Perhaps you saw it on your social media, but the letters WKRP, for the first time ever, live in Cincinnati.

Formerly known as WOXY, “The Oasis” is now WKRP, broadcasting on 106.7 FM, 94.5 FM, and 97.7 FM. These smaller transmitters carry the same programming, covering an area from Northern Kentucky to Dayton.

You may remember 97X from the movie Rain Man.

The new call sign debuted yesterday and the locally owned non-iHeart station has its own WKRP-style and flavor with homages to the show. Apparently, in the early morning hours they streamed the WKRP song nonstop to celebrate. (Reminding me of WENZ playing It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. on repeat until they changed format.)

This was the noon hour yesterday.

Want to hear Andy Travis (Gary Sandy)? He’s doing promos. Les Nessman? Actor Richard Sanders told the Associated Press:

“I have spoken with Les Nessman regarding the resurrection of WKRP in Cincinnati. After the failure of his dream to replace Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News, he is hopeful that he can resume his duties as the News, Sports, Weather, Traffic, and Farm Report Director at WKRP.

“I think we can all hope that WKRP Radio will return to the airwaves with more music and Les Nessman.”

Owner Jeff Ziesmann told WVXU: “The presentation will be a tribute to the TV show — not a parody of a 40-year-old TV show that aired for only four years… For us, WKRP is more of an attitude.”

And yes, you can stream it and live on the air, up and down the dial, in Cincinnati, from wherever you are.

But if you’re in the tri-state, here’s a map so you know where to tune in.

If I won Powerball, I’d probably open up a Cassano’s franchise in an old Frisch’s and go full retro. Tavern-style pizza is probably my favorite of all time, dating back to childhood visits to Piqua and Sidney to visit my grandparents. Very much associated with Dayton, Ohio and neighboring Indiana, I went to a different Dayton to try out some new ‘za.

Dayton, Kentucky, to be precise. Why? Because Carmelo’s, recently ranked #2 in new restaurants by USA TODAY, did a collab with a neighborhood pizza joint I’ve long wanted to try.

You may remember Carmelo’s because my wife and I went there on date night last year. I did a post on it, and if you haven’t been, you must. The oxtail ragu? Amazing. Better than the oxtail ragu I had in Rome in November.

By a country mile.

So with that endorsement, imagine putting it on your favorite pizza style? Because that’s what Wayfarer and Carmelo’s did. But just this week.

Behold:

Here’s the story from the collaboration post:

This Carmelo’s x Wayfarer Collab is more than just two newer Northern Kentucky Restaurants bringing the best of what they do together to make a pizza that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Would you believe this story starts more that a decade ago in the mountains of Đà Lạt and on the streets of Saigon & Nha Trang in Vietnam? Brought together by our great friends Bao & Duy Nguyen and the Lang Thang Group, Billy Grise of Carmelo’s and Mike Dew of Wayfarer Tavern once were partners together in the restaurant group, where they took an amazing immersive trip all around Southern Vietnam. Now, years later after many twists and turns, we’re able to work together again - along with our talented culinary teams - to drop this awesome collaboration pizza.

This week’s pizza is a bold and savory combo of Carmelo’s sensational braised Oxtail & Osso Buco Ragu, Pecorino Toscano cheese, Black Pepper, with Wayfarer Tavern’s 5 Cheese Blend, House-made Red Sauce and Fines Herbs to tie it all together. It’s the perfect combo to pair with one of our excellent red wine selections (we’re particularly excited about a new Rosso di Montalcino launching this week 👀) and to shake off what we hope are the last chilly days of winter.

Of course I had to try it. And if you want to, too, you have until March 8th… unless this collaboration comes back or is made permanent, which, logistically isn’t likely or feasible. But after this taste test, I would love to see it come back seasonally at least.

Whether or not it ever returns, it’s a pizza that instantly made it to my top 10 pizzas ever consumed. And now I know I won’t have to drive all the way to Dayton, Ohio to get a great tavern-style pizza. Between St. Francis Apizza and Wayfarer’s, it’s never more than 15-20 minutes away.

This headline was a trick question. All casinos are depressing. The question that has been bugging me over the 16 months we’ve lived here is: just how depressing are these casinos?

Today, I endeavored to find out. My wife and girls are out of town, so this rainy day was the perfect opportunity to lose some money. I am not a gambler, so this was more a mission to scratch the itch of curiosity.

The first stop was nearby Belterra Park, which bills itself as “A Cincy Kind of Place.” Whatever that means. My grandparents, who lived up I-75, would gamble at Belterra, though I think it was likely the one in Florence, Indiana given when they died.

I’ve driven by it probably 300 times in my life, George Clooney once worked there at River Downs race track and lived above a bar.

He recounts in Interview that this inspired his role for “Uncle Charlie” in Ocean’s Eleven.

I had an Uncle George. I was named after him. He was my dad’s uncle, so he was actually my great uncle, but he was only a couple of years older than my dad. In the summers when I was around the same age as J.R. 5 at the same time the movie is set, I would work at River Downs racetrack in Cincinnati, and I lived above a bar exactly like the one in the movie with my Uncle George. So all of that was really familiar to me.

…

Listen, my Uncle George was in many ways a cautionary tale. He was a B-17 bomber pilot hero in World War II. He dated Miss America. He was my Aunt Rosemary’s band manager. I mean, he was the shit, and he was also a terrible alcoholic. He was one of the funniest men I ever knew, but when he was drunk, which was often, he was terrible. He was vicious and mean and had none of the qualities of the Uncle Charlie character. But you’re a writer, and you know that when you have fully fleshed-out characters, everything about telling a story gets easier.

That bar was the City View Tavern in Mt. Adams, which I have yet to patronize, but is for sale, as its owners decided to announce their retirement.

It was a fine, small-ish casino, owned by Boyd Gaming, which owns the Ameristar in Saint Charles, MO, among others. I definitely hit the Ameristar on my 21st birthday.

River Downs also had a barn fire in 1978 that resulted in the death of 33 horses. My cousins, who lived in Anderson Township before I was born, experienced the ash, which came down all around Mt. Washington and Anderson Township, the size of dinner plates my cousin Kathy recalls.

If you want to read the whole article, you can do so below:

May 20, 1978 (page 42 Of 52)

545KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

The restaurants looked nice, as did the sportsbook. Though, I wasn’t prepared to spend any money on my 14-1 Billikens today, though I was confident they’d win, I didn’t want to have to return to collect my winnings.

But I wasn’t there to eat. I was saving that for the Hard Rock, as my family loves this chain and dines there routinely on family trips. We ate at the Hard Rock in Rome across from the U.S. Embassy for the 3rd time in 25 years if that gives you a sense of how much we have visited Hard Rocks over the years. I have the glassware to prove it!

I think I’ll go back when the horses are running and try it again. I lost $10 on the slots fairly quickly. But I did get a free Dr. Pepper.

Off to the Hard Rock, by way of Kentucky, I passed by the Hamilton County detention center, the county’s most densely populated parcel. (A fact I picked up from Cincinnati in 50 Maps, a great new book by Nick Swartsell and Andy Woodruff.)

I had mentally prepared to lose some money at the Hard Rock, knowing that its musical history and attractions would likely keep me there for a while.

I appreciated the Ohio-focus of some of the exhibits, from The Raspberries, Trent Reznor, Mark Mothersbaugh, DEVO, and Bootsy Collins, among other exhibits with famous rockers.

The Hard Rock is more of a full casino than Belterra, complete with a prize shop for adults (which included Citizen and Bulova watches), a sportsbook, some higher-end restaurants, and two smoking lounges.

As it was my first time there, I got a $25 credit for slots and because I was in a chatty mood, the guest services people gave me a $20 food voucher. Perhaps to shut up or perhaps because I was excited to be able to get a Hard Rock burger and some fries. We’ll never know.

Immediately, I am up $45* in credits. I play $10 in slots and lose and meander over to the restaurant for the burger. It’s great, but the fries? Not the signature seasoned fries. Sad, but free.

After my free burger, I went and kept playing until I ran out of money. I had $.56 left, and then thought, what the heck and threw $10 into the machine.

My first pull on that earned me a BAR-BAR-BAR and $30, netting me a payout of $37 (so a gain of $27). I immediately cashed out and left for Ohio Books.

But not before enjoying the last bits of rock history near the parking garage.

I got lunch at Arnold’s shortly after moving here with a friend but it was too cold and snowy that day so I skipped out on Ohio Books. I was glad to finally have some time to enjoy it.

I could have spent the afternoon there, but left with a few books for myself and as gifts, and I really had to resist stocking up on old documents like this one:

Or old LIFE magazines like this:

Or old local newspapers:

Three floors (and a balcony) of aged goodness.

Oh, and I discovered “Swift Alley” which is one of Cincinnati’s old-school downtown service lanes, dating back to the 1860s.

So, were the casinos depressing? Not as much as I would have guessed. Not so much where if a visitor said “let’s go to the casino” I’d have to discourage it.

So before you take umbrage with my #coldtake here, I’m judging based on this August 2024 to today: The City of Cincinnati does snow removal pretty well!

Today’s snow was nothing. This is a low bar for a functioning Big-C City. Their tracking software is great… on a computer, but not a phone.

I remain impressed with the 311 app. I’ve reported potholes and partially downed signs, kicked over trash cans on corners (by unwell people), and red light outages. All quickly fixed, some within less than 24 hours.

