We recently visited two of our closest friends who reside outside of Cincinnati, O.H.I.O!!!! Or just Ohio if you’re not from Ohio. As we previously had to cancel our trip to Florida in July, we decided to take another mini-trip as a weekend getaway. Our trip was quick, abrupt, and a whole lot of fun!
Pre-Travel Arrangements and Preparations on Thursday
To again further extend the getaway feel (and for 3 days of complimentary doggie daycare services), I dropped our dog off at the grandparents’ house. As usual, my mom asked I’d to have macaroni and gravy at home. Mandatory side bar: we’re an Italian family (well, 4th generation), and gravy is something you put on macaroni. Not gravy on turkey, but red gravy. And it’s not macaroni and cheese – it’s pasta. As I don’t get to have it too often, and because my mom’s recipe is a combination of both my late grandmothers’, my response was the usual: “yes, please!”
My parents also let us borrow one of their vehicles (we don’t own a car) for the weekend and the approximately 5 hour drive. We always cover gas and a little extra for wear and tear along the way.
Total Price = $33, broken out as follows: train ride $8 (pre-tax) to pick up the car and, $25 parking in our building garage (which we discounted $11 by pre-booking via Spot Hero). Overall, priceless really (I love macaroni and gravy!).
Travel and Fun on Friday
I took Friday off from work but still did a few things remotely early in the morning before heading out on the road (same for Mrs. BD.) We spent $10 for lunch at Subway Restaurant on Friday and $22 for gas along the way (even though we still had about 1/3 of a tank when we made it to our friends’ place).
After settling in Friday evening, we headed downtown for a nice dinner at Bauer Farm Kitchen which describes itself as a “European Farm Kitchen with a modern twist” with “locally sourced vegetables & Cuts of meat” and “located in the heart of the city.” The place had some very good dishes. We enjoyed a massive charcuterie & cheese board (which I refer to as a meat platter) prior to entrees, and portions were very generous. With a few drinks a piece, the total came to around $100 a couple, including tax and tip.
With a long and fun day planned ahead for the next morning, we headed back to our friends’ place in the burbs. Our friends built a beautiful stone fire pit in their backyard, where we spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and talking – including making fun of me because of our prior visit to Cincinnati (to perhaps be covered at another time).
Total Price = $132
Taco Tuesday Moves to Saturday
Saturday began with a trip from the suburbs to downtown Cincinnati – a 25 minute ride – in search of espressos. I don’t drink coffee (don’t like the taste), but Mrs. BD and our friends enjoy a good cup of joe and related hot beverages. We then walked around for an hour and came across a Homage store. It was awesome: they had a NBA Jam arcade game and it was free to play. Mrs. BD found some cool Ohio shirts and ended going with a pair of tank-tops. I found a winter hat that had the proud proclamation “Nasty Nati” sewn on the side. I first thought it was in reference to one of the popular beers I drank in college, but then figured it out. A city of many names.
After making our purchases, we headed back to the car before the meter expired. We then made our way back to the suburbs to get ready for the rest of the day’s festivities. We’d be returning in less than 2 hours to head back downtown to a brewery.
As we planned to be out late and enjoying ourselves, we took a Uber from our friends’ house back to downtown Cinci. We had a great driver who made fun of us almost as we made fun of each other for being old. And for wearing pleated pants at another friend’s wedding (don’t ask). The ride was quite entertaining to say the least (and we were completely sober).
We arrived at Rhinegeist Brewery around 2:00pm. After climbing the stairs to the main event space and passing strollers parked in the stairwell, we walked into the enormous factory / warehouse of the brewery. It was awesome. Adorned with big ass fans, bags (or corn-hole depending on where you went to college), and rows of tables with benches, Rhinegeist Brewery is a great place to hangout. The rooftop bar and patio is even better with some cool views of the city. We had a couple of rounds before we were scheduled to take a tour of the brewery at 3:00pm.
After the tour, we were in the phase of “I know I should probably eat something, but I’ll grab another drink first.” Reflecting on the prior trip to Cincinnati to visit our friends, we opted to do both! Rhinegeist doesn’t directly serve food, but they occasionally have outside restaurants offering food for purchase on-site. Fortunately, the one and only place that day had tacos! For only $2.50 per taco, or 2 for $4.75 or 3 for $7.50, I opted to get 2 orders of the 3 for $7.50. And also 2 orders of chips and guacamole for $6 (this is where they made their $). Tacos pair nicely with a good beer (or multiple). We ate and drank well for $54.
After another round of drinks (and another round of tacos), we decided to grab some other food before going to the Cincinnati Reds baseball game over at Great American Ballpark. We started to walk and came across another great spot: Gomez Salsa in the Over-The-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood. We ordered outside at their street window and then brought the food inside to their bar order to have another drink with dinner. Despite having tacos for lunch / a snack during the afternoon, I ended up ordering tacos again! Mrs. BD went with tacos, too, and our friends went with massive burritos. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced at $26 for both our meals.
At the ball game, we had 1/2 a beer per person and no food. Our friends were kind enough to cover the cost of the game (although I did pay them $2.50 via Venmo just to get them on the app, as I think they are the reason we still occasionally write out a check).
Total Price = $82.50
Saturday Night After Party
Nearing the end of the 8th inning, we learned that there was a free concert in the ballpark after the game (I don’t recall the name of the artist or band). We didn’t have any official plans for the rest of the night, but we wanted to get out and walk around after sitting for a few hours. We ended up walking to a Residence Inn that had a great rooftop bar with panoramic views of downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River. We just sat and talked for nearly two hours enjoying the great weather and the company. The bar itself was relatively crowded, but we managed to find 4 chairs overlooking the southern edge of the building facing toward Kentucky.
The Uber ride back to our friends’ house in the suburbs cost $77.85; we ended up taking an Uber Select as the Uber X was 200% higher due to the surge in demand from a John Mayer concert ending, the after-game concert ending at the Great American Ballpark, and other Saturday night activities (the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor boxing match was also that night – a potential correlation – as we had a number of friends making their way downtown to places showing the fight). Regardless of the price, the Uber got us home quickly, conveniently, and – most importantly – safely. And, of course, with the usual judgmental conversations and insults to each other.
Total Price = $157.85
Saturday Night After-After Party
The evening ended without any additional drinks. But we did order two pizzas that were waiting with the delivery man in our friends’ driveway the moment our Uber pulled up to their house. Perfect timing. While enjoying the pizza, the next hour turned into a 90s and early 2000s dance and karaoke party. Mrs. BD was impressed with my choice of Backstreet Boys, Blink 182, and Third Eye Blind. It was a very fun way to end a very fun day.
Total Price = $0 – our friend’s picked up the tab for the pizza.
Looking Ahead
We left late next morning after sleeping in and grabbing a bagel before heading back home. We’re already looking forward to another fun time with our friends the next time we see them. We spent around $400 total for the whole weekend (much less than we had planned and saved for the canceled trip to Florida in July). And we rarely get to hang out with some of our closest friends, so we had a great time – and that’s the balanced approach that works for us.
Up ahead, we’ll be taking a 10-day trip in a few weeks, starting with a wedding and then watching our nephew and niece for a week.
Readers, how do you have fun? Do you have anything planned? How do you relax?
Related:
How Do You Vacation: $800 in 48 hours or $1500 in 192?
7 Nights, 8 Days: 33 is the New 5 & 1/2
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