Cincinnati

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

• Glenda and I had a whirlwind trip to Cincy yesterday.  We got in about 11:45AM only to find there was a Reds game downtown.  After passing 6 full parking garages, we finally got a spot on the top floor of a garage on Garfield.   We got lunch at Boi Na Braza, a Brazilian Steakhouse on the first floor of the Carew Tower.  At Brazilian steakhouses or "churrascarias", you get a coaster/card with a red side and a green side.  If you put your green side up on the table, gauchos come to your table and offer you all manner of grilled meats.  Different cuts of steak, lamb, sausage, chicken - you name it.  If you put the red side of the coaster up, it means "I am about to burst, sir, please quit bringing me food".  The food was delicious,  the atmosphere was great, and the gauchos wore MC Hammer pants.

• After lunch, it was up to the observation deck of Carew Tower.  You walk through a little retail area to get to the elevator.  This takes you up to the 45th floor.  When you get off at that floor,  you get on a rickety old elevator that seems like a phone booth / Port-a-Potty hybrid that takes you up to the 48th floor.  From there, you climb one set of stairs and you're up to the observation deck.  Once there, it seems you can see all of Cincinnati, and a good portion of the tri-state area.

• After taking some photos from the observation deck, it was off to the Cincinnati Art Museum.  They had some terrific temporary exhibions that inspired this whole trip in the first place.   One of the best was "Thomas Schiff: Vegas 360".  This exhibit featured panoramic views of the crazy world that is Las Vegas.  My favorite image pictured the Strip on New Year's Eve with fireworks galore.  Two other highlights were "The American Road" which featured huge neon advertising signs, and "Walker Evans: Decade by Decade", which included many of the photographer's works from the Great Depression and beyond.

• Then came Glenda's favorite part of the trip: IKEA!  We got new chairs for our kitchen table, a clock, a couple of small shelves, etc.  Glenda could've spent a lot more time there, but we did plenty of damage in an hour and a half.

• Our thanks go out to Joey's grandparents MawMaw and Zedu for entertaining Joey this week and to Miss Holly and Uncle Pete and Aunt Tammie for taking care of Tony for the day.  Thanks again!!