Where In The World Is Sum1?

Cruising Around Cincinnati

Locale: Cincinnati, Ohio

         I have to say, I wasn't all that impressed with Cincinnati.  It was probably due to the time of year, where my hotel was located, etc.  As usual, I was in a Hilton chain hotel, a somewhat new Hampton Inn near the University of Cincinnati.  The customer was the city itself, teaching their technicians how to program our newest radio.  I know it sounds simple, I mean how hard can a hand held radio be to program?  Well, there are almost 4000 different fields you can modify in this thing, changing one field may affect another, deleting one may have a chain reaction type of effect, so you really have to know your stuff to program one easily.  But the class went well, the students were great, anxious to learn, and one took me to one if his favorite places for lunch on Friday.  We had Gyro's at a small Greek place about 10 minutes from the training location.  Excellent food there, but they only take cash!

         Cincinnati is smaller than I expected, but I loved the area around it.  Rolling hills, the Ohio River, and of course, the Great American Ballpark.  But, baseball season is past, so there was no going there.  Of course, the Bengals are doing well, they even played a home game on Thursday while I was there.  But I didn't go.  Something about the price of those tickets keeps me away.    I wanted to go to a restaurant called 'The Precinct' near the river, but I don't like driving around a city I'm not real familiar with at night.  So I stick close to my hotel for the most part.  Walked to dinner two nights, it was warm out, and very nice.

         My trip home Saturday was a little bit of an adventure.  I was scheduled on a 9am flight, but it was delayed due to a mechanical issue.  They had us deplane, and immediately started to re-book everyone.  I ended up on an American Airlines flight that didn't leave until 3:25!  So I had about 5 hours to relax around the airport.  I spent most of that time in the nearby USO lounge, which made for a decent day.  But instead arriving home at 10:15am, I didn't get here until 4:15pm.  Such are the hazards of travel, huh.



Noteworthy Restaurants:

         http://www.bakersfieldtacos.com/menu/


         I have to say, there were not very many restaurants nearby.  There were a lot of fast food places, but none that I wanted to dine at.  I did have dinner at the Mecklenburg Gardens, but thought the food/service, and atmosphere was very average to below-average.  However, I did go to a place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  Bakersfield, OTR.  I'm still wondering what the OTR stands for.    It's not in the best part of town, when I went there the first time, I briefly wondered how safe it would be walking from the parking garage to the restaurant.  I never had a problem, and even dined there twice.  In fact, it was the feeling that I was safe while strolling around that brought me back.  Well, besides the food that is.  If you're in that area and choose to dine there, try the Short Rib Taco, or the Huitlacoche Taco.  Both are excellent.  I ended up having 6 different things my 2 times there (all are served ala-carte), never found something I didn't like.


         That was my last trip for this year, though I will be going to New York City for a day trip on the 23^rd.  Leave O'Hare at 6am, returning at 9:30 pm.  I will be checking out a training system for a series of future classes next year, probably 4 all total.  Til next time, y'all have a great time, good luck to those doing NaNoWriMo, and if I don't make an entry before then, have a great fun-filled Thanksgiving!