Tag: west end

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Arts & Entertainment News

Bikes+Brews 2011 takes place this Saturday in Cincinnati’s urban core

This Saturday marks the return of Bikes+Brews, one of the official Bike Month activities of the City of Cincinnati’s Bicycle Program. Bikes+Brews is the perfect segue into next week’s American Craft Beer Week as it will offer riders the opportunity to explore the city’s urban core while learning a bit about craft beer and how it plays into both the past and future of Cincinnati.

The ride will depart historic Findlay Market promptly at 1pm, so feel free to come early and enjoy a beer at the market’s biergarten and some hearty grub from Cafe de Wheels, who will be on hand beginning at 10:30am.

A handful of guides will be on hand, identifiable by navy blue Over-the-Rhine All-Star t-shirts, to help answer questions and keep the ride on track. This year’s ride includes a total of nine stops along a seven-mile course beginning and ending at Findlay Market. This will allow participants to meet at a single location, and offer a convenient parking location for those that will be driving to the event. That being said, it is strongly recommended to use either pedal power or public transportation.

From Findlay Market the ride will proceed past the Samuel Adams Brewery in the West End, and on to Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square. A quick jaunt across the river into Northern Kentucky will take participants to Keystone Bar & Grill in Covington, then Newport’s Hofbrauhaus, the region’s largest brewpub.

After all riders have sufficiently stabilized themselves, post-liters of German brew, the peleton will cross back over the Ohio River, via the Purple People Bridge, for a quick stop at the newly opened Holy Grail at The Banks. Our final three stops will take us back into Over-the-Rhine, the heart of Cincinnati’s brewing history, for pints at The Lackman Bar, Neon’s Unplugged and finally our end destination of Market Wines somewhere in the vicinity of 6:30pm.

Bikes+Brews 2011 is part of more than 40 Bike Month events, and is free and open to the public. Admittedly, this year’s ride will be a bit more strenuous both in route, distance, number of stops and brews consumed, so please be sure to keep yourself hydrated with water. That being said, riders have complete autonomy to join late or forgo portions of the trek to either finish early or meet us at a future stop. Bikes+Brews 2010 was a great success, and one of our favorite events of the past year, and UrbanCincy is looking forward to building on the momentum this year. Let’s Ride!!!

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Arts & Entertainment News Transportation

UrbanCincy Partners with Cincinnati to Organize Two Unique Bike Month Events

In celebration of Bike Month, UrbanCincy has partnered with the City of Cincinnati to bring you two unique events. The first will take place on Saturday, May 14 and take bicyclists on a pedal-powered pub crawl through the city’s urban core. The second event will take place on Sunday, May 22 and give riders a glimpse into what bicycle commuting will be like along the Ohio River Trail.

Bikes+Brews is back by popular demand. Last year UrbanCincy organized this event and made five stops throughout Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Roughly 50 people participated over various segments of the ride which began and terminated at Findlay Market. This year’s event will also begin and end at Findlay Market, but will include a total of nine stops throughout Over-the-Rhine, West End, Downtown, Newport and Covington. The ride will be led by Cincinnati brewer, and UrbanCincy contributor, Bryon Martin.

Bikes+Brews will begin at 1pm and will roughly last until 6:30pm. The event is free and open to the public, and interested participants are encouraged to join the ride for any duration and segment. The ride is approximately seven miles from start to finish (map), includes slight elevation change and two bridge crossings.

The Ohio River Trail Tour is new this year. The event will begin at Lunken Airport and take bicyclists for a ride along the partially completed Ohio River Trail. The ride will terminate in downtown Cincinnati at the Bike & Mobility Center currently under construction at the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

Those participating in the Ohio River Trail Tour will be able to get information about future phases of the Ohio River Trail, which will link Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs with downtown, and how to successfully commute by bicycle by utilizing lockers, showers, repair facilities and bicycle parking at the new Bike & Mobility Center.

The Ohio River Trail Tour will begin at 10am in the parking lot across from Lunken Airport’s terminal building. The ride is approximately six miles (map) and contains very few changes in elevation.

2010 Bikes+Brews photograph by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Stephen Morris to hold discussion on World Heritage Sites at Cincinnati Museum Center

There are over 900 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that have been determined to be of special importance to the international community. These sites are often culturally, physically and/or naturally significant, and are constantly facing issues that threaten their authenticity and preservation.

