Fantasy Diner and Ice Cream Parlor
Twenty minutes down the road (and ten minutes late), I pulled up to what was once known as Fantasy Farm Amusement Park, while the few remains of another park—Americana/LeSourdsville Lake—stood in the distance.
Sarasota
The Crescent Club wasn’t the Salty Dog Cafe, Pirahna Pete’s Oyster Pub, the Sneaky Tiki* or any other t-shirt hawking/Jimmy Buffet fantasy restaurant that might be real or something I made up. The place looked more like a nautical themed bar from the 70s, designed for a nostalgic period piece. Except it wasn’t created for a movie, it just was.
October 2018 - January 2019
I used to publish a monthly collection of photographs that didn't have a place in a larger story or post. Since July 2016, that was my routine. I decided to change things up, though, and just get around to publishing random collections of frames whenever I have some time.
No pressure, no artificial deadline imposed on myself.
So here are some photographs made between October 2018 and January 2019 that didn't have a place in a larger story or post.
At The Carew Tower - January 5, 2019
“I knelt down to my camera bag to change lenses, but in the spot usually reserved for a wide angle, I had the ring that we had picked out together. I hadn’t been nervous until the elevator ride up. I didn’t know what to say, but hoped I had said it in letters, actions, and conversations prior. I simply asked her—this person who means more than anyone could know, who understands better than anyone could—to marry me.”
2018
It seems as if I find myself doing this every December: going back and forth on whether or not to create a year-end post—some sort of a recap on the stories and photos published here on QC/D over the past 365 days. I usually end up doing it and it usually begins with a sentence similar to the one you just read.
Jungle Jim's Monorail
The story of a suburban legend and its journey from one "jungle" to the next.
Cooper Stadium and Reflecting on a Relationship With Baseball
There was this scrap of paper that had been on the floor of my apartment next to the dryer for a few days. I never managed to pick it up until I finally had to do some laundry. I scraped it off the fake wood and for a second, I thought it was a sticker of some sort. When it came up, I turned it over and found the Major League Baseball logo. Which is odd, because I haven't been wearing any clothing adorned with MLB trademarks for some time.
![[35mm Ohio] Cleveland, a National Forest, Akron, an Outlet Mall, and Standard Suburbia](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d8a25db85a54c4d64fe76/1606105668054-WQGQA56JSD8Y6QM0RFDJ/image.jpeg)
[35mm Ohio] Cleveland, a National Forest, Akron, an Outlet Mall, and Standard Suburbia
Cleveland to Cincinnati with a Pentax K1000.
![[35mm Ohio] Cemeteries, Ballparks, McDonald's Monuments, and Roadside Refreshment](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d8a25db85a54c4d64fe76/1606105781068-XN4PJYCXJDA5BDSKZAVM/image.jpeg)
[35mm Ohio] Cemeteries, Ballparks, McDonald's Monuments, and Roadside Refreshment
Cincinnati to Cleveland with a Minolta XD-11.
Black Friday at The Chong
“25 days, maybe a month,” that’s what the man sitting at the desk inside the entrance said to me when I asked how much longer The Chong had. He didn’t seem much more interested in my follow up questions of what would come next or what brought on the anticipated closure.
A Walk Along The Oasis Line
About a week after stumbling into an update on the abandoned Torrence Rd. Station, I found myself once again along the “Oasis Line.” This set of tracks running above and along the Ohio River from Downtown Cincinnati to points Eastward would pass as a stereotypical subway/commuter line in a city with some sort of progressive vision.
The Forgotten Rail Station at Torrence Rd. Emerges
An abandoned railroad station, first featured here nearly ten years ago, now emerging from vegetation and obscurity.
The Chong, Inc.
While out shooting photographs in the city, lazily wandering around without any real agenda or plans, my friend Andrea and I spotted all of the “Store Closing/Everything Must Go” signs. I had occasionally passed The Chong Inc.’s storefront over the years, never paying it much mind. This time, though, we were fixated on the windows in the same way kids would’ve once crowded around downtown department stores at Christmas.
Tijuana
“Oh, you don’t want to go there. It’s dirty and it’s not safe,” says the older gentleman after we tell him we’ll be visiting Tijuana for a day. He isn’t the only one who insisted that the ice cream shops, souvenir stands, and restaurants of San Diego's Old Town provided more than enough entertainment—that crossing the border wasn’t necessary. Yet, Tijuana is what we are looking forward to the most on this trip. It’ll be the first time I get to use my passport, the first time I’ll venture outside of the United States of America.
From the Archives: Tombstone Territory
As I started looking back at the story of the former LeSourdsville Lake/Americana Amusement Park, I came across some old photographs that were previously unpublished.