A Spring Break Close to Home
March 24-26, 2019

For my 2019 spring break, I decided to drive to Cincinnati, Ohio.
 
 
I left on Sunday right after church.  My first stop was Cabela's in Dundee to look for some boot laces.   I stayed at the Comfort Inn Northeast.  The room was nice.
 

Dinner was the $10 steak from Chili's - one of my favorites!

  

I went to local ice cream star Graeter's and had their famous black raspberry chip.  So good!
 
My first stop on Monday was the William Howard Taft National Historic Site.  I got a private tour of the house!   Before arriving, I knew very little about Taft.  The historic site does a good job of telling his story through displays.  I learned a lot!
 
It rained for most of my trip.  My next stop on Monday was Cincinnati's Union Station.  For many, many years, we traveled up and down I-75 to and from my grandparents' houses, and we saw this building off in the distance.  I had always wondered what it looked like on the inside.   The interior of the station is beautifully restored!
 
Lunch was special - my first taste of Cincinnati-style chili.  I ate at the Skyline Chili near the river in Covington, Kentucky.   I had a small 5-way chili with a side salad and water.  Yum!
Next, I drove high above Covington to Devou Park's city overlook.  But with the rain and the fog, the view was not that spectacular.
 
One of the things I came to Cincinnati to do was walk across the historic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge.  I found a parking garage in downtown Covington and, through the rain, walked all the way to Cincinnati and back.  It was so fun!   And I drove back across the bridge on the way back to Cincinnati!
Dinner was my favorite southwest chicken salad with mixed vegetables and cornbread from Boston Market.
 
It was a four-hour drive home, and I had several stops to make, so I got an early start.  My first stop was the Wright Dunbar Interpretive Center in Dayton, Ohio.  For years, the sign has intrigued me, and I had never stopped.  I love the Wright Brothers' house and shop at Greenfield Village, so I knew I would like this, too.   The visitor center's exhibits were so fascinating.  I learned a lot about the Wright Brothers and writer Paul Lawrence Dunbar.  The short visit to the Wright Cycle Co shop next door was anti-climactic--while cool that it is in an original location, the one at Greenfield Village is better.
After visiting the visitor center and cycle shop, I walked a couple blocks to the original location of the Wright Brothers' house (which is now at Greenfield Village).  It was very strange to look at the bare lot and imagine the building I have been in sitting there.  I left with a lot to think about: historic preservation, leaving things in situ vs. public access, etc.  I also drove by Paul Lawrence Dunbar's home and thought about him going to the same high school as the Wright brothers.  The whole thing was very thought-provoking, the kind of travel I enjoy.
 
The last tourist site of my trip was to visit Ludlow Falls, a nice waterfall not that far from I-75 in Ohio.  It is hidden under a highway bridge!  I found out about it from the excellent waterfall website gowaterfalling.com.  It was sunny, and there was a lot of water flowing.  So pretty!
I love to try new restaurants during spring break.  This year, I visited Everest Sherpa Restaurant in Ann Arbor and had the chicken butayko.  So delicious!
     
Thank you for re-living my trip with me!