A Birthday Getaway to Cincinnati, Ohio

We went to the last regular season game for the Cincinnati Cyclones. We opted to purchase our tickets online, which uses the Ticket Master option. We got front row seats which are listed at $22.50 per seat, but the grand total, when figuring in the convenience charge and taxes was $121.84 for 4 tickets.

When I looked at the payment printout I was slightly skeptical, however when we arrived, the line to buy tickets was at least 30 people deep, times several lines. So ... being lazy, I was very happy with ordering our tickets online.

We opted to spend a little extra to get front row tickets. This afforded us a little extra leg room, and an unobstructed view. Our seats in section 134 were also near a "corner" which allowed us some great views of people getting slammed into the wall. I was grateful to have a woman sitting near me jump as much as I did as the glass gave in a few inches each hit.

We ate before going to the game, so I didn't order any food. Prices seemed to be standard to minor league events -- higher than they should be, but not so high that it raises your blood pressure. Plastic 12 oz. beer bottles we 5 dollars, and draught beer was $6.00.

I loved the atmosphere at the game. Before the game, the lights were dimmed, and the introductions for the team players was great entertainment. Imagine dimmed lighting, spotlights, boos for the referees and opposing team, great cheers for the home players. Not exactly classy, but fun on occasion.

I also loved that we were given a program that included both what the penalties were along with the referee's gestures meant. Helpful to people not overly familiar with the sport.

We had a great time at the game, and I would recommend going to a game to anyone who likes sports, and also to people who aren't active sports goers. You may be surprised at how fun it is.

We opted on McCormick and Schmick's Seafood Restaurant because it was attached to our hotel (Westin) and because originally planned restaurant was not open yet.

We were greeted/sat within 5 minutes of entering the restaurant. We were seated at a booth that overlooked Fountain Square. The view was great, and we enjoyed both people watching and watching the horse carriages as they waited for patrons.

We were sat in a booth in the bar area that was beautiful. There was a stained glass window that featured a Cincinnati River view, and the Tiffany lamps over the bar featured UC, Xavier, and Bengals logo.

We were greeted by a server who took our drink orders, but were then served the rest of our meal by another server. Both servers were polite, but I felt that there were areas of service that lacked. We were having drinks with dinner and had to signal to our server when we were ready for refills. (I'm not talking about 30 seconds, I'm talking about several minutes with an empty glass sitting on the end of the table.)

We were a party of four, splitting the check between couples. My husband and I ordered a spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer that was the best I've ever had. It was served with cooked pita break, and had a great flavor. Our friends ordered calamari, which they loved, but I was a little startled as I thought the red sauce was marinara -- it was cocktail sauce. (If you've followed any of my reviews, you may have realized that I am a little particular about my food. The cocktail sauce was a bit of a startle for me.) The rest of my dining party raved that it was the best calamari that they have had. I couldn't get over the cocktail sauce.

I had Alaskan King Crab Legs for dinner, which was perfectly prepared. I did make the mistake of ordering a full pound, which was too much. Luckily my husband helped me out. This is typically served with red potatoes and corn on the cob, but our server was very nice about subbing the corn on the cob for asparagus. My husband had the halibut, which had great presentation but lacked in taste for my husband. (Possibly a personal preference, but worth noting.)

When our order came, our crab leg order did not have the asparagus that we ordered, but once we pointed this out to our server, it was brought out quickly.

After our meals were finished, it took a while to get our check. This may have been because of the fact that 2 of us were still finishing our drinks, but in reality felt like we were just left sitting and waiting.

Our total tab, for 2 people with 2 drinks each was $91.97. The food was good, but I didn't feel like it was that good. I would have been much happier at the originally planned restaurant and spent $20 less, but then again, McCormick’s was open at 3pm, and I did get to people watch.

On the money saving side (which I am all about) McCormick & Schmicks does have a preferred guest membership program that allows you to earn points, which offers priority seating, a complimentary birthday entree, and several options to trade in points, ranging from free desert to an Oregon Wine Country trip. Note: joining costs $25, but you get a $25 dining certificate. I'm not sure that I'd join it, but if you like this restaurant, it's worth considering.

