madeira with Indian Hill . All of our neighbors were working stiffs with very little snob- or uppity thoughts. Even the area known as Kenwood Euclid to Montgomery north to Camargo east and Shawnee Run west. That was Kenwood in my day and almost all of it was empty field and farm land. BTW, Gert Stoll's place, a roadside stand on Euclid at the bottom of the Hill Between Hosbrook and Kenwood Rd. offered the most wonderful corn in August you could ever ta(ste. The string beans weren't bad either.
:logo::shield::sword:

You do go back. I've read that the area on Miami near the libe and heading toward Kenwood Road used to be Kenwood and was annexed by Madeira. Maybe in the 70's.

Hey, remember the old Madeira Manor.

[Fred Garvin 2.0]

Fred, my suggestion for your next walk is a long one, probably best done on a weekend. You could start by touring all the colonial architecture of Avondale, heading down the hill to Over the Rhine. Then, head out towards the West End. Just don't forget your protection!

Might just do that one via Google Earth streetview.

[chico]

You do go back. I've read that the area on Miami near the libe and heading toward Kenwood Road used to be Kenwood and was annexed by Madeira. Maybe in the 70's.

Hey, remember the old Madeira Manor.

Madeira Manor had a great Sunday brunch.

[wkrq59]

[QUOTE=Fred Garvin 2.0;277475]You do go back. I've read that the area on Miami near the libe and heading toward Kenwood Road used to be Kenwood and was annexed by Madeira. Maybe in the 70's.
Hey, remember the old Madeira Manor

Fred, We lived in the second house on the left as you swing off Euclid onto Maple heading south. Used to walk to the original library in the home of Nell Hasbrouck and her sister, who were the librarians. The old original library was on the north-west corner of Miami and Euclid and it is now on the north east corner. Used to play in Hasbrouck Woods which ran from Euclid and Miami west on Euclid to Hasbrouck Road, North on Hasbrouck to the Montgomery and Miami and Montgomery back to Euclid- Miami. There were two lakes and as pre-teens, my two brothers and I used to follow the trails to the two lakes. Found a sterling silver letter opener, hair brush and comb, bristles and teeth encased in the silver in a hollowed-out log between lakes 1 and 2.
he remaining sister sold the land and the house and subdivisions were buit and eventually the high school was moved down to that land from Miami up near Camargo Elementary school and just down from St. Gertrude's. As you looked out from the front of the high school then, there was a dark brick house immediately to the left on the same side of the street as the school. That was the first St. Gertrude's priest house-rectory. The KKK burned a fiery cross on the lawn in front of the priest's house.
Later, after WWII when the controversy over busing catholic school kids on public school buses arose, Marshall Sellman, the superintendent of Madeira Public Schools ordered his buses to transport all the St. Gertrude's kids to and from school, because he reasoned, "The number of Catholic parents and families in this district could have a serious effect on any school tax levy or bond issue if they got mad." During the 27 years I lived in that village and for many, many years after, Madeira never failed to pass a school tax operating levy or a bond issue. :D

[Cheesehead]

Might just do that one via Google Earth streetview.

Just bring your 9mm and your vest and you'll be fine.

[GuyFawkes38]

I'm always a bit shocked by condo/house values in Mount Adams, Mount Lookout, Hyde Park, and Oakley. But those are a few of only a handful of neighborhoods where it's really enjoyable to walk (and people do walk in those neighborhoods....I don't know how many times I've almost ran over pedestrians in Hyde Park).

Of course, that is why so many people are excited about Over the Rhine. Without the crime and with a little development, it could be a wonderful, walkable neighborhood with high condo values.



Nuts,
you're confusing Madeira with Indian Hill . All of our neighbors were working stiffs with very little snob- or uppity thoughts. Even the area known as Kenwood Euclid to Montgomery north to Camargo east and Shawnee Run west. That was Kenwood in my day and almost all of it was empty field and farm land. BTW, Gert Stoll's place, a roadside stand on Euclid at the bottom of the Hill Between Hosbrook and Kenwood Rd. offered the most wonderful corn in August you could ever taste. The string beans weren't bad either.
:logo::shield::sword:

Madeira seems like a really trendy place to live now. Prices have gone up.