We’ve made it to Cincinnati. That’s roughly 550 miles and 9 hours in the books.
A good day. As good as a day that started at 1:45 A.M. could possibly be I guess. The girls awoke as we scooped them up from a comfy slumber, stayed alert and, knee-slappingly funny, for the first hour of our dark journey Westward. Eventually they returned to sleepytown, along with the Mrs. (thanks for nothing sweetie) leaving yours truly to go it alone. Having no toothpicks, I was forced to wedge mini-donuts into place to prop my eyes open. But those damn chocolate goodies kept falling into my mouth.
As the sun climbed higher, we stopped in Columbus, OH for breakfast at First Watch (our fave mini-chain that also has an outpost in Sarasota, FL) before pulling into the Queen City at high noon. We briefly followed some ducks and swans in Eden Park, then hit up the Krohn Observatory, wandering through their 2009 Butterfly show. Beautiful place but we weren’t in the frame of mind to really enjoy it to the max. Instead the detour served as a glorified (and $13, with coupon) stretching of the legs.
We grabbed a couple hours of rest (not sleep, god forbid!) at our hotel across the Ohio River, in Covington, Kentucky before heading out to dinner and the (boring if you’re a Phils fan) Reds game. How cool is it that there is a company called Great American that bought the naming rights to the Reds home? And all this time I thought it was just a pompous statement about a nice ballpark.
Check out my mid-80’s Topps card from my playing days in Cincy.
Can’t stay awake any longer. Goodnight.
*A reminder, and invitation, to befriend me on Facebook. Do so and get updates and pics throughout each day of the road trip.