This past weekend upwards of around 500+ Santas decended on downtown and OtR Saturday. There’s was much merriement, candy canes, alcohol, and questions… And people taking pictures everywhere!
For more info check out Cincinnati Santacon.
And to make sure you don’t miss out next year RSVP now!
Fountain Square:
Toby Keith’s
Holy Grail:
Tin Roof:
Moerlein Lager House:
Fountain Square’s Downtown Dazzle:
Righteous Room:
Penguin Dueling Piano Bar:
Yes, that is a Santa taking over the piano
Hope everyone had a great Mardi Gras week! Wether you were in MainStrausse, Voodoo carnival, Downtown, OtR, or were burning snowman I hope it was fun!!
What did you hit up? And how many King cakes were involved? lol
Given the news of the states TRAC (Traffic Review Advisory Council) office, yanking the state allotted funds for the NUMBER ONE ranked state traffic project, has gotten more than a few people riled up in Cincinnati. The fact that the money was lost 4-3 is no help either, as Kasich appointed 4 members to the board, the board that was meant to take the politics out of the decisions… Just another thing our governor has fucked up for this state…
The fact that there were only 4 opponents that spoke today (All family/buddies of Tom Luken-who we all know is full of hot air and loves to hear himself talk… imho) yet not only did Cincinnati have the mayor and 2 other council members, but representatives from UC, Christ Hospital, and Sibcy Cline Realtors, took all allotted slots, even the the opponents didn’t use all of theirs.
Feel free to email TRAC and let them know how you feel, wether that that be, that their time is numbered (until November), that they’ve reinstated the politics back into a non-political board, or what have you. Below is my letter to them.
(I will also be posting links to other blogs below as they surface)
Seriously?! You should all be appalled with your decision to cut even more from Cincinnati. The streetcar is more than just some idealic dream of some school aged child. The strong fact that the supporters well outnumbered the opponents at the meeting this morning should have at least opened your eyes a little bit. But no. You went into this with your eyes wide shut and the politics you’ve been told to believe in whatever vessel you’re using as a heart today.
Your own own policies state
the ―Major New Capacity program.‖ These are projects costing more than $5 million which add transportation capacity, and are critical to the mobility, economic development, and quality of life of the citizens of Ohio.”
I guess the fact that Cincinnati is only the 3rd largest city in the state means that we are not a part of the once great state of Ohio? Cincinnati is not able to add to its own economic development? There is an entire chapter in your policies handbook just on scoring itself. 11 pages worth. The fact that you just pulled funding from the project just months before (and for the past few years) has ranked number one on the top of your funding list, shows to me that
1. You obviously have no idea how to do your job, as you can’t be bothered to read a handbook
2. You really don’t care how many more young professionals you lose that leave what was once the Great State of Ohio (but is now more just a lousy stop through with a few crumbling facades thrown in, on the way to somewhere more appreciative)
3. You have completely forgotten the whole reason TRAC was formed, to take the politics out of the decisions, something that today, has proved there are more politics thrown in than the entire metropolitan of DC.
4. There must be one hell of an “under the table” bonus thrown in for this. As really that could be the only other logical reason for doing what you did today.
What I’m hoping is that you can make as much as you can from these side deals to last you up until November… And I sincerely hope that if we have THAT much of a funding issue, that you will pull just as much from every other single project out there.
With deep regret,
Rachel C. Giere
‘TRAC@dot.state.oh.us’
PDF of TRAC’s policies and procedures for those interested
Ok So I’m going to be lame here for a second, as a good portion of you won’t know what the hell I’m talking about 
Yeah it's a totally sweet old school lunchbox and you're totally jealous 
Ok so its not entirely cliche but yes, Yelp has been the thing that has been the biggest influence in my life. Heck it’s half the reason I haven’t been able to post every day for this project! You see, Alex, Yelp Cincinnati’s awesome fearless leader and Community Manager, is in charge of all things Yelp. From events, to parties, to promos, to reviews, to a sweet weekly newsletter all about the Queen City! And if you’re one of the cool Elite members you get even more awesomeness thrust upon you.
