Starling Travel

I saw these pictures on Motion Burns The Mood, but they had labeled them, “Abandoned Amusement Park in New Orleans.” After some sleuthing, I finally found where this abandoned amusement park really was: Chippewa Lake Park in Ohio.

Here is a documentary exploring the park and comparing its abandoned decay to the beauty of its past.

There is something about a defunct amusement park that seems so appealing to me. I feel as if I could ride the rides all day long with no other people in line in front of me. Logically, I know that I couldn’t go on any of the rides, but still, I want to visit an abandoned amusement park, if only to FEEL as if I had it all to myself. It seems to appeal to the hermit side of me, wanting to create a place of fun just for myself, like Michael Jackson did with Neverland Ranch.

Unfortunately, you can’t visit the abandoned site of Chippewa Lake Park anymore. In 2009, it was demolished.

If you want to learn more, here are some more links:

• Google Maps – Chippewa Lake Park
• Forgotten Ohio – Chippewa Lake Park

My friend, Jere, is the author of the most wonderful blog, Blind Prophecy. This Memorial Day, he went to the Cincinnati Zoo.

• Blind Prophecy » Wild and Wet Memorial Day

He was looking for an inventive and enjoyable way to fit exercise into his day.

Since my gym was closed, I decided to get my day’s exercise by visiting the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s about a 3 mile walk each direction, plus I spent the whole day on my feet. Despite a bit of rain and some very humid air (which made the rain forest section seem especially realistic), it was a very pleasant day. As our friend Nick put it tonight, “the zoo is one of the rare things about Cincinnati that doesn’t suck.”

I love to see people enjoying the cities in which they live. Sometimes it seems like we don’t spend enough time being tourists in our our towns. Congratulations to Jere for making this Memorial Day memorable!

You can see all the photos here:

• Cincinnati Zoo – a set on Flickr

Jere Keys moved to Cincinnati recently and can see the city with the fresh eyes of a tourist. He shared his photos with us here:

• Blind Prophecy » Exploring Camp Washington Picspam

After being left alone by his housemates, he decided to skip television for the night and take a walk:

I took a long walk down into the largely industrial neighborhood known as Camp Washington. Sure, there’s a lot of gritty, out-of-date reminders of a different time, abandoned buildings, even evidence of a homeless encampment, but I found it to be pretty (if you could ignore the smell of the giant aluminum casting factory).

Thanks for sharing your photos of your new home base, Jere!

Jonny Goldstein is from New York, but he traveled to Brunswick, Ohio and got his first taste of The Midwest Jello Pretzel Salad. He shared his experience with us.

Bonnie Nelson was nice enough to explain the details to him:

“It’s just your basic midwest doncha know yeah sure cookin’.”

“What makes this thing a hit is the salty with the sweet thing goin’ on.”

Jello is a popular dish here in Utah, but I have never seen this pretzel salad. I guess it hasn’t gotten over to the Mormons yet. It sure looks delicious, though.