Tag Archives: downtown

The Art of a Downtown Knoxville Walk

October 22, 2017 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Kool-Aid Man!

Kool-Aid Man now comes in new Graffiti Punch flavor! OH, YEAH!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Earlier in October Anne and I drove down through Kentucky and down to Knoxville, Tennessee, to meet a few fabulous folks at Fanboy Expo’s Totally Awesome Weekend, a convention we’d never done before. After we’d had another round of geek fun, we capped off our weekend with quite a bit of sightseeing (including but not limited to a giant dragon)…

After the convention and an elevator ride into the Sunsphere, lunch was an immediate necessity. Other than a restaurant choice pegged through the magic of Google Maps, we didn’t have complicated plans for our downtown wandering — head from point A to B; eat food; marvel at incidental sights along the way. The area in general and one alley in particular caught our eyes and brightened our day.

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Happy Columbus Hour: Our CXC 2017 Intermission

October 5, 2017 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
McKinley statue II!

William McKinley, 25th President of the United States of America, born and raised in Ohio. It’s not the first McKinley monument we’ve seen this year.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: last weekend my wife Anne and I attended the third annual Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, where I immersed myself in the wonderful world of comic book creators and the associated arts. In our typical entertainment “comic con” experiences we usually try to find a balance between the world of comics — totally my thing — and the experience of greeting actors from films and TV shows we’ve enjoyed, which has been her thing a bit longer than it’s been my thing, but now it’s our thing. Either of us gets self-conscious whenever a given event is lopsided more in favor of our interests than in the other’s. Given our eighteen-year road trip history together, comics and celebs aren’t our only interests when we’re away from home.

Partly as a cheerful concession to Anne, but mostly out of a shared mood to explore, after lunch we took a break from CXC and took a half-mile walk westward to see a bit more of that Ohio state capital.

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An Afternoon Walk for Art: Our Cincinnati Comic Expo 2017 Coda

September 28, 2017 By in Misc. Media, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Toy Heritage!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: last Saturday Anne and I attended the eighth annual Cincinnati Comic Expo in the heart of their downtown. Once we finished up at the show, the urge for exploration hadn’t faded yet. Last year we’d checked out a few of the local tourist attractions but had to leave some possibilities behind for future years. Our time was short, but we wanted to cross at least one objective off the outtake list.

Hence our lead photo: “Toy Heritage”.

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Indy Food Trucks Turn the Whole World on with a Smile (Part 6 in a series)

May 2, 2017 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Gigi's Cupcakes!

Got sugar? Gigi’s Cupcakes has some waiting for you.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: when MCC launched five years ago, one of our recurring habits was keeping tabs on the Indianapolis food truck experience whenever those mighty mobile merchants rocked my world and my lunchtime. (Past entries were here, here, here, here, and here, though a few of the older trucks are sadly no longer with us.) They’re not in my path as often as I’d like, but we see enough of them from time to time that the occasional gallery is warranted as our way of thanking these eminent entrepreneurs for outstanding achievement in the field of edible excellence.

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Cincinnati 2016 Overnighter Photos, Part 6 of 6

December 16, 2016 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Cincinnati!

Our hotel room’s view of downtown Cincinnati high above the nightlife.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s convention time yet again! This weekend my wife Anne and I have driven two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend a show we’ve never done before, the seventh annual Cincinnati Comic Expo. With her birthday coming up in a few weeks, which usually means a one-day road trip somewhere, we agreed this would count as her early celebration.

Growing up in Indiana, we Hoosiers rarely had reasons to visit next-door Ohio until and unless it was time for another one-day family road trip to Kings Island Amusement Park, a few miles north of Cincinnati. If you believe the movie Anomalisa, the only two reasons to visit Cincinnati itself are the Cincinnati Zoo and Skyline Chili. After we wrapped up our Cincinnati Comic Expo experience, we did none of those things and found a few reasons not to be bored anyway.

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Bow Down Before “The Genius of Water”

December 9, 2016 By in Meta, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments
Genius of Water!

Honesty up front: “The Genius of Water” is the name of a fancy fountain, not a movie or a pet name for whoever invented Evian.

Sometimes when it’s freezing outside and newly dangerous open air stings at every uncovered part of you, it’s therapeutic to look back on warmer, prettier times and remember what sunshine and comfortable temperatures felt like. The past few days’ weather advisories had me yearning for flashbacks to our September visit to downtown Cincinnati, where, among other points of interest, my wife and I dawdling in scenic Fountain Square, one of the prettiest city blocks the Queen City had to offer.