It requires a great deal of work and coordination to preserve these sites, and on Thursday, April 7 Cincinnatians will have a chance to hear about the role the United States plays in preserving and promoting such sites.

Stephen Morris, from the National Park Service and World Heritage Program, will participate in the Cincinnati Museum Center’s monthly Insights Lecture Series. The lecture, entitled Conserving World Treasures: History & Future of World Heritage from U.S. Perspective, is free and open to the public.

Event organizers say that Morris will discuss the history and continuing relationship between the National Park Service and the UNESCO World Heritage Program. Morris is also expected to discuss site designations and the overall challenges facing many of the world’s most culturally and naturally significant treasures.

One such project is ancient Troy where the University of Cincinnati’s Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical & Archaeological Sites (CERHAS) has partnered with the Troia Projekt of the University of Tubingen to deal with such challenging issues at that World Heritage Site.

Conserving World Treasures: History & Future of World Heritage from U.S. Perspective will take place inside the Reakirt Auditorium at the Cincinnati Museum Center (map) and will begin at 7:30pm.

Cincinnati Museum Center photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

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Business News

Samuel Adams Brewing Company’s surprising Cincinnati roots

While many of Cincinnati’s beer connoisseurs are aware of Samuel Adams‘ Cincinnati roots, most around the world believe that the beer is uniquely Boston. History and current events tell us that quite simply is not true. WCPO reports on the full story about America’s largest beer company’s roots in the Queen City and its current presence in the West End.

Cincinnati beer lovers and historians have seen a resurgance of Cincinnati beer brands like Little Kings, Christian Moerlein, Hudephol and Bürger. These beers have joined a growing collection of craft beer brewers like Listermann, Mt. Carmel, Rivertown and more. On top of all that, the Moerlein Lager House will add another impressive brewhouse to Cincinnati’s collection along with the Bavarian-style brewhouse Hofbräuhaus in Newport and Rock Bottom on Fountain Square, and Christian Moerlein has recently opened a new brewery in historic Over-the-Rhine.

Also, be sure not to forget about the world’s second largest Oktoberfest celebration, the nation’s largest Bockfest celebration and the slew of beer tasting festivals held all throughout the region. There have also been some rumors that Samuel Adams may open a brewhouse in Cincinnati as well. Stay thirsty, and enjoy Cincinnati’s rich beer history and its bright future.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Vanishing Cincinnati exhibit opens at The Betts House this weekend

The Betts House, one of Cincinnati’s best kept secrets, has a new exhibit opening this weekend featuring over twenty drawings by the husband and wife team of Barbra and David Day. Vanishing Cincinnati includes drawings that depict Cincinnati’s urban landscape from the mid 1800’s to the  mid 1900’s. They feature both very familiar landmarks such as Findlay Market and the Roebling Suspension Bridge as well as landmarks that have been lost as time moved on including the Albee Theater and the Bus Depot.

The Days are design consultants that work in Pendelton, and are fourth and fifth generation Cincinnatians that have taken many projects on around the city. Some of their work around the city has included the architectural restoration of the historic Enquirer building on Vine Street, the Over-the-Rhine Gateway Monument at Liberty Street and Reading Road, and the mosaic in the market house at Findlay Market which was installed to celebrate its 150th year of operation.

In interviews, David Day has said that through the multiple generations of his family there has been a David Day shopping at Findlay Market since the end of the Civil War. Clearly he and his wife have a passion and deep understanding of Cincinnati which should come through loud and clear in their drawings.

The partnership with The Betts House is really a match made in heaven as The Betts House has deep historical connections as well. Not only is it the oldest residential building in the Cincinnati basin, it is also the oldest brick house in the state of Ohio.

Built in 1804 as a part of the Betts Family Farm (a 111 acre piece of land that makes up today’s West End neighborhood), the Betts House is currently used as a gallery hosting various art projects through the year, there were five generations of the Betts family that called the house on Clark Street home and it basically sits unchanged today, after some restoration of course. The house and the exhibits are privatley funded through grants and sponsorships with donations and memberships available for individuals as well.

Vanishing Cincinnati, made possible by a grant from ArtsWave, will open this Friday, February 11 with a reception starting at 5pm and run through April 23. The Betts House is otherwise open Tuesday through Thursday from 11am to 2pm, and on the second and fourth Saturday each month from 12pm to 5pm.  Admission for Vanishing Cincinnati is just $2.