Wes Modes
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We Violated the One Cardinal Rule of Boats
We moved everything not nailed down out of the shantyboat, derattified, scrubbed, laundered, and hosed down every inch we could reach—including the bilges. Yes, we put water inside the boat on purpose. Dotty is now cleaner than she’s been in more than ten years… well, except for the places we can’t reach.
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Songs Drifting From a Shantyboat – a Playlist
Music drifts across the water on warm summer evenings, mingling with the lapping of waves and the hum of distant voices. These songs echo the slow rhythms of river life—familiar tunes carried along the current, playing from a shantyboat radio or a dockside porch.
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Cleaning Tasks
What wonders to behold in our cabinet of curiosities?. . . Answer: Mostly rusty cans, cheap beer, and rat poop. Now empty shelves and a daunting cleaning task.
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Delta Films, Second Line, and Squirrel Gumbo
Once a week we gather at Secret History HQ for the Delta Film Series—a deep dive into the culture, history, and tangled realities of the Louisiana Delta. These films aren’t just movies; they’re waypoints on the journey ahead. This week, we enjoyed a doc about young musicians finding resilience and rhythm in the streets of…
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Props to Me
What did global capitalism bring me today? Something that gets us one step closer to the river. Over the years, we’ve left a few propellers behind—Sacramento River shallows, low driveways, maybe some questionable navigation choices. This time, we’re thinking ahead. No more scrambling for replacements in tiny marina shops. Now we’ve got a backup Mercury…
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Tubby Time Research
Reading Macon Fry’s excellent book They Called Us River Rats while bathing over the unnamed ephemeral creek on my property in the Santa Cruz mountains.
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Danger! Wreck!
Looking at the routes we are planning to take through Bayou Teche this summer on the maritime maps. With numerous wrecks in the southern part of the Bayou, what exactly are we getting into? This is near Patterson Louisiana where we hope to have a pop-up exhibition. At pop-ups, we dock the shantyboat and invite…
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Getting Straight With the State
It’s a special day to honor the sacred pact between punk hobo shantyboat river rats and the State of California. After five years of nautical delinquency… the moment has arrived. 🎟️🚣♂️ Stick around to witness history.
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Tires are Expensive
While the attention is on Shantyboat Dotty, it wouldn’t get too far without my big pick-em-up truck to get it where it needs to go. And you know what matters when the rubber hits the road? Tires. Just one of many unexpected expenses of the Secret history project.
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Big News: Summer Fieldwork
Big news: Shantyboat Dotty is heading to the bayous of Southern Louisiana this summer! The Atchafalaya River, Cajun and Creole culture, cypress swamps, delta blues, and jambalaya are calling. There’s so much to prep—fundraising, reconnecting with folks in the Delta, and getting Dotty river-ready—but we’re excited to bring these stories to life. Stay tuned for…
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You Forgot? Felton Remembers.
Mr. and Mrs. Goodman prepping to float down highway 9 in the Felton Remembers Parade.
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Whusky Rhymes With Shantyboat
Came home to a big surprise! A case of River Shanty Rye from @of_the_earth_farm_distillery
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It’s Christmas in Shantyboat Town
Midwest thunderstorm and hail weather catches up to us in the Pacific Coast mountains on Christmas Day.
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Thinking About Our Next River
From The Cabin-Boat Primer published in 1913. “The cabin boater will not find a better region in the world for his first experience than down Atchafalaya.”
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Summer Work Day
Shantyboat maintenance/repairs before a late summer outing. Replacing rub rail and some sizable dings in the hull.
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Shantyboat Dotty Fleeing Fires
During the California fires we had to flee our home with the Shantyboat Dotty in tow. We made safe camp in a field with neighbors where we created a temporary compound for four adults, one toddler, two dogs, and two kittens.
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Remembering Betty Goins
Remembering Betty Goins who passed away yesterday. We had the immense pleasure to interview Betty in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2016.
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A presentation about Secret History
Want to support a newly launched series of virtual experiences and lectures and at the same time learn some of the details of my research on the rivers? I gave a presentation on June 5th, 2020 introducing the project and discussing my research. We concluded with a tour of the shantyboat and Q&A. Watch the…
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Shantyboat Dotty looking good in the early spring sunshine.
