Friday, June 8, 2012

Some other stuff in the news

The Charleston Gazette this morning has a story about a company in Marietta, Ohio, that offers guided kayaking tours of the Ohio and its backwaters. It sounds like an interesting trip for people who want to see some wildlife on the creeks.

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The New York Times has a piece on the riverfront resurgence of Cincinnati.

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Speaking of Cincinnati, here's the latest on the possibility of tolls to pay for a new bridge. Only they're not tolls anymore. They're user fees.

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Still on Cincinnati, one more item before we go. Yahoo Travel has its list of Ten Stunning Riverfront Towns. Cincinnati is on the list. So is the nearby small town of Augusta, Ky. My guess is that whoever compiled this list needed a small town that few people had heard of. The Rosemary Clooney-George Clooney link may have been the clincher.

But I can think of some small towns along the river that offer just as relaxing a spot as Augusta, and my readers undoubtedly know of more.

One of my favorite spots is on a hill that overlooks the river. You can see for miles, and when the weather is right, you can get up there in an unbuttoned long-sleeve shirt and enjoy the breeze and the quiet. You can watch towboats and pleasure boats and bass boats on the river, and you can listen for truck traffic and trains off in the distance. It's a place where you can relax for a few minutes and leave your troubles miles away.

There's another spot I used to enjoy. I had to park my car along the road and walk down a creek back to get to it, but once there I could look across the river at old farm houses. Down the river was an island, and beyond that a large manmade structure. I visited the spot several times until one day I noticed some people nearby walking in the area. The me-ness was gone, and I've been back maybe once since.