Verbal Vomit: Cincy Vaca

Other Adventures in Cincinnati, OH

Following Friday's full day at King's Island with my man and taking some time to clean ourselves up after our adventures, we had the awesome opportunity to meet up with some dear friends that moved to Columbus, OH several years ago from Memphis. The Armstrongs are special folks, and we rarely have a chance to connect with them, so this was an especially awesome night! Not to mention we were able to celebrate Brent and Kelly's birthdays together - Brent's birthday is August 24 (that night) and Kelly is the day after, August 25. We had a fun birthday celebration complete with good food, quality conversation, lots of smiles, and many laughs.

The Armstrongs - Brent and Kim

Me and Mr. McGoo - he got a little sun at King's Island

Downtown Cincinnati had a music festival type atmosphere all weekend just a short walk from our hotel in their "square". Each night another genre was represented with a few bands, so following dinner, the four of us walked across the street to people watch and listen together.

The birthday boys! Regardless of their age, some things never change: GOOFY!

After our full day Friday with King's Island and visiting with the Armstrongs until very late into the night, we enjoyed a slower pace morning on Saturday. We slept in - me, more than Mr. McGoo and leisurely prepared ourselves for Saturday's adventures.

Around lunch, we made our way from our hotel to the river, crossing the bridge into Newport, KY to meet some friends at Hofbrauhaus. It was a beautiful day, although we definitely worked up a sweat during our more than 2 mile walk with pace. We passed by The Great American Ball Park on our way...

We met the Bergers - Scott and Summer at the Hofbrauhaus. I've heard Mr. McGoo talk about this place, but it was my first experience. What a fun environment! Good ole German vibe and laid back. We enjoyed some food, good company, and delicious brew. It being Mr. McGoo's birthday, Scott got the accordion player to wish him a happy birthday - check that off the bucket list: hearing "happy birthday" accordion style! In addition, Summer and I had a chance to participate in the world renowned "chicken dance". Ha. It's a Hofbrauhaus tradition to stand on the tables, so we joined our fellow guests and took that dance to town. Scott and Mr. McGoo did not join us, but instead made fun of us, I'm sure.

Image from their website: http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/

The fab Bergers - Scott and Summer

The McGoos sharing a German brew

After lunch we caught a ride from the Bergers back over the river to The Great American Ball Park - GO REDS! There we enjoyed a Reds game against the Cardinals (Reds won). It was a perfect day for baseball and we had seats nicely tucked in the shade a little off first base.

If you didn't' know, Mr. McGoo is a REDS fan - he grew up in Lexington, KY so Cincinnati is a mere hop skip and a jump from Kentucky, so he grew up saying "go reds". It was fun to celebrate his birthday with a good game!

Sunday morning we got a wild hair and decided to make our way back home through Lexington, leaving Cincinnati earlier than planned to stop and enjoy some of Gram's famous waffles. It was a perfect completion to our trip getting to spend some quality time with Grams and Granddaddy. We even had the opportunity to visit with Mr. McGoo's sister, Jess. A great morning in Lexington.

Granddaddy and Mr. McGoo - love these guys! GREAT men!

Mr. McGoo and his beautiful sister, Jessica

Jessica, Mr. McGoo, Grams, and Granddaddy

The McGoos with Grams and Granddaddy

Last, but not least, we stopped in Nashville for a couple hours on our final leg home. We definitely made the best of our journey to Cincinnati, getting to enjoy family time along the way and seeing friends while having quality time with each other all weekend! It was great!

In Nashville we were able to see my parents (who were also there visiting), my middle sis, brother-in-law, and our handsome, nephew. Even though it was a short visit, it was worth the time. My sister caught this photo during our time there... I love it!