I don't regret eating here, but it was not the highlight that I hoped dinner would be. I would not tell someone that they should definitely go here, but if they told me that this is where they planned to eat I would not discourage them either. It was a good meal, not great, but my friends and I enjoyed each other's company with a good view.

We stopped in this store mainly because our friend was interested in the blown glass pieces on display.

Upon entering the store we were greeted by the man who was working there, who was very kind and showed us the current displays that were being featured.

All of the pieces were done by citizens who are local to the area, with the exception of some pieces who were on display from the Indianapolis area.

There were many different types of pieces, including hand blown glass pieces that were decorative in nature, framed artwork paintings, and jewelry pieces.

The range of prices was significant. There were earrings that started at $25 and paintings that topped $1,000. I loved the bracelets by artist Lisa Kolber Inglert, and was tempted to buy one, but just didn't currently have $60 to spend on a bracelet. (I am thinking that my birthday would be a great opportunity to get one.) Bryan Mathas Burt's artwork also stood out to me, but it was significantly over my budget. That being said, I am not an art collector. I am certain that his work is priced within market prices -- I'm just not in the know for that market. If I was in that market, I would enjoy having his work on my walls.

I enjoyed this store much more than the other stores were stopped in (they were national chains) because of the local connection.

Upon returning home I was able to find the store's website, which was great for me because it includes links to different artist's websites. So even if you're not ready to buy right then, you can still check an artist out later.

If you're in the area definitely stop by and enjoy the art. (Nothing against children, but if you're with kids, I would probably skip this stop. I'd be about as stressed as having a bull in a china stop with kids around all this glass.)

Store hours are:
M-R 10-6; F 10-9; S 10-6; closed Sundays

I grew up about an hour from downtown Cincinnati. We rarely came into the city as a family. I could probably count how many times we came downtown on one of my hands. In my head, I grew up envisioning it to be dirty, nasty, and scary.

From the time I got married until my husband was transferred, we went to Cincinnati on occasion, but it was typically for a Reds game. We never really made it to the Fountain.

So when my husband decided we should go to Cincinnati for his birthday I smiled, said okay, but at the same time was wondering why in the world he would want to stay in downtown Cincinnati as opposed to staying across the river in Covington. As much as it pains me to say this, my husband was right.

We were lucky enough to stay across the street from Fountain Square, which was great fun for me to people watch. On Saturday afternoon we went over to the area to hang out, look around and take pictures. The square was set up for Fountain Day so there were 2 tents and also umbrellas set up with some of the tables.

I saw the banner that announced the Saturday being Fountain Day and shared this with my friends. We all looked at each other and shrugged, but later found out that Fountain Day is when they turn the fountain on, so that the Lady of the Fountain has water that sprays from her hands. There was also a concert as part of the celebration.

There are several other events that go on throughout the year. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have gone to the website www.myfountainsquare.com when we started planning this trip to have more info.

Along with the Fountain, there are a lot of tables set up where people can sit and talk with friends. A few of the tables have checkerboard painted on them. I didn't see checkers, but found out from the website that you can check out checkers or chess pieces from the parking garage . There are also public restrooms.

There is also a water wall memorial-esque tribute with a poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. At night, there are lights below the flowing water, which was very pretty. During warm months, there are water spouts for children to play in. (Note, this is fresh water, no chlorine, so no harm if they drink the water.)

When we were there there was a police officer with his horse named Alex, a beautiful, huge dark brown horse, who the officer told us is the biggest police horse that they have. The officer was taking children on horse rides, which was a lot of fun to watch.

Across the street from the Square is a huge LED tv display, which gave the area a big city feel.

In winter months there is an ice rink to skate on. $2.50 for admission and $2.50 for skate rental. The website is updated with rink status.

