Wes Modes
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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
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Ghost sign in Augusta, Ky. What is Polarine anyway?
Ghost sign in Augusta, Ky. What is Polarine anyway? Our friend Sally Baldwin answered our question. #ghostsign #ohioriver #augusta #kentucky Ghost sign in Augusta, Ky. What is Polarine anyway? #ghostsign #ohioriver #augusta #kentucky
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Shantyboat Dotty arrives in Augusta, Kentucky
Shantyboat Dotty arrives in Augusta, Kentucky. #shantyboat #kentucky #ohioriver #augusta
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Scenes from around Ripley, Ohio
Scenes from around Ripley, Ohio The Beebe Chapel CME Church whose pastor Rev. James Settles is the great-grandson of ex-slave, courageous Underground Railroad conductor, and church founder Joseph Settles. #ohioriver #ripley #ohio #slavery #church #undergroundrailroad #abolishion #emancipation #ruins
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Shipmate Jeremiah offers a sharp salute as he steps ashore
Shipmate Jeremiah offers a sharp salute as he steps ashore on an important mission to retrieve the truck far upriver. #mission #shipmate
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Storm coming in at Ripley Boat Club
Storm coming in at Ripley Boat Club #storm #ohioriver #thunderstorm
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The sprawling discussion with Andrew Feight, professor of history at Shawnee State
I had a chance to interview Andrew Feight, professor of history at Shawnee State University. We had a sprawling discussion about the nature of history, who gets to tell it, and whose history gets told. We also talked about Portsmouth history, its role in the Underground Railroad, labor history, and integration, the Shawnee people who…
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The charming and colorful George Hausser
I interviewed the charming and colorful George Hausser while we were in Marietta, Ohio. What does a 14-year-old shantyboat kid say to a townie kid who attempts to bum a cigarette? #Interview #OhioRiver #Marietta #BummedCigarette #BallSweat
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Squirlsey riding out rough seas on the Ohio River
Squirlsey riding out rough seas on the Ohio River. #squirrel #shantyboat #harlemprotocol
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Jeremiah at the helm and the Kentucky hills in the distance
Jeremiah at the helm and the Kentucky hills in the distance downriver. #blindcontour #singlelinecontour #ohioriver #drawing #shantyboat
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A reminder of what happens if you’re not ready for the river to drop
A reminder of what happens if you’re not ready when they lower the water level in the pool. Age and I have had a couple close calls while beached, one in the middle of the night on the Tennessee River that involved digging a channel for the boat, full power reverse, and pulling violently with…
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We are underway again, and the river landscape has changed dramatically
After nearly a week in Portsmith, we are underway again, and the river landscape has changed dramatically. The exposed sandy riverbanks dotted with silver maple, sycamore, cottonwood, and black willow rise to meet an endless plain of corn that roll away to distant green hills. #OhioRiver #SouthernOhio
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A Pub Crawl in Portsmouth
So we went to Kroger to do a little supply run in Portsmouth before we leave tomorrow morn. A hot hot day and we wanted to make the mile walk back to the shantyboat more interesting. A bar crawl! So picture us in each of these bars with three heavy grocery bags and Hazel around…
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Every morning while we are on the river, we put together a daily newsletter that bundles up everything you might have missed that day. Sign up and we’ll keep you up to date on the people we meet, places we drift through, crises, and bar crawls. We will jealously guard your privacy and won’t do…
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Further scenes from Portsmouth Ohio
Further scenes from Portsmouth Ohio #OhioRiver #SmallTown #Portsmouth #Walkabout
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Apparently it rains in Southern Ohio
Apparently it rains in Southern Ohio. 10 minutes later it was sunny and we were drying out #rainstorm #shantyboat #ohioriver #southernohio #rain
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Looking at Portsmouth history through flood wall murals
Amazing flood wall murals in Portsmouth by renowned Louisiana artist Robert Dafford A great look back at Portsmouth history. My only disappointment was that with all of Portsmouth abolitionist and Underground Railroad History, there were no murals reflecting that proud tradition. #FloodWall #Murals #PublicArt #OhioRiver #Portsmouth
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Tuesday Farmers Market in Portsmouth
Tuesday Farmers Market in Portsmouth #farmersmarket #ohioriver #portsmouth
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Gallipolis Daily Tribune: Shantyboaters seek river people secrets
Gallipolis Daily Tribuneby Dean Wright GALLIPOLIS — A trio of shantyboaters landed in Gallipolis Tuesday to speak with locals about the life and culture of the region as they continued a journey from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and on through Louisville, Kentucky, on the Ohio River. Jeremiah Daniels, Wes Modes and Adrian Nankivell are three companions floating…
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Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into dinner
Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into dinner. There IS a danger of PCB and mercury in Ohio river fish. The fish and game folk suggest limiting your consumption. Somewhere between one a week and one a month. This is the result of a century of chemical pollution on the Ohio River…
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Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart
Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart. #OhioRiver #Portsmouth #AwesomeMarina #BorrowedGolfCart #Shantyboat