Sure, you’ll see videos like this and go “huh?” but based on what I see, which is limited, I give the city good marks… so far. We’ll see about this weekend!

PIZZA UPDATE:

We’re not going to talk about Dave Portnoy, who discovered St. Francis Apizza is good. But we are going to talk about two pizza-related developments in Mt. Washington:

1.) Angilo’s is back open again. After its owner died in 2024, it briefly reopened under new ownership but that failed. It has new ownership under Munish Sood (it appears) and in addition to the regular menu, some Indian flavors! Haven’t checked it out yet, but plan to.

2.) LaRosa’s and Big Ash Brewing got married… Sorta… I noticed a “COMING SOON” sign advertising LaRosa’s Tap House and was curious: what’s gonna happen to Big Ash Brewing?

And here’s the explanation from Big Ash: Their building got bought out from under them by LaRosa’s, and rather than push them out, they struck up a partnership.

I think that’s a good outcome. LaRosa’s pizza is not such that, unless you grew up with a certain location, you’re gonna be driving across town for the atmospherics of a different LaRosa’s. I am curious if/how it will impact the Mt. Washington LaRosa’s, given that some stores are franchised. I don’t think that one is.

The water tower lighting remains magnificent.

The Mad Magazine Exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum is Great.

Go see it. It’s $12 if you’re not a member, and it’s there until March. I’m a former reader and a sucker for print. Where else can you see a Norman Rockwell next to an historic parody?

It was also neat to see work from the great Tom Richmond, who drew a caricature of me at the 2012 DNC Convention CNN Grill.

Speaking of self-serving references, I did write an op-ed in The Cincinnati Enquirer replying to what I thought was a dumb letter from a local Republican about the city’s elections and Democratic blowout.

And I also joined my friend Phil Heimlich for a Sanity Check. We talk a little bit about the Queen City.

Lastly: The Kosho School of Karate modernized its sign panels. I don’t like it. The old one was fine, but I guess there are reasons and I’m not here to doubt. I am glad they kept the diamond-panel marquee style. It’s classic.

Shame. While I am not optimistic that Frisch’s is going to be bringing back much in the way of former locations, we’ll see. Whatever your side, if you had one, I think we can all agree that fewer Big Boy-style restaurants, on net, is bad for the region.

Their last day is tomorrow. Maybe now they’ll sell me some Big Boy Seasoning?

Let’s get off food for a bit and go to music.

As I drive around, I do love discovering terrestrial radio stations. And, given the topography… it can be hard!

While there’s something of a dearth of true local news radio here—nothing quite like WTOP—the NPR affiliates are solid, and WLW does fine for sports and top-of-the-hour updates, but little else… I’ve got to admit: as much as I love WGRR’s music selection, the ads make it impossible to listen with my kids in the car.

I’m not a prude! But between the boner ads and the tongue-in-cheek “Big Lou” insurance spots with winking innuendo, I find myself reaching for the dial before my kids start asking questions. Maybe I’m just not the target demo—which seems to be divorced, fifty-something men.

So lately I’ve been turning more and more to SiriusXM, my own streaming library, and longtime favorites like BBC’s 6 Music. The only catch? While 6 Music is easy to stream in my home office, there’s still no simple way to take it on the road.

Luckily, I’ve discovered a great locally-run streaming radio station, and entirely by accident: BlackFork Radio.

I was at the Mercantile Library and discovered a stack of stickers near the checkout and elevator bank. I asked Cedric Rose, the Librarian/Collector there, “what’s the deal with these?” I was curious if they were left by a member. A recent event at the library had a patron leave the stickers and mission accomplished: I immediately went home and gave it a try.

A day later after a few hours of listening, the sticker was on my daily notebook and the app on my phone.

So what does BlackFork play? “Real music, performed by real musicians, using real instruments, and singing with their real voices.”

Their app listing describes the sound as “an eclectic blend of melodies, harmonies, rhythms, cultures, confessionals, tall tales, and time travel that may result in various emotional or psychological states.” It’s an apt description. The app itself is slick, intuitive, and—unlike the hassle of firing up 6 Music—easy enough that I now stream it over Bluetooth for local drives.

Looking at my playlist, I now have a bunch of artists I’d never heard of (Labi Siffre, Clairo, Jim Trace and the Makers, David Rhodes Brown) and others I’d rarely listened to (Canned Heat, Los Lobos, among them).

BlackFork Radio quickly became one of my daily listens, so I set out to meet its founder, Robert Fugate, who happens to live nearby in Mt. Washington. We met for coffee at Luckman’s so I could learn more about him and his operation.

As you might imagine, a digital streaming station that runs only house ads isn’t exactly a money-maker—at least not yet. But Rob isn’t looking to burn cash. He has plans to turn this beautifully executed passion project into a sustainable business.

A native of Shelby—Cleveland Indians country—he noticed my 2025 Guardians playoffs hat (RIP). His day job as an audio engineer sometimes brings him to Great American Ball Park to work with the Reds, and he’s called Cincinnati home for about 25 years.

He runs front-of-house sound for Over the Rhine and musician Philip Myers and his eight-piece band. He’s also the founder of Mind Ignition, a boutique audio, video, and event production company.

BlackFork launched in 2023. Beyond hosting costs and app development, one of Rob’s biggest expenses is paying artists. As someone deeply rooted in the music scene, he’s committed to making sure musicians get compensated. Blanket licenses from groups like ASCAP are costly, so he hopes to offset those through a related venture, BlackFork Adventures—a kind of bucket-list music travel company offering trips to places like Ireland, the Netherlands, and Woodstock.

What he doesn’t plan to change is the price of listening: free. Rob wants BlackFork to stay free.

He also filled me in on Cincinnati’s rich music ecosystem. Working with Over the Rhine, especially at their magical Martinsville home venue—the Barn Loft at Nowhere Else—has been, as he puts it, “life-changing.”

While I knew about Bootsy Collins (who doesn’t?), Rob deepened my appreciation for King Records—a cornerstone of Cincinnati’s music heritage that the city, sadly, once held at arm’s length. It’s hard not to see racism’s shadow there.

Still, others like Collins are preserving that legacy. Out in Loveland, Rob told me about Colemine Records, a label built on the ethos of “making cool records, working with cool people, being kind.” What began as a fictional label for a CD release grew into a real thing. I don’t own a record player—and given my hobbies, I probably shouldn’t start another collection—but I’m sold on checking out Colemine next time I’m in Loveland.

Our conversation eventually drifts from music to Cincinnati’s food and venue scene. A few new items land on my local to-do list: visit Camp Springs Tavern and try Fratelli’s Pizza.

It was nice to put a face with the name I hear when I tune into BlackFork Radio. If you want a friendly guide to introduce you to some great music, much of it local, Rob Fugate is a damn good guide and good guy to boot. And if you want some of his cool stickers, email him and he’ll send you a few.

Growing up in Cleveland, we have our own takes, but as a kid in Shaker, Donato’s was my jam. It was less a chain then, before the period of McDonald’s ownership (1999-2004), and had a more parlor-y feel. People would eat in, it was more home-y and less corporate and bland. I never see the Donato’s on Beechmont crowded inside.

When I’d visit my grandparents on this side of the state, Cassano’s was the Pizza King, and while similar to Donato’s, there are some distinct differences between “Columbus style” and “Dayton style.” If you’re wondering, while both are tavern style, Donato’s slices tend to be bigger, and Dayton style is often crispier, has less cheese, and the sauce is less sweet and saltier.

I like Donato’s so much that I would order it from Red Robin (where if you’re outside of Donato’s service area, you can order from them, too!) back when we lived in Northern Virginia. There were some great local options, like Padrino’s, but the biggest and best of the local chains, Ledo Pizza, wasn’t really big in Woodbridge. Shame.

Having lived here a year, I figured I should share some of my thoughts on pizza after having Saint Francis Apizza this weekend.

Let’s go over some of the local options:

LaRosa’s

Not having grown up here, I like LaRosa’s and appreciate its history and longstanding civic ties. Multiple people have told me the LaRosa’s are better on the east side. I have no idea if that’s true, but ones in Mariemont, Eastgate, and Mt. Washington have all served reliably good pies. My kids and I love it, but it suffers in the “reheatable in a way that pleases everyone” category. I’m less picky, but fresh? Give me LaRosa’s any day.

The Buddy Card concept is great, but I’m too afraid to make that leap of commitment, and I am a total joiner. The first time our school corners us about it, or another good cause, I’m sure I’ll get one. LaRosa’s is a staple at school events, but not the official cafeteria pizza. Strange!

The stuffed pizza pie? As somebody who ate the KFC Double Down, I’m open to it, but the billboards and marketing did not sell me. I have yet to try it. Maybe next time.

Ramundo’s

Before I even moved here, friends told me that I had to try Ramundo’s and its NY Style slices. Mt. Washington is home to the second, bigger location of the Mt. Lookout-founded pizzeria.

As they note in their story:

We’re not saying we make the best pizza in the world; that’s a fight that will never be won. However, per our devoted customers, we make the closest thing to New York-Style pizza in Cincinnati.

This is smart marketing. Only rubes believe incredulous marketing, and if you want discerning (usually wealthier) customers, there’s no better way to attract them by being honest. And it is: it’s the closest thing to a New York Slice you can get here.

The sauce? It’s a bit spicier, though they offer a non-spicy version for kids. Mine do not appreciate it, sadly. It’s great, and if you’re nearby for lunch you can get two slices and a Coke Freestyle for $8. Eat your heart out, Sbarro.

