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bigmacbear) wrote2021-08-25 11:59 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2021-08-25 11:59 pm
Cincinnati Trip, Day Six
WEDNESDAY, August 25
Gary set his alarm for seven, so I ended up getting up then to pee and sat up in bed for a bit. After a while I finished preparing for the day and journaled while Gary did the same. We hurriedly stowed away our medication and other things so housekeeping could service the room as requested, and left for breakfast around nine. While we ate, I noticed an alarm going off some distance away, followed by a heated dispute between the desk clerk, maintenance, and a father and mother who were apparently being evicted from the property because their child had been playing with the fire alarm. The father's beef was concerning the fire inspector allegedly barging into the room while the child was changing clothes. The clerk pointed out that they could have had everyone involved arrested. Gary was uncomfortable and suggested we leave right away, but as it happened we ended up following the parents out of the hotel.
Our first stop was Mount Airy Forest. On the way there, we saw a brown minivan with a message painted on the back window about supporting one another rather than gunning people down. Surrounding that vehicle, two white cars jockeyed for position as though one of the drivers wanted a race and the other wasn't having it. The first driver eventually misjudged and ran a red light, thus temporarily removing himself from the situation to everyone's relief. We sat in the Vasey Green Garden and relaxed, surfed the net and journaled. A maintenance crew were working around the building, including a young dude with an epic dark beard. We walked over to the Clematis Garden and took some pictures there, and on the way back we noticed the maintenance crew had put a big 360° sprinkler in the middle of the Vasey Green Garden so we detoured around it and returned to the car. I needed to use the bathroom and saw a "WC" notation near the Oval so we drove there just as it started to rain. So after using the facility, we left the park and headed downtown.
We parked in the Central Riverfront Garage underneath the Banks. When we emerged from the elevator, it was raining fast and furious and we hurried to the streetcar station. My phone warned me the charging port was wet from the rain. We took the streetcar past Music Hall and left it at Findlay Market on the Elm Street end; by then, the heavy rain had stopped. The street was blocked by a sign and a police car, while a woofy blond-bearded dude in a hi-vis T-shirt who reminded me of Jay Buhner waved cars away. The officer drove the car aside whenever a bus or a streetcar arrived as these vehicles were allowed past the roadblock. We later discovered the reason for the roadblock was a utility crew making saw cuts in the pavement. We stopped by a counter where a bearish Greek-looking dude sold us gyros, fries, and bottles of Fitz's soda from St. Louis. We walked around the building to find a table, and ended up wiping down the wet table and chairs and, for good measure, sat on the bags our meals came in. After lunch and a few pictures across the street, we stopped by the restroom on our way to the Race Street end of the market, where we caught the streetcar south.
We left at Washington Park and walked across the park to Music Hall where we'd arranged for a 2 PM tour.
We were met by a tour guide named Bill who was interested in the fact we hail from Washington state. Shortly thereafter our tour guide, Gayley, arrived and the two tour groups went in different directions for social distancing purposes. Gayley first showed us the grand lobby with its original 1878 marble and slate tile floor intact, then escorted us into the auditorium where the CSO were about to rehearse, with the large instruments already on stage and the others laid out on tables backstage (as she mentioned at the time and we later saw firsthand). She mentioned a fresco on the ceiling surrounding the chandelier which wasn't visible because the lights weren't turned on, but by the time she finished her talk, the lights came on and we got some pictures. We then took the long walk around to the backstage crossover and the rear of the North Hall. The auditorium was originally much longer than it is wide, but a proscenium arch was built toward the middle of the hall to make a deeper stage for ballet and the back wall was moved forward for acoustics. She said the proscenium made the grand pipe organ at the back of the stage obsolete, and it was dismantled and thrown away. However, some of the carved wood panels from the organ case were recovered over the years and used to panel the Taft Suite of meeting rooms (which we weren't able to see because they were in use). Backstage otherwise reminded me of McCaw Hall in Seattle, except for the occasional bit of original duct work and the half-hexagon where the organ used to be. We got a glimpse of the May Festival rehearsal hall which I remember visiting in high school. Our next stop was the grand ballroom in the South Hall where I attended at least one dance in high school, and where the Friends of Music Hall maintain a "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ rescued from the Albee Theater. From there we visited the Corbett Tower which was originally the classroom space for the College of Music next door, then the original studio for WCET (the first licensed public broadcasting station) before being restored to its original grandeur in the 2017 renovation. We made one last attempt to visit the Taft Suite but it was still in use, so we returned to the box office and parted ways.
After the tour we crossed Washington Park again and, after a pause to try to straighten out some shipping issues, caught the streetcar back to the Banks. Gary wasn't hungry so we wandered around Smale Park and the Roebling Suspension Bridge before returning to the car. We hit I-75 during the evening rush hour and noticed several places where cars and big rigs were lined up for miles, but despite a few unsafe lane changes, we made it back to the hotel without incident.
After chilling out in the room and checking in with Colleen, we left for dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube off Colerain Avenue. I had a nice steak with baked potato and beans; Gary had the biker chicken salad but they appeared to have left out the chicken. From there we stopped by Meijer (pronounced like Meyer) for more beverages, cookies, grapes, and the Enquirer. We returned to the room for the night, and I finished my journal around 11 and relaxed a bit before bed.
