Cincinnati

Just typing that title I found myself singing the word and adding "WKRP" after it.  Yep, I am that old.

Alright, silliness aside, let's look at Cincinnati.  We spent that afternoon there, stopping for lunch, shopping, and sightseeing in one spot, then coming back for dinner and a walk in the evening.  We also came back into the city after checking out of the hotel the next morning, heading for a museum and lunch before making our way to the airport.  Not much time in Cincinnati - we saw even less of it than we did of Nashville - but I feel as though our appetites for more were whetted by comparison to Nashville earlier in the trip.

Speaking of appetites, we started off with lunch up in the Mount Adams neighbourhood. Cincinnati is the United States' version of a city built on seven hills.  It's a charming little part of the city, one that felt like a real little neighbourhood with its own community.  We headed for lunch right away, having sandwiches at Mt. Adams Bar and Grill,

before wandering around a small handful of blocks, taking in the top of the hill and what it had to offer. 

A few interesting pieces of real estate up there as well, but no, we are not intending to retire to Cincinnati.

From there it was on to Rookwood Pottery,

a place that one of Conrad's colleagues had recommended.  They had lovely pieces there, and I could well imagine having a tile fireplace or something like that as crafted by them.  Yes, we bought a few small things.  How could we not?  From there, it was downtown and a little jaunt through the Hilton to admire at least some of the fine interior of the Carew Tower.

John and Drew met us at the hotel early that evening for drinks before we all crossed back into downtown Cincinnati for dinner.  I still can't believe I got to meet John.  What an amazing man he is.  And Drew was an utter delight - I loved hearing his many stories. 

Dinner was at Yard House, and it was fine enough, but what was even better was taking advantage of a pleasant evening and all of us strolling across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge to Kentucky and then back again, walking a little after that in the riverfront park in Cincinnati.  What a gorgeous bridge!  That walk gave me and John time to have some private conversation and share some personal things, too, and I valued that greatly.  But ah, the views of the cities, the river, and the bridge itself.  So wonderful.

John and Drew dropped us back off at the hotel after that, and Conrad and I had a nightcap.  A fine day done, and a little time the next day to get to see more.

The next morning we were back at Point Perk, but we also stopped at North South Baking, a lovely bakery nearby, for some excellent pastries to bring back to the room. 

A rhubarb cruffin?  Yes, please!  We packed, checked out, and headed across the river to the Cincinnati Art Museum.  We had enough time there to browse a bit (free admission, so the price was right) and have lunch in the museum cafe. 

It was off to the airport after that,

two flights to go, and a little stowaway joining us. 

The end of a truly excellent vacation with oh so many highlights to remember fondly.

back from travels

Howdy!

The travels of recent days are done.  We boarded a flight in Cincinnati

yesterday, connected through Denver, and made it home in time to unpack, unwind, get to bed.  I'll be posting in the days ahead, and my apologies for going so long without posting.  It was a very good trip, and I just didn't make time for blogging while enjoying Nashville and Cincinnati (well, Covington) with Conrad and Van.

So, more to come!  Stay tuned.   

spring break vacation, Day 1

8 days ago Conrad and I headed to Burbank Airport.  Oh yes, I am digging into the blogging of the spring break trip to New England.  Day by day - there's a lot of ground to cover!

Day one was easy.  Burbank to Denver, and that was it.  We had wanted to get to Providence in time for dinner with friends, and to do that, we needed to break the outbound trip in two.  That meant we could leave from Burbank, though, which is always preferable.  Such an easy airport.  And hey, first ones on the plane!

Rather than head into the city (and, sadly, we no longer have Courtney and Robert there)(and Laurie and Marc were busy with family visiting), once we got to the airport in Denver,

we picked up our luggage and headed to the adjoining Westin Hotel.  I love the looks of the hotel.  So cool.  Every time I have been to or through Denver, I admire the design.  And now was my chance to stay.

We had a regular room,

and rather than a view of the tented terminal we looked down on the train station for the metro coming in to the airport. 

That was fine.  The room was for one night, and we had an early Sunday morning flight.  We dropped off bags then headed down to the lobby bar for a cocktail

(appropriately enough, an Aviation for me). 

That refreshed us.  We then headed to the ground floor plaza to wander, take photos of the installations on each side,

get a few steps in.

Dinner that night was at Grill & Vine at the hotel.  Conrad taught the bartender how to make Last Words,

and we sipped them whilst enjoying a shared tuna tartare (pictured)

and genuinely super burgers (not pictured).  Bellies a little too full, it was upstairs with us and on to bed.  That 3:45 wake up was going to come far far too soon....