We left early, around 7. The drive was nice- it was a beautiful day out, sunny and cool in the morning. We listened to some music I had downloaded the night before from limewire. We passed through Cincinnati, which has always been a favorite city of mine to drive through. We always drove through it on drumline trips and I loved coming around the bend, especially at night to see the city lights.New Richmond was smaller than we expected, a little town on the river. We got out and started walking around. The festival, we found out, wouldn't start until 6:00 in the evening, so we had some time to relax (fine by me).We walked over to the sidewalk by the river and I saw in the distance what turned out to be a nuclear power plant... kind of scary to me, but also really interesting to look at. We saw these 'air scoops'. Apparently before the days of air conditioning ships needed these to get fresh air down below the decks.
We stopped into the Front street cafe for breakfast. It was charming, if a bit unorganized. I had waffles and syrup and Tyler was ready for lunch, so he had a wrap. We walked along the sidewalk by the river down the street a bit and sat in a tiny park overlooking it. From there we decided to drive around a bit until it was closer to time for the festival to start. We found that New Richmond didn't offer much in the way of things to do so we decided to do some exploring of the area.
We drove away from Richmond a bit along a country road. I saw a cemetary on a really steep hill that I mean to go back and photograph but I didn't get to. We used the tomtom to find a Walmart and we walked around there for a bit before deciding to go ahead and see Inglourious Basterds, as it had just come out that day. We looked on the tomtom for the closest theatre. The closest one was actually in Newport, KY! I feel bad for the kids living in this area. Since we had the time we went ahead and drove back to Newport to the AMC theatre next to the Aquarium.Around the theater was a really fun atmosphere. There was a guy on stilts!
We found that the movie didn't start until 3:00 and it was 2:00 so we bought tickets, then proceeded to look around. They had a Claddagh Pub overlooking the river and Cincinnati, so we decided that after the festival in New Richmond we would come back and eat there that night. There was also a two level Barnes and Noble, so we got some books and magazines and settled down to read there until the movie.
Inglourious Basterds was a disaster. We both hated it and walked out a few minutes from the end. Since then I've heard that people really like it but we really didn't.
We drove back to New Richmond, where the festival was just getting into the swing of things. Vendors were out (though it was more local companies than crafts and such) and we found the Ford fiesta tent and got first in line to drive it. Tyler drove first, the lime green manual and liked it- he had some reservations about the type of breaks, but other than that he did like it. I drove next, the black automatic. I liked it ok.... the breaks were really tight which was nice, but the steering was a little looser than what I was expecting and in the end I still like the Mazda 3 for my next car. (Tyler) I wanted to be very excited for this car and when I first saw it I was struck by the styling at first. It had great lines and a sexy exterior. Inside though you could tell thought had been put into it but thing such as the steering wheel didn't have as pleasing a feel as my Jetta. The event was WAY too short, they let me take it around the block (honestly!) I didn't even get to get up to average road speed for me; 40-50 mph more of the time. The steering felt really like and uncommunicative but that could just be at low speeds. I also have a problem with the brake setup. Why is it that in 2009 we can't get a small car with 4-wheel disk brakes? My 2001 Jetta has them. I believe that it could be a good car but if I was going out to spend money on a brand new car I want just a little more than what the Fiesta offered in terms of equipment. I hope it does well in the Marketplace but please please give me modern driving tech!!
Next we got what I had been waiting for- a corn dog!!! There are never better corn dogs than fair or festival corn dogs. And it was exactlly as good as I expected.
Satisfied, we headed back to Newport. We got to Claddagh's and asked to sit outside; they said we could but it would be a 45 minute wait. We agreed gladly and headed back into the mall. We found a used games place, and Tyler found a Gran Tourismo game for 7.00. Then we walked around in the outdoor area and saw a candy shop before heading back into Barnes and Noble for the rest of the wait.
When it was our turn, we were really happy with the view- and it was beautiful outside. A great end to a great day. We ordered an appetizer of potatoes covered in cheese, bacon, green onions, and served with sour cream. It was excellent!!
I ordered the fish sandwich and fries. It was great! Their fish was soooo good. Tyler also had fish and we agreed that is was best fish we'd had (although I allowed that the fresh fish I'd had in New Orleans was a bit better, so maybe claddagh's was just the best in the area!).
Happy with a relaxing and fun day, we headed home. New Richmond was nice- not a place I would necessarily go again, but a very nice place to have visited. Newport on the other hand- I would definitely like to go back and visit the aquarium!
Next we got what I had been waiting for- a corn dog!!! There are never better corn dogs than fair or festival corn dogs. And it was exactlly as good as I expected.
Satisfied, we headed back to Newport. We got to Claddagh's and asked to sit outside; they said we could but it would be a 45 minute wait. We agreed gladly and headed back into the mall. We found a used games place, and Tyler found a Gran Tourismo game for 7.00. Then we walked around in the outdoor area and saw a candy shop before heading back into Barnes and Noble for the rest of the wait.
When it was our turn, we were really happy with the view- and it was beautiful outside. A great end to a great day. We ordered an appetizer of potatoes covered in cheese, bacon, green onions, and served with sour cream. It was excellent!!
I ordered the fish sandwich and fries. It was great! Their fish was soooo good. Tyler also had fish and we agreed that is was best fish we'd had (although I allowed that the fresh fish I'd had in New Orleans was a bit better, so maybe claddagh's was just the best in the area!).
Happy with a relaxing and fun day, we headed home. New Richmond was nice- not a place I would necessarily go again, but a very nice place to have visited. Newport on the other hand- I would definitely like to go back and visit the aquarium!
We arrived in Aurora and found the dealership. It was bigger than we expected, but we were actually glad because it looked like a reputable dealer. Tyler asked one of the salesmen about the jetta tdi there and said that he had talked to someone who said he could test drive it, and they led us inside. I immediately felt on guard - I am just mistrustful of car salesman. We sat at a desk and Tyler filled out some information about himself. Then the guy went and talked to his supervisor and came back with some more skepticism. He reminded Tyler that he didn't have any credit and said that his supervisor didn't even want to let him test drive the jetta, but he got him to let him. He also asked "Who he talked to on the phone". The whole thing just struck me as pretentious. Anyway.... we went outside to wait for the guy to bring the tdi around.
When we finally came into the city it was night. I love cities at night, so it was great. Chicago is the physically biggest city I have been to, and I couldn't forget it. As soon as we entered the city, As I looked left and right it was layers and layers of buildings. I am used to Louisville, where the blocks are well defined and easily seen through. But Chicago is dense. And TALL. Really tall. We found a parking garage and parked and started walking to look for a place to get pizza.
There were a lot of things I noticed about Chicago, walking downtown. There were a lot of young people, which made me feel good. There were also a lot of homeless people. I am not adept at dealing with homeless people. I feel bad. And I look at them. Basically everything you're not supposed to do in the situation. So I clung to Tyler and let him handle it with his 'Sorry I can't help you, man'. We walked around until we came to a big street. Across the street was this crazy looking parking garage way up in the air. It was a circular building and halfway up it turned into apartments. I can only imagine how expensive those apartments are. We finally spotted Giordano's and had pizza there.
On the way back it was dark. And a little creepy. Chicago was empty. I have this image of cities never being empty. Of always being packed full of people rushing around to places. But Tyler and I were basically alone, save for the homeless people who were more vocal than I was used to. By the time we reached the street that our parking garage was on, I was really scared and glad to have Tyler next to me.
