on to Covington

80 months.  80.  That's approximately how long it had been since I last saw Rick in person.  An evening of dinner and drinks in Louisville.  He drove down to meet me when I was there for a conference.  What a great time that was - we ended up in a speakeasy place sharing drinks with the next table who apparently were part of some local pie empire.  I remain fuzzy on that detail after all these years.  Fun times.

We've stayed in touch nicely since.  Occasional cards, text messages, and even a few online happy hours.  That's how I first met Dave, his husband, and how Conrad and Van met them.  It was a real pleasure to be able to come their way and make time for dinner together as part of our vacation.  But not in Nashville, though.  We'd shifted locales, so let me back up to earlier that day.

We weren't in a particular hurry to check out of the hotel, so Conrad and I - as usual, up before Van - headed out for a little walk.  It was a very short stroll to the edge of the Vanderbilt University campus, and then we headed into the midst of it.  Very quiet there.  Not just a Sunday but (I'm guessing) also after the end of the semester.  I think we saw 5 other people total.  It's a good-sized campus, and there were some lovely old buildings and trees as well as newer and even brutalist ones. 

Ah, that library.  So charming on the one side,

so ugly on that other,

just the way so many universities have rebuilt their libraries.  From the campus, we wandered back to the hotel, stopping for Starbucks, and then setting to work on packing on our return.

We had a handful of hours to drive that day.  No lunch stop either, but we did take a little dip into Louisville to see the pretty little Old Louisville neighbourhood.  From there it was east, mostly tracking parallel to but not along the Ohio River.  Destination:  Covington, KY.

Why Covington?  It seems random, right?  We had wanted to end the trip with a couple of nights in Cincinnati - you'll have seen that meeting up with John was part of that reason, but Rick and Dave were another good reason.  Sadly, Rick's brother passed away months back, and Rick inherited his condo in the Cincinnati suburbs on the Kentucky side of the river.  We had thought that they would be moved in by the time of our visit, but no, not quite yet.  Still, they didn't mind the drive from their house, which is about an hour further away.  We so greatly appreciated that.

Anyway, Covington.  I had looked around at hotels to book, and for three men, a suite has become essential - yes, we can do a room with two beds, but I am not lying when I say that I have had nights in hotel rooms like that where I have set up a "bed" in the bathtub or the floor of the bathroom so that I can get some sleep.  Even at home or at Van's I spend most of the night in the spare bed simple so that I can sleep well and enough.  My search for hotels in Cincinnati was not going promisingly, alas, until I found a review of the Hotel Covington.  Not the cheapest, not the worst price.  It was a good decision.  The hotel is housed in a former department store and adjoining former YMCA.  Historic on the outside, cool and modern inside.  Great bar in the lobby, an even better one in the adjoining building.  Our room was in that second building (accessible either through the hotel or by a separate street entrance).  Our room was great.  Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, big living room. 

If it had a stove and oven, I would have paid rent and lived there.  Really fantastic place.  I honestly would love to go back and visit our friends in part just so I can stay at that hotel.

Rick and Dave picked us up to head to dinner, driving us a little farther east along the river to Chart House in Newport.  It was an excellent pick.  I mean, the food was fine - I liked my steak more than the one I had in Nashville, and the shrimp appetizer was pretty. 

Service was fine as well, and they made a good martini.  But what really sold the place was the view.  The massive Ohio River between us and Cincinnati, the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge linking the two sides nearby. 

We could watch traffic on the river - a sternwheeler or two,

a few industrial ships, and - this was a little disturbing given the immensity of the river and how polluted we knew it must be - jet skiers!  It was such a nice evening.

And, of course, there was the company. 

Just so easy and enjoyable chatting with the guys, and I was delighted to meet Dave in person and have Conrad and Van meet them both.  They gave us some excellent recommendations for our next day, which we took them up on and appreciated.  They drove us back to the hotel, pointing out a few landmarks, and dropped us off with many big hugs.  Van headed to the room, Conrad and I grabbed glasses of wine at the lobby bar, and came upstairs to unwind.  Another excellent day of vacation, a very comfortable room to finish it in, and such a welcome reunion with Rick after all this time.