Cincinnati Day-Trip

In myNew Year's Resolution to write more, I was inspired by a Saturday day-trip we took to Cincinnati, my birthplace. We drove up early Saturday and arriving in town, headed for Clifton. It's the neighborhood near the University of Cincinnati, and given that we were HUNGRY and COLD, we ate gyros. The lamb was off a spit, as any self-respecting gyro place should serve it (pre-sliced "sqaure lamb" just isnt' the same as chunks off the spit).

After our lunch, I asked the server where the nearest Graeter's Ice Cream place was, remembering that a shop was somewhere nearby. A few minutes later, Erin tucked into Black Raspberry Chip, their most famous flavor, and I had mint chocolate cookie, very nice also.

We spent the rest of the day going over to the west side to see my childhood home, over to Mt. Adams and Eden Park (Krohn Conservatory is AWESOME!). After that, we drove east to Mariemont, a 1930s-era planned "Garden Suburb" that I've read about, and being a planning geek, had to check out. We patronized Starbucks (yes, I know they're a big corporation, but how many corporations harp on fair-trade, recycling, community involvement, etc.?). That hot chai and mocha warmed us after walking around in 20 degree daytime weahter.

Finishing the day, we had dinner at Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati establishment and something I grew up with indirectly. My parents (from Upstate South Caroline and Southern California) discovered "Cincinnati chili" while living there in the late 1970s, and even long after we lived in Augusta, GA, we would have "chili night", complete with spaghetti, onions, cheddar cheese, etc. My South Georgia step-mom must have thought it to be one of THE strangest things around, but I think even she likes it now.

The drive to Cincinnati was a bit longer than anticipated, but worth it for the food, architecture and tons of character of one of America's first "big" cities.