The Mount Washington location is also full of lots of bric a brac, which is a nice way of saying “shit on the wall.” Like TGI Friday’s used to be when it had a soul.

Also recommended: Their hot honey pizza.

Mio’s

Now with six locations, this regional chain has been around since 1975, celebrating 50 years. It is my probably my favorite pizza, with an amazing crust and topping options (don’t sleep on the sesame seeds).

I haven’t sat down inside one of the parlors yet, but they do good business and while they have an expansive menu beyond pizza and pizza-related sides, I haven’t tried it.

It is my go-to place, and not just because my kids like it. I just can’t get enough of the crust.

It’s also the first local pizza I had, as the Anderson location served up some pies for the fam as we were house hunting and helping my sister in law move in. Now I can have it whenever I want.

Angilo’s

I don’t have a big track record here with this smaller regional chain with about a dozen locations. There was one in Mt. Washington, and each location is individually owned, so when the owner died before we moved in, it was closed.

It’s right down the street! I was looking forward to having a place so close, even if it was only a carryout place.

After a few months, a pair of brothers from Kentucky (one of whom worked at Xavier in maintenance) made a go of restarting the Mt. Washington Angilo’s. I was ecstatic and immediately tried it. It was good. I’d say sort of a cross between LaRosa’s and Mio’s. Not my favorite, but it was good and I would have supported our Angilo’s and put it in the pizza mix, but… it closed pretty quickly. Not sure as to why.

I still have the magnet on the fridge. RIP.

Saint Francis Apizza

I waited too long to try this pizza. When driving through Hyde Park in our early weeks here, our homesick twins would see it and thought it said “Saint Francis of Pizza” and since our last parish was Saint Francis, I had to correct them. Perhaps not wanting to stoke homesickness, we kept telling ourselves “let’s try this place” and never did. Mistake.

I got there, and frankly, up there with the Fry Rule™ is another truism: Any place that publicly quotes Larry David is not gonna serve you bad food.

The pizza is phenomenal. Upon seeing on Instagram that their second location (sort of like Ramundo’s, which started off as carry out and is now also doing a sit down at location #2), my wife figured we should try it.

Here’s what Keith Pandolfi, who considers it “some of the best in the city – as true New Haven style goes” has to say about it:

Alex Plattner changed the game when he came to Cincinnati from his home state of Minnesota and started a pizza pop-up at Oakley Wines. The pizzas he made were both New York and New Haven-inspired, with a hot, quick bake that yields a crispy and lightly charred crust. In 2021, Plattner opened a brick-and-mortar takeout spot in Hyde Park. Later this year, Plattner will open a sit-down version of St. Francis in the former Red Feather space in Oakley. The toppings are locally sourced whenever possible and include greens from Roothouse Aquaponics, cheese from Urban Stead Cheese and vegan meats and cheeses from Mad Cheese.

We went with a margherita-esque one (to hopefully help them avoid this), a pepperoni, and cheese bread. We also got a salad, takeout Biscoff flavored Gelato from Covington’s Golden Gelato. The twins still have some work to do on this front, but everything was great for the adults.

Friend of the site Jason Cooper also recommends the frozen pizzas, which he reports are often sold at various farmer’s markets. But if you’re near Hyde Park, you can get them right in the store.

Wanna go really behind the scenes? Check out their Substack, and watch this:

What are some places we should try? Sound off in the comments.

I was quick to say “no”—as that is not my trade, but it did cause some introspection. I sure do post a lot of pictures and descriptions of food, but that’s part of this free journey I offer readers as I discover my new hometown. Some of you know me from my day job, others from DC, or from the before times.

But if you really know me, you’d know I could never be a food blogger because I am too picky and understand that I am not representative of an average person.

Always love getting your comments and anecdotes. Keep it up!

Hang Over Easy in Mt. Lookout is a somewhat new entrant, having opened just last month. I’ve driven by it a bunch, usually on weekends when it’s slammed, and always chuckle to myself about the branding: HOE.

The Ohio-based chain has a college-y flair, and other locations are close to various great Ohio schools. This one is a bit different, as Scott McCrary from On The Fly Hospitality told WLWT:

“We’re thrilled to be expanding our presence in Cincinnati, and the location in Mt. Lookout is a perfect opportunity for us to jump into a new part of the community and refresh our brand… With this opening, our team focused on creating a more refined ambiance that aligns with the playfulness of the brand and caters to a different audience than our location in Clifton. This gives us the chance to try some new things and see how it resonates with guests.”

When they’re talking about a refresh for the brand, you can get a sense of what the brand was when it was Nick’s Diner at Ohio State. Seems like a great brand, but also not one you’d take your kids to after mass unless you went to Ohio State or something. The refresh is much more family friendly.

Had I not already decided this was my lunch destination, “The Griddler” advertised on the sandwich board was an enticing option that might have sold me on it alone. Before anyone asks, I did not try the fries. Next time.

Absent the fry test, one can administer the craft pop test. If they have good craft soft drinks, like Cheerwine or Boylan’s, you can usually count on it being pretty good. While I don’t partake anymore, Murph and staff take their craft seriously and their drink menu is impressive.

I wanted to try the fries, but felt brunch-y and went with the Chicken & Waffles:

As you can see, it was a great decision. You could taste the butter in the hot sauce, and the chicken was ample. Good maple syrup to boot, and a friendly staff and fast turnaround. Will definitely be back with family in tow.

I also added a rootbeer float, which was perfect for the end of summer.

Check out their menu here.

1

Ever since I read this review in The Cincinnati Enquirer in late January, I’ve wanted to check out Carmelo’s in Covington.

Why?

I was sold on the Piqua ties.

Co-owner Billy Grise named it after his great grandfather, Carmelo "Charles" Caserta, a Sicilian immigrant who once owned a popular restaurant and catering company in Piqua, Ohio, which opened in 1916. Grise spent time working at the restaurant off and on until it closed in 2018.

Grise, who works the front-of-house at Carmelo's, honors his family in ways that range from subtle to tear-jerking. Here's my favorite touch: He keeps a candy dish on the maitre d' stand because his grandfather, like any good Italian grandparent worth his salt, always had one in his home. On a wall near the restaurant's kitchen, Grise also hung a collage of black-and-white photos of Carmelo, his restaurant and his immigration papers from Ellis Island.

Since some of my family hails from Piqua, I am familiar with Caserta’s, and even went there (at least once) as a kid. Charles was originally Carmello but changed his name upon moving to the United States, a family member points out in the comments on Dann Woellert the Food Etymologist’s site1:

Angelo Caserta grew up in a very Sicilian, very devoutly Catholic family, with 10 other siblings, son of Charles Caserta and Nunciatina “Nancy” Cipriano. When Caserta’s father, Charles came through Ellis Island from Messina, Sicily, they told him to change his first name from Carmello to Charles. He met his wife, also from Sicily (Palermo), in Piqua, and in 1916-ish they started the Charles Caserta Restaurant, still in business in Piqua, Ohio, at 331 South Roosevelt, two blocks from their ancestral home on Wood Street.

Indeed, it was one of the first things I noticed in this sparsely-decorated modern restaurant.

As Pandolfi’s review explains, it’s part of a broader montage dedicated to Carmelo Caserta, and there are some framed ties (presumably his) and there is a cartoon of him on the menu.

As we were there to celebrate, we (read: I) over ordered. No regrets. Here’s what we got, though I didn’t get pictures of it all:

• Hand-pulled mozzarella appetizer. More than enough for two.

• Simple Green and Caesar salads. I preferred the Caesar, but whatever you order, one salad is enough for two.

• Spicy Shrimp and Oxtail Ragu. My wife got the shrimp and I don’t eat seafood so I did not try it. The oxtail ragu was fantastic and I ate all of it.

• Side of potatoes. These garlicky cubes were great on their own, even better in the leftover ragu.

• Budino. Since it was a special occasion, we were treated to the “Rich chocolate pudding layered with candied hazelnuts and whipped cream.” It was great.

Check out the full menu.

We’ll definitely be back and highly advise you try it. Carmelo’s is the sort of place where if you left your sunglasses, they’ll call you immediately so you can pick them back up before you head out. Which is exactly what happened to us.

This professional team is not really part of Major League Baseball. It’s not a college summer league team. In fact, the team got its start in Erie, Pennsylvania, as part of the “Frontier League.” It is a “partner” league, which seems like a nice way of saying they follow generally the same rules and aren’t jerks about players getting to “the show.”

Having moved here from the DMV, I was familiar with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, which are part of the separate “Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.” I figured perhaps the two were related, and it appears not. Sort of like various minor league hockey leagues that do not play each other.

The Frontier League has 18 teams, 3 in Canada. The league was dreamed up to bring professional baseball to places it would not likely come. Though the franchise started in Erie, PA—whose current team, as you may have seen, recently underwent a John Oliver rebrand—it eventually ended up here. Despite us having the Reds. (You do want some teams like the Y’alls, to soak up the cash of big city baseball lovers, putting every team in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t make any sense.)

As we celebrated our first year in the Queen City, what better way to mark the occasion than by checking off some bucket list items and doing classic Cincinnati things?

For a mere $16 a person, we got tickets four rows behind home plate. The stadium is newish, and the team was renamed after its longtime owner passed, and his widow sold the team to some investors. It was previously the Florence Freedom.

