We stopped around Castleton on the northside of Indy to pick up plastic drop cloths in case it rains on us Friday. Forecast looks a little iffy for showers or not. I figured we would look like we got lost from the Gallagher show. At least we would be dry.
Back on the road, we got of Indy and made it down I-74 into Cincy. It was a nice drive. You can definitely tell the Germans settled this part of Indiana with the town names. The land becomes more rolling and green as you head down to the river. That’s the Ohio River, of course.
We made it into Cincy with no problem. I don’t think I’ve ever come into the city from this side. The drive was short and sweet to hit the downtown area. I felt sorry for the very long line trying to get across the river into Kentucky. That was going to take a while.
We found our hotel and figured out how to get to the valet parking. But someone was coming out the In door and I had to go around the block! Finally got into the garage and found the guys with the yellow shirts waiting to whisk my car away. Downtown Cincy appears to be all parking garages.
The Hilton Netherlands Plaza is circa 1930s, but with a now modern update. It’s a nice place that the Cincy Blues Association arranged. Not bad on the price either. I got one of the last rooms in the block. Sweet!
We talked to the concierge desk and found out how we could get across the river and through the woods to Newport. The TANK bus runs between the communities on both sides to ferry you around. TANK is Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky. We went out the hotel and across the street to the bus stop.
Across 5th street, they were preparing Fountain Square for the evening’s entertainment. Apparently, throughout the summer, there is a different type of music played on the stage every evening. This afternoon was Acoustic, which we missed. Tonight, it was Salsa.
We hopped the bus and headed to Hofbrau Haus in Newport. This is an extension of the Hofbrau Haus in Munich, Germany. They’ve opened one here, in Vegas, and soon to be in Rosemont. That’s right near us! Newport was one of the three ports for river traffic delivering to Cincinnati. Goods were brought to Newport and then transported over to the city.
The restaurant is in one of the old warehouse buildings in the waterfront district. It was very nice with dark wood and German decor. The food was excellent. I had Bavarian jagerschnitzl and Rich had a single schweinhaxe (joint of pork). Of course, the beers were really good. It was nice that I wasn’t driving and could enjoy the evening as well.
We decided to walk back to Cincy across the Purple People bridge. A private organization purchased the old L&N Railroad bridge across the river and renovated it. The garden clubs in the area manage mini gardens in planters all along the bridge. I’d say the bridge was more lavender than purple. It brought us to the park where the Blues fest will be held on Friday.
From here, we walked along the river to the stadiums. I believe that is 3 total stadiums. Seems like a lot sports in one area. We did find Morlein’s brewpub in the process though. It was a nice 25 minute walk back to the hotel. That’s just about as long as it takes us to walk down to Grant Park from the train station back home.
We went to our room to rest up and take advantage of the facilities before we went back out. We did discover that Interconnect was $10 a day! Everyone is jumping on this bandwagon to charge you. Luckily, I knew about the free wifi hotspot app that we could load to our Smart phones. Using this was a breeze. Yeah. It was a connection to the outside world without the major cost.
Time to wander downtown a little bit. We checked out the restaurant and bar within the hotel. It’s all very Art Deco here. Of course, I love that period. However, I love the jewelry better from that period. Anyway, we made it down to the street level and walked down to Fountain Square. We decided to check out some pigs.
Throughout the downtown area, there are pig statues. Most of the cities are doing this and using something related to their history. Cincinnati was the stockyard and butchering center for a growing U.S. back in the day. Today, you find the motto: When pigs fly, they do in Cincinnati. Some of the pigs are interesting and some require knowledge of Cincinnati to understand. I loved the Starry Night pig in the square. Penny sits in the Westin Hotel and is covered in shiny 2012 pennies.
Excerpt from a discussion on the motto when pigs fly for Cincinnati:
The story is that when the hogs were delivered from one side of the river to the slaughter house on the other side, they were loaded on flat top barges. As they stood on the barges and moved across the river, the early morning fog would often rise off the water and cover the barge bottom. The only thing you saw were the pigs floating above the water. This gave the appearance that the pigs were “flying” across the river.
In Fountain Square, music was blaring out and we could see people dancing away. It’s free to enter the square. People were standing and sitting. Mostly, they were dancing to the Salsa music being played on stage. The band appears to be a typical Brazalian Salsa band with lots of members, voices, and instruments. They were really good.
After watching people dancing, we walked through the square and back out to the street. We had seen a sign for what sounded like an interesting place. Walking back down Vine St, we track down O’Malley’s in the Alley. We walk into a small bar with a lot of dark wood and Cincinnati sports items. It’s an Irish bar, but more of a local type of hangout. We had a beer and then headed back to the hotel.
Time to plan out the day for tomorrow. It seems we could once again do several different things and not have to move the car. I like this.