Gary set his alarm for seven, so I ended up getting up then to pee and sat up in bed for a bit. After a while I finished preparing for the day and journaled while Gary did the same. We hurriedly stowed away our medication and other things so housekeeping could service the room as requested, and left for breakfast around nine. While we ate, I noticed an alarm going off some distance away, followed by a heated dispute between the desk clerk, maintenance, and a father and mother who were apparently being evicted from the property because their child had been playing with the fire alarm. The father's beef was concerning the fire inspector allegedly barging into the room while the child was changing clothes. The clerk pointed out that they could have had everyone involved arrested. Gary was uncomfortable and suggested we leave right away, but as it happened we ended up following the parents out of the hotel.
Our first stop was Mount Airy Forest. On the way there, we saw a brown minivan with a message painted on the back window about supporting one another rather than gunning people down. Surrounding that vehicle, two white cars jockeyed for position as though one of the drivers wanted a race and the other wasn't having it. The first driver eventually misjudged and ran a red light, thus temporarily removing himself from the situation to everyone's relief. We sat in the Vasey Green Garden and relaxed, surfed the net and journaled. A maintenance crew were working around the building, including a young dude with an epic dark beard. We walked over to the Clematis Garden and took some pictures there, and on the way back we noticed the maintenance crew had put a big 360° sprinkler in the middle of the Vasey Green Garden so we detoured around it and returned to the car. I needed to use the bathroom and saw a "WC" notation near the Oval so we drove there just as it started to rain. So after using the facility, we left the park and headed downtown.
We parked in the Central Riverfront Garage underneath the Banks. When we emerged from the elevator, it was raining fast and furious and we hurried to the streetcar station. My phone warned me the charging port was wet from the rain. We took the streetcar past Music Hall and left it at Findlay Market on the Elm Street end; by then, the heavy rain had stopped. The street was blocked by a sign and a police car, while a woofy blond-bearded dude in a hi-vis T-shirt who reminded me of Jay Buhner waved cars away. The officer drove the car aside whenever a bus or a streetcar arrived as these vehicles were allowed past the roadblock. We later discovered the reason for the roadblock was a utility crew making saw cuts in the pavement. We stopped by a counter where a bearish Greek-looking dude sold us gyros, fries, and bottles of Fitz's soda from St. Louis. We walked around the building to find a table, and ended up wiping down the wet table and chairs and, for good measure, sat on the bags our meals came in. After lunch and a few pictures across the street, we stopped by the restroom on our way to the Race Street end of the market, where we caught the streetcar south.
We left at Washington Park and walked across the park to Music Hall where we'd arranged for a 2 PM tour.
We were met by a tour guide named Bill who was interested in the fact we hail from Washington state. Shortly thereafter our tour guide, Gayley, arrived and the two tour groups went in different directions for social distancing purposes. Gayley first showed us the grand lobby with its original 1878 marble and slate tile floor intact, then escorted us into the auditorium where the CSO were about to rehearse, with the large instruments already on stage and the others laid out on tables backstage (as she mentioned at the time and we later saw firsthand). She mentioned a fresco on the ceiling surrounding the chandelier which wasn't visible because the lights weren't turned on, but by the time she finished her talk, the lights came on and we got some pictures. We then took the long walk around to the backstage crossover and the rear of the North Hall. The auditorium was originally much longer than it is wide, but a proscenium arch was built toward the middle of the hall to make a deeper stage for ballet and the back wall was moved forward for acoustics. She said the proscenium made the grand pipe organ at the back of the stage obsolete, and it was dismantled and thrown away. However, some of the carved wood panels from the organ case were recovered over the years and used to panel the Taft Suite of meeting rooms (which we weren't able to see because they were in use). Backstage otherwise reminded me of McCaw Hall in Seattle, except for the occasional bit of original duct work and the half-hexagon where the organ used to be. We got a glimpse of the May Festival rehearsal hall which I remember visiting in high school. Our next stop was the grand ballroom in the South Hall where I attended at least one dance in high school, and where the Friends of Music Hall maintain a "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ rescued from the Albee Theater. From there we visited the Corbett Tower which was originally the classroom space for the College of Music next door, then the original studio for WCET (the first licensed public broadcasting station) before being restored to its original grandeur in the 2017 renovation. We made one last attempt to visit the Taft Suite but it was still in use, so we returned to the box office and parted ways.
After the tour we crossed Washington Park again and, after a pause to try to straighten out some shipping issues, caught the streetcar back to the Banks. Gary wasn't hungry so we wandered around Smale Park and the Roebling Suspension Bridge before returning to the car. We hit I-75 during the evening rush hour and noticed several places where cars and big rigs were lined up for miles, but despite a few unsafe lane changes, we made it back to the hotel without incident.
After chilling out in the room and checking in with Colleen, we left for dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube off Colerain Avenue. I had a nice steak with baked potato and beans; Gary had the biker chicken salad but they appeared to have left out the chicken. From there we stopped by Meijer (pronounced like Meyer) for more beverages, cookies, grapes, and the Enquirer. We returned to the room for the night, and I finished my journal around 11 and relaxed a bit before bed.