You may be wondering: Why Y’alls? Is this the beginning of Y’all country? Maybe. I think experts would quibble with that.

It all has to do with the now-dying Florence Mall. Florence, in a deal with the mall’s developer, was gifted land for a water tower. In exchange, the mall wanted the water tower to advertise for it. It was built before the mall, advertising a mall that did not exist. That the mall didn’t exist wasn’t really the issue, rather, a state law prohibiting advertisements on public lands. So, the mayor, rather than repaint the whole thing, changed “MALL” to “Y’ALL.”

It became a thing. Of course, since this region loves festivals, there is a festival, but the team went with the name and made the water tower, which they call “Y’all Star”, its mascot. It’s great.

But the rebranding fits. And they’ve done a phenomenal job of it. Their merch is well done and fairly priced.

The whole branding package? Perfection:

The stadium is in excellent shape, and it reminded me of Classic Park in Eastlake, home of the Lake County Captains, a former employer. The baseball was excellent, and the promotions nonstop.

I kid you not: you have to watch out, lest you get hit with a t-shirt. I did. After a run is scored for the Y’alls, they chuck them out of the press box, which they call the “PRESS BUCKET” and is painted like the water tower and a bucket of fried chicken.

As the twins were in right field, in the ample kids area, waiting to run across the outfield to the first base side, the bases were loaded and Brendan Bobo was at bat. A long at bat with a bunch of foul balls, one of which came right to me.

I beat a kid to the ball, which bounced a few times on its way to me. Of course, I gave the ball to the kid. I am not a jerk. It would have looked weird if I jumped out of the way to let it go past me.

So, a t-shirt and a foul ball. The food lines were a little slow, but this operation has to make money and that’s going to be one of the ways they’ll do it. The good news? You can not only see the game, but catch foul balls while watching.

Not a bad seat in the house!

The bullpens are accessible for autographs, and the mid-inning promotions are quite entertaining.

A strange co-branding from a Louisiana cajun spice company. (As readers know, I am forever a Tony Chachere loyalist, but open to and appreciate all cajun seasonings.) If a ball hits one of these, everyone gets a jar.

An arcade? Yes!

Here are some selected pictures from our visit, but if you like baseball and live in town or are visiting, check out the Florence Y’alls!

Third base view of the mezzanine and the Florence Y’alls General Store.

A chalkboard lineup!

Y’all Star with his water tower head hyping up the crowd.

The view for $16.

Y’alls win!

Ever since we discovered its existence in Sharondale, we have wanted to try The Root Beer Stand (“The Stand”) which has been on Reading Road since 1957.

How could you not want to try such a place, unless, you’re generally not a fan of root beer or typical roadside American fare? My parents, having grown up north of Cincinnati in smallish rural towns, had their own root beer stands (which still exist!), and I remember those fondly from my youth.

One thing The Stand and BK Root Beer seem to have in common is, before A&W got sucked up, chewed up, and spit out by Yum! Brands, these were all sort of roadside franchises. A&W is now part of Keurig Dr. Pepper. It’s sort of complicated, as Yum! and Pepsi are intertwined, but that’s not relevant for a rabbit hole here.

Sharonville is not something on our normal commutes around town, but we’ve been out that way a few times for various things and tried to stop at least twice. Each time? Slammed.

Back in its heyday, and before the interstate system, Route 25 (which went through where my parents grew up) was a main road for road trips:

In 1957, Sharonville was a small railroad town. The Stand stood on what were then the outskirts of town on Rt. # 25 (Cincinnati-Dayton Road). That was the main road from Michigan to Florida. In those days, before interstate highways crisscrossed America, a large number of daytime customers were travelers or truck drivers. Many of The Stand's visitors lived nearby. Back then, the vast majority of homes and cars weren't air-conditioned. So, it was a great treat for the family to hop in the car, PJ's and all, and head out for an ice cold mug of root beer.

In 1982, the agreement The Stand had with A&W expired.

So, with the weather hot and rainy, we tried it out earlier this week and were finally able to get in without a wait.

Inside the stand, which has bar and sit down seating, it is seasonal because the stand itself is seasonal. There are license plates and hats everywhere. Put another way, if you’ve ever been to my office, this is my design aesthetic. That and framed testimonials to its greatness, plus old photos of the past, and a shop.

So, perfect for me.

Check these out:

So, how was it?

It was great. We’ll definitely be back.

I got a double cheeseburger, chili cheese fries, and a large root beer. (And some stickers.)

The burger was very good but not life changing, the fries (with a custom non-Cincinnati-style chili recipe) passed “the fry test.” As burgers have gotten better over the years, you can see the staying power of theirs.

The kids ate their food, which is less a test because feelings vary, but a good sign! The root beer was syrupy and sweet, and perhaps not as carbonated as one might expect it to be. Not flat, per se, but our perception is that it would have been fizzier.

But, high quality and good. I guess in future visits I will have to see if that is intentional before I can truly give it a rating. One data point is not enough.

Fun fact: You can bring your growlers and buy their custom root beer by the liter or gallon, too. Which, next time, my few remaining growlers might get some use, which would be nice, since I don’t know of any microbreweries doing fill ups of NA beer.

They also serve local beer, and have an ice cream stand. With a playground. While one can argue that their local creamy whip, which does nothing else, might have better selection, the ice cream was on par with a creamy whip’s.

So, if you do find yourself nearby and there’s not a line (or if you have time), do drop on in.

This post is mostly photos and is likely too long for email. If it is, pop over to the site by clicking the headline to open in your browser.

Last month, I moderated a Principles First event in Boone County, Kentucky, and while I don’t partake anymore, it was neat to see the Boone County Distillery.

It was a great event, and a heartening turnout. And a reader (or two) of this little weblog were there, and I met somebody from the neighborhood!

We went to Bethel for a day over in Clermont County for the girls to attend a one-day art camp event at “An Artful Gathering.” It was a blast.

While many towns in Ohio, like Bethel, have had destroyed main streets, Bethel’s seems to be doing fairly well all things considered.

A (now-completed) mural on the Ben Franklin 5-10, which is awesome.

There is a neat historical museum which I want to come back and actually tour at the Grant Memorial. Senator Thomas Morris was from Bethel, as is Steve Newman, the “world walker.” Go visit Bethel some Saturday. It’s a fun place.

We also finally got to The Turf Club, and while it was not crowded there, as you know if you’ve been there, they warn you about the wait for your food.

It is worth it.

And, for the fourth, we went to Riverbend to see the Cincinnati Pops. I had been to Riverbend for Summer Fair but not for any concert.

I did send a terse, frustrated email to Riverbend for not enforcing its chair policy: I spent $100 at Buc-ee’s getting stadium chairs to comply. I already had camping chairs.

You can’t (read: shouldn’t) post a policy you won’t fully enforce. Or be more explicit: classical music concerts? Yes, bring a chair with a canopy. Who cares? Do it show by show. Anything but this current shitshow.

Alas, they disagreed.

But, totally unrelated to me getting into a tizzy about enforcement issues—and I’m fine with camping chairs, really! I am just a rule follower—I posted a picture like the above on my weekend Overtime newsletter and some nice words about the Pops and its dynamic conductor, John Morris Russell. As I noted in my newsletter, he also hails from Shaker Heights, as I do.

This being a small mid-sized city, small in the small town sorta way, a reader or two of my newsletter is also friends with “JMR” (as he’s called) and told him he got a favorable mention in The Bulwark. And wouldn’t you know, he emailed to say thanks.

During the fireworks segment, they played songs from The Pops, and this rendition of Rolling River (Sketches on “Shenandoah”) was a favorite for us. (And not just because of Virginia!)

Last night, the community got together to celebrate something long awaited: new lights for the water tower.

About 100 people convened at Tower Optical (soon to be a Dunkin Donuts, replacing the moving Tower Optical) across from the library, which is closed for needed renovations.

There were conies from Gold Star, pizza from Ramundo’s, Munchkins from Dunkin, popcorn and other treats.

Through a series of spaghetti dinners, the community has been raising money to replace the lights that used to be physically on the water tower. As you can imagine, these were difficult and costly to fix. So a projection scheme made more sense.

There was the appropriate pomp and circumstance and thank you to the locals who helped make it happen. It was a fun community event.

For Father's Day, I took the fam to Dixie Chili and some shopping at Rookwood. We had planned to go to Joseph-Beth and Old Navy but something drew me to Eddie Bauer, a store I used to work at in Beachwood. (Employee #111332!)

As it turns out, it was the last day for the store. It brought back memories, as I was part of the team that closed down my store. It's a company with high quality products but has been tragically mismanaged for decades. It's a shame.

The fixtures were for sale, and for $20, we picked up an old mannequin for the crafty twins, in addition to some branded hangers for me. Of course we picked up clothes and one of the legendary pieces of luggage. Eddie Bauer has great branding, and a great story.

The fixture with the lock on it was something that we used for high-end jackets that were locked up. It definitely brought back memories of goose down jacket sales contests in the early aughts.

If they were selling it I would totally buy the metal fixture above the door, which was the "seal" in the branding.

The nearest locations are Lexington and Columbus, with some outlet stores closer.

While I have already read my friend Molly Jong-Fast’s new bestseller: How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir, I wanted to get a copy to help sales and for my library.

Of course I'm biased, but I'm not the kind of person who always buys books written by my friends. (In “the biz" we get what are called galley copies.) Some friend I am!

