The Cincinnati Zoo...
What a great zoo we have here in Cincy. You should check it out. Anyone got any good zoo stories?
Snow Day Photos...
You gotta love a snow day...
Here are some views from this afternoon:
You can find the full-size images on my flickr page.
Findlay Market...
After locking myself down for about 6 straight hours of administrative work, I needed to remove myself from the home office. I still had a good bit of work ahead of me, but I knew I wasn't going to be very productive if I didn't get some fresh air.
So I headed downtown to see what kind of trouble I could get into. I've been thinking of swinging by Findlay Market recently so I decided to take myself up on the offer.
Outside it was bright and vibrant, but the outside shops and stands were not to be found. I guess they're only out there on the weekends.
Inside was a bit dismal and empty as well...I must be in the wrong place.
Ahh...the middle section...that's where the action is.
My first stop was at the Herbs and Spice and Everything Nice shop. Picked out some excellent stuff for a great price.
They had cool stuff all over the place. It was a nice little photo excursion for me.
I picked up some Spanish Chorizo while I was there. Little did those sausages know they would be made into an amazing Hispanic rice and vegetable dish later. Mmm...it was good.
Does a bear poop in the woods? Of course I picked up some cheese.
I thought this guy was pretty cool. He tasted himself a piece of Pastrami every 3 or 4 slices as he cut them for me.
One of the coolest things was the sign I saw on a ghetto street near the market. It speaks volumes for/to our city.
Historic Cincinnati...
Below you will find an image of Pearl Street Market. Pearl Street was founded in 1816 making it the oldest public market in all of Cincinnati. It sat between Broadway and Sycamore Streets and had many famous visitors...you know, presidents and what not. When people visited Cincinnati, they had to check out Pearl Street Market. The market was torn down in 1968 to make room for Riverfront Stadium. I wish I would have been around to scope out that place...I bet it was pretty cool.
This is the Price Hill Incline:
You can read more about the history of Price Hill, or Bold Face Hill as it was formerly known------> Here. There are all kinds of cool things that I'm learning about my city and I would recommend you do the same. It seems the more we know about the past the better we can understand the present...that sounds familiar.
I always enjoyed History class going through school, but there was a sort of break down when it came to relating it to my life. Now that I pay the bills, buy the stuff, drive the streets, and explore the territory it gives me great satisfaction to know things about where I'm from.
Just thought I'd share something interesting with you. Adios.
Local Yokel...
If you want to irk me, and I mean really ruffle my feathers, start talking about how much you hate living wherever you're from. It drives me nuts.
The reason this drives me particularly crazy is because most of these complainers haven't been elsewhere. Now I'm no world traveler myself, but I have been to a few places. I haven't lived anywhere other than my hometown of Cincinnati. <----Oh man, I really hope they don't think I like Cincinnati because it's all that I know. ----> What I've seen though is that everywhere is Cincinnati. Cincinnati is everywhere.
Here's what I mean: Go somewhere. Stay there a little while. Look around. It's all the same eventually. We've all got the malls, movie theaters, historical districts, airports, city traffic, tourist areas, music venues, restaurants, "secret" local dives, universities, etc..
At least within 25 miles or so.
Even when I was in the middle of Nowheresville Montana it became the same as Cincinnati after a few days. You may agree or you may not, it's an opinion of mine and we all know what those are like.
Anyway though - this rant was not the initial intent of this blog entry. My original target was to talk about doing things local style. We had a few people over for dinner tonight and for dinner I did my shopping at the local markets. I went to Langen's Meats for some beef tenderloin shoulder and potatoes. After that, I ran over to Piazza Discepoli for some wine. It was great. I love local shops.
You can pretty much always expect to spend about 10% more for what you're going to buy, but you know what? Price isn't everything. Sometimes it's worth spending a little bit more to support your local businesses. I'm not anti-big business or anything like that, I'm still Sam's Club's number one fan. For some things though, my money is going toward the quality local stores.
