Return to Surf Cincinnati

 

It's been ten years since Surf Cincinnati was abandoned and over five years since most of it was demolished, it was time to go back.

  I have a playlist of music on my phone entitled: "Songs You'd Hear While Walking Through a Waterpark." It features stuff like Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy" and Steve Winwood's "Higher Love," songs I remember hearing at Surf Cincinnati when it was open and songs I heard constantly when I worked in an amusement park. 

Then there's tracks like "Love You Want" by the Wailing Souls - songs that sound like they'd be the perfect thing to hear over a late 90's intercom at the snack bar by the lazy river. 

I miss Surf Cincinnati in both of its identities: when it was open and when it was abandoned. I visited a lot as a kid, explored it as a photographer and even played abandoned mini golf there once.

It's been a decade since the place closed down and about five years since most of it was demolished. The slides, wave pool and lazy river have all been demolished and replaced with a nearby church. The "dry" side once known as "Fun City" still exists in the weeds behind a wilting fence.

There's on old ticket booth, still marking one of ...more (+photos)