But in all seriousness, I think it is a book that earned its bestseller title, which is not as common as you think. There is a whole industry on how to manufacture a “bestseller" through orchestrated purchases.

It's a deeply personal work. One I can empathize with a little bit, having recently lost my mom. If you're in the same boat, or recently have been, buy yourself a copy, remember your mom, and laugh and cry as she shares with readers her journey.

But if you're looking to get a copy there, call ahead: I got the last one.

As part of this week’s Daddy Day Camp™1, I was looking for good opportunities to get the kids out of the house and a new library opening in the region captured my attention.

Our library branch here in MW is temporarily closed for renovations. They’ve opened up a pop-up setting at the old Key Bank across from Kroger.

The Kenton County Library system was opening a new branch in Latonia at a strip mall. This new branch, which opened today, was at one point a theatre. It’s located on a main drag, and it is a new location for the system.

In addition to the excursion, of course, adding another system to my growing Libby access was a big draw. (I’m up to 17 libraries now.) That, and this nice tote bag:

It’s a great location, and strip mall libraries can be an excellent use of space. If it’s good enough for well-to-do Loudoun County, Virginia, there’s no excuse: more systems should be doing this.

Regular readers know that the Kenton is one of the participants in the CVG airport library in neighboring Boone County.

One of the neat things the branch did for its opening was let people write their initials or name on little stones to be used for a future art project.

While the Cincinnati libraries have as many DVDs as a Blockbuster, one thing the Kenton County library had was video games, which were popular at check out.

There was also a pop up “OLD TECH” museum so you can see how old you feel.

Highly recommend a trip if you’re looking for a new library to check out, you’re a proud library person, or if you haven’t added Kenton County to your Libby account.

And it’s fitting in a way, given the tri-state regional synergy1 this area has: it is a society. Sometimes, even perhaps a little cult-like. But that’s OK! I willingly joined!

Now that it’s summer, we’re planning little exploratory activities and Fort Thomas, Kentucky was one over the weekend. We first stopped for ice cream at Schneider's Sweet Shop in Bellevue, saw that there’s a FOE 964 right there on the water (caw caw!)

As an Eagle (and an Elk) I look forward to checking them out, enjoying some Athletic and perhaps some pull tabs. An Aerie right on the Ohio river? Pretty cool.

After the ice cream, we went looking for a playground nearby, but the one on the river was recovering from flood damage, so we went up to Fort Thomas to see the somewhat newly-launched playground there.

I give it extremely high marks. And the sort of federal-style architecture made me feel like I was in D.C.

This is a park that has earned bragging rights, so it’s not a shock that Fort Thomas would brag about it on the park’s website:

Tower Park was incorporated in 1972 after the federal government begun donating buildings and land of the former military base to the city to be designated as a city park. Today, Tower Park is 86.6 acres of lush forest, sport facilities, playgrounds, hiking/bike trails, and two recreation buildings for events and activities. Tower Park is also home to the Fort Thomas Museum where you can learn about the Fort’s founding and about the growth of the community over the last 155 years.

If you know Fort Thomas, you know the ‘Tower’. Building number 16 was built in 1890, and is 102 feet tall made out of Kentucky limestone, with the base being granite. The plaza in front of the Tower was dedicated in 2003 in honor of the 80,000 that were inducted at Fort Thomas. A huge flag adorns the Tower every July for the City’s Fourth of July festivities and is a sight to see when illuminated at night.

The main playground at Tower Park was purchased by the City of Fort Thomas in December of 1972, where a vacant field once was. The playground equipment has changed and continues to change but the enthusiasm of its patrons remains the same. Tower Park playground is often filled with generations of memories being made. Since then, the park has been updated and continues to support the community’s needs as they grow and change. 6 tennis courts, a softball field, 3 playgrounds, 6 pickleball courts, a sand volleyball court, 2 outdoor basketball courts, 4 shelters and miles of walking trails round out amenities at the park.

I particularly like the line:

The playground equipment has changed and continues to change but the enthusiasm of its patrons remains the same.

100% true.

See those little hills? Kids bring cardboard and sled on them.

Over the weekend, we also went to Coney Island for Summer Fair. With the news that $60 million is coming to our neighborhood in the form of a Riverbend 2.0, this was our first time (and last) to experience Coney Island while it somewhat resembles what it used to be.

The abandoned putt putt golf course made the twins sad, as pigs, little bridges and bowls of chili, among the course’s decorations, would never be played by them.

And, we got to appreciate not only the artisans who traveled to the Queen City to hawk their wares and art, but some art with a local flair.

Yesterday at work, my colleague JVL wrote about Morgan Bulkeley,1 a Hall of Famer who is in Cooperstown and… probably shouldn’t be.

One of the things that struck me in his piece, never having been to Cooperstown, was how few people are in the Hall of Fame. 351!

The Hall of Fame is comprised of 351 elected members. Included are 278 former major league players, as well as 40 executives/pioneers, 23 managers and 10 umpires. By position, there are: 86 pitchers, 20 catchers, 28 first basemen, 20 second basemen, 19 third basemen, 26 shortstops, 23 left fielders, 24 center fielders, 29 right fielders, 3 designated hitters, 23 managers, 10 umpires and 40 executives/pioneers.

When we moved here, the cemetery right next to the water tower and the library was a source of curiosity for me: who was buried there? I knew some famous baseball player was, and after reading JVL, decided to dive into who it was and pay them a visit. So meet Buck Ewing, Mount Washington’s Hall of Famer.

There is a book about him, and I’ve requested it from the library. Will report more when I get and read that.

Though, our Buck Ewing is not to be confused with Massillon’s Buck Ewing who came later and played in the Negro Leagues, Mount Washington’s Buck Ewing grew up in Hoagland, Ohio, a small town off of US-50 about 60 percent of the way to Chillicothe from Cincinnati.

Ewing was primarily a New York Giant and primarily a catcher. He played all positions, which wasn’t unusual in those days. He didn’t hit a lot of home runs because they didn’t in those days. Balls were inconsistent and stadiums were not built for the Rob Manfred Era of Increased Dingers™.

You can see his full stats here if you’re a baseball nerd.

Ewing, after leaving New York, played one year in Cleveland, though he really preferred to play for the Reds. Ultimately getting his wish and becoming player-manager, though be careful what you wish for.

The SABR profile on him is great and free to read. If you really like baseball and care about its history, you should support SABR by becoming a member.

There are a lot of ups and downs, and like many careers in baseball, a lot of downs to finish it out.

As the SABR profile notes, Ewing was fired by Cincinnati, only to be rehired by the Giants for one year in sort of a last gasp for his career. He came back to Cincinnati, where he lived on Worth Street near Jeff Ruby’s Precinct.

Ewing returned to Cincinnati a somewhat besmirched but wealthy man owing to judicious land and real estate investments, mainly in row houses. He stayed in touch with the game, first by opening a baseball school in the Goodall Building across from the Cincinnati City Hall with the help of newspaper editor and neighbor Charles Murphy according to the November 23, 1901, issue of The Sporting News and later by coaching local amateur teams. The November 3, 1906, Sporting Life reported: “The last base ball work that ‘Buck’ Ewing did was to coach Miami Military Institute of Germantown, O.” Shortly after the close of the 1906 season Ewing, who had been in ill health for two years and seldom seen in public during that time, died at his modest Cincinnati home on Worth Street on October 20 from a combination of Bright’s disease and diabetes. The October 27, 1906, Sporting Life said that his wife, son and daughter were all at his bedside when he expired and stood to fall heir to an estate of some $60,000. Ewing was buried in Mount Washington Cemetery beside his brother John.

Once I have read the book about Buck, perhaps another post will be in the works. It’s pretty hard to beat a SABR profile and I am not about to try.

RELATED: Jeff Suess at The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on the MLB Unmarked Graves Project and how Reds fans are trying to ensure that former Reds all have marked graves.

Wawa is here, having opened its first Ohio location in Liberty Township earlier this month.

I am excited about Wawa coming to the Queen City, and you should be, too. First things first: I have, historically, been more of a Sheetz guy, but Wawa is on equal footing in my pantheon of high-end gas station / convenience stores.

Wawa is Eastern PA, Sheetz is Western PA, but both have grown well beyond the Keystone state. Sheetz, being western, is more what I grew up with and has more fried food. Wawa made its way down to Woodbridge, and even opened up shop in Washington, D.C., not far from the offices my publication has occupied over the years.

While Donato’s foray into Northern Virginia excited me equally back in 2012, that failed. (Though they appear ready to try again.) I think Wawa is likely here in Ohio to stay.

Much like the origins of United Dairy Farmers (heck, it’s in the name!), Wawa began as a dairy in Delaware County, PA, serving both PA and Jersey.

It is not uncommon to see neighborhood Wawas without gas pumps because of these origins, but these are typically in college towns and crowded urban neighborhoods. The expansion Wawas are pretty standardized, and I expect since these new Wawas coming to Cincy are all new builds (so far), we’ll get maximum Wawa. Mount Washington is getting a Wawa, next to the UDF at the bottom of Beechmont near Lunken and El Rancho Rankin.

Doctor Jennifer Holt, a marketing prof at NKU, talked to Local12 about what we can expect from this injection of competition:

"So, if you're, you know, loyal to UDF, and you go in and you get your ice cream there, it's not that you're going to drop all of that and necessarily go to Wawa, but there's a lot to be said for how they can compete in this area as well, and this drives innovation. You know, better stores," said Holt.

