Run 52: North Avondale

North Avondale was a pleasant surprise on a muggy Saturday morning; it was surprising for its quiet, winding streets lined with immaculate mansions and towering trees. I guess on some level I knew that all of this was there, but I hadn't made a point of checking it out.

We started from North Avondale Montessori. Located on Clinton Springs, this elementary school is housed in a brand new building complete with a greenhouse.  It’s nice to see a new school building that is architecturally interesting.

From the school parking lot Kayla kicked it into high gear up a deceivingly challenging hill. I asked her to slow down as I was running on one cup of black coffee, no breakfast, and 60 miles on my legs over 5
days of running (it’s marathon season!).

Mercifully, Kayla slowed down just in time for the beautiful homes that are present throughout North Avondale. I’ve noticed that in recent posts I’ve fallen into a pattern that goes something like:“Here’s the park, here’s the business district, and here are some houses,” but the residences of North Avondale deserve more than that rudimentary fly over.

For instance, check out this one:

And this one:

And this one:

So what can I say about these homes? Well, I would be happy to call any of them mine. This picture captures the North Avondale neighborhood vibe very well; a classic mailbox, a gaslight, and a a tree-lined sidewalk.

As for this picture, I'm not sure what it captures, but we couldn't leave the neighborhood until I posed in front of this planter (Kayla's idea). The end result was perfectly awkward.

North Avondale is also the shared home (with Evanston) of Xavier University. As we wound around the neighborhood we came to the Xavier soccer stadium and athletic facilities. This was a part of the campus I had never seen before, as most of my time on campus has been at the Cintas Center.

This castle appeared to double as student housing. For an urban campus, Xavier picked a part of the city that has plenty of wide-open greenspace and room for classic architecture.

Now that I've seen what North Avondale has to offer, I'm already plotting routes to bring me back for another run. I discovered that Victory Parkway is the perfect thoroughfare to hop on and connect to the rest of the neighborhood, making for a nice change from my usual downtown and back along the river route. I look forward to my return.

You can see our entire route here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=524332

Run 52: Mt. Washington

This week took our run took us to the alphabetic end of the Cincinnati “Mounts” and to the geographic end of Cincinnati’s eastside. That's to say, we ran in Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington is home to the largest neighborhood sign this side of the Mississippi, and second only to Hollywood. After getting acquainted with the big sign, we headed to Stanbery Park.  There we discovered this Salamander that brought to mind our raccoon friend from Mt Airy, but was slightly less ominous.

I was excited to visit Stanbery Park for what appeared to be a good number of trails that we could explore. Unfortunately, at the head of nearly every trail was this sign:

Kayla the rule follower didn't want to test the authority of the park sign, so we trudged on. We decided to make a couple of loops around the interior of the park, which is quite spacious and also a popular make-out spot for local teens (not pictured).

Because the closed trails threatened to cut our tour short, we needed to find an alternate route. Kayla came up with the idea of venturing into the Mt. Washington Cemetery.

After crossing through the gates, we found this ornate gravestone dedicated to a man who was lost at sea.

The graveyard was a great pick from a running standpoint. The wide gravel path made for a great running surface. From the graveyard we made our rounds through some residential blocks. The mix of homes brought to mind Kennedy Heights and Hartwell.  Still, Mt. Washington has its own feel as it is one of Cincinnati’s "annexed" neighborhoods, which is evident from the viaduct that separates it from the rest of the city.

One of the buildings that stands alone in Mt. Washington is the elementary school which maintains a classic vibe even after its recent renovation.

On our return loop, we took a jaunt through the business district.  To the one-time ice-cream saleslady Kayla, the cornerstone of the business district is the Mt. Washington Creamy Whip. First, she made me cross Beechmont Ave. and get the perfect shot of her striding by the storefront.

Then she had me cross back over four lanes of traffic Frogger style and get this shot of her lounging in front of the Creamy Whip signage.

Finally, she insisted that we return to the Creamy Whip later that day.  

As I was enjoying my swirl, the little kid at the table next to us who said, "Hey, Dad look at that guy!" I looked over to see this kid pointing at me. From this picture, I can only guess that he was concerned that the cone was larger than my head.

Kayla's edit:  This was actually hysterical.  I mean, what's to see?  A guy eating a creamy whip in his Saeed and Little jersey?  The kid's dad had to manually turn his head to keep him from staring.  Ha!