Shantyboat Dotty looking good in the early spring sunshine. #Shantyboat #HomemadeBoat #DIYBoats #CabinPorn #Cabins #BoatsOfInstagram
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The first step in working on a longer Secret History documentary
The first step in working on a longer Secret History documentary. What are the stories we want to tell? What are the themes that emerge? #MindMap #ConspiracyMap #TooFunToBeRealWork #Documentary #DocumentaryPlanning #Preproduction
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Cabin Porn: Shantyboat
The Rivers of North America By Zach Klein, Freda MoonContributed by Wes Modes Photographs by Wes Modes, Bredette Dyer, Jeremiah Daniels At first glance, Wes Modes is an unlikely candidate for the role of modern-day hobo. For three-quarters of the year, the fifty-three-year-old is a university professor in Santa Cruz, an affluent California beach town,…
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People join us aboard the Dotty at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire
People join us aboard the Dotty at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire. Hundreds of parents and adults came through the shanty bar to check out the project. #makerfaire #shantyboat #exhibition
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Please join us at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire
Please join us at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire in Oakland at Day Park School on Sunday (10/27)! We’ll be there with the shantyboat Dotty and give a presentation on the project. #exhibition #mymodernmet #shantyboat #riverhistory
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Visiting one of our local waterways, Elkhorn Slough
Visiting one of our local waterways. Elkhorn Slough is a 7-mile-long tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay. It’s not a shantyboat but, were it not so late, I would’ve dropped the canoe in. #canoe #paddling #elkhornslough
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That Was Weird: Rediscovering The River
Join Archives & Collections Catalyst, Marla Novo, and Abbott Square Music Coordinator, Gabriel Kittle-Cervine, for ‘That Was Weird: Stories from Santa Cruz’, a fresh take on Santa Cruz History with the MAH’s first ever podcast. This month, we sat down with Wes Modes, a local artist, activist, and community member with a great care and…
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Atlas Obscura: An Artist, a Shantyboat, and the Lost History of American River Communities
Wes Modes is documenting life along America’s waterways. Atlas ObscuraBy Jonathan CareyMarch 7, 2019 THE RIVERS OF THE UNITED States have a certain lore and mystique within American culture. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these roaring waterways were home to thousands. Entire communities existed on or near the water in self-made houseboats. The…
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Boating: Wes Modes, Artist/Documentarian/ Shanty Boater
Armed with a homemade shanty boat and a video camera, Wes Modes has spent the last few years floating down rivers big and small, all for his unique project: “A Secret History of American River People.”
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In Reno, the shantyboat was blocked in so we had to grab a handy forklift to extricate it
In Reno, the shantyboat was blocked in so we had to grab a handy forklift to extricate it. #ForkliftVirginx2
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Louisville’s Schnitzelburg neighborhood at Check’s Cafe
Louisville’s Schnitzelburg neighborhood sitting at Check’s Cafe during Karaoke Night. #louisville #kentucky #roadtrip #singlelinecontour #blindcontour
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First Friday Santa Cruz: Secret History Project Tells Untold Stories of the San Lorenzo River
For local artist Wes Modes, this process of finding and sharing the stories of people’s relationships to rivers is a deeply powerful form of social practice—an art form that creates change through human interaction and conversation.
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HeraldWeekly: The Lost History of American River Communities, Revisited by an Artist in a Shantyboat
HeraldWeeklyby Mark Villanueva Wes Modes is documenting life along America’s waterways. American rivers used to be home to thousands of people, particularly during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Families lived close to these silvery channels, traded, thrived, as chronicled initially by Harlan Hubbard’s Shantyboat Journal. These communities are mostly gone now, but the mystery of…
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Portsmouth Daily-Times: American River People
Portsmouth Daily-Timesby Ivy Potter Several artists have made their way to Portsmouth, courtesy of their rustic recreated shantyboat, to gather information and personal histories of those living along the Ohio River. The Secret History of American River People, the name of the project, operates to build a collection of personal stories of people who live…
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Home finally! After a month and a half on the Ohio River and days on the road it feels amazing to be back home
Home finally! After a month and a half on the Ohio River and five days on the road it feels amazing to be back home. 2,375 miles #Home #RoadTrip #CrossCountry #ShowerFinally
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Now our boat hangs out in Reno with the burning man kids until the burn
Now our boat hangs out in Reno with the burning man kids until the burn. #Shantyboat #Storage #burningman #RoadTrip
