Road Trip Part 3: Cincinnati

Following our Friday morning excitement at Churchill Downs, and a stop for yet another excellent Louisville meal at a place called J. Gumbo's (warning, that link has music that plays automatically. Who does that? This one doesn't.), we began the only 90 minute drive to our hotel in Covington, KY. In case you aren't aware, Covington is directly across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati. We took the elevator up to the 12th floor and were greeted with this view out our hotel room window:

Football stadium on the left, baseball stadium on the right. 

Thank you, Keith, for reserving our room with your Platinum-level reward status. We got a nice one. We unpacked a bit, hung up our fancy clothes so they wouldn't get wrinkled, and had a little time for some rest and relaxation. Driving (or being a passenger in said car) for large chunks of time can be quite tiring as it turns out. Keith & Lois arrived mid-afternoon and we walked across that blue bridge for dinner at the Yard House before yet another baseball game, this time at the major league affiliate of Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds:

They were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. The people sitting on either side of us were die-hard fans and provided all sorts of interesting commentary.

It was a fun game. We got back to the hotel and Brad & Lily had arrived after a bit of a delay-filled, crazy travel day. We had a few drinks in the hotel bar and relaxed and caught up. While I love my husband, it was nice to have a little break from the one-on-one time of the previous few days.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and clear - OOTNDITHOD, even. Check out the sky over the Union Terminal:

It's still an active train station, but it also houses the Cincinnati Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History. 

While it was Andy's idea to visit the train station (is anyone surprised?), I was pleasantly surprised by how cool I found it. The main lobby is super pretty and ornate:

We also took an elevator up the tower in the back of the station to see some trains at work. There were some small children there who kept exclaiming "Choo-choo!" Indeed:

Those yellow contraptions are loading containers onto a train. It was pretty fascinating for me, a person who spends her days coordinating container shipments via rail to coastal ports. 

After a bit of train related nerdy-ness, we went back to the hotel and then walked over to a Cincinnati institution for lunch - Skyline Chili. I myself did not take a photo, but here is a pretty excellent one found on the intertubes:

Yes, that's spaghetti noodles topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese. It's a Cincinnati thing, apparently. 

Neither of us had the signature dish, as we couldn't quite make ourselves get something that involved pasta and chili. Too weird. Instead, Andy had the Coney Bowl and I had a vegetarian burrito with black beans - more details on what those are can be found on the Skyline Chili website linked above. Both were surprisingly good for what amounts to fast food, and both still came with just a stupid amount of cheese piled on top. Not as good as any of the food we ate in Louisville, but still way above my expectations.

Finally, it was time for the whole purpose of this road trip, the wedding of Andy's cousin Josh and his wife Katie. I did not take any photos of the wedding because there were already at least 4 wedding photographers and that seemed like enough. There is a lovely video of the day here, if you are interested. But since you don't actually know these people, maybe not? In any case, my only photo of the night is of the two of us at the reception:

Slightly blurry, but aren't we cute? 

A great time was had by all. We got up early on Sunday - Andy so he could start the drive back with his mom, and me so I could head to the airport with Keith for our flight home. The only driving one way plan of mine was brilliant - I was done with the car, that's for sure! I got home around lunch on Sunday and the cats were pretty ecstatic to see me:

Thanks to my Aunt Tula for being our primary cat-sitter. They were well taken care of.

Andy and his mom returned late Monday afternoon, but not before stopping in Springfield, Illinois to visit all of the Abraham Lincoln sites. I'll have to do that next time.