Also, sometimes it’s good to finish a project you started two months ago and then suspended halfway through for no quantifiable reason. Triple bonus points to any readers out there who noticed and were kinda wondering. Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s convention time yet again! This weekend my wife Anne and I have driven two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend a show we’ve never done before, the seventh annual Cincinnati Comic Expo. With her birthday coming up in a few weeks, which usually means a one-day road trip somewhere, we agreed this would count as her early celebration.

(Anne subsequently spent the birthday itself hanging out at home. It was a bit anticlimactic, but on the upside she still looks half her age.)

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Indy Food Trucks Turn Every Summer Transcendental (Part 5 of 3)

September 2, 2016 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
El Venezolano!

El Venezolano is one of many Indianapolis food trucks proving there’s more to streetside food than just Mexican tacos. For example: artisan super-tacos from Not-Mexico.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: when we launched four years ago, one of our first miniseries was an ongoing look at the then-burgeoning food truck craze that was sweeping downtown Indianapolis, improving quality of life and giving me viable lunch options besides middling pizza and Subway. (Past entries were here, here, here, and here, though I know a few of those trucks have left the road since then.) The reviews stopped when all that food-truck food exceeded my restricted work-lunch budget, and when they stopped showing up within convenient walking distance.

This summer my wife and I attended multiple events here in town, which we’ve talked about here at length over the past four months. Food trucks showed up to save us on most of these occasions, but I withheld their pics for some future, separate group gallery rather than sandwiching them between photos of parade floats and cosplayers. I was planning to share these within the next two weeks anyway, but with the politically endearing hashtag #tacostrucksoneverycorner now justly trending on Twitter, now’s as good a time as any to catch the mobile-foodie wave, especially since Labor Day is coming up and your fall wardrobe and your precious pumpkin-spiced everything may clash with a few of these.

Right this way for great moments in summer 2016 food trucks!

Indy 500 Festival Parade 2016: Before the Music

May 31, 2016 By in Conventions & Events, Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
DARK THOMAS.

Meanwhile behind the scenes, things were falling apart.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This year marked the sixth time my wife and I attended the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. It’s an annual date-day tradition for us —- partly to see the floats and high school marching bands, partly for the famous names and partly because I love the sight of a bustling downtown Indianapolis. The next six entries (to be posted over the next few days as quickly as time and attention span permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, absolutely not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.

Part 6, the grand finale: hours before the parade began, Anne and I walked up and down Meridian Street and Pennsylvania, the parallel north-south legs of the parade route, to peek behind the curtains at some of the participating teams and objects as they got their acts together before the official proceedings commenced for an adoring, sweating public. I participated in a 500 Festival Parade myself several years ago, but never took much time to look beyond my own group. Until now.

Right this way for a very special MCC miniseries finale!

American Ninja War Zone: Indianapolis

April 27, 2016 By in Indiana, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
American Ninja Warrior!

I assume this is called the Treacherous Tower of Tremendous Terror or something.

Fun event here in Indianapolis this week: the NBC reality series American Ninja Warrior is filming an episode on Monument Circle in the very heart of downtown. They’re filming the initial challenges in the wee hours of Wednesday night/Thursday morning from a crowd of thirty competitors, and it’s my understanding semifinalists will continue competing Thursday night/Friday morning. If you’re a local night owl who has no use for crowing roosters or morning-drive DJs, this event was made just for you.

I don’t watch the show. I was just trying to take my weekly walk to the comic shop at lunchtime and their sets were in my way. But I captured a few images for the fans out there.

Right this way for more photos, plus a bonus superfluous political rally pic!

2015 Road Trip Photos #49: The Week in Cityscapes

April 18, 2016 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
NOLA via WWII!

The New Orleans business district skyline as viewed from the fourth floor of the National WWII Museum’s Boeing Center. At left, one of the exhibit halls; at right, the theater where we watched Beyond All Boundaries.

Throughout our drive from Indianapolis to New Orleans and back again, my wife took pics of each major metropolis as we passed through them. During our walks and our detours we found a few other neat vantage points that let us gaze upon these cities and wonder if the life bustling along their streets is that much different from our own. In most cases probably, but it was fun to contemplate.

Right this way for a few shots on the road and the sight that greeted us at home!