- Wednesday, August 14: I hit the road around 6AM for the 8 hour drive to Cincinnati. I took 70 to to Hancock, 68 to Morgantown, then headed north on 79 to reconnect to 70 to Columbus, then 71 to Cincinnati. I arrived in town in the early afternoon. Luckily, my apartment ( Guild Cincinnati – The Banks) was ready early, so I drove there, found parking in the The Guild’s lot, and moved in. The rooms were in a luxury apartment building on the strip between The Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium (Freedom Way). The apartment was spacious and well-maintained. I strolled around Cincinnati for a few hours, walking to the Taft Museum (closed when I got there) and the Findlay Market. The city seemed very quiet for a weekday afternoon (few cars on the road, and sparse pedestrian traffic). I had ice cream at the market and then walked back to the Riverwalk along the banks of the Ohio. Around 6:30 I headed back to the apartment, got cleaned up and went to dinner at the Moerlein Lager House, around the block from Freedom Way (great brewpub beer and food). After dinner, I took another walk along the river as the sun set, checking out the informational placards about steamboat history.
- Thursday, August 15: Up around 7, and on the road to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (about a half hour drive from Cincinnati). The museum was pretty impressive, considering the subject matter, and I met several nice people during the tour. The IMAX film was stunning (a description of the 6-day creation event). After visiting the museum, I drove back to the city and rode a rental scooter to the Cincinnati Art Museum, where I had lunch (and chatted with two lovely women seated next to me at the bar), and then spent a few hours walking through the collection. I walked back from the museum to my apartment, where I had an hour or so to rest before the ball game. I wasn’t sure what the preferred ball park food in Cincinnati was, so I asked a young couple for recommendations. After enjoying a sausage sandwich and a beer, I headed for my seat, which was right behind the couple I had spoken to on the concourse. The ball park was impressive, although I didn’t have a river view from my seat (first base line, about 20 rows back). I left at the stretch, and walked to a nearby 7-11 to pick up some snacks and supplies for the drive to Kentucky the next morning.
- Friday, August 16: I left Cincinnati, grabbed breakfast at a McDonald’s on the road, then got to Mammoth Cave NP in time for my first tour (Domes and Dripstones). After the impressive tour, I grabbed a brief lunch at the snack bar, and met a guy from NJ who shared my table (and talked non-stop…very interesting character). After lunch, I met the bus for my second tour (Historic Tour). After the second tour, I headed to my nearby motel, where I rested for a few hours. I decided to go to dinner relatively early, assuming that it would be easy to find a table at the nearby restaurants (Cave City, Kentucky didn’t seem like a thriving nightspot), but found every parking lot full to overflowing. I ended up grabbing a burger from a nearby Wendy’s, and headed back to the motel.
- Saturday, August 17: Up early for the long drive home. Other than a brief rest stop to catch a few winks, I made great time getting home. I was a beautiful day, and the trip across West Virginia and northern Maryland on Routes 79 and 68 was spectacular. I arrived home around 6 PM.
Kerry Snow's Travel Blog (and other stuff)