So, good things! In the short term, this is bad news for UDF. QuickTrip (QT) is also coming to the region, which seems to me to be UDF/Kroger dominated, with Speedway and Alfaa convenience stores competing for their scraps. An employee of Meijer told me that the chain tends to stick to the exurbs for its gas stations, but that is generally true of its behemoth stores.

My memory of UDF as a kid in Cleveland was “good ice cream” and that was it. Times were different then. I was impressed when moving here to see how it had evolved, but knew of the coming Wawa invasion, which will make UDF better.

The new UDF pizza (which I have yet to try) is likely the first in a bunch of new menu items we are likely to see from UDF. Right now, they’re faced with a choice of competing with Wawa or competing with QT and others on hot food. Roller Grills are great, but Wawa’s expansive menu reaches far, far beyond it.

The good news is that there seems to be a lot of idle space at some of the UDFs I have been to. Idle space in retail is generally bad, but if you need to rework your stores, it’s good to have it to begin with rather than having to build or rebuild.

UDF’s doughnuts and drip coffee? Great. Wawa’s mixed drink and high-end coffee game is better, but their donuts aren’t really a direct competitor. They have a more east coast flavor profile: apple fritters, boston cream donuts, and coffee rolls. Oh, and bagels and pretzels. Their bagels are good, but their pretzels are very good. Not Servatii level. Don’t sleep on their packaged beverages (teas, lemonades, Arnold Palmers, cranberry juice, etc.) either.

Perhaps Wawa will adapt to Cincinnati’s tastes and introduce sports-themed donuts, but I doubt it. The same goes for the Philly-focused branding and co-branding — it might make its way here, but it’s likely to turn off more locals than it attracts Philly transplants. I expect they’ll stick with more generic options.

While UDF has a lot of brand loyalty in the bank, just by their very existence, Wawa is going to eat into UDF’s market share on gas and other things. Over time, they’ll win even more dollars as customers discover who has a comparative advantage in certain categories in their mind.

A Wawa Smoothie or Refresher might sound better on a hot summer day than a UDF milkshake.

I’ve long been a fan of “The Galaxy” for the way it looks and tastes, but these new sour cherry bubbles? Sign. Me. Up.

Wawa has, in recent years, added pizza and burgers1 to their menu. They’re still not into fried things like Sheetz is, and it’s pretty amazing what they’re able to offer without a fryer.

How did I end up writing this post, and I can hear you, reader “Jim: You’re burying the lede. How did you become a Wawa influencer™?”

Wawa knows I am a fan. I follow it on Instagram, and they know I live in Ohio now (or at least connect to Instagram from here all the time) so they’ve been sending me targeted ads like this one:

They call it a Swag Sweepstakes, but as I entered it (my late mother being a prolific contester, so much so that we called her “Contest Mom”), I figured: Probably everyone “wins.”

After all, why not if people like myself are offering to turn themselves into free billboards for a gas station / convenience store? And also basically tell people who ask “hey is that Wawa?” that “yes it is.” Or to have somebody from the east coast recognize somebody repping Wawa could spur a conversation about it in a Kroger aisle, or at a soccer game. One of them might even have a blog he created where he writes about things like this.

The ROI is hard to measure, but one way Wawa is able to do this is by including a $10 gift card with the swag set. You could track to see the redemption rate.

And yes, waiting for me on my return from spring break back east was a box full of Wawa swag and a gift card.

Look, I am not going to lie to you: I am totally going to wear the Wawa socks. I do not understand why they were included, maybe that’s a thing with younger people I am unaware of, but I wear them with dress clothes to work or work-style events because it’s quirky and so am I.

The hat? It is a great hat. A Yupoong Classics snapback, embroidered on the front and back. On the back? You Gotta Wawa! Does it look like a MAGA hat? Kinda. Until you realize that’s a big fucking Canada Goose. Which is part of the Wawa name!

The town, Wawa, Pennsylvania comes from an Ojibwe word we’we, meaning “snow goose.” Funnily enough, a failed Congressional candidate in New Jersey used an old iteration of its logo in his 2022 campaign and got a cease and desist letter from the company.2

My guess is the Mount Washington Wawa won’t open until late fall, as they just started construction earlier this month. Perhaps even 2026. We’ll see.

In the meantime, if you see a guy sporting a red Wawa goose hat, it is probably me. While we’ll likely miss Hoagiefest® this year, I look forward to telling you about it next year.

FREQUENT READER UPDATE:

A new section on posts for regulars. Things that don’t qualify as a full post, or updates on previous posts.

• Kroger’s “Kitchen 1883” concept, which I covered in January, is no more. The Enquirer reports that all but one location is closed or closing.

Whether he knew it or not—and I suspect he did—Nicholas J.C. Pistor significantly impacted the trajectory of my life.

Nick and I lost touch over the years, though we never really corresponded much after our brief time together at Saint Louis University.

His death, shared by a mutual friend, was sudden. Specifics aren’t yet known, but he went to the hospital feeling unwell and never left.

Going into SLU, I’d always been drawn to politics and journalism. It’s strange—my parents were political, but in a generic way. Meeting Bob Dole at a fundraiser, that sort of thing. My dad later got involved in GOP politics in Cleveland for a bit, but it wasn’t a push. It was a choice.

Mr. Thompson, my gym and civics teacher, made us write papers in sixth grade about who we supported and why. I don’t remember much about my paper—or Bob Dole—but like picking the Saint Louis Blues in ’93, I picked the Republican Party in ’96.

I came to SLU after co-founding and leading my high school’s Young Republicans. I had goals: join a fraternity (#RushTKE), get on Student Government, and get involved with College Republicans.

Shortly after arriving on campus, I met Nick at a YR meeting and went to join him and his roommate / aide de camp, R. Blake Moore at the the Continental Life Building for a cigar and drinks.

Nick saw potential in me, and my drunk teenage self didn’t know it, but Nicholas J.C. Pistor was a College Republican kingmaker of sorts.

His obituary in the Post-Dispatch, a paper he loved and where he later worked, says he was the state chairman of the Missouri Federation of College Republicans. I don’t remember that time, as it predated me at SLU. When I met him, he was the First Vice Chair of the College Republican National Committee, which is kind of a big deal.

It is interesting, and perhaps a chapter Nick didn’t want to dwell on because his true love was journalism. If you look at his impressive biography, it is nowhere to be found. There isn’t much about him and the CRNC on the internet, either. It’s like my memory and this random campaign filing on The Democratic Underground are the only proof this actually happened.

College Republicans are a strange lot. Imagine the TPUSA events you see depicted now, but imagine instead of SEC fraternity bros in MAGA hats, they’re nerds in suits who are true political freaks. That was us.

There was always a Nixonian element to Pistor in those college years. He even spoke in a Nixonian way, both in real life and on the phone. It could be haunting when he was frustrated, which he often was with stupid people. That’s CR politics for you. Blood feuds and backroom deals. And scandals (real and imagined).

One of the early memories I have of Nick was the, er, Nixonian joy he had about totally nailing somebody in a lie. How? He tape recorded the phone call he had with them via a Radio-Shack device, on his apartment phone. This was 2002, so consider it in that setting.

I don’t recall if Nick followed through on the nailing. It’s not like there were smart phones, large email attachments, or the like. Laptops weighed like 8 pounds. Was he going to put the little tape in a mobile recorder and play it back to them? Play it to them over the phone? (I can picture that, actually.)

My dog-eared copy of The 48 Laws of Power still sits on my library shelf because Nick told me that I had to read it if I wanted to succeed in politics.

His AIM name was KENNEDYNIXON1960. I think you get the picture.

I say altered the trajectory not in a way where Nick pulled me into politics and journalism: I think I was destined to be active there no matter what. Nick was able to propel me, as a local CR political boss, to offices I might otherwise not earn, or might have earned more slowly.

I won a contentious election as 1st Vice Chair of the College Republicans by a handful of votes. The Pistor backing won it for me. It also won me my first “frenemy”, my defeated opponent.

Convinced that I was destined to be SGA President, having won just that CR election (I was appointed as First Year Senator along with the rest), I ran as a Sophomore against Nick’s advice, opting to take my old boss/mentor Josh Mandel’s advice, which was: run! Nick was right.

In a 5 way field, I placed third, though earned the school paper’s endorsement. Nick, though he’d later become a professional journalist, and a very good one, had very little interest in The University News. He wrote one item that remains on their site about Newt Gingrich in 2001.

Nick had also gotten me in a position to eventually become 1st Vice Chairman of the Missouri Federation of College Republicans. I quickly figured out that I didn’t want to follow that route Nick took, rising through the ranks of wrangling these CR chapters. I wanted to be a staffer.

Given that it was an election year, and eager to get into campaigning, I resigned my roles in both groups and took a semester off from school to work for the Bush campaign.

Nick’s CR career came to an end, as after you graduate, it’s hard to remain relevant in College Republicans not being, you know, in college. The management of CRs is usually out of college, but it’s knives out for those then-high-paying positions and Nick did not win the knife fight.

One of our mutual friends from those CR days, Nick Langworthy, is very pro-Trump—he was an early endorser in Buffalo when he was the party chair—and he’s now a member of Congress. Nick Pistor, if he had wanted to, could have easily become a local party boss himself.

There were some scandals, too, as is not surprisingly common in CR politics. Nick got out and went to his other love: journalism.

