Lucky in Kentucky

Refreshed. In the past 12 months of work I had only used one day of vacation. I think that is why I really enjoyed spending the past five days in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. For those who are not aware, Allie's parents moved a few weeks to a suburb 17 miles South of downtown Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky. We spent the long weekend there exploring the area and helping them move in. Here were some of the highlights:

A) I really liked exploring downtown Cincinnati. The Queen City reminded me a lot of Saint Paul. Not just in size, but it's lay-out is very similar. It was clean, the people were really nice, the city is well-organized and has a beautiful skyline. I do have a slight criticism though... We drove around downtown at 9:30pm on Friday night and it was really quiet. It's nightlife left a LOT to the imagination.

B) With Lexington and Louisville only been an hour and an hour and a half from Allie's parent's house, we headed to southern Kentucky to explore the area. I never thought I would enjoy the South so much! The drive was very pretty - horse farms everywhere, cool old houses, lots of historic sites, and only the occasional confederate flag. I also did not know that 95% of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky. So... naturally we had to check out three different distilleries. Which, I might add, is a lot of fun. I don't even really care for whiskey but seeing how it's made is just plain cool.

C) Being a college basketball fanatic, it was cool being in Northern Kentucky when Xavier, University of Cincinnati, Kentucky University, and University of Louisville, are all in the tournament in the same time. Unfortunately I picked Pittsburgh to win it all. That should tell you how I am doing on my bracket!