Cincinnati Day Trip

We took a day trip to Cincinnati on Saturday. We went to the Cincy Museum Center (see above). This photo was NOT taken on Saturday - the photo would have been overcast with spits of snow and the picture would have been fuzzy as my arms were shaking in the freezing wind. No, this was taken in October 2006 when we spent 2 days in Cincinnati for Fall Break.

This trip didn't turn out much like we had planned. We got a late start and then were going to spend a few hours at the Natural History Museum in the Museum Center. But the line to get tickets was averaging a 1 hour wait time. So we treated the boys to ice cream, the museum shop, and headed to 2 of 3 stores that I have been wanting to visit.

First up, Fresh Market. I enjoy going to more gourmet grocery stores. Thomas went wild and got mustard pretzels. Brennan got whole pistachios. It would be AWESOME if we had a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or Fresh Market within 30 minutes of here.

Then, P.F. Chang's for lunch. It's hard to go wrong at P.F. Chang's. We especially love the vegetarian lettuce wraps.

Then we headed here. I hear so much about Ikea but had never been. Wow - Ikea on a snowy Saturday is PACKED. I mean, overwhelming. And so much to see. We bought a big boy lamp for Thomas's room, but that was about it. What we wish we had realized - the chaperoned kids play area is for while mom and dad are shopping. We dragged the boys all over the crowded store and promised them playland time once we were done. Little did we know they could have been there all along.

Finally, I wanted to go here. I hear great things about this International Market. In order to get to all of these new places in Cincinnati I did a multiple destination map and directions listing on mapquest.com. The Jungle Jim directions I got took us through a distribution center part of the city and we ended up at the end of the road at some warehouse. Never mind - time to head home.

The boys had fun despite not getting to visit the museum. David was a good sport and I can now say I've been to IKEA and Fresh Market. And it's always nice to go on a little road trip!