![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Reunion Trip, Day 5 of 6
Aug. 12th, 2024 11:59 pmMONDAY
Got up about 6:30 to pee and went back to sleep until our alarms went off an hour later. I was done with my shower by eight; Gary had gone back to sleep and reset his alarm for 8:30. I chilled and surfed the web until 9:15 or so, then got dressed for the Reds game.
We left the hotel around 9:30 and met Colleen and Sheila at a small family restaurant on Hamilton Avenue in Mount Healthy (a name bestowed on the town by Cincinnatians fleeing a 19th century cholera epidemic). Ryan and Brynn were already there with their paternal grandmother and aunt who had just picked them up from Colleen's house. Shortly afterwards, Rab and Luke (Erin's younger son) arrived. We had a nice conversation over breakfast. As we were leaving, I asked about scheduling for tomorrow and we agreed to play it by ear, tentatively looking for a visit between two and four on the way to the airport.
From the restaurant we drove to the Central Riverfront Garage and caught the streetcar to Findlay Market, only to find it closed on Mondays. So we immediately walked to the other end of Elder Street and caught the same streetcar we'd just left on its return loop. Our next stop was Washington Park by Music Hall. We took a few pictures and sat down to plot a course for Lytle Park, until I looked up the location on the Cincinnati Parks website and it said it was closed for construction. So we decided to visit the Public Library main branch a few stops further along the streetcar line. As we exited the streetcar at the library, a tall black dude with a booming voice startled me as he addressed someone halfway up the block and across the street. After we entered the library and I pointed out the transgender book display in the lobby, we proceeded to the second floor and selected two books on home improvement. We took the books to a couple of comfortable chairs in the atrium and looked at a few projects for the house, then recorded the serial numbers to order them online and returned them where we found them.
Our next stop was Fountain Square. An older lady was selling tiny bracelets made by her granddaughter on the corner before we crossed 5th Street to the square proper. We stepped into Graeter's ice cream shop and ordered double scoops in lieu of lunch, which we ate at an umbrella table by the fountain. When we first arrived, the main fountain was shut off, but it sprang to life as we ate; presumably, like the International Fountain at Seattle Center, it's on a schedule to conserve water. We finished our ice cream and took pictures of the fountain, then boarded the streetcar one last time to return to the Banks.
It was about three and we had two hours before we were to meet James and Shib, so we walked a long circuit down to the waterfront, along the river, up a long flight of stairs (about five stories) to the Heritage Bank Arena deck (which a younger couple practically ran up and then collapsed in a heap at the top), and around the ballpark, ending up at the foot of Main Street across from the restaurant. About ten to five we climbed the stairs to meet up at the restaurant entrance. James arrived at five and told us Shib was already inside, so we joined him at the table upstairs on the balcony. Gary and I had shrimp in a spicy sauce and fried pickles, while James and Shib had chicken nachos. We had a nice conversation over dinner, and arrived a few minutes late for the ball game (taking our seats midway through the first inning).
It was Bark in the Park night, and all game long they showed puppies and cute kids on the scoreboard. The game got interesting in the third inning, with St. Louis' only run of the game answered with two back-to-back home runs for a total of three points. The Reds scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth (there's a liquor ad in there somewhere) for a final score of 6-1. Spencer Steer was the star of the game with two homers.
The game was played quickly, ending almost at the dot of nine, and despite the crush of traffic on 3rd Street and Central Avenue getting to I-75, we were back to the hotel by ten. We picked up cookies in the hotel market on the way back to the room since we'd eaten no lunch and little for dinner. After polishing off the cookies, we packed up the suitcases while watching the news. I finished journaling and got to bed just after midnight.
Got up about 6:30 to pee and went back to sleep until our alarms went off an hour later. I was done with my shower by eight; Gary had gone back to sleep and reset his alarm for 8:30. I chilled and surfed the web until 9:15 or so, then got dressed for the Reds game.
We left the hotel around 9:30 and met Colleen and Sheila at a small family restaurant on Hamilton Avenue in Mount Healthy (a name bestowed on the town by Cincinnatians fleeing a 19th century cholera epidemic). Ryan and Brynn were already there with their paternal grandmother and aunt who had just picked them up from Colleen's house. Shortly afterwards, Rab and Luke (Erin's younger son) arrived. We had a nice conversation over breakfast. As we were leaving, I asked about scheduling for tomorrow and we agreed to play it by ear, tentatively looking for a visit between two and four on the way to the airport.
From the restaurant we drove to the Central Riverfront Garage and caught the streetcar to Findlay Market, only to find it closed on Mondays. So we immediately walked to the other end of Elder Street and caught the same streetcar we'd just left on its return loop. Our next stop was Washington Park by Music Hall. We took a few pictures and sat down to plot a course for Lytle Park, until I looked up the location on the Cincinnati Parks website and it said it was closed for construction. So we decided to visit the Public Library main branch a few stops further along the streetcar line. As we exited the streetcar at the library, a tall black dude with a booming voice startled me as he addressed someone halfway up the block and across the street. After we entered the library and I pointed out the transgender book display in the lobby, we proceeded to the second floor and selected two books on home improvement. We took the books to a couple of comfortable chairs in the atrium and looked at a few projects for the house, then recorded the serial numbers to order them online and returned them where we found them.
Our next stop was Fountain Square. An older lady was selling tiny bracelets made by her granddaughter on the corner before we crossed 5th Street to the square proper. We stepped into Graeter's ice cream shop and ordered double scoops in lieu of lunch, which we ate at an umbrella table by the fountain. When we first arrived, the main fountain was shut off, but it sprang to life as we ate; presumably, like the International Fountain at Seattle Center, it's on a schedule to conserve water. We finished our ice cream and took pictures of the fountain, then boarded the streetcar one last time to return to the Banks.
It was about three and we had two hours before we were to meet James and Shib, so we walked a long circuit down to the waterfront, along the river, up a long flight of stairs (about five stories) to the Heritage Bank Arena deck (which a younger couple practically ran up and then collapsed in a heap at the top), and around the ballpark, ending up at the foot of Main Street across from the restaurant. About ten to five we climbed the stairs to meet up at the restaurant entrance. James arrived at five and told us Shib was already inside, so we joined him at the table upstairs on the balcony. Gary and I had shrimp in a spicy sauce and fried pickles, while James and Shib had chicken nachos. We had a nice conversation over dinner, and arrived a few minutes late for the ball game (taking our seats midway through the first inning).
It was Bark in the Park night, and all game long they showed puppies and cute kids on the scoreboard. The game got interesting in the third inning, with St. Louis' only run of the game answered with two back-to-back home runs for a total of three points. The Reds scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth (there's a liquor ad in there somewhere) for a final score of 6-1. Spencer Steer was the star of the game with two homers.
The game was played quickly, ending almost at the dot of nine, and despite the crush of traffic on 3rd Street and Central Avenue getting to I-75, we were back to the hotel by ten. We picked up cookies in the hotel market on the way back to the room since we'd eaten no lunch and little for dinner. After polishing off the cookies, we packed up the suitcases while watching the news. I finished journaling and got to bed just after midnight.