Day 3: Cincinnati/Chicago

Our favorite sequence of photos: Kevin interacts with the cannon onboard a steamboat in the Cincinnati History Museum

9am - We woke up in anticipation of Kevin coming home from his morning meeting.

10:30am - We finally get out of the house and head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I love Cracker Barrel, though surprisingly have never had it for breakfast (this was Pin's first ever time at Cracker Barrel).  Pin tried to solve that triangle peg game, unsuccessfully.  Kevin got the Grandfather platter with Chicken Fried Chicken (we still don't know what this means), and me and pin split Blueberry pancakes and eggs in a blanket.  Everything was really good, though how could it not if its fried in butter?  The pancakes came with cute little jars of syrup and blueberry syrup - I swiped them.  I was successful in finding 2 servers with the name Amy (see "6. Likenamed Servers"). Afterwards, we walked around the store and each got some candy and I bought a blue blanket (60% off - yes we found room for it in my car).

11:45am - Finally set off to Cincinnati downtown, to the Cincinnati Union Terminal where Museum Center is.  Museum Center is basically an old train terminal that was converted into 3 museums - The Cincinnati History Museum, the Cin. Museum of Natural History, and the Duke Energy Children's Museum.  A ticket for all 3 museums was only $12pp.

We went to the History museum which turned out to just be a "Cincinnati History" museum, not a Cincinnati "History museum".  We were greeted by a nice guy at the Information Station, who promptly stated we didn't have the "new joisey" accent.  He showed us briefly around the first level of the museum which was basically various replicas of Cincinnati from the 1940s - 70s.  We got to feel like giants.

Kevin and I were pretty excited about running into P&G history all over the museum.  That is a picture of us with a box stamped with the P&G logo, btw.

After walking through this part and the Cincinnati during war time part, we were pretty disappointed with the museum.  Then we found the lower level which turned out to be Cincinnati history to pre-revolutionary times.  This museum is pretty kid-oriented, so we got to play around in the "flat-boat era" where people sailed from Pittsburgh on flat-boats until they reached their plot of land where they used the wood from the boat to build their new home.   Though the studio apt here was much smaller, I think the rent is much more affordable - I thought about moving in.

There was another part depicting the public landing era where we could visit stores with people dressed from the time period.  The apothecary guy was pretty amusing and suggested Kevin and Pin join the steamboat as log-cutters if they were strapped for cash and needed a cheap way to get down to Louisiana.  On the steamboat, an super old guy explained the workings of the steam boat - steam engine!  Then we visited the printer, where there's an actual guy who casts the letters to put in an old fashioned printing press (it was eerily similar to the batch code blocks at P&G).  He was pretty enthusiastic about it and said they print a lot of wedding invitations (hint hint??).

We visited the apothecary guy in his pharmacy where he showed us how they used to make pills the old fashioned way.  He also demonstrated blood letting on me - which took me a few moments before realized the leeches we fake.

In the natural history museum, we immediately sat in on a curator's presentation of the polar bear, where he was asking for volunteers to try some polar bear blubber for $1.  I volunteered Kevin, who seriously considered it, before the curator admitted he was just kidding - it was Crisco on a bag.  In the lower levels of the museum, they had replicas of a cave and an ice cave which were pretty cool and realistic.  We had almost too much fun taking pictures - since no one was there.  Here's a selection:

Pin is the modern relative of the PikaeaThe natural order of species to save from extinction.  We thought I would get most important, and pin was least important.  Luckily for Pin, the answer was "everyone is important."

4pm - Afterwards, we headed back to Loveland to get some of Cincinnati's famous Skyline Chili.  I was skeptical about it, since I've heard mixed reviews from P&G people and have never had chili.  I ordered their classic 3-way Chili and Spaghetti (spaghetti with chili and shredded cheddar cheese).  Kevin got the 5-way (+ onions and red beans) and Pin got the burrito - vegetarian style. (see "27. Meals")  Turns out I LOVE it, and I ordered another to go.

5pm - Next we went to Graeter's ice cream, where kevin treated us to some great ice cream.  Me and pin shared cookies and cream and blueberry pie (see "27. Meals")

5:30pm - We went back to Kevin's place.  While we were planning on going to see the largest Jesus statue (in Monroe, OH), we opted for a round of MarioParty.  I basically killed Kevin and Pin (I had 7 stars, they had 3 and 2 respectively).  Then we had to rush to pack our stuff back in the car as we were behind schedule to leave for Chicago.

7:45pm - We finally leave Kevin's place - definitely sad, as his condo is SO nice, and it was a fun time!  Resolved to be more proactive about filling up on cheap gas, we filled up twice on the way to Chicago.

10:45Central/11:45EST - Time zone change!  I found out my car changes its time automatically.  Though we gained an hour, we were still and hr late getting into Chicago.