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People ask us all the time
People ask all the time #Pooping #BucketShitter #CompostingToilet #Shantyboat #ArtGallery
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Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth
Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth ? #SundayMorning #Walkabout #StreetScenes #SmallTown #OhioRiver #RainbowFlag
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In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinnati
In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinnati. He wrote that he scavenged 12×3 timbers from a building being demoed to build the hull of the boat. A common building style in the area that I’ve noticed is 12×3 floor joists set into the brick on…
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When the captain’s away, the mice will play
Here is what happens on the shantyboat when the captain is away. Sunday shantyboat cleaning! #Shantyboat #SundayCleaning #TimeLapse
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The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty?
The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty? #shantyboat #marina #ohioriver #ohio
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Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river?
Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river? Historically, the smelly, polluted river would not be a desirable location and there would have been shantyboats along these banks full of people at the fringes of society. #displacement #wealth #fringe #gentrification #cleanwater #ohioriver
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Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something
Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something near Greenup, Kentucky. #derelict #kentucky #ohioriver #boats
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People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River
People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River #ohioriver #swimming #underwear
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Nancy tracked us down in Ironton, Ohio
Judy, Karen, and Nancy Buell who you may remember from her story about her family’s shantyboat tracked us down in Ironton, Ohio and regaled us with banjo tunes and stories. #ohioriver #familystories #shantyboat
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Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we stop
Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we stop. #ohioriver #smalltown
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Clutch MOV: A Secret History of American River People
Clutch MOVby Sarah Arnold Though once abundant along the shores of the Ohio River, shantyboats are no longer a common sight. These small, crude houseboats were often built and lived in by itinerant workers, miners, dockworkers, and displaced agricultural workers during the late 19th century and into the 1940s, but largely disappeared from river life after…
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Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River.
Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River. #ohioriver #huntington #sunset #shantyboat
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Bill Martin is the dockmaster at Gallipolis
Bill Martin is the dockmaster at the excellent Gallipolis Boat Club. He treated us with hospitality, generosity and humor. #boatclub #OhioRiver #gallipolis #generosity
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Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton of the John Gee Black History Center
Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton who told us about her family and Black history in Gallipolis, segregation, the color line dividing town, her work on civil rights, and the John Gee Black History Center. She took on on a tour of the Pine St Colored Cemetery and other important locations to Black history. #blackhistory…
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Important business in Gallipolis
Important business in Gallipolis. #BeBest #MilwaukeesBest #DockLyfe
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Look who joined us here in Gallipolis
Look who joined us here in Gallipolis! Here on his sixth Secret History river journey, please welcome Jeremiah! #everyone #shipmate #allriver
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Remo’s Dogs
Everyone we met in Gallipolis told us Remo’s had the best dogs in the area. A humble little place where many of the people in this little town stop in for lunch. Rob Rocchi, the owner, already knows your order from last time. The secret, he says, is the sauce that is his Grandma’s recipe. …
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Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous welcoming people
Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous welcoming people. When we pull in unannounced, uninvited to the Gallipolis Boat Club, Bill greets us at the dock: “Do you need gas? Dock anywhere is fine. Need electricity? Need water? Use our showers! Here’s some beer couzies, Gallipolis Boat Club windbreakers, A list of…
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American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River and a Mystery
American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River. Researching how clean these coal-fired power plants are lead me to another less straight-forward story. Try googling “modern coal power plants pollution.” Your first half dozen hits will be the Institute for Energy Research whose optimistic outlook is featured in a google sidebar: Modern coal plants,…
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Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha River
Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha River #horizontalfishing #ohioriver #latergram
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The Incident
The Incident. All agreed, mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. But at least our bilge is now very clean and, after a little work, dry. #shantyboat #mistakeweremade #bilgewater
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Reminder that this is very much an industrial river.
