Q's Month in Tennessee: Update 3

So between the work, and then more work, I did end up taking a little time to see the area. Or, to put it more specifically, to leave the area and see an adjacent area. With my dad stuck in Pittsburgh for work over the weekend, and myself stuck in Knoxville, we decided to meet up in the middle. The exact middle was somewhere in the middle of nowhere (there's a lot of that out here). However, once place near the middle that we could meet up was Cincinnati, OH. So there we went!

To get to Cincinnati, I had to drive through Kentucky to get there. I had never been in Kentucky before, so, ding ding ding, ring up a new state for me! That brings my total up to 25! Half way there!

Anyways, Kentucky is actually really pretty...at least in the southern portion in the Appalachians. The hills and mountains are all green, and there's some interesting rock formations and whatnot. Parts of the freeway were even cut out of the rock, making for some interesting driving...better than I-5 in the Central Valley, at least!

Anyways, 4ish hours later I made it to Covington, KY, which is right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, and the city our hotel was in for the night. Met up with BQ. Then we hopped over the river and went to the Cincinnati Zoo! The Zoo was pretty cool. It's small, but I guess its the second oldest Zoo in America, so there's that! We saw pretty much everything there in about 3 hours. All the animals were up and active for the most part too. The bears were up walking around. The cheetah was gnawing on some steak. The monkeys and gorillas were doing their thing. And the manatees were feeding! We ended with the peacock, who was in full form!

Then it was back to the hotel to clean up. Had dinner downtown at Nicholson's Tavern and Pub, and it was really good. BQ got a chance to catch up. Then we went back to the hotel and wandered down to the Ohio River to take some pictures of the Cincinnati skyline!

The next morning we awoke...some of us earlier than others (BQ, up at 4? Really? Couldda slept in til 730 like me!). Then we had breakfast at the hotel, cleaned up, and headed to Newport, KY to see the aquarium there. The Aquarium is right on the waterfront, giving a slightly different view of Cincinnati.

The Aquarium was ok (yeah, we're spoiled by the Monterey Bay Aquarium), but it did have PENGUINS!!!!!

After the aquarium, BQ and I had a lunch of Cincinnati Chili. Cincy calls itself the Chili Capital of the World because of it's chili, so it was a must. Have to say, it was pretty good. Very flavorful. But, it was a sweet chili...so different than I am used to. But, as I said, very good.

After that, it was time to take off, BQ for Pittsburgh, me for Tennessee...

So, it was awesome to get out of Tennessee for a weekend. And it was awesome to see BQ! Good weekend all around.

I got one week left here (well, 4 days now...) so I'm looking forward to getting home soon enough.