Before we get to his professional career, where he got to be a mentee of the great Bill McClellan, and would go on to win awards and write books, I want to tell you a little about SGA TRUTH.

It will not shock or surprise you that the party of fax-blasts and right wing crank newsletters, had its own gossip sheet about College Republican politics in the pre-social media era.

I do not know for sure, and I can’t ask Nick since he has passed, but in my mind, Nick founded SGA TRUTH. A 2005 email exchange we had started with a terse correction from Nick about when SGA TRUTH was founded. I incorrectly said 1996 because I said that Phil Lyons, the moderator of SGA, said it started around then. (I do not recall if this was, in fact, true all these years later.) Nick said “you full well know better” and that “I find this offensive.”

Him having graduated and in the professional world, I didn’t interact with him much, but that was a dumb excuse not to contact him. I should have checked. I don’t think he wanted the credit for creating SGA TRUTH, necessarily, but my facts were wrong and that pissed him off.

Reading some of these old emails, you can hear Nick’s voice. Re-read that bit about “full well know better” in a Nixon voice and that’s how it I read it at the time in my head. It’s how I hear it now. Like all great writers, if you are lucky enough to know them personally, you can hear them read stories in your head. Nick was like that, both in print, tweets (he was prolific), and in emails.

For example: this line in his self- written bio just slays me: “Before joining the Post-Dispatch, Pistor graduated from the Jesuit-affiliated Saint Louis University.” Nick was deeply Catholic—we were in the Knights of Columbus together, briefly—and he sort of detested what he (not-wrongly) perceived was SLU tiptoeing away from its Catholic identity into more of an affiliation.

It is likely from this CR gossip sheet, whose name escapes me, that Nick created SGA TRUTH, which was an anonymous e-blast sent to SGA officials and interested parties. It broke some serious news because Nick was a good journalist. I wasn’t around for it yet, but it resulted in resignations and drop outs. His reporting for the P-D would have the same result. He also broke some big non-political stories there, like the health of the beloved Gateway Arch.

SGA TRUTH, like Nick, was often darkly, crudely, funny. As Mark Zinn observes in his FOX 2 obituary:

Pistor loved his hometown of Millstadt, Illinois, the Cardinals, and trying to crack a joke whenever he had the opportunity. While a soft-spoken and often quiet man, Pistor’s crude but never malicious humor made his energy palatable.

Fresh off Bush’s electoral victory, and my earlier SGA loss, I did what all scorned candidates do, which was resurrect an anonymous newsletter journalism concept. Newly 21, I quickly took a job at Humphrey’s, my home away from home, and worked to catch up after my semester on the campaign trail, blogging about SGA politics and working at a bar. I don’t even recall whether or not I actually got Nick’s permission. I might have just done it.

Better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission, hoping that copying the name and format (but not the voice) as an homage would guarantee forgiveness. And it kind of did. Nick never told me not to do it, or to stop.

My SGA TRUTH had a webpage. And, like Nick, I made news, too, both in the Kingmaking kind and reportorial kind. But my anonymity did not last long. Nick could keep up the illusion he was not SGA TRUTH. I could not. I wanted to be part of the story and, ultimately, did.

I will let future Pulitzer Prize winning reporter (and friend) Joe Palazzolo and Jared Vandergriff tell the story for The University News.

You can (and should) read the whole thing, but here’s a taste:

Yeah, I was a bit of a jerk! I did not like Chappelle and I definitely endorsed Johns, but the reason for Chappelle’s grievance was because I nailed him and it destroyed his ticket overnight, fatally crippled his chances at being SGA President.

Here’s the story, as written by one of my best friends (and a groomsman), Bobby Metzinger1:

Last week, administrators of SGATruth.com, an anonymously maintained weblog with a reputation for scathing-and often spurious-critiques of SLU Organizations. sent an email message to SGA members suggesting that Chappelle had bribed Butler with an iPod. The allegation initially seemed feckless, an attempt to sully the front-runner's reputation in the critical period prior to the elections. However, Chappelle responded by summoning together ticket members last Saturday, at which point he admitted to taking part in using the students' money, gathered from the Student Activities Fee, to pay for an ipod. The ticket dissolved afterward.

If you read Palazzolo and Vandergriff, it had been quite a while for me, you will see that Andrew took his defeat very graciously. He went on to be a journalist in video, which tracks, as he was the founder of SLU TV.

I adapted one of Nick’s old intros for an early newsletter, and it’s classic Nick:

SGA Truth is back to spread the love. Hide your skeletons in your
closets because SGA Truth is here to fill your quest for thought provoking
literature and knowledge. The one, the only, often imitated, but never
duplicated, the uncompromising da, da, da, da SGA Truth. Once again the
communication forerunner in the SGA, the only publication of the SGA
(official or otherwise) continues.

Dancing under the protection of New York V. Solomon, the legend lives on.

He never said anything about it to me, but I can see in hindsight him potentially not liking my continuation of SGA TRUTH. I re-read the “one, only, often imitated” and realize that, I was indeed an SGA TRUTH imitator. A successful one at that. But still, an imitator. He didn’t write that with future me in mind, it was a joke, but one now that I get an extra laugh out of.

At that time, I was already creating websites. I was learning how to build them in management MIS classes. I built one for my campaign, I had a personal site, and would go on to create dozens of little short-lived domains over the years.

That was a passion I kept alive, even through my days in Congress. An April Fool’s Day joke, where a reporter called my direct line on April Fool’s Day to ask about my blog prompted a brief panic, and then a sudden retirement from blogging. (I was careful and didn’t talk about my actual work in the U.S. Senate.) I was aggregating news, talking about Saint Louis and Cleveland things, learning about my new hometown of Alexandria (sound familiar?), et cetera.

In fact, I was blogging about “great bits” in The Weekly Standard by my future friend and colleague Matt Labash.

In a way, I owe a lot of that to Nicholas J.C. Pistor. He nudged me towards what I wanted to do, perhaps knowing before I did that I wanted to do it, and that I might be good at it. His friend Mark Justice writes “Nick Pistor wasn’t one for photos” and that’s 100 percent true.

In talking with some old friends yesterday about Nick, it occurred to me that there is only one picture of us I can recall. It’s from the end of the analog era. I know what it looks like, who was in it, and where it was, but I can’t seem to find it. I want to and am looking.

As you can probably tell, Nick and I did not remain particularly close after he went into journalism and I went to Washington. We were always friendly and occasionally stayed in touch. He had moved onto a new chapter, and so did I. They were not “glory days” but formative ones.

When I left the hill, I updated Nick about my job at TWS. I was sure to thank him, noting that I wasn’t sure I ever did back then. He said I did, but said the repeated thanks were appreciated.

Looking back now, on our first FB messenger exchange in 2012 (10 years after we met) we talked about my new job in professional journalism.

The 48 Laws of Power wasn’t Nick anymore. But Nick was one of a kind, as you can see here, him recently looking back on his college years, a month before his untimely death:

Nick was an ardent lover of people, politics, places and institutions. In his own way, he became a bit of his own institution, but in particular: his hometown of Millstadt, the City of Saint Louis, the Cardinals, and the Post-Dispatch.

He was awfully proud of his reporting work, which you can see on his bio, and his two books: Shooting Lincoln: Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and the Race to Photograph the Story of the Century and The Ax Murders of Saxtown: The Unsolved Crime That Terrorized A Town and Shocked the Nation. He later left journalism to do consulting work, but the news never left him.

Admittedly, I never read either of his books. Some friend! But, as Cincinnati has a world class library system, I’ll soon be able to read Nick’s books. I owe him that much, and I look forward to hearing his writerly voice from beyond the grave.

Rest in peace, Nick, and thanks for giving a young me a boost. I’ll never forget it.

Other Remembrances:

Angela Bingaman, a political fundraiser, has a wonderful remembrance of him.

Mark Zinn, a local journalism colleague of his, who also wrote FOX2’s obit.

His former P-D colleague Christine Byers has this:

Today at 12:26 p.m. the world lost a truly brilliant mind when Nicholas J.C. Pistor lost his battle with a sudden acute illness. He was 43 years old. He was a dear friend, inspiration and confidant to me. We were coworkers at the Post-Dispatch, and he was the kind of friend that didn’t let too much time pass before he would reach out just to say hello, and not care that you didn’t reach out first. God bless his loving family, whom I had the privilege of meeting in Nick’s final moments today along with former reporter Denise Hollinshed. Funeral arrangements are pending with Leesman Funeral Home in his hometown of Millstadt, Illinois. I’m going to honor him today by going to the voting booth in the city he so loved.

I do not know who needs to hear this, but:

You cannot turn out of a parking lot into the universal turn lane.

It is dangerous, and it is illegal. I am not going to pull up the code for you, as it’s pretty much illegal everywhere. I have found the code and it is complicated to explain and I’m not a lawyer, you’ll just have to trust me.

Every time I drive down Beechmont Avenue, which is basically my traffic artery, I will witness somebody doing this. There’s an entirely separate discussion about people inappropriately not taking the nearest lane. We can save that for another time.

What prompted this post was a lady gunning it and then bailing into the universal turn lane. I came to a complete stop (because I could) and I wanted to show her what a jerk she was being.

Stop doing the Beechmont Blitz.1

A helpful example:

And lastly, this is the real Blitz, the straight line with bail out option.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

“Don’t tell Sam, but I’m a Big Boy.” That’s a Slack message I nearly hit send on to my colleague Andrew before catching my typo.