I posted a picture of the rules, but must advise that I don't think people follow the rule of not feeding the pigeons. The pigeons here are the fattest, largest pigeons I have ever seen. They are almost as big as small chickens.

There is also a parking garage that I found to be pretty reasonable -- $1 for the first hour, then $2 additional dollars for each additional hour. After 7 hours, the price is capped at $15. Evenings and weekends (up to 8 hours on the weekend) are $4. Take your ticket with you because there are pay stations that you pay the parking before you get back to your car. This didn't bother us, but a banker rolled his eyes when describing it to us. Maybe fun for a day or two, but not so fun each day.

If you live in Cincinnati, I highly recommend you utilize Fountain Square. Go online, find events and enjoy the cheap, if not free entertainment. If you are planning on visiting Cincinnati, definitely make this a stop on your to do list.

We stopped at Bruegger's to grab a bite to eat to tide us over until 3 for a late lunch. We didn't plan on stopping here, but it was across the street from National City, so after getting money out of the ATM, we decided to spend some of it right away.

There were not a lot of people there when we went -- a Saturday around 11:15 am, but I would suspect that it is very busy during weekdays.

We were greeted right away by a person behind the counter, which was great, but we had no idea what we wanted. When we told him we were still deciding, he smiled and told us to just let him know when we knew what we'd like.

The only complaint that I have is that they were out of plain bagels when we were there. I understand, however, that most peple are not as picky as I am, and probably don't want a plain bagel. We decided on 3 Western Egg Sandwhices, and a dry cinamon raisin bagel. There were 2 people behind the counter, and both of them made our sandwiches. I thought it was a nice touch to help expedite the order. They also make the sandwiches right in front of you, so people leary of cleanliness in restaurants -- you are set here.

After the meal was all set, we took the food over to the cashier, who bagged up our food and we were set.

Our total for everything: 3 Western Bagels, 1 dry raisin bagel, a milk and a medium pop was $16.05, tax included. So I felt like feeding 4 people for breakfast for under $20 was completely reasonable.

Bruegger's is a chain restaurant with stores in 23 states, so even if you're not in Cincinnati, you may want to keep an eye out for one. On their website, www.brueggers.com, there is complete menu listings (they have soups and sandwiches also) and nutritional info. There is also a store locator, and catering information.

I'd highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes bagels.

We walked past this pub planning to go on our return leg of our journey. We were disappointed.

The offerings at this pub were great, they had many different beer selections -- both domestic and imports. My party stuck with domestics, which were $3.00 a beer. We were served our first drinks fairly quickly.

The guys in our group commented that the bartenders at Cock and Bull were the most attractive of the bars that we had been to, which I cannot deny. They servers there were very attractive, however, I do not think that this should compromise service.

I asked a server to take a picture of my group -- after 1. watching the server take a picture of another couple and 2. seeing the bartenders have time to stand around between orders.
The bartender was extremely rude when I asked her to take our picture. Her exact words were "You people are killing me; at least make it fast." She took a picture of 3 people out of 4. Her next comment was "Oh, are we getting a picture of all of you?" I absolutely understand that bartenders can often be busy. I do not understand, however, a bartender being rude about taking a picture when they are standing around with fellow bartenders and drinking with patrons.

I looked forward to stopping at the Cock and Bull as it looked to be a fun place to stop with a theme, but having been there would not stop again.

Hiring attractive people does not substitute hiring people who do their job.

We stopped at this establishment on our Tour D' Main Strasse. Our intension was to simply have one beer and head out.

We found it to be a fun bar for 1-2 beers. It was a little out of our age range, but still fun. I was with a group ranging in age from 29-46. The majority of people aside from us seemed to be 25 or under. (Note: as of April 2009 it was a smoker friendly bar.)

Beers were $3.00 ... we were drinking Bud Lights, Miller Lights, and Coors Light. They were cold, and served quickly.

While we got great, quick service, there were some drawbacks. The restroom area had two toilets. (For women, sorry I cannot comment on the men's rooms.) Instead of having doors, the stalls had shower curtains. While I was there, there were also some issues that meant only one toilet was functioning. Not a great situation on a Friday night.

