And I did not make this tale up.

Once upon a time there lived a little town called Monroe which held a very sacred and popular tourist spot.  (For me anyway.  I mean, what is one to do with world travelers who come and visit you in Cincinnati?) 

                                                                                                                                                                Take a right at the toy store directly off the highway.

From there, you pass a cute breakfast place

 

 And keep going until you spot the little shops of Monroe, then turn left.

When you come upon the regal entrance, you pull in and immediately feel something.  Not sure it is the emotion the founders of this place wanted, I mean they probably expected me to say peace and calm and tranquility but I always felt giddy with church laugh excitement in  my belly.  I was taking our guests to the one must see attraction in Ohio and it was right there, you can see it from the highway.  Could be the best in all of Ohio but I hear tell of a museum for music in Cleveland and a house made of trash in Philo and the Underwear Capital of the world is in Piqua, Ohio but I am not close enough to venture there for a day trip so this is our first stop. 

 As we head down the drive way we can start to see him….in all his glory.  The King of Kings (or so far he has been called King Kong and King of Beers by those I have shared this tale with), also known as The Butter Jesus (for he spreads the word and is yellow appearing) and my personal favorite, Touch Down Jesus.  He is a true sight as well as a consideration for the  Guinness Book of World records until…well, read on.

Yes, this is it!  A 62 foot Styrofoam and fiberglass Jesus coming out of the water in all of his glory!!

Well, as you know, a good story isn’t good unless there is joy, adversity, and a lesson so I must continue.    The joy part is the faith and glory in a statue of Jesus whose arms rise to the skies as in asking for peace.  The adversity is the arms of Jesus rise up to the skies and the skies were pretty stormy the other night and I guess Zeus was in a frisky mood and packed a whallup on TDJ.  The lesson is don’t cover a bunch of steel with fiberglass and styrofoam as it catches on fire pretty quick and burns hot and fast.  Down to the pond, taking a few fish with him.  Butter Jesus melted.

And with that, dashed my dreams of friends coming to visit as what can I do now?  My Ace is gone, though I do still have my second stop on the welcome to Cincinnati tour, the bathrooms at Jungle Jim’s Grocery store.  Ever heard of them?  They made it to the Hall Of Fame when voted America’s best restrooms in 2007.   I know how tough the competition was as Jungle’s restrooms are 10th on the list of world’s most unusual bathrooms following close behind the bathrooms in Yellow Springs, Ohio. ( I guess Yellow Springs might be close enough to fill a day here with both potty stops, gonna look into that.)

In honor of the fallen big guy, I share with you a little of the wall of shame of the few who have visited, my heathen friends and the high-fiving of Jesus.  The solo photo is because I didn’t know anyone who could take time off of work. I needed one last moment….RIP TJD. 

This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 12:30 am and is filed under My Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.