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Crossing the Great Salt Flats in a storm
Crossing the salt flats this morning. #SaltFlats #RoadTrip #Utah
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An undiscovered wildflower wilderness on Hwy 80
Stopped to make dinner at a turnout less than a stone’s throw away from a major highway we discover a miniature wetland edged with nettles and wildflowers. #hwy80 #utah #easternutah #shantyboat #roadtrip
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Feeling cute, might drive later
Rockin PetShop Boys, Ah Ha! And The Bangles as we cross the high prairies. #feelingcutechallenge #roadtrip #magicrockouttravelmusic #wyoming #80sflashback
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I love being back in the American West. Something about the way the cool morning air touches your skin
I love being back in the American West. Something about the way the cool morning air touches your skin. Walking the wide, charming streets of downtown Laramie, Wyoming. #Laramie #Wyoming #AmericanWest #RoadTrip
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Camping in rural Missouri
Camping at a random turn out in rural Missouri. Hot and humid as holy fuck. #missouri #roadtrip #sunset #BeautifulButUncomfortable
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We’re trying a new thing called Preventative Maintenance
We’re trying a new thing called Preventative Maintenance. Word is we will have fewer wheels falling off. #ohioriver #roadtrip #preventativemaintenance #trailer
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Packing up
Packing up. The total accumulation of a six month exhibition and a month and a half river voyage all in one pickup. #Louisville #ArtShow #Exhibition #RoadTrip
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Breaking down the show at the Louisville’s Portland Museum
Breaking down the show at the Louisville’s Portland Museum. #artshow #exhibition #louisville #ohioriver
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Visitors explore the shantyboat at the Portland Museum
Visitors explore the shantyboat at the Portland Museum (@portlandmuseumky), thanks to all the awesome folks who showed up for the closing reception. #Portland #Louisville #OhioRiver #Exhibition #artshow
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Reflecting on the journey here at the end of it
Reflecting on the journey here at the end of it. There were things we meant to do, and never got around to, people we meant to talk to that we never met, places we meant to see that we simply didn’t have time for. But overall, the river was beautiful, life aboard the Dotty was…
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Beautiful day on the Ohio River in Louisville as we make our way up river to take out
Beautiful day on the Ohio River in Louisville as we make our way up river to take out. The shantyboat Dotty on the trailer is headed to the Portland Museum for a closing reception for our exhibit there. #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #Louisville #Trailer
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It was humbling to watch the expert at work
It was humbling to watch the expert at work. The Belle of Louisville’s keyboardist channels Leonard Cohen on the only surviving brass calliope keyboard aboard a steamboat. #OhioRiver #Steamboat #Calliope #BelleOfLouisville #Hallelujah #LeonardCohen #Louisville
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Aboard the Belle of Louisville as guests of the ship’s engineering crew
Aboard the Belle of Louisville as guests of the ship’s engineering crew. The Belle is one of the very last authentic steam powered sternwheelers. #Steamboat #OhioRiver #Sternwheeler #Louisville
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The beer fairy came to visit us! Thanks, Louisville
The beer fairy came to visit us! Thanks, Louisville. #BeerFairy #Beer #OhioRiver #Louisville
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We love art! Thanks to Piper who made art for our gallery
We love art! Thanks to Piper who made art for our gallery and came by with Trapper Haskins (@trapperhaskins) to visit from Tennessee. #visitors #oldfriends #ohioriver #louisville
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More Edward Hopper scenes from around Louisville
More Edward Hopper scenes from around Louisville. #edwardhopper #ohioriver #louisville
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On a beautiful sunny morning, I interviewed Paul Hassfurder
On a beautiful sunny morning this week after a day and night of thundershowers, I felt honored to interviewed Paul Hassfurder who lives at Payne Hollow. Paul worked with artist and writer Harlan Hubbard at the house for nearly a decade before his death in 1988 at age 88. Paul talked to me about Harlan…
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Things afoot in Louisville while you are drinking your morning coffee
Things afoot in Louisville down by the river while you are still drinking your morning coffee. #OhioRiver #Riverfront #Louisville #Kentucky
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Little-known facts about Louisville, Kentucky
Little-known facts: Louisville, Kentucky has more bridges than Hamburg, Germany (4,048) and is often called the Versailles of the Ohio River. Louisville has more plumbers per capita (1 out of every 100) than any other city in the Western hemisphere. #Dennis #Venice #Louisville #OhioRiver #Kentucky
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See you in Louisville at an artist talk and closing reception
