Gobble gobble.

I didn't know how popular my blog was until this morning, when a good friend of mine demanded that I update it. Well, little-miss-you-know-who-you-are, are you happy now?!

I just started a new full-time job at a Cincinnati public relations agency, so my free time to explore the area has been cut in half. However, I will still have the weekends to venture around, especially since I got a brand spankin' new camera (which means that I no longer have any excuse if my photos turn out crappy).

Anyway, enough of my excuses and babbling - on to the good stuff.

My parents and step-grandmother are coming to visit next week, so I have been trying to figure out where they should visit while they're here. I figured, "Hey, I've been around here for a few months now, I should know plenty of places for them to go!"

The locals and I therefore recommend the following:

1.) Eat lots of Skyline Chili. With mounds of cheese. Yum.


(photo credit: lbjsbrownbag.com)

2.) Visit downtown Cincinnati.



3.) Explore the Museum Center at Union Terminal, which has three museums (I think...), an IMAX theatre and a working Amtrak station.





4.) Go across the Ohio River to Newport on the Levee in Newport, KY to enjoy great dining, shopping and a wonderful view of the Cincinnati skyline.





5.) Eat the delicious ice cream at Graeter's (supposedly a favorite of Oprah's and many other celebrities - and now a favorite of my husband's).

Mmmmmm...ice cream.....*drool*

6.) Last, but not least, visit Jungle Jim's. Remember that place? I wrote about it here.

It should be a swell time for them, and a great introduction to the area. In the meantime, I need suggestions of places to go and things to do in the Cincy/Dayton/Oxford, OH areas, especially in the wintertime! So, those of you who want me to update more, now is the time to speak up and give me story ideas. :-)

Well, since today is Thanksgiving, I have a turkey and other baked goods beckoning for me to enjoy their deliciousness. In the meantime, may I present a preview of the awesome photo quality of my new camera, with one of my cats dutifully acting as a model.

I'll have a runny chili with beans and onions, please

A few interesting Ohioisms I've learned so far:

1.) Instead of DMV's, Ohio has BMV's, which stands for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
2.) Everyone in the area has a twang. As in a southern, country twang. They say things like "ya'll", "git in da cah" and my personal favorite, "Chi-caaaaaa-gah".
3.) Cincinnati people love their chili, and there are two main competitors in the area - Skyline Chili and Gold Star Chili. Practically all of the locals I've spoken with so far prefer Skyline, but I don't want to make any judgments until I've gobbled some down from Gold Star.

A couple of weeks ago, my fiance and I made the trek to Cincinnati to see what all of the hubub was about. Home of some interesting tasting chili and the Bengals, it was certainly nice to be back in a place that was somewhat familiar to my home turf. You can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl - at least not right away.



They don't have a giant lake, but they do have a giant river with lots of cool-looking bridges!





We discovered an indoor mall that winds around downtown Cincinnati - similar to Grand Ave. Mall in Milwaukee, but much more upscale. Found an Oscar De La Renta dress there for about $1,000. Classy place, isn't it?



Duke Energy is really big in these parts. So much so that the company has its very own convention center.



Cincinnati Reds and Bengals paraphernalia are everywhere. I don't think they're as rabid as, say Packers or Bears fans, but I can still feel their pride.



We saw some riverboats (like in the musical Showboat) across the river, so we decided to cross one of the bridges and see what they were all about. Turned out that just over the river was:



I looked for a KFC, but I didn't find any (yet). I'll have to go back and continue my search so I can tell people I've had real Kentucky Fried Chicken. After getting lost five times in the streets of Newport, KY, we finally found our way to the riverboats, which were a lot bigger than they looked from the Ohio side of the river. If you look in the background, you can see where the Cincinnati Reds play.



And now I must leave you with another funny cat picture. Enjoy!