Day 5-9 of our Family Trip

The trip concludes, we have arrived home after our nine day trip. The thing that I'm most amazed of during this trip is how awesome Toby has been. He's loved everything we've done. He's been laughing and story telling the whole trip. There is no doubt that we've received over 100 compliments on how cute he is or how good he is. It's so true, he's been great and it's been fun watching his facial reactions to new things are different sites we've seen. If you want to see all 300+ pictures, you may click here.

Day 5 - The Strip District, Kielbasa & Toby's Cuteness

This was one of our few non baseball/non travel days of the trip. Since we spent the day prior downtown, I wanted to do something a little different. We decided to hit up what is called the Strip District. It is an area of town that has fresh markets, restaurants and different shops. The two main reasons we went there was the original Primanti Brothers & Klavon's Ice Cream. We had the hotel shuttle drop us off right in front of Primanti Brothers and we have another fabulous lunch. I will definitely miss those sandwiches. After thinking about it, it is definitely the clow slaw that makes it such a good sandwich.

After eating we walked 11 blocks north to Klavon's Ice Cream. There are two interesting things to this, the first is that it was 95 degrees on this day and all commercial development disappeared. After about six blocks of walking the area become very industrial and somewhat sketchy. I kept look at my google maps app as a reminder that it was actually still there and actually coming up. We did finally arrive, to my amazement because it is an ice cream place in the middle of industrial buildings. Once walking in, I felt like I was in the 1920's. I LOVED it. I told Steph that it reminded me of an old fountain shop. The two ladies that were working were great. They loved playing with Toby and he was having fun with them as well. Steph and I had a banana split. Maybe this is the way they are suppose to be, but this thing was huge. It had a split banana, then it had a scoop of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. It was topped with chocolate, strawberry & pineapple toppings. Finally, it had three different types of whipped cream that they make on location on it, vanilla, chocolate and some flavor I've never heard of before (but it was delicious). It was quite tasty. I was impressed on how good all those flavors were together. The ice cream in combination with the atmosphere was so much fun. I regret not taking any pictures of the place.

That evening we wanted to do something fun and something very apart of the culture of Pittsburgh. We unsuccessfully drove around for a while trying to find "it". We arrived back to the hotel a little disappointed, but Steph asked the hotel if they had any thoughts and they gave a recommendation to a true German restaurant just 4 blocks away from our hotel. Quick history, Pittsburgh was (and still has the spirit) of the blue collar labor worker and when many of the Immigrants to Pittsburgh were German, Russian & Scandinavian. They all lived segregated from each other. The area that were were staying in was Duetschtown. So we figured that a German restaurant would be perfect. I was a little scared about having only German food (even though I am mostly German). I ordered the Kielbasa, and it was phenomenal! The sides were bland and needed some salt, but the Kielbasa was so good.

That night we retired a little early to try to get Toby to bed closer to his normal time. I wanted to watch the Twins/Pirates on TV. Steph put Toby down, but he kept getting up and looking over this pack and play laughing. He thought it was a game, he would throw this pacifier at us and laugh. It was so stinkin' cute. Steph and I were laughing the whole time. Once the game was over I turned the TV off and he went right to sleep. I guess he didn't want to miss out on any fun or he just wanted to stay up and watch the rest of the game.

Day 6 - PNC Tour, Our Cincy Hotel & A Night Out
This day started with us having breakfast at the Priory for the last time. I will miss their cute breakfasts and eating by the fountain. After we checked out we headed back to PNC for a tour of the ballpark. I was especially excited to take a tour of PNC for two reasons, the first is that I'm very interested in hearing the deep history of the Pirates and was looking forward to learning more about their franchise. The second thing I was excited about was the views that we were going to see. The sight lines at PNC are the BEST. Better than Target Field, and even better than AT&T park in San Fran. I was excited and took a ton of pictures of PNC.

After our tour we headed off to Cincinnati. I was excited for our hotel stay in Cincy because I was able to get a Suite downtown for a decent price. When I went in to check in, I found out that they upgraded up from a one bedroom suite to a two bedroom suite. That means that Toby got his own bedroom for two nights in Cincy. Not only that, but we also were on the 15th floor so we had and incredible view of the city. It was pretty cool to be in a hotel that was bigger than Steph and I's first two apartments that we lived in during our first few years of marriage.