I was dictating. It meant to say at Big Boy. Andrew went to college in Michigan, and I was filling him in on the latest regional drama: a choice in Big Boy-style dining destinations in the Queen City.

Dave Frisch started Frisch’s Big Boy after his first foray, Frisch’s Cafe, failed. Called “The Mainliner” near Lunken Airport, it had iconic signs and an airport theme. Frisch visited a California Big Boy owned by Bob Wian and wanted to sell the Big Boy hamburger to Ohioans and became Wian’s first franchisee.

Others joined the fray, but most shed their affiliations as their restaurants grew (like what you may know as Eat’n Park or Shoney’s). In the end, there was California Big Boy, Frisch’s, and Big Boy Restaurant Group (BBRG), or what I’ll call Michigan Big Boy.

In 2015, Frisch’s sold their franchise to a private equity firm for $175 million. COVID hit, and it hit hard. The new owners used the land under the restaurants, an asset they owned, as “a giant piggy bank” for a turnaround. That was a gamble! It didn’t pay off for the company, as this analysis from David Schenz shows.

At one point, Schenz writes:

Frisch’s owned the land and buildings for almost all its corporate stores—this will become crucial later on. Like many restaurants, Frisch’s was working capital negative—that is, they were receiving payment much faster than what they were paying their vendors. By 2015, Frisch’s had almost no debt, had about 11MM USD in operating leases, and had a healthy balance sheet.

Hard to imagine that today, owning your land.

One might think California Big Boy controls the strings since Bob Wian invented the concept, but since Wian sold Big Boy to Marriott in the 1960s, his California empire is a technically a franchisee. Marriott also owned things like Hot Shoppes and Roy Roger’s, among others, but is out of the food business (except within their hotels).

What came to become Big Boy Restaurant Group changed hands a couple of times after a bankruptcy, and the current owner, Robert Liggett, struck a deal with Frisch’s allowing for concurrent use of the Big Boy trademark.

The question currently facing Michigan Big Boy, Frisch’s 2.0, and us consumers is: Will Michigan Big Boy be able to call itself Big Boy here? The group is already in Ohio, as it controls the two Cleveland-area locations.

Right now, the two locations that have “re”-opened, both former Frisch’s locations, are going as “Dolly’s” with a female cartoon instead of your typical Big Boy. I’m curious what Area Twins will make of the branding, as it even resembles them a little.

The spat isn’t just over the trademark, which Michigan Big Boy is cleverly avoiding while the court sorts out the concurrent use issues, but also over what is called “Frisch’s Core Territory.” Basically, whether or not Michigan Big Boy can even come here to compete against them.

The first location of Dolly’s opened yesterday in Blue Ash, and the Anderson one, which has been busy with hiring activity, opened today. I had some errands that brought me down Beechmont this AM, so I popped by, thinking it wasn’t yet open.

I was going to try it eventually, but this guy sold me. And I told him that personally when he greeted me at Dolly’s.

The burger-themed giveaway and festivities wouldn’t start until later, but in I went. I wasn’t living here during Frisch’s peak, but their menu is still hobbled by COVID. Michigan Big Boy’s is more expansive.

They do not do the “Cherry Coke” with the grenadine syrup, but they do have Wild Cherry Pepsi on draft. I’ll take it.

Some menu items have to take on a different name, obviously they’re avoiding “Big Boy” until the lawsuits are settled, but the Brawny Lad, a burger on a rye bun with an onion, remains on both menus. The Michigan “Big Boys” are called “Signatures”… at least for now.

Another different thing is the seasoning salt. Frisch’s used Lawry’s (which is a fine seasoning salt). Big Boys outside of Ohio have their own, and that is now here. It is very good, too.

A lawyer obviously suggested they cover up anything Big Boy branded, so little ad hoc labels cover the seasoning that the stores normally sell to take home. The ketchup was covered, too.

I am eager to try the burgers, but haven’t, so I have no ruling on the famed “Fry Test™”… yet. I never liked tartar sauce (or any white sauce on a burger) so while I appreciate that the sauce matters to some, I am not one of them. Soon there will be a burger review in these pages.

For breakfast, I went with the country fried steak and eggs. It was more than I could eat and I knew that, but it was good. The service was excellent, and on a restaurant’s opening day, it better be.

Michigan Big Boy sent down some ringers from Southfield, as was obvious by the multiple managerial table visits, and the Michigan license plates in the parking lot. They’re calling the Beechmont store Dolly’s #501, but this is all placeholder theater. There aren’t 500 other Dolly’s. I don’t even think that Michigan Big Boy has 60 restaurants total.

They want to reopen 55 closed Frisch’s locations by June of this year, effectively doubling in size. That’s bold. And if this quick start is any indication, they just might be able to pull it off.

I’m not a lawyer, but New Frisch’s argument that Old Frisch’s trademark / non-compete agreement still holds seems, at least to me, to not likely prevail in the end.

What remains unknown is whether or not the regionally famous Cincinnati Parochialism will allow it. I suspect people will welcome the competition.

BONUS: A local walkthrough of our local Dolly’s with Brian Hamrick.

UPDATE: Who is Dolly?!

It’s been a while since I updated you all: Minus the whole part about Donald Trump taking office and the resulting shitshow we’ve endured the past five weeks, things have been good.

Our trip back went great, saw some old friends, the old neighborhood, spent some time with family and old neighbors.

One thing Santa did not bring one of the twins was a skateboard. A bike accident last fall prompted a hospital visit, so a “two wheel scooter” (must be two wheels!) came from the North Pole. And while it is appreciated and loved, it was not a skateboard.

Constant questions about getting a skateboard.

A former colleague of mine, before the twins were born, asked if there were any boys. I gave my standard line, that I was just happy we were so lucky. I didn’t (and don’t) care about boys or girls.

His observation was: “Well, the advantage to getting a boy, for you, is that you can do all of the fun hobbies you like as a kid and not be judged for it.”

Your marriage mileage may vary, but it’s generally correct.

We went to a local skateshop, Blacklist, to look at boards. They were very nice. Since it was so close to Christmas and the weather shitty, I fell on my sword and bought a skateboard for myself.

What a dad.

For those who care, it’s an Alien Workshop Joey O’Brien Bug Juice on Krux trucks with Spitfire wheels and bearings. The understanding was that she could try to skateboard on it and if she really liked it, when the weather improved, she could pick one out.

That didn’t last long. But more on that in a second.

There’s a lot of overlap between the hockey and skateboarding communities, so growing up playing hockey, there was a brief period where I skateboarded. While the local Newman-Adler sporting goods shop had some things, I signed up for a California Cheap Skates (CCS) catalog and bought a blank complete with a plastic-coated bottom on some name brand trucks with money I had saved from my paper route.

I can picture them in my mind but forget the brand. Maybe Independent? This was before a lot of board brands came up with their own house trucks.

Due to my impatience and OCD about not wanting to damage the board (who gets into skateboarding thinking that? Me, apparently!), I decided to sell it to a neighborhood kid, a trouble maker, who never paid me back and then claimed to have lost the skateboard.

I ate the loss.

On a family vacation to Brunswick, Georgia that doubled as a work event for my wife, I took the girls to this oceanside town and went to a skateshop. The twins were fascinated, and Twin B found a penny board from Swell with a Hawaiian theme.

She had to have it.

My wife was very accepting of it, but both twins started “boardin” in the hotel room, and in the parking garage. And, when we got home, in the basement hallway outside my office. Twin C asked for the same skateboard, but with different colors. Now, the girls go boardin’ every day after school in front of my office. It’s adorable.

The weather in the last few days has picked up—it’s false Spring—so we’ve done some driveway work. Safely and with pads!

There is a local skate park in nearby Anderson Township, as well as one under a highway bridge in Newport.

I think we’re a long way off from going there, but just boarding around flat ground? They find that fun, and so do I. At 41, I am beginning to feel my age and this dog isn’t terribly interested in learning a ton of new tricks.

I don’t want to end up at the Spill Station.

Sometimes when I have a plan to see a new part of the city, I bring the skateboard. It can be fun to find a spot, like the parking garage below next to a city bureaucracy near TQL Stadium.

If I were more talented, this city is eminently very skateable. But also very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. And I’m smart enough to know where my limitations end and self-preservation risk assessment begins.

Last year, the Canadian skateboard company Landyachtz asked is fans what city they should come to. Cincinnati won.

Check it out, it’s very cool and a nice showcase of the city.

I have long found the truly-long “longboards” sort of detestable. I don’t judge those who love surfing, but it’s not for me. The Landyachtz guys do sell a bunch of these, and even weirder boards, but what I like about their lines (Dinghy, Tugboat) is that these are sort of crossover lines.

They have the wide wheels, one kick tail, but are a little more than a penny board in terms of design. That’s more my style.

Ohio has a bunch of skateboarding ties, but since we are The Heart of It All™ that’s to be expected. Alien Workshop is based in Dayton, though its ownership has changed over the years. One of its sponsored skaters, Rob Dyrdek, is from Kettering. He even built a city skatepark there in partnership with DC shoes.

Locally, there’s a nationally known skateboard site near Newtown called “Revive.” People who skate or are on YouTube might know it as “The Shredquarters.”

Perhaps when the weather is warmer, I’ll reach out to them to see if the girls could go there (it’s not really a retail location) to pick out boards and make them.

In the meantime, pray for my ankles, elbows, head, and wrists as I try to keep the three of us safely upright and having fun this spring.