PTR: New Years at Fountain Square

[Gordon Bombay]

For those of you that may have already read this on my website Queen City Discovery, thank you, I appreciate you reading and checking it out! Normally the stuff I post on there I don't cross post over to here cause it's not always relevant, but I felt this was.

First off, I hope everyone here on this great community had a great 2008 and has an even better 2009 as well as enjoyed the holiday season.

I hate New Years Eve. For some reason all I can remember is disliking it. When I was a kid it was just always really lame. My family would go to a movie and since my sisters were much younger and I was an "angsty adolescent" we always had to see some "family" g rated film. In high school it always seemed like no matter how many people were at the party, everyone just watched the ball drop then sat around watching re-runs of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Nick at Night. This year I was determined to have a good time on New Years, and while it wasn't the best time of my life, it was definitely a good time.

My original plans for New Years Eve fell through, my good friend Mr. 3000 is about to leave for the Navy and had nothing to do this new years eve either. We had two options:

1) Family Matters re-run marathon on Nick at Night.

2) Go to Fountain Square.

We went with option 1, checked Yahoo TV listings, there was no Family Matters marathon.......option 2 it is then. I had been down to the Tree Lighting Ceremony earlier this holiday season which featured live music, the typical ice skating events, an appearance by Santa Claus, all kinds of activities, fireworks and a surprise appearance by Nick Lachey. Checking the Fountain Square website, it seemed they were promising just as much excitement with "live music" and "entertainment."

We arrived about two hours early around 10:00 P.M. surprisingly able to park in the FSQ garage. To our surprise we didn't find much on the square except a long line for the free ice skating (it was free that night for New Years). No live music, just the standard music playing in the speakers and a bar serving alcohol. We walked around for a bit taking pictures and exploring, but I'll be honest....we spent the majority of our time in the lobby of the Westin hotel talking with another friend of ours. At 11:45 PM with 15 minutes left in the new year we went out to the square which was becoming quite full:

It's no Times Square in New York, but it was quite the cool experience, hardly any standing room as the countdown neared. The large television screen atop of the Macy's building began broadcasting Dick Clark's countdown. At 11:58 with two minutes to go, Dick Clark was cut off and the screen began displaying a live video feed of the crowd while music resumed playing. Confused, people checked their cell phones and watches. 12:00 A.M. rolled around and people kind of just looked around at each other, some cheered, most were confused. At 12:03 some fireworks launched off of the Macy's building. The crowd erupted. At 12:04 a 60 second countdown began on the video screen. At 12:05 A.M. on January 1, 2009 the city of Cincinnati rang in the new year at Fountain Square. Despite the technical glitch, the crowd was great and very enthusiastic. It was neat to be a part of it. Fireworks followed:

As I was going about the crowd taking photographs, a gentleman grabbed my arm and said "Hey! These guys just got engaged, he just proposed!" while pointing at this couple:

Following the fireworks many of the families cleared out pretty quick, as did a lot of the crowd, but a few stuck around to dance in a semi-large crowd of people.

Truthfully there are other things I would've rather been doing, other plans that were supposed to come through, and the fact that those things hadn't worked out were kind of a downer, but New Years at Fountain Square was still a cool experience and it's nice to see so many people downtown having a good time.

Thanks for reading and viewing, have a great new year everyone! See you at The Third Coming January 31st!

[BoddaH1994]

It's too bad your Family Matters marathon fell through. It's hard to say what that wacky Winslow family will do next!

[The Interpreter]

Awesome photographs, as always!

Thanks for posting that great trip report!

[Avatar]

Ronny great trip report as always. I must say that I not only enjoy the quality of your photos but also your unique selection and angles you use to get them. I really think you have great unique talent and an instinct to shot a picture or tell a story that is interesting.