See you in Louisville. Join us for an artist talk on Thursday 1 Aug at 7pm at Endless Summer Paddle and Coffee and/or the closing reception of our Portland Museum exhibition on Saturday 3 Aug at noon to 4pm. #exhibition #artshow #artisttalk #kentucky #ohioriver #louisville
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We call it a Mitch McConnell or a Redneck Russian
We call it a Mitch McConnell or a Redneck Russian, bourbon fire whiskey, homemade Kahlúa, and cream. Here at the end of the trip, our bar stocks are diminished and we have to get creative. #mixeddrinks #cocktails #mixingpoliticsandcocktails
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After the river was cleaned up areas that would be unthinkable real estate investments became desirable
After the river was cleaned up in the 1970s, areas that would be unthinkable real estate investments became desirable locations. As riverside houses, condos, marinas, and parks were built they displaced folks (often poor people and people of color) who’d made the river their homes for generations. #ohioriver #gentrification #displacement #condos
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Interviewing Paul Hassfurder at Payne Hollow surrounded by butterflies
Interviewing Paul Hassfurder at Payne Hollow surrounded by butterflies. #ohioriver #paynehollow #interview #harlanhubbard #harlanandannahubbard #butterfly
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Flowers from the lower garden at Payne Hollow
Flowers from the lower garden at Payne Hollow #flowers #ohioriver #paynehollow #harlanhubbard
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Great to spend a few days with Paul Hassfurder who is carrying on Anna and Harlan Hubbard’s legacy at Payne Hollow
Great to spend a few days with Paul Hassfurder who is carrying on Anna and Harlan Hubbard’s legacy at Payne Hollow. The house is unspeakably beautiful, simple, efficient, and clever. Paul is a gracious and generous host in the Hubbard’s tradition and dearly loves the magic of the old homestead. We talked for hours and…
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The charming streets of Madison, Indiana
The charming streets of Madison Indiana on an overcast morning. and it’s true that everyone in southern Indiana goes to Madison to vacation, but it still doesn’t feel touristy. #Madison #OhioRiver #Indiana #SouthernIndiana
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We met the American Queen again near Madison, Indiana
We met the American Queen again near Madison, Indiana. This was sent to us from a fan. #sternwheeler #shantyboat #playingchicken
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Welcoming committee in Carrollton, Ky
Yesterday as we passed Carrollton, Ky. a crowd who’d been waiting for the arrival of the shantyboat gathered to welcome us and entice us shoreward. But we had had a very social morning in Warsaw and needed to anchor out and get some quiet time. We headed up the Kentucky River upon whose shores many…
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Harlan Hubbard’s Studio and Prints
If you read Shantyboat, you know that Harlan Hubbard build a house and later a studio that he and Anna lived in before they built their shantyboat. We got a tour of Harlan Hubbard’s house and studio in Fort Thomas, Ky. Also, we had a chance to peruse a large collection of prints re-struck from…
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Good homes will be furnished these helpless children
While we were in new Richmond, Ohio, I interviewed Beth Dearwester who told me about several generations of her family who lived aboard a shantyboat in a shantytown at the mouth of Mill Creek in Cincinnati and were considered disreputable riffraff, occasionally charged with fighting, petty theft, and “loitering.” It was common place for children…
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People ask us all the time, “What do you eat?”
People ask us all the time, “What do you eat?” We eat extraordinarily well aboard the shantyboat. Today an Egg McBenzy, a bagel sammich with cream cheese, eggs, bacon, and strong coffee. #breakfast #bestmealoftheday #Shantyboat #food meals
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A sad goodbye
Today we dropped Age at Aurora, Indiana where he headed for his plane back to New Zealand. He served as shipmate for three weeks on this trip and we are sad to see him go. #shipmate #ohioriver #indiana
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The green rolling lawns of Warsaw, Kentucky and an unexpected encounter
The green rolling lawns of Warsaw, Kentucky. As we came near the public docks, we saw a figure running full tilt down the hill, jumping over picnic benches, pounding onto the docks, right to the water’s edge and yelled to us, “Where’d you get one a them thangs?” #kentucky #ohioriver #warsaw
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Skipper Benzy going hard in rough water
Skipper Benzy going hard in rough water #ohioriver #roughwater
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Rising Sun, Indiana
A few things: I used to live in Indiana 25 years ago so it is nice and a little strange to be back and hear the cadence of Southern Indiana and feel the particular way air feels on a summer day. In Rising Sun, people met us at the dock and knew us by name…
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On the shantyboat Dotty, even the captain swabs the deck
On the shantyboat Dotty, even the captain swabs the deck. #swabbies #shantyboat #mud
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Hmm. Unexpected engine trouble strands us in a backwater
Hmm. Unexpected engine trouble strands us in a backwater. After some troubleshooting, fixed. #EngineTrouble #OhioRiver
