Cincinnati Day 1

This weekend was a little rough. My cousin, who also happens to be one of my best friends, spent all weekend with her family at the hospital. Her grandmother on her mom's side passed away today after about 36 hours in the hospital. I'm so sad for them! I hope and pray that they are able to find comfort in all the people who love and care for them.

I don't want to bum you all out with sadness, so I want to finally post pictures from my trip to Cincinnati (um...3 weeks ago)!

Ooooo traffic, how I loathe thee.  There was an accident on the interstate, so we sat in some traffic for a while. Luckily we weren't in a huge hurry! Oh and speaking of driving, I got to drive a new Chevy Impala for the trip...I did NOT want to give it back. It made me sad to go back to my beat up bishi.

Our room was small, but so cute. We stayed in the historic Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, which was just so stunning! The conference was also held here, so it was pretty convenient. 

That Sunday happened to be a Reds game that was really important. It was the one that decided whether they went to the World Series or not...I think. At any rate there were a TON of people downtown. Getting something to eat was pretty much the most challenging thing I've ever done. Every restaurant was out of whatever food they serve...it was very frustrating! 

There was a reception for the conference that was held in the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. I walked around for a while and attempted some awkward mingling. I finally left and decided to try finding food again with mom. We eventually found a sandwich place called Potbelly's, and we were excited to hear they had a couple of meats and breads left...whew!

 

Despite how frustrated I was with the insane amount of people around me, it was pretty amazing to see all those Reds fans come together to watch the game in the middle of the city. It was like something out of a movie. In the picture with the red, those people are watching a big screen that is above one of the buildings. They were showing the Titans game before the Reds came on! Mom and I watched a little of it, so that was really a fun experience.

*sigh* I did not go in...

The outside of our gorgeous hotel. 

Mom and I coming in for the night. We had to get out of the crowd of Reds fans before they lost...that would have been traumatizing. Pardon the sloppiness. I drove all day and then started conference stuff, so my appearance was the last thing on my mind.

Wow, this was photo heavy. Apologies! It was a brand new city for me, so can you blame me?!