Reminder that this is very much an industrial river. #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #WestVirginia #Industry
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Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Ohio
Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Ohio at Ravenswood #shantyboat #swimming #rainshower #thunderstorm #ohioriver
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Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick
Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick #swimmers #ohioriver #shantyboat #railroadbridge
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Trouble with tows on the Ohio River
Tows on the Ohio River. People ask us all the time if tows give us any trouble. Nope. Tow skippers are some of the most professional people on the river. #tows #tugboat #towboats #ohioriver
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A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the Ohio River. Despite everyone upstream promising us apocalyptic weather.
A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the Ohio River. Despite everyone upstream promising us apocalyptic weather. #ohioriver #shantyboat
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Marietta Times: Shantyboat historian spends time in Marietta
“It is so cool to be in that space, gathering that storytelling,” she said. “I knew a tiny bit about it before this, from the exhibit at the Ohio River Museum. It makes you realize that the river at one time was just thick with boats like that.”
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Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the shantyboat
Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the shantyboat. Water quality experts tell us that the return of mayflies on many rivers is a good sign. Way to go Little Kanawha River. Age told me that this was his art installation that he’d worked all night on. #mayflies #ohioriver #littlekanawhariver #shantyboat
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Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River.
Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River. #shantyboat #parkersburg #ohioriver
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Why Marietta endures inevitable floods
Several people told us that Marietta has never seriously considered a levee because it would separate the town and its people from its river roots. People understand that floods come with the territory if you want to live in a river town. “We deal with it and move on.” A sensible approach considering how often…
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Marietta’s Steamboat Landing
Marietta maintains a sternwheeler landing on the Ohio riverfront where historically and currently passenger steamers nose up to the landing and lower their gangplanks for passengers to deboard. Marietta also hosts the annual Ohio River Sternwheel Festival and hosts the W.P.Snyder Jr.; a historic coal-fired sternwheel towboat. #ohioriver #muskingumriver #marietta #sternwheeler
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Pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project at Marietta’s First Friday
Open house and pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project during Marietta’s First Friday. #OpenHouse #Exhibition #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #Marietta
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“Go with the flow” a button made by my new 10 year old friend Iris
“Go with the flow” a button made by my new 10 year old friend Iris who had many many questions about shantyboat living. #kidphilosophy #shantyboat #madebykids #openhouse #buttons
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Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta
Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta during First Friday. #shantyboat #openhouse #exhibition #firstfriday @mariettamainstreet
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Full house(boat) in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown ups, and grown ups excited as kids
Full house(boat) at First Friday in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown ups, and grown ups excited as kids asked one million questions about the shantyboat and about the Secret History project. Thanks to @mariettaadventurecompany, @justajar, @clutchmov, @rtafest @mariettamainstreet, and @mariettaharbor for making it happen. #shantyboat #exhibition #openhouse #ohioriver #muskingumrive
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OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on First Friday in Marietta OH.
OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on First Friday in Marietta OH. #ohioriver #bluegrass #ohio #muskingumriver
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The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at the Marietta waterfront
The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at the Marietta waterfront #Sternwheeler #MuskingumRiver #OhioRiver #shantyboat #excursion