We had a great run around Mt. Washington and we left with more than a few good reasons to return.  Here are a few: (1) the prospect of open trails at Stanbery Park, (2) the Mt. Washington Creamy Whip, and (3) a Little Caesars where I can grab a Hot-N-Ready to bring to my next potluck.

To see the entire route go here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=523637

Run 52: Mt. Lookout

First things first.  Here is the prettiest pooch in Mt. Lookout:

When we left for this run, Zola Budd watched through the patio door as we headed down the driveway without her.  Like on our Linwood run, we started our Mt. Lookout route from home.  We live right on the border of the two neighborhoods, but the Auditor’s website says we live in Mt. Lookout, so that’s what we’re going with.  

Like in many of the neighborhoods we’ve run so far, it’s impossible to run in Mt. Lookout and avoid the hills.  We started by turning up Sheffield and then again up Heekin.  And I was dying already.  My lungs were burning.  My legs were burning.  And my face looked--strangely--flat as a pancake:

 

But it was totally worth it because at the top of Heeken is Ault Park, which is one of the loveliest parks in the city.  I’m going to get all Leslie Knope here, but to live in walking distance of a park like this means everything. 

 

 

 

 

 

We even ventured onto the trail for a short while.

 

Leaving Ault Park, we ran through the neighborhood, which has quiet streets with lots of tutor and craftsman style homes. 

 

The white house on the left is where we lived when we first got married and moved to Cincinnati.  I’ll always remember rolling up with three bad cats and a U-Haul full of clothes from the Buffalo Exchange.  The neighbors must have been thrilled.

When we lived in this house—which backs up to a wooded ravine—a herd of deer would often hang out in our backyard.  When we run in Mt. Lookout we always see deer, including this one, who was actually feeling pretty nonchalant about snacking on this person’s front yard:

And then there is Mt. Lookout Square, which is what attracted us to the neighborhood in the first place.  The square has EVERYTHING you could ask for in a business district: four bars, two pubs, sushi restaurant, Mediterranean restaurant, pizza place, Thai restaurant, Subway, gift shop, four salons, dance studio, vet’s office, coffee shop, interior design store, photography studio, brunch place, bookstore, gelato shop, funeral home, dry cleaner, oil change place, shoe repair, boutique, chiropractor, drug store, realtor’s office, bank, music venue. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and a fully-stocked UDF, which tops Donnie’s list of neighborhood must-haves.  When we moved out of Mt. Lookout for a few years, Donnie would often complain that he missed being able to walk down to the UDF to get a post-run Gatorade. 

Personally, I don’t think it gets much better than some vegetarian cabbage rolls and happy hour:

I don’t know if it’s just me, but sometimes I get an Alpine feel from Mt. Lookout Square.  I think the hills and the hustle and bustle call to mind a thriving ski town during peak season. Or maybe the association just comes from Alpine Avenue, which is the steepest hill we’ve climbed on Run 52.  So steep, I’m embarrassed to say, that I walked the last dozen yards:

We looped around Alpine, down Paxton, and then back through the Square.  The bouncer at Mount Lookout Tavern was otherwise occupied so stood in for him for a few minutes.  When I saw what he was doing, he snorted a little bit like I had no business acting like I could keep the hooligans out of the bar:

Next, we ran past Our Lord Christ the King Church.  I love that Jesus is giving the peace sign.  This statute also always makes me think of the intro scene of Baz Luhrmann’s, Romeo and Juliet, which I swooned over in the eighth grade:

I also saw it fourteen times in the theater, in case you’re wondering how I spent all that money I made scooping ice cream.

So that was the run.  To celebrate the Mt. Lookout leg of Run 52, we returned to the square on Friday night for burgers (cow for Donnie, bean for me!) at Zips, followed by gelato at Buona Terra:

 

I had the tiramisu flavor and Donnie had cookies and cream, but they also had Earl Gray and a white chocolate lavender flavor for those with more sophisticated palates.  Like with many things, we go by this place every day, but it was the Food Hussy’s review that got us to stop in. 

I don’t know how to wrap this up except to say that I love this neighborhood.  I love the park, the hills, the trees, the drive to work along Columbia Parkway.  I love the deer and the gelato.  I love the black bean burger at Zips.  I even love this old cat, who hangs out in the storefront window of the photography studio, and who Zola loves to terrorize:

The running is not bad either.

 

-Kayla

 

Full route with mile markers: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=523295