Cincinnati…

Last Saturday, after the Jethro Tull concert,

         David and I packed up my new car and drove 13 hours to visit Andy in Cincinnati. We had an easy time staying awake, because we were excited to be visiting, even though it had only been three days since he was here visiting us. The Sync in my car works pretty well once you get used to how it works. The voice that answers first is a sweet, nice voice and the voice that gives the actual directions is just a little bit stern. (I think she could take a few pointers!)

We got settled, left David sleeping on the sofa and Andy and I went grocery shopping. I always buy groceries for Kira and I wanted to buy them for Andy too. It was kind of funny trying to get him to put things in the cart. I had to ask, do you need this? do you need that? He thought the Kroger’s was expensive, but they were cheaper than Cub and he had a Kroger’s card which gave him pretty good discount on some items.

There is a hamburger place called Terry’s Surf Club that Andy takes all his visitors to. A tiny little place that makes Great burgers. We had a 45 minute wait, so we grabbed some beers and stood around outside, watching people while Andy took Fat pictures of us. Apparently this is what one looks like after consuming a burger at Terry’s Turf Club!!

     

After dinner we walked around the Fountain Plaza and had an ice cream. Hmmm, maybe I should have looked at the pictures before the icecream!! Oh, my poor, poor tummy!! 

Monday, we planned to go to the zoo, and we started out, but it began to pour and Andy was feeling crummy. We decided to go back home and let him sleep while David and I did some shopping. We soon got bored shopping and the weather had taken a turn for the wonderful, so we left Andy a note and off we went to the zoo. We are MN Zoo members, so we got 50% off reciprocity on admission…nice! We got about 1/2 way through when Andy called wondering where we were. I told him the zoo was open till 6 and he should come meet us, which he did.

     

      

Earlier in the day, David and I had gone into the Lorikeet exhibit, where all of these beautiful, colorful birds are just flying around free. There are some Keepers in there with birdseed sticks and cups of nectar to give to visitors to feed the birds with. We just watched and took pictures.

     

Later when we went back with Andy, all visitors were gone and most of the birds were back in their cages, but the ones that were still out were quite friendly. All you had to do was put out your hand and you had a bird on you.

           

Andy got the pleasure too…

   

I don’t think he was quite as Okay with it as David was. Notice there are no pictures of me wearing a bird….uh, uh, nope, not for me.

As we were making our way to the exit, we noticed we missed the Children’s Zoo, so we wandered through there and look what was showing off.

       

We did see one more animal that wasn’t really a zoo animal, but because I love them and I think they are cute and fun to watch, I took this photo…

Andy made some wonderful chicken, mushroom, tomato pizza with a white sauce and mozzarella cheese. Yum! We watched Pulp Fiction till we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer.

Tuesday David and I went to the Cincinnati Art Museum specifically to see the Circus Poster’s they had on exhibit. They were pretty cool and I found out that Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey traveled together for a few years. I never knew that. They didn’t allow any photography, so I didn’t get to take any.

 

The Amazing American Circus Poster
February 26, 2011 – July 10, 2011
Organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

Strobridge Lithographing Company
Living Pair of Full Grown Hippopotomi.1882
Color Lithograph Poster
Gift of the Strobridge Lithographing Company, 1965.685:47

Organized by Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, Kristin Spangenberg, The Amazing American Circus Poster features 80 circus posters created between 1878 and 1939, along with materials related to circus advertising.
Cincinnati-based Strobridge Lithographing Company, which created all the posters in this exhibition, and became the leading printer for the major circuses of this time. The posters designed and printed by Strobridge were unrivaled for their quality, and contain a detailed portrait of the American circus in its “Golden Age,” when it flourished as a vital institution for cultural entertainment in this country.
This exhibition will travel to the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.
Sponsors:
“The Amazing American Circus Poster has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Because democracy demands wisdom.”

 

Tuesday evening we had reservations at Boca, http://www.boca-restaurant.com/which is the restaurant that Andy works at. We started with an appetizer of 

SEARED DAY BOAT SCALLOP ***I had never had brussel sprouts and I don’t care if I ever have them again.
caramelized brussels sprouts, parmigiano regiano
& brown butter truffle vinaigrette

and our entrees were…

David

WOOD FIRED BRANZINO
mediterranean sea bass, grilled zucchini, zucchini mint salad & lemon oil

Janet

ROASTED FOSTER FARMS CHICKEN BREAST    
lemon arugula risotto & chicken jus

We also had some fabulous wine. Above was all we ordered, but it wasn’t all we got. We got gifted the following…I requested small portions, because I get way too full. We ended up taking 1/2 of our entrees with us and ate them on the drive back to MN.

MARSHALL ISLANDS TUNA CRUDO
compressed watermelon, avocado, jalapeño & house made ponzu

WOOD FIRED LEMONS                                       
ortiz anchovy, basil, tomato, buffalo mozzarella & grilled bread

BAVETTE CON BOTTARGA
linguini pasta, oven roasted tomatoes, cured tuna roe, chili oil,
flat leaf parsley & breadcrumbs

CAPPELLACCI DI MAIS CON TARTUFO NERO  *******My favorite!!! Geez, these little things are addictive!
sweet corn & mascarpone filled house made pasta,
summer truffle & brown butter

Then for dessert, we had an almond cake with berries and an ice cream on top. (Andy will cringe at my description, but it’s not listed on the menu and I can’t remember what all was in it….I just know it was scrumptious) and of course, coffee, wonderful coffee. It was even decaf!!

We got to see the kitchen, which is right there in the open, quite small too with five stations and up to eight people back there at all times. It must be like a ballet when they’re cooking. All I have to say is…if you are ever in Cincinnati, you Must eat at Boca!!

Wednesday we packed up and took a walk downtown, stopping for a bagel and coffee along the way. We ended up at a park in front of P&G building where Andy joined us after he woke up.

         

All of the greenery on the arbors are Trumpet Vines. Of course they weren’t in bloom, but I can just imagine what they must look like covered in orange blooms1

We had a wonderful visit! The long, long, drive home was boring and long, but we got fabulous gas millage even with the air on for 1/2 of the trip, 37.5 was the average! So, now I guess we wait until Lauren finds out where they are planning on sending her (hopefully someplace good), then we will have a new place to visit. I do miss him, but at least there are cell phones and Skype.