Day 1: April 22, 2001
Jumpin' the Gun

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Yes. We cheated. As plans solidified, it was decided that starting Friday morning by driving south to immediately head north could be improved upon. By doing the Cincinnati portion of 42 Thursday evening, we could eliminate that early morning turn-a-round and avoid rush hour traffic to boot. With that rationale already in place, it didn't take much to advance the start a few more days when we found ourselves in downtown Cincinnati on an 80 degree Sunday afternoon. We slipped across the river then followed our chosen highway into Ohio.

A couple of the downtown Cincinnati Landmarks visible from Route 42. Paul Brown Stadium and Crosley Square. Our target city is the home of another of Paul's namesakes. They sort of moved to Baltimore but, since they had to use an alias to get out of town, I guess the guys in Cleveland still have his name.

Crosley field is long gone and its replacement will be soon but many of Powel Crosley's marks remain. Reproductions of his radios are still hot items and there are quite a few Crosley car devotees about. Crosley Square was the birthplace of Cincinnati TV (1948) and the home of WLW ( the very first NBC affiliate) until 1999.


There are quite a few murals around Cincinnati, including those transplanted from the train place to the plane place, but this one, at Central Parkway and Vine, is among everybody's favorites. That's Cincinnatus in the center.

For its first 15 miles, Ohio 42 is synonymous with Reading Road. At Sharonville, they split and, in less that two miles, Reading Road becomes the Cincinnati-Dayton Road. On the 29th, the day we head home from Cleveland, Sharonville will host just about the biggest car show in southern Ohio. The streets will be filled with a few hundred motorized vehicles ranging from meticulously restored Model Ts through plenty of 1950's classics to state of the art supercharged dragsters. Highly recommended.

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