I guess that I'd recommend this as a Main Strasse stop for one or two beers. But only if you're doing the tour. I would recommend driving here just for this restaurant.

We ended up at this bar from a recommendation from a local. She promised nice people who were friendly.

We were served very quickly, and found the beer to be $3.00 for Bud Light, Miller Light and Coors Light. I'm not sure if the premium beers were more, or if the generic beers were less. The bartenders were friendly, polite and helpful.

The music was pop music with the occasional circa 80s or 90s classic. I liked it.

We found the regulars of this bar to be friendly, joking with us about a woman's "double back flip" (it's not dirty, nor is it gymnastics related).

You are able to smoke at this bar (as of April 2009) this can be a plus or a minus for people, but is worth noting.

If you are doing the Main Strasse tour, I highly recommend this stop. If you're looking for a regular hangout, I would recommend this if you live within 20 minutes. Have fun, and Cheers!

We visited this bar first, as it used to be my favorite Main Strasse restaurant when we livid in the Tri-State area.

It is still a fun bar, with great Irish connections, but I with my smiles due to decorations were shrugs from service.

The bar area is a large open space so that smoke rises, and somewhat helps the non smokers from dealing with the smoke. The walls have fun Irish sayings on them, and above one vent there are paper mache figures (see pics). There is a pool room in the back, which apparently had a stuck table at one point in the evening, because there was a big thud. We were relieved to know it was a pool table, not someone getting slammed down.

We were at this pub on a Friday night around 10 pm. The music was mostly rap.

The bathroom leaves much to be desired. It's a one toilet stall that fails to lock, but on a positive note there is some inspirational writing on the walls.

The best part of this pub is that beers were $2.50. A rarity in cities these days. That being said, however, it was a 5 minute wait to get served a beer from the bartender. Note: not 5 minutes in a line, 5 minutes for one of the two bartenders to notice me.

I love this bar for sentimental reasons, so I will be back on the occasion that I am in town. Unfortunately, I don't know that it's a bar I'd recommend to people anymore.

We booked our room through Priceline.com and paid $75 each (plus taxes) for two rooms. This is about half of the listed price. When we checked in, I asked that the rooms be close together, and we ended up with adjacent rooms.

We parked in the Westin parking garage, which is off Vine Street. We checked in around 5pm Friday, and checked out around 9:30 am on Sunday and the total parking bill was $9. I was very pleased with the cost of this. Valet parking is available also, at a much higher cost.

The front desk was very kind and expedient upon checking in. We checked in in less than 5 minutes.

Since we booked through Priceline, I did not anticipate a great view, but was very pleasantly surprised to open the door and see Fountain Square right outside my window. The room was well laid out and very clean. Our friends' room was next to ours with the same great view.

Westin features the "Heavenly Bed" and they are not lying. My husband laid in the bed when we first got there, and immediately said "We need a new mattress." We both slept wonderfully. Westin seems to know this, and provides a catalog in which you can order almost everything in the room for your own home. The chairs in the room were also very comfortable -- but not in the catalog.

The bathroom featured a double head shower that was amazing. If I had been there on business, I would have found it to be very relaxing after a long day. Being there for pleasure, I found it very soothing. The white tea shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion was pleasant and relaxing.

The hot tub and pool area are on the top floor and offer great views of the Ohio River, stadiums, and other buildings. We got into the hot tub, and it was very hot. The area was beautiful and well kept.

We did speak with the front desk in regards to getting a restaurant map for the area. We were lookinf for a Hibachi restaurant, which was not on the map and he was very helpful in finding us one which was not listed on the map.

There is a valet service available. They can also call cabs for you, but we found that right outside of the valet area there were cabs sitting. We grabbed them ourselves.

My experience with the Westin was fabulous. The views were amazing, and the staff was exceptional. I could see myself booking directly with the Westin in the future and paying full price (but getting Starwood points.) Enjoy your view of the fountain or the river!