“What the hell are you talking about?!” Ok let me go over my past week. Cincy Winter Beerfest was going on. and tickets are pretty steep… over $30 i believe. The boy doesn’t drink beer so I was kinda bummed about having to miss out on 180+ craft beers all in one place. Well lo and behold I get not 1 but 2 emails about beerfest from Yelp. And what were they? 2 free tickets to beerfest! (I think 10 total were given out maybe?) But the 2nd message was for Elite’s only and they had VIP tickets to give out. (those are even more expense btw 
). So I’m at beerfest where I get an awesome pretzel necklace with a Yelp bottle opener to enjoy while drinking, and I stop by the City Beat booth where I got free movie passes for a prescreening of “I am Number Four” at Florence Rave. (trust me this will come into play later). So that was all well and good and drunken.
Monday I used the Android App for find an Outback Steakhouse down in Kentucky on our way home.
Tuesday me and the boy were both able to go down the street to Bill Cunninham’s Great American Sports Cafe in Montgomery. Oh, did i mention we had 4 different wings to choose from, and could eat all we wanted.. for free… I spent a whole $2 eating til I felt like it was Thanksgiving, and getting a beer in the process.
Which brings me to Wednesday. It was the special Elite Party, at Below Zero Lounge in OtR, and it was well… awesome! I got to try their cocktals and wine (for free…) got to try amazing food Cincinnati Cooks (again free) and got to enjoy (free) ice cream from Phro*Zen. Did I mention this was all free? Oh and sweet movie-oke (I’ll post the vids soon).
And this was all just last week. There have been numerous other Yelp parties (both for Elites and just regular ol Yelpers) free goodies (like the sweet lunchbox), and other give aways-I saw “Stomp the Floor” on opening night at the Aronoff.
So why has this been the thing to make the most impact in my life? Seriously? 1. I have met some AWESOME kick ass new friends. 2. I’m getting out and seeing Cincy in multiple different styles. 3. I’ll never not have SOMEthing to do. and well i guess 4 would be I get awesome free shit.
Check out the Cincinnati Streetcar on public display.
Yay!!! The streetcars finally making its way to Cincy!! It’ll be set up by Fountain Square until Nov 10th and open to the public from 11am-7pm to check out if you’d like. I think this is awesome and will hopefully turn around some non believers
Thanks to Erica over at Cincinnati ReAdventure for the pics!!
For more information check out the Cincy Streetcar Blog!
The Cincinnati Bell/WEBN fireworks are by far, one of thee absolute best fireworks displays. With a little over half a million people viewing it from both sides of the Ohio River, in a small amount of space between 2 bridges. Every year I wonder why I fight the traffic, paying insane amounts to park so far away, walking through downtown to get to the riverbanks to get elbowed and watch snails move through the crowd faster than me…
But then it starts… and all these people come together to see who can be the loudest, and who wins the 4square check in war (well done Kentucky)-even though there was no Super Swarm badge 
187 seemed to be the top out, but on a brighter note i got the special VH1/MTV moonman badge and i’m one more trip closer to the Ziggy Wagon’s badge, and the VH1 Badge, yes right here in Cincinnati
But anyways, enough about the epicness that is 4sq and on with the evening.
But the highlight I believe is from the end of the night and stuck walking behind the lady in the shiny purple spandex, purple socks, and a purple sweater; and her poor child in bright lime green leggings, taking after her mom. It’s been submitted to WTFCincy so I’ll link to it soon hopefully
Ok so this weekend after playing some killer softball for the Jerry’s Kids MDA Softball Tourney (which happens to be the world’s largest softball tournament for Muscular Dystrophy) and taking an awesome 3rd place!! up from our 4th place finish last year, (way to go Professional Floor Service Ladies!) It was back to Cincy and time to take some noobs to Jungle Jims.
And of course… they had a piano there too 
My whole family took their turns on it. And I must say, this may not be the prettiest looking one out there. It has definately seen better days, but man, it has Thee most Gorgeous sound to it! Just wow.
I wished I had gotten pictures of the little boys faces when they saw the lobsters and the fish in the vats. Priceless!
Ok so my weekend started a little early on Thursday. Now I haven’t been much of a partier since graduating college, so I have to check out Party in the Park and things of that nature on Weds/Thurs, but Oval Opus got back together for a charity event in Newport at JB Fins (on the deck between Hooters and Beer Seller) and I’ll admit that’s a pretty great place to catch a local concert! You’ve got the skyline in the background, you can get up close and personal with the band, there’s all sorts of seating all around the stage, and a bar right outside so you don’t have to miss a moment of the action. Beer prices are a little outrageous if you’re just buying a single beer (I’d recommend the bucket for 6 or more at $2 a piece). And as far as the girly froo-froo drinks go you’re out of luck on the Smirnoff’s or the Bacardi’s, but they do have mixers. On Thurs, they didn’t have a cover when we got there shortly after 9.
