getting to Toronto

Last Friday morning I boarded a flight from LAX to EWR.  Oh, I know, I could have flown direct to the Centre of the Universe, but a) it would have cost more miles, and b) there were more options on Air Canada, which I try to avoid flying.  So disloyal to my home country, I know.  I had originally booked LAX --> DEN --> YYZ, but it meant an ungodly 5AM departure.  Look, I'm a morning person, but come on!  A couple of weeks before the trip I changed my routing, leaving later and going by way of EWR. So, yes, across the continent, but hey, lie-flat seats!

It was an uneventful flight.  I had a tasty enough breakfast aboard

and then a cod cakes "lunch" before landing. 

I dozed, read, listened to music, watched Cougar Town (my new favourite show).  We landed, and I had over an hour in the lounge before the next flight.

A window seat on flight two meant that I was able to see outside as we left Newark

and then, an hour or so later, as we approached and landed in Toronto. 

Ah, Lake America!  I joke.  Fuck that.  Lake Ontario.  Let's be real.

Getting through the airport and to the hotel was relatively smooth and as fast as it could reasonably be.  I made it to my room,

dropped my bags, and headed to the hotel restaurant/bar for a basic dinner, a turkey and avocado BLT. 

The sandwich was a sandwich, but the fries were good.  The bartender, also named Peter, warmed up to me after I explained a Boulevardier

to him and chatted a little.  Dinner done, I came upstairs to unpack and unwind and sip the glass of Baco Noir I'd brought up with me. 

A long day of travel done, and so much to come for the weekend! 

a jewel of a surprise

I'm splitting the blogging of the last day (plus a bit) of the Memorial Day weekend vacation into two because I feel like the morning deserves its own little spotlight.

I won't claim to know a lot about Covington, Kentucky.  We spent only two nights there, and although we gleaned some things about its history and present, there is so much more we could have uncovered.  Starting with our hotel itself. 

I commented in a previous post about how much I liked our suite and the bars, but there were art installations

and wall art and more that I would have been curious to explore as well as the histories of the buildings themselves.  

Covington, it was clear to us, once had a very lively downtown and was probably at least somewhat important.  And, like so many cities in that part of the US, it had gone through a down period.  It seemed, however, that Covington was coming back.  The hotel itself was one indication.  That there were some interesting eating establishments and bars and stores

in the area also spoke to some rejuvenation.  That was heartening.  We saw just a little bit of that after Van got up, wandering over to Point Perk Coffee a block from the hotel.  A nice little coffee shop on a corner

that felt perfect for relaxing and perhaps watching the world. 

I also like that the coffee shop is part of an organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental differences by employing them in the shop.  The coffee was good, too!  I couldn't resist buying a tshirt.

We didn't venture too far from the hotel, but we did head south from it for several blocks.  After a few blocks, we came upon area that was, well, less gentrified.  Not so bad that we needed to turn around, no, but not as cool or refreshed as other parts of town.  We had a destination, though:  Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

Rick and Dave had driven us past the cathedral the night before, pointing it out to us.  It wasn't as though we badly wanted to see a cathedral, mind you, but it made for a good point to walk to that morning.  So we did.  And it was a handsome building.  Wonderful craftsmanship on the outside. 

And what a size.  A proper cathedral.  But why oh why does a town of 40,000 or so in Kentucky need a cathedral.  The answers were inside.  We went in, and one of the nicest, friendliest docents I've ever had the pleasure of meeting greeted us.  There was only one other couple in the building at that time, and so he was able to show us around and explain to us the history of the building.

Friends, if you had told me that a cathedral in Kentucky would be a trip highlight, I would have scoffed.  Loudly.  But come on.  No matter your faith, I think you would be able to appreciate the beauty within.   We surely did.  Wow. 

An unexpected jewel to spend some time in, and we were very very glad we did.  Our morning in Covington gave us only a meager taste of the town, but we liked the town even more for what we saw!

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.

spring break vacation, Day 2

Vacation, day 2.  Another day of travel.  That 6AM flight was so darn early, but it was sunny out when we were ready to depart. 

Two flights to go, first on to Chicago, where we had some luxury of time to hang out in a United Club, munch some lunch, and then wander to our gate.

From Chicago,

it was a comparably long hop as the first flight to take us to Providence.  As we got close to landing, there were some gaps in the clouds, and there it was below:  Rhode Island. 

Hooray!

Bags, then the walk to the connecting structure where we picked up our rental car.  I did all the driving in that car, Conrad navigated.  Although it looks like the airport is a goodly way out of the city, on that Easter Sunday it was a very quick drive, perhaps 10 minutes.  We were checked in to the hotel well before it was time to meet friends for dinner.  Given that time, we ventured out to see the downtown surrounding the hotel, admiring the many murals we found there. 

And getting my shoes soaked.  Ah well.  We were a little peckish, so we eventually parked ourselves in a Japanese grocery near the hotel and had a little bite.

We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and then freshening up.  Evening rolled around, and before it got dark we were strolling up into the Federal Hill neighbourhood to meet Jack and his husband, James,

at Pane E Vino.

Dinner was leisurely, old school Italian.  I didn't photograph the food, but I remember liking my gnocchi with braised lamb quite well.  We had a round of cocktails, then Jack ordered a bottle of wine for us to share.  They offered us a ride back to the hotel, but the night was not too chilly, and we decided that the walk would do us some good.  A stroll back, some water, and then to bed.  The New England vacation was truly underway!