Day 39: All of Ohio

While the neighborhood of our accommodations in Louisville, KY was not ideal, it was in a beautiful building built in 1880. It was fully renovated about 15 years ago. The proprietors did a nice job. It wasn't creepy.

It kind of looks haunted in this picture, but I think it's just the angle. 

Breakfast at bed and breakfasts always tend to be very fancy.

This would be no exception

Course 1: A yogurt parfait with fruit and a piece of cinnamon cake. And I was full.

And this was my second course. Egg souffle with ham and potatoes. It was tasty, but I was already full. I ate as much as I could

James's second course was the french toast. He was in the same boat as me- too much food

We do a quick check to make sure there is nothing else we should do while in Louisville. We didn't come up with anything so we pack up the car and head out of town.

Mile 7484: Leave Louisville

...and James was trying to tell me yesterday that Kentucky is not the South. The accents, the "yall" on  a water tower? All signs point to the South

Mile 7585: Arrive in Cincinnati, OH

The Cincinnati skyline

We spot the welcome to Ohio sign. The drivers seem to be as aggressive as they are on the east coast and  tailgate like they do in WI. It seems to be the worst of all driving worlds. 

It was just about lunch time, so we break out our trusty Road Food book. It directs us to a place famous for chili (we double check that it is still in business on Yelp).

Camp Washington Chili

The inside didn't look too crazy, but the parking lot was full. They also had a drive through

I ordered a plain chili with a side of cheese. It was hard to tell if the main course was the chili or the cheese (look how huge the side of cheese is).  The chili was very good. It was sweet, had hints of cinnamon and the spice came at the end. That is the classic Cincinnati style of chili. 

James had chili 5 way. What does that mean you ask?

This is as he dug a little deeper. Chili, pasta, beans, onions, and cheese.  Amazingly, his shirt made it out unscathed. 

Cincinnati Ohio didn't seem that exciting, so we got back in the car and headed for Columbus Ohio.

We caught up on the 10 commandments during the drive

Mile 7692: Arrive in Columbus, OH

We did a little tour around town. German Village is a quaint neighborhood with cobblestone streets and brick houses. Restaurants, shops and bars are mixed throughout the neighborhood. We went through the Brewery District and there wasn't much there. It seems Columbus neighborhoods can be hit or miss.

Columbus skyline

We checked into our hotel which is just South of the North Short neighborhood. It smells like baked goods outside. We learn that there is a bakery down the street. We resist temptation and make it into our hotel. After spending most of our day in Ohio, we decided we were moving onto Pennsylvania tomorrow. This is a change as we had originally planned to "flee to the Cleve" (30 Rock reference) tomorrow.

Although our trip is hippie-style, we still need to research neighborhoods, book hotels, research dining options, driving routes, etc for every destination. It's at the point in the trip where this has become exhausting.  It's at least 2 hours worth of work every afternoon/ night (unless we are staying with friends).

Dinner time! We are meeting friends Danny and Tim. Danny suggests a place called Rigsby's in the North Short neighborhood. It's just a few blocks from our hotel.

James and I got there a little early with the plan to have a drink at the bar. Twenty five minutes later and some strange rules about bar seating, we got our glasses of wine.

North Short neighborhood. It was pretty fancy

Not allowed to sit at the bar due to reserved seating. I was a little confused. 

Dinner was delicious despite the strange bar rules.

The biggest piece of burrata I have ever seen

Half eaten again- mushroom and truffle oil risotto. It was delicious

James' sardine salad. He missed the opportunity for a picture of his gnocchi.

I can't believe that we didn't take any pictures of Tim and Danny. I swear they were there. We were so focused on remembering our food pics. After dinner, Tim insisted that we go to Jenny's for ice cream since it was right next door. As you have noted earlier, we are not big desert eaters and we have been trying to stay in shape despite our luxurious meals and hours in the car. Damn that Tim.

Jenny's

You can try as many flavors as you want. I had the salted caramel. It was decadent. 

Tomorrow: Checking out Pittsburgh PA