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Ordinary scenes from shantyboat living
Ordinary scenes from shantyboat living: a bath in the river, making eggplant and green tomato Parmesan, and doing dishes. #shantyboat #whatdoyoueat #eggplantparm
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Shantyboat on the Great Miami
Shantyboat on the Great Miami River under a train bridge. #shantyboat #trainbridge #greatmiamiriver #sunset
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Cincinnati’s Roebling Bridge
If you noticed that it looks similar to the Brooklyn Bridge, any Cincinnatian will happily tell you that it was designed by the same person, preceded the Brooklyn Bridge, and its design helped perfect the latter. #Cincinnati #OhioRiverBrooklyn #BrooklynBridge #Bridge
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Mystery ship slowly working its way beneath the waves
Mystery ship slowly working its way beneath the waves of the Ohio River #ohioriver #wreck #sunkenship #concinnati
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Again way to go, Cinci, direct access to the river
Again way to go, Cinci, providing direct access for folks to sit right near the river right downtown. No fences, just steps right to the water. #Cincinnati #OhioRiver
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Bar One on a very very short tired bar crawl, O’Malley’s in the Alley
Bar One on a very very short tired bar crawl, O’Malley’s in the Alley. #Cincinnati #BarCrawl #Cincinnati
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Way to use the riverside, Cinci
Way to use the riverside, Cinci. I wonder what was here before the swanky riverfront park and the ball park. #Ohio #OhioRiver #Riverside #Riverfront
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Cincinnati’s purple people eater bridge, a former street car, pedestrian, and wagon bridge
Cincinnati’s purple people eater bridge, a former street car, pedestrian, and wagon bridge, now turned into a pedestrian bridge and event space. #RustBelt #PostIndustrial #UrbanInnovation #Cincinnati #OhioRiver
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What’s up Cincinnati? We are in you
What’s up Cincinnati? We are in you. #OhioRiver #Shantyboat #Hooters #Skyline #Bridges #Cincinnati
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The Little Miami and the treasure it yields
The Little Miami and the treasure it yields. We imagine there is an old eroded dump somewhere upstream depositing old porcelain and glass bottles into the stream. #LittleMiami #Treasures #Seaglass
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Age on watch as we carefully explore the Little Miami River
Age on watch as we carefully explore the Little Miami River. #OhioRiver #Tributary #LittleMiamiRiver #Cincinnati
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Age messing about in the jonboat while we are anchored
Age fooling around in the jonboat while we are anchored in an inlet. #shantyboat #johnboat #jonboat
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Like an Edward Hopper painting in real life
Like an Edward Hopper painting in real life. #lifemirrorsartmirrorslife #edwardhopper #powerplabt #ohioriver
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The entire crew of the shantyboat Dotty for a few hours
The entire crew of the shantyboat Dotty for a few hours. Soon Jeremiah was to head off to his flight out. #shipmates #crew #shantyboat
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Benzy having a dude seriously with Squirlsey
Benzy having a dude seriously with Squirlsey, who she hasn’t seen since the start of the journey. #reunion #dudesrsly #shipmates #shantyboat
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Join us for an open house in New Richmond, Ohio at Skipper‘s River Café
Today, we will be hosting an open house in New Richmond, Ohio at Skipper‘s River Café. Please join us 4pm to 8pm. #OpenHouse #OpenBoat #OhioRiver #Ohio #NewRichmond #Exhibition
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What happens when you buy exotic vegetables in rural Ohio?
What happens when you buy exotic vegetables in rural Ohio? This Super Kroger had virtually every food known to humans. But our sweet checkout clerk had never seen nor tasted Japanese eggplant. I gave her the recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. #ExoticVegetables #CaliforniansInTheMidwest #AvocadoToast #Eggplant #FruitsAndVeg
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Shipmate Benzy arrives in Cincinnati
Shipmate Benzy arrives in Cincinnati to join us in New Richmond #cincy #cincinnati #shipmate #arrivals
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The Seven Wonders of Portsmouth
Post by honorary shipmate Andrew Feight Shanty Dotty on the Ohio, tied up at the Anchor Pad in Portsmouth, Ohio (18 July 2019). Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting for an interview with Wes Modes. Funded with a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, Wes and his two shipmates (production assistants) are…
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It’s noon somewhere. Jeremiah and I hit the river
It’s noon somewhere. Jeremiah and I hit the river in the shantyboat while Age takes the truck to meet us in New Richmond. #OhioRiver #BreakfastBourbon #Logistics #Winter #Ohio #Whiskey
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Reading time from Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow
Reading time from Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow dangling my feet in the river while Age casts fruitlessly in the dusk while the frogs and crickets provide the soundtrack. #harlanhubbard #paynehollow #shantyboat