Cincinnati Photos

I've now uploaded and captioned the photos from Jen's and my trip to Cincinnati a couple weeks ago. (CORRECTION: Initially I forgot to include the direct link.)

Through the magic of Priceline we managed to stay at the Hilton Netherlander Plaza downtown for just $77 a night. This hotel is an art deco classic from 1931 full of really cool decorative features. It's a National Historic Landmark, and the mixed-use "City within a city" hotel-office-shopping building was apparently an inspiration for Rockefeller Center, which opened a few years later.

We got 2-day passes to Kings Island amusement park, which was a lot of fun. I didn't take along my camera, though, since it would get in the way, although you can find a bunch of photos of the rides and details here at the rcdb. Saturday was a lot more crowded than Sunday; in retrospect a better option would probably have been to just get a one-day pass for Sunday and spend the whole day there then. Anyway, they have a bunch of great rollercoasters and other rides. I like the way The Beast, still the longest wooden coaster in the world since opening in 1979, goes way out into the woods, really enhancing the feeling of being on a runaway train.

Jen was born in Cincinnati (while Jerry Springer was a city councilman) and we were able to find the hospital where she was born and take a picture.
We also ate Skyline Chili, which is definitely different from regular chili, but which we liked.
Looking on the Skyline Chili website, there are apparently 84 (!) locations in the Greater Cincinnati area, and just a handful outside of it. Plus there are some other Cincinnati-style chili restaurants. This seems to be a great example of an extreme regionalism. On a sports talk radio show I heard, they were discussing how people would feel about Barry Bonds if he were on the Reds or were otherwise a local Cincinnatian, and at one point the host said, "Yeah, I mean, if he grew up eating Price Hill Chili, it'd be a different story." Eating their odd chili is thus essentially a shorthand for being a true Cincinnatian. Man, now I'm hungry for chili.

I also located the J & H Productions house at 3562 Vista Avenue and took a photo. What is J & H Productions? It is wondrous thing couched in mystery, but the best account of it can be found here. Listen to the mp3s for a delightful treat. "My shows will be the dynamic shows ever being gave."We had fun in the Queen City. It's about the same size as Indianapolis, but it's a bit grittier and has more character. The hills and views of the river help, too.