The Queen City: Cincinnati

January 15, 2019

I spent the weekend in Cincinnati for a Dominion tournament set up by a friend, Adam Horton. A snow storm forced Adam to end the tournament early (I was already out anyway) but we did manage to walk around downtown Cincinnati the day before to take some photos.

It was a pretty good walk and I ended up with a better selection of photos than I expected.

The first two are from the night we arrived.

Covenant First Presbyterian Church at night Covenant First Presbyterian Church at night

Covenant First Presbyterian Church at night

We went to dinner at Abigail Street, a nice little small plate restaurant where both the omnivores and the vegetarians in our party found delicious things to eat. The fried broccoli and the firakh were stand outs for me, but we ordered a lot of things and none of them were let downs.

Cincinnati Music Hall at night, top of the building. Cincinnati Music Hall at night, top of the building.

On the way to the restaurant we walked past Washington Park and, in turn, the beautiful Cincinnati Music Hall.

The next day we started with a quick breakfast at Taste of Belgium. They have these delicious little Belgian waffles cooked with the proper pearl sugar and everything. I passed because I wasn’t feeling a sweet breakfast, but I’ve had them before and they are delicious. In fact, writing this right now I’m a little upset that we didn’t grab a four pack or two to bring back with us before we left.

The sign at the Taste of Belgium in OTR, Cincinnati The sign at the Taste of Belgium in OTR, Cincinnati

We continued on our walk, hitting a couple of different places in a lot of different neighborhoods. From the statue outside a friend’s work to an old theatre in a very run down part of town. We put in a little over 2 miles in total.

A statue in a building facade A statue in a building facade

A worn down facade of a deserted building. A worn down facade of a deserted building.

Sun bleached clothing hung from security bars on a boarded up building Sun bleached clothing hung from security bars on a boarded up building

A pair of... something? Hung from the security bars on a boarded up building. When I went to add a geolocation for this photo I noticed even the Street View of this location has them hanging there, so they’ve been there a while.

An abandoned theater marquee. It reads: “This is war” An abandoned theater marquee. It reads: “This is war”

On our way back we passed a small law office about a block away from my friend's house. On a whim I snapped a photo of the street number and lamp next to the door. I noticed the ivy at the time, dried and dead in the cold winter air, but I didn’t see the little berries. That’s something I saw once I finally edited the photo last night. It turned out to be the favorite of the ones I took.

A street number on a building covered in dead vines with dried berries. It reads: “212” A street number on a building covered in dead vines with dried berries. It reads: “212”

After a couple of games we walked to Currito for lunch. I don’t quite know how to explain it to someone who’s never had it, but it’s like Chipotle with a hint of Indian influence. I haven’t had it that much, but all of my Cincinnati friends love it, to the point where we’ve driven to the lone Illinois location in the suburbs multiple times since it opened late last year. It’s good though.

Once we finished lunch we hit up the Contemporary Arts Center and saw some awesome photography and paintings. Seriously, it’s very possible some of the photos we saw while there will influence some experiments from me over the next few weeks. Here’s hoping they turn out.

We then traveled north to Adam’s for a game night with a little Spirit Island (we lost), Coup (I won), Shadows: Amsterdam (I lost), Modern Art (I lost) and Castles of Mad King Ludwig (I lost). It was all a ton of fun.

The tournament the next day was a lot of fun as well. I’m not as serious a player as most of the participants (as in, I’m not very serious at all and actually quite terrible at it), but it’s a laid back tournament and fun to play on kingdoms designed by a world champion.

The tournament was also smaller due to the snow storm keeping people from traveling in. It got so bad the game store that was hosting us decided to close early so Adam had to call the tournament. Luckily the standings were pretty clear already, so it all worked out.

The rest of the night consisted of some Arboretum (I won), The Mind (we lost?), Skyline Chili for dinner and an escape room at Escape the Room Challenge in West Chester (we won.)

Escape rooms are something I should write an entire separate post about, but the previous room we did at Escape the Room Challenge was fantastic and this one was as well.

After one more game of Spirit Island (we won), it was time for bed.

Other than another stop at Currito before leaving and a lot of snow, the trip home was uneventful.

It was my second time in Cincinnati and I enjoyed myself as much as I did the first time. It helps that it was basically the same weekend just with more games. I’m sure I’ll be back in the future and there will be more to see then.