On Christmas Eve, we spent the day Downtown to do a little last minute shopping to include stopping by Provident Camera to buy some camera goodies. We also visited the Duke Energy Train Holiday Train Display and capped the evening off with a nice dinner at the Palomino Restaurant.  The crowds during over the last month have been fantastic.  It is great to see people enjoying city life on their personal time again.  The one negative (and it is a negative I can accept) is that you need reservations to eat at many of the resturants now.  My family and I have been turned away from Via Vite Restaurant on Fountain Square four times due to booked reservations.  Next time we try to eat there, I think we will have my own reservations.  While Downtown, I had access to one of the office buildings so I was hoping to take some good aerial shots of the city but the glare through the windows wasn’t cooperating so in the end I only took two photos that were worth sharing.  The reside in the Over-the-Rhine Gallery and can be viewed here and here.

As you can see, I am finally getting some time to go through images I took in the summer.  I visited Cleveland with a friend of mine in July during a trip through Wooster, Akron & Canton.  My Cleveland gallery was in sad shape and while this gallery doesn’t even begin to cover the gems of the region, it will at least give you a taste.  Cleveland is one of those cities that if you drive through it, you are left with a bad taste in your mouth.  Think I-75 Cincinnati or I-94 through Milwaukee.  The highways that pass through the city are full of industrial grit and do not shed any light on a city that offers a lively and vibrant downtown core.  The Warehouse District, Flats & area around the ballpark are wonderful urban scenes that are full of people and personality.  Cleveland still has a traditional mall in the CBD and an amazing Arcade.   I have come across people that were surprised that I went out of my way to take a road trip to Cleveland and they seem surprised to hear that I had nothing but good things to say about it.  It just proves that the stereotypes and perception of Ohio cities are hard to break.  Hopefully as the urban core of cities stenghten across America, people will begin to appreciate these great mid tier cities. You can find my gallery of Cleveland here. 

Since moving to Ohio in 2003, the sticker I have seen displayed the most on vehicle windows is OBX.  One day my curiosity was piqued and when I got home I looked it up online.  Come to find out, OBX stood for Outer Banks which is a hundred mile stretch of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina.  There was an obvious link between Ohio & North Carolina with the Wright Brothers who were from Dayton & traveled to Kill Devil Hills to test their “flying machine” but I was interested in seeing what the hype was all about.  Then, two months ago I had a business trip to Norfolk, Virginia so I made the most of my weekend and drove down to the Outer Banks to visit The Wright Brothers National Monument and to explore the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.  I was expecting coastal towns that were touristy but for the most part the islands were quite rural with large beach houses.  In fact their were very few hotels.  I had the opportunity to eat at a few good seafood restaurants while I was there and the coast was quite picturesque.  I convinced my coworker to make the drive to Cape Hatteras to see the famous light house and to climb to the top.  It was a good thing he didn’t know that we had another 80 mile drive to the lighthouse else he might not have agreed.  In the end, it was a nice Sunday trip but I didn’t leave wanting more and while many people enjoy the secluded vacation scene, if my photos tell you anything, it is that I prefer to be in the thick of things.  You can view my Outer Banks photos here.