June 27 – 29
Tuesday was errand, commissary & movie day. This week we saw the movie ‘The Book of Henry’ and both really enjoyed it. Sad in parts, laugh out loud funny in others…and all around good movie.
That evening we had dinner out on the patio and after dinner our neighbors joined us and we chatted for a couple of hours. They’re from Michigan and their son and his family are stationed here so they’re here to watch their grandson while his parents are at work.
Wednesday we stayed home and hung out. We did a few odds and ends but not much. I grilled steaks for dinner, which we enjoyed out on the patio. After dinner we played a game of cribbage…I won. Currently we are 1 and 1 with our cribbage championship. LOL
Thursday we drove south 67 or so miles to Cincinnati.
2Ps and the Taft Historic Site
We didn’t leave home until 10:00ish and had a pleasant drive, arriving a little after 11:00 am. Our first stop was the William Howard Taft National Historic Site. This is the home that the 27th president of the United States was born and grew up in.
Neither of us knew much about Taft before arriving at the Historic Site but found out several things and were quite impressed. Even though he only served one term (4 years) he accomplished quite a lot. Did you know that he is the ONLY person to have ever served as the President of the United States as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?? That’s a pretty high honor in my book.
Throwing out the first pitch of the 1910 baseball season.
Taft had several ‘firsts’ and even a ‘last’ while president. He was the first president to open the baseball season by throwing out the first pitch in 1910. He was the last president who’s family cow, Pauline Wayne, was kept at the White House. She could be seen grazing on the lawn or on those of nearby public buildings.
We stopped in the Visitor’s Center first – getting our Passport book stamped, watching an interesting 14 minute video and then reading some of the displays.
A beautiful parlor room with several original pieces in it.
We were scheduled for a noon tour of the house. A ranger took us on a brief tour of a few rooms of the house and then let us roam the rest of the home on our own. It was quite nice as it was just the two of us so Michael got to ask all the questions he wanted…and believe me…he always has lots of questions!
2Ps in front of Arthur’s Cafe
By the time we were done at the Taft site we were getting pretty hungry so we made our way to Arthur’s Cafe. Michael was looking for a burger so I did some searching on Yelp and came up with this place. It was rated 4 stars with 309 reviews…not bad.
Michael ordered his burger while I went with fish and chips…both meals were very good and we enjoyed the atmosphere as well. We took our time as we didn’t really have anywhere to be for several hours and it felt good to take our time and not rush.
The biggest reason we had ventured into Cincinnati was watch our Milwaukee Brewers play the Cincinnati Reds! The Reds home field is The Great American Ball Park and is perched on the banks of the Ohio River which is also the border between Ohio and Kentucky.
John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River in the area that we parked. What a pretty sight. It was about 4:30 pm when we parked and traffic was pretty heavy crossing back and forth between Cincinnati & Covington, Kentucky.
Parking is not easy for this particular ball park. We’re used to a ball park having huge parking lots where you can tailgate before a game…not here. The ball park is right downtown so you have to find street parking or parking in one of the various parking structures scattered around the area.
Brewers batting practice
We were lucky and found a place to park on the street about 2 1/2 blocks from the park. Cost for this spot was $2.00 per hour until 9:00 pm when the fee was waived. So…it cost us $8.00 to park…not bad. PLUS…we got out with NO problems whatsoever…no traffic congestion, no delays…nothing. Awesome.
2Ps ready to watch their boys play ball!
The Reds had won the first two games of the series and we were hoping that the Crew wouldn’t let them sweep the series. No need to worry as our boys swung their bats like madmen! They belted out 6 home runs and the final score ended up 11-3. It’s always nice when your team wins while you’re in attendance! Go Brewers!