12:30am - Finally get to Jing's apartment in Chicago.  It's a beautiful apartment and we're happy about the huge couch we are sleeping on.  Though we are only in Chicago for a short time - we are pretty sure we won't be waking up for breakfast...

Thanks to Kevin again for showing us around Cincinnati and feeding us so well!  And to Jing, for staying up late to meet us!

Distance Traveled: 319mi
Total distance traveled: 970mi
$ Spent: $42.00
Total $: $167.63

6. Like-named Servers

Submitted by Jon L: Photo with an ihop (or other eatery) employee that has the same name

Amy with Amy from Cracker Barrel, Loveland, OH

27. Meals

Submitted by Amy's mom: what we eat everyday

Kentucky: Hofbrauhaus, Combo Appetizer platter









Ohio:

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, Eggs in a Basket and Blueberry pancakes

Skyline Chili, 3-way Chili with Spaghetti

Skyline Chili, Burrito- Vegetarian

Graeter's ice cream - cookies and cream and blueberry pie

24. Local Newspaper

Submitted by James G. - with a copy of the local newspaper wherever we stop

Weirton, WV

21. Red Corollas

Submitted by Katie R.: Red corollas of different license plates

Ohio (OH)








Illinois (IL)

11. VW Van

Submitted by Pin: Every VW van we see

(Cincinnati, OH)

Day 2: Columbus / Cincinnati

 

View of the Cincinnati skyline from Newport, KY

Second day of Pin and Amy's Great Adventure roadtrip, and we've already had our first run-in with a potentially life threatening situation (not really).

9am - Waking up bright and not so early. We realized last night that the hotel only has a breakfast buffet from Monday through Friday, so there was really no motivation to wake up early to eat. 9am counts as sleeping in, right? Check out wasn't until 11am, so we had plenty of time to shower, repack everything, and lounge around in our fabulous top floor executive (?) room for a little while.

11am - Left Pittsburgh, cheery and ready to see the rest of Pennsylvania and get into the middle of nowhere.

11:30am - Realized we only had enough gas to go another 30 miles. GPS says there's no gas station within 50 miles of us. Panic ensues. We pull into a town off the highway only to discover the town center contains a flea market, a cabin, and what looks like something that might have been a gas station 30 years ago.... before it burned down.

11:45am - Amy discovers a gas station (and not just a gas station, but a Sheetz, which if you've ever lived in the middle of nowhere, you would know is the best gas station for food ever) 6 miles down the road. Eureka! We're saved from the corn people, and the road trip is saved from disaster.

1:00pm - Arrived at Columbus to get lunch, because I was beginning to die from starvation. Little did we know, when you're in the middle of nowhere, even the cities shut down on Sundays. There was literally nothing open except for one street vendor selling hot dogs. Imagine a zombie movie where everyone's dead or eating people's brains. That was Columbus on a Sunday afternoon.



2:00pm - Pull over to a Wendy's because I'm about to die. At this point, we were planning on just plowing through to Cincinnati and eating there, but sometimes when my stomach is arguing with me, you just can't argue back. It yells. And growls. It's scary. I ordered for Amy and I, and told the cashier we would like "5 piece nuggets, medium fries, and a side salad." Somehow the cashier took it as "nuggets, fries, a salad, and a junior bacon cheeseburger." Not sure how, but I didn't realize until after I paid, so.... good one, Ohio. You got me.

4:30pm - Arrived at Kevin's apartment in Loveland (yes, that's right) Ohio, near Cincinnati. One word. Ballllller. Nicest one person condo ever, with a guest room, guest bathroom, balcony... the works. Sweet. Hotel Kevin rocks.

8:00pm - We finally make it out of the apartment, and make our way across the Ohio River to Newport, Kentucky. Dinner is at a German beer / bratwurst house, and it's delicious. I had a nice liter of Munich brew (with a banana undertone) to go with my veggie burger and munster, while Amy and Kevin had half liters of a light brew with their food (alfredo tilapia and wurst with apple kraut, respectively).



10:00pm - Walking along the banks of the Ohio River, we had a nice view of the Cincinnati skyline from Kentucky.

10:30pm - Drove back across the river and walked along Fountain Square in the Cincinnati downtown area. Once again, a super quiet zombie city, and from the looks of it, it's almost completely sponsored by Fifth Third and US Banks. We did, on the other hand, make some progress on the scavenger hunt here, finding our first '70s VW van. Whoop!!

11:45pm - Back at Hotel Kevin, time for an early night of sleep, resting up for what's to come!



Thanks to Sheetz for saving us from certain death in rural Pennsylvania, and Kevin for being our tour guide and host!!

Distance Traveled: 270mi
Total Distance Traveled:651mi
$ Spent: $51.75
Total $ Spent: $125.53