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.

Piña Verde

In the past couple of years or so I've taken to Reddit.  There's a confession!  I seldom post, I occasionally comment, I usually lurk and read.  One of the fun subreddits that I've appreciated is devoted to cocktails. Redditors post photos and recipes.  I've flagged a few here and there, wanting to come back and make them.  It's good to try new things.

Was it yesterday or the day before, I can't remember:  I saw a post about a drink called the Piña Verde.  Unusually, the base (and only) spirit was green chartreuse.  We're huge fans of chartreuse here, and so we decided to give it a try.  Chartreuse, pineapple juice, lime juice, cream of coconut.  An easy recipe served in an old-fashioned class heaped with pebble ice.  Looks pretty, right?

Our verdict:  good, a little sweet.  It may need a little more lime for a balance that we like.  Van, however, spotted a comment on the Reddit post I shared with him and Conrad, someone commenting that they added an ounce of rum to the drink.  So, when I made us a second round to have with our takeaway sushi, I tried that variation.  It made for a boozier drink, of course (and two of them were quite enough!), but a better one - the rum diluted the sweetness but didn't compete too much with the green chartreuse.  Success!

We'll make this one again, I think.  Not a lot of them - green chartreuse isn't easily found, and I get wary of running out of it.  But still, a fine drink on a Saturday evening. 

80s night at the Bowl

You know how there are artists that you like a bit, know one or two of their songs (maybe three or four at the most)?  And then you come to understand that there are scads of folks out there who somehow really know those artists' music and really love it?  That was kind of my night on Thursday night at the Hollywood Bowl.  No, this is not a bad thing, just kind of interesting to see.

To be fair to me, most of the music on Thursday dated from my tween and early teen years, a time when I was just stepping into grown up music and away from, say, ABBA, whom I loved when I was in grade school (and still very much like).  By around 1983 or so, I was starting to buy 45s and spending my money on Eurythmics and Duran Duran.  I'll also further qualify things by saying that small town radio in northern BC tended more toward classic rock rather than new wave or British alternative music.  It was later - sometimes much later - that I discovered 80s acts that may now be considered as classic.  And even then for many such acts it really was only the hits.

All of this is to say that I enjoyed Thursday evening at the Hollywood Bowl but wasn't deep into it after the first set.  Ah, but Van?  And so many people around me?  Oh, they were.  And good for them!

We caught the shuttle

from near Pasadena City Hall over to the Bowl, grabbed some cans of wine from a Bowl venue, found our seats

(not too bad - not super close, but middle-ish), and devoured the fried chicken dinners Van had picked up for us.  While it was still light out, Alison Moyet began her opening set.

Confession:  when Van told us about the concert, I think he was mostly high on seeing the headliner.  Me?  I wanted to see Alison Moyet.  The former lead singer of Yaz(oo), I first heard her in the mid 80s when she released the song Invisible.  To my teenage ears, it was a big no thank you, sorry to say.  The turning point?  This will be funny to say, but Columbia House did it.  Yep, I signed up for that in the 90s when I was trying to build out my CD collection, and I had a good experience with it, hearing a lot of music that was new to me that way.  One CD I bought was a greatest hits album by Alison Moyet, and that introduced me to a bunch of her hits.  And that was how I came to enjoy here music.  In the early 2000s I stumbled upon her Hometime album, and I really enjoyed that, too.  All that is to say, I was excited to see and hear her live.

Alison delivered.  Hands down the best of the show, in my opinion.  Don't believe me?  The Bowl was pretty darn full for her opening set, and people were cheering and dancing for the hits of old. 

She didn't need light shows or effects on the screens, she had her magnificent voice.  And she also had years of performing that really shone through.  The way she knew that she had the cameras on her, projecting her to screens around the Bowl, her expressions and postures - she's done this before. 

Even more clear?  She was having a really good time.  40 minutes, and I wish it had been double.  So good.

An intermission, then up next was Soft Cell. 

I was honestly surprised that they (well, really, it's Marc Almond) had a prominent role on a tour.  One hit, right?  Oh, it's a great one:  Tainted Love.  But one hit.  Ah, no, Peter.  A check of Wikipedia when I got home showed that Soft Cell had a handful of top 5 hits in the UK.  And, according to Van, there is a new album due out imminently.  So, shame on me for underestimating Soft Cell.  That said, although I liked the energy and vibe of a few songs (and yes, Tainted Love closed the set to huge applause), the singing was only ok, and I found that to be a little off-putting.  The set was fine enough, I guess, but it just left me wishing for more of Alison Moyet.

Another intermission, and then the headliners:  Human League. 

For me, they sit in the middle in terms of my knowledge of their music.  I think I know 4 of their songs, and I even had a 45 of one of them ("Human") when I was a teen.  That's more than I knew of Soft Cell but less than I knew of Alison Moyet.  As with Soft Cell, they used a lot of graphics.  They also had long intros and outros to their songs, which allowed for costume changes (in a 70-minute set!) and (sorry, but I think this may be true) short breaks for the members.  Phil Oakey, the make lead singer, is 70 after all, and he was scooting around the stage a fair bit.  Van was happy with how they were, and given that they were the main draw for him, that was good.  I enjoyed it, I was there with some 15,000 other people shouting/singing out the chorus to Don't You Want Me.  We did, however, head for the shuttles during the encore.

Our first time at the Hollywood Bowl this year, and it was fun.  The 80s were alive (and yeah, the crowd was a fairly mature one) for one night.  And even though I knew not nearly enough of the music shared, I was thrilled to hear some familiar, welcome, old hits.