Cinncinati

This weekend Jeremy and I got away. That's right - just the two of us and not on the road to a commitment in another state. We haven't done that since we went to Denver while in Colorado. We chose Cinncinati as our destination city because we hadn't been there together and it is fairly close, but it is not Columbus. We left on Friday after Jeremy got home from work. On the way down, we stopped at Jeffersonville Prime Outlets to see if there were any good deals... none that we couldn't pass up. We arrived at La Quinta Inn around 10pm and settled in for the night.

We slept late (8:30ish), ate breakfast, and left for our day out. We went to the Gap Clearance Store in Hebron, Kentucky first. I had heard there were good deals on their pregnancy clothes and I wanted to check it out. I found a pair of brown pants and two sweaters for only $24 for everything! I need to do a little repair on the sweater (be prepared, mom, to help), but otherwise I think they were pretty good buys. Jeremy did not get so lucky. We headed to lunch - Chipotle... shared a burrito. Then, we went to Newport on the Levee, which is like Easton on the Ohio River. We thought we would check out the movie selection. I wanted to see Fame; Jeremy would have gone, but I wanted to do something we would both enjoy.

So, we decided to splurge and go to the Aquarium. It was really neat. We decided that neither us had ever been to an Aquarium before. I mean, we had been to them at the zoo, but not a place that is nothing but an aquarium. It wasn't too crowded, just a few groups of kids. I found a group of frogs I could kiss :), but I have already found my prince, so no need to kiss them! (I know, but I had to be a little cheesy!) In one place you can go "into" the shark cage. You watch a movie on a screen and stand on a platform that rocks and shakes as the sharks swim around you in the ocean and bump into the cage. It felt very real and convinced me I didn't ever want to be in the ocean in a shark cage. The cute thing is that this little boy - 3 years old or so?? - would stand on the platform and cover his eyes and wait for the shark to hit the cage and then he would laugh so loud; he loved it! In another section of the aquarium you could walk over the alligator tank and see them below you through the glass floor. Another little boy about 3 or 4 stood at the edge of the bridge area and would go to take a step and whimper. He was petrified to cross the glass bridge over the alligators. I asked if he wanted some help; he immediately said yes, and let me pick him up and carry him across. It was very cute :) We also enjoyed the jellyfish room. It had a number of different kinds of jellyfish and really cool tanks holding them. Some of the tanks allowed you to change the color of the light and therefore the color of the jellyfish that reflect the light. Right before exiting, you look above the tank that houses the sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, and fish that you saw from the tunnels and peepholes below. You could look through a periscope to see below the water through the eyes of the fish!

After the Aquarium, we went to eat at Montgomery Inn, a famous rib place in Cinncinati. The one we went to overlooks the river. It was a very unique dining experience because of the river, circular restaurant, and greater experience. The ribs that Jeremy had were (according to him) delicious - juicy, thick, and falls-off-the-bone. I ordered blackened salmon with sauteed veggies. (I don't like ribs or bbq sauce.) My salmon was delicious! As I was eating my veggies, I noticed a strange looking herb on one of my zucchinis. I said to Jeremy, "Look it looks like a bug!" I was just kidding until I looked closer and noticed it really was a cooked bug! (FYI, this pic is not the actual bug, but I do have a pic on my cell phone if you want to see it!) I finished my salmon and left my veggies. When the waitress came to take our plates, I mentioned the bug and showed it to her on the side of my plate. She had a disgusted look on her face and said she would show the manager. When she returned, she had taken my meal off the ticket and offered us each a dessert of our choice. We were stuffed already, but who turns down dessert! So, I ordered strawberry shortcake, and Jeremy ordered profiteroles. Huge portions came our way! My strawberry shortcake was delicious. There were three profiteroles on Jeremy's plate. These are cream puff shells filled with vanilla ice cream (from Graeters) and topped with thick hot fudge. We were unable to finish what we ordered, but it was worth the effort. :) Even with the bug, I would still recommend Montgomery Inn, the food was amazing.

Sunday, we went to IKEA before heading home. We checked out the kitchen set-ups, and I was once again a little jealous. We bought two tiny tables to replace our coffee table, but that was it. We got home around 4pm. Jeremy is at his LIFE group (youth group small group), and I am here blogging. Hope everyone has a great upcoming week.