Oval Opus performing at JB Fins
Friday was a bit more of an adventure (if that’s even possible) Mind you I work up in the Evendale (Sharonville) Business Park, but I had been hearing nothing but amazing things about the food truck. So I decided I was going to have a lunchtime adventure, and suckered a co-worker into joining me. So a 20 minute drive (really with the whole merging around Hamilton on 75? Who thought that traffic pattern up?!) we grabbed a spot down Race and walked up the block to where Cafe de Wheels Twitter page said they would be. Not too much of a line, which was nice. I noticed Just Q’in next door. Hadn’t heard of them yet. No sign of them on foursquare or Yelp yet, so I might have to give it a try next time.
But from the reviews I decided to go with their signature Wheels Burger and fries. Jess went for the sweet potato fries. I don’t know what it is but those fries (or the seasoning?) is Heaven!! I don’t care for sweet potatoes in any form whatsoever. I don’t even care for the smell. But these were amazing! I’m also an adamant fries-with-ketchup eater only. I ate the whole cup full in the car on the way back. Not a single drop of ketchup they were that good! And the burger… that’s a whole nother scale. I’m a picky eater, but I am adventurous. I’ll try anything once. For instance I love seaweed salads. Not so much of a fan of buffalo burgers/summer sausage. But I’m pretty sure I could eat from Cafe de Wheels every other day (opposite of Skyline and Jimmy Johns of course) They load their toppings and its just amazing.
Later that night it was off to Loveland for Toot’s. Great little pub type feel, not far off of Applebee’s/TGIFriday’s. It’s laid back and offers bang for the buck. You definitely get your moneys worth of burgers and fries. They’ve got pretty good pickle chips as well.
Saturday brings along one of my favorite places to kill an afternoon. Caeser Creek Flea Market. In my opinion it’s a step above Trader’s World, just because simply, there’s not a thing you CAN”T find here. Yeah there’s a few of your typical “jink” booths, but for the most part, they’ve got a huge selection. Trader’s World isn’t quite as diverse IMO. The only questionable thing here is the shed at the beck of the parking lot… Those that have been, know. For those that don’t… well, I don’t know if any youngsters stumble on here. But it was good time with a cute new necklace, and some candles.
While we were in the area, and this is the best part of the whole weekend, we decided to hit Rod’s Capricorn Inn.
This is the only thing you'll see on the side of the road letting you know what's there
I frequent this place once a year during Homecoming with my Sorority, and it’s just not enough. This place is the epitome of hole-in-the-wall, grease pit, dive place. And it. is. A-MAZING. Rod is normally back in the kitchen cooking and singing to country music or oldies. He’s a little off pitch but never seems to care. The burgers are massive! As in I had to fold mine in half and it still stuck out the bun!
Notice the meat spilling over the ginormous pile of mushrooms
It's a task to wolf one of those down, but oh so worth it.
The sides are generous enough, the toppings are never endingly cascading out of the sandwich, and your drink still comes in a can with a glass of ice. It’s got plastic picnic table clothes. and the back room/party area has actual picnic tables with the same tablecloths over them. It’s just so quaint and out of the way and divey that it is worth the drive up 730 from Wilmington. I promise.
So as I’ve been digging more and more into this whole blogging thing for work and I couldn’t help but notice a few other Cincy people really into blogging as well! I mean i blogged in high school and some in college on Xanga and LiveJournal (are those sites even still around?!) back when it “”wasn’t cool and people wondered why the heck I wasted my time with them. This can’t be that hard right?
So anyways after checking out some of these blogs and currently getting started on the Yelp scene I figured “might as well” I need a new venue off of Facebook anyhow. And I noticed a lot of these happened to center more around downtown. But thats the great thing about Cincinnati… it’s a bunch of small towns and communities that make up one great awesome city! If I can help out some over noob to the city, then this all won’t be in vain right? So come join me in my crazy adventures through the city, and the occasional side trip to other parts of Ohio and the country (aka my theme park rantings). I promise if nothing else it’ll (hopefully) be entertaining
This was the pretty rainbow my phone stinks at capturing outside the front door of my office building in Evendale/Sharonville this morning