Since we arrived in Cincy at around 5pm we decided to take in a little bit of the city. We walked down to Fountain Square which is apparently a well known area of Cincy. There was a live Salsa band playing when we got down there. Toby loved the music, the number of people and of course the fountain. Steph and Toby danced to a few songs. Afterward we walked and had Graeter's ice cream. Graeter's has award winning ice cream in Cincinnati. Their signature flavor is Raspberry Chocolate Chip. I'm not typically a raspberry chocolate ice cream person, but if it's the best, I might as well give it a shot. I'm very happy that I did. It was extremely flavorful and had a great balance of fruit and chocolate. The texture of the ice cream was super creamy. So good! It was a great way to end yet another fun filled day.

Day 7 - Eden Park, Riverfront Area & Ribs
This was our only other day that didn't involve baseball or driving. It was great to have another free day to checkout the city. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day. We game planned our day out and after a brief Target run we were on our way to Eden Park. Eden Park is very similar feel as Como Park, except they don't have a zoo and they are right on the river. We stopped and walked around an area that had an amazing view of the river and Newport Kentucky. We walked along their, fed Toby lunch and watch the ducks.

We went back to the hotel to give Toby a quick nap and we were off again. This time we wanted to conquer the riverfront area. This had us walk down to Great American Ball Park. We probably spent 90 minutes walking around the ball park and enjoying the atmosphere of what it is like before a game. We then walked acrossed a bridge that separates Ohio from Kentucky. This bridge is privately owned and is only a pedestrian bridge. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of the Brooklyn Bridge, except not as cool or as long. As we were walking we noticed some commotion on the Kentucky side of the bridge as we got closer to saw about 75 people dressed up for a wedding that was about to take place. Toby was just chatting away as we walked by. On the other side of the bridge was Newport Kentucky and they had an outdoor shopping center similar to Arbor Lakes here. Steph was extremely thirsty from our long walk and 90 degree day so we stopped in for a smoothie and walked back to Ohio.

Finally, we meet up again with Jeff & Julie for supper at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It is right on the river and is widely known for their ribs & bbq sauce. I got the ribs, Steph got a sandwich with rib meat in it. We were both happy with our meals. At one point Jeff asked me if they were the best ribs I've ever had and to be honest they were really good, but not the best. To me, my Grandma's bbq receipt is still the best on ribs. Overall, the meal was great, the company was fun and the view of the sun setting river was gorgeous.

Day 8 - Twins Game & Chicago Hotel
On this day we took in a Reds Twins game at Great American Ball Park. We arrived at the stadium about three hours early. We got something to eat with Jeff & Julie and then entered the ball park after the gates opened. It was fun getting their early and watching the Twins taking BP. It was cool getting close pictures of the players. The game was a Saturday game at 4pm on what seemed like a 90+ degree day. The sun was scorching, but I was excited to be at the game. I sat by a couple of cool guys from Cincy. They gave me some additional history of the Reds franchise, which was cool for me since I've never paid much attention to their history. I didn't realize that they were the first professional baseball team back in 1869. Such a deep and interesting history. The game itself was boring and somewhat depressing. The Twins played bad and uninspired baseball, but it didn't matter. It was still fun to see them play in another park.

Over the past 6 years I've seen the Twins play at:
1. Metrodome
2. Target Field (My Favorite)
3. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
4. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)
6. Yankee Stadium (New York City)
7. Chase Field (Phoenix)
8. O.co (Oakland)
9. PNC (Pittsburgh)
10. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati)

9 ball parks down at 21 to go.

After the game we left for Chicago. We booked a hotel through Hotwire and it placed us at the Swissotel. It was by far the nicest and fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. Our view was of the Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. It was so beautiful and such and very breath taking.

Day 9 - Millennium Park, A Long Walk & Our Drive Back Home

The last day of our trip we wanted to explore Chicago and kind of relax. After we checked out of our hotel we walked along the Chicago River turned off onto a side street and had lunch at Al's Beef. This is also a Man vs. Food spot. I've had it a few times in the past, but it is so good. It is an Italian Beef sandwich with peppers dunked into au jus sauce. Soooo good!

After lunch we walked to Millennium Park, took our picture at & in the bean. As we were walking through the park, we decided to stop by Fountain Park. It has 2 50 foot fountains separated by about 75 yards. In between the two fountains are about 6 inches of water that eventually drain on the sides like an infinity pool. It was really hot again his day and we decided to let Toby walk in it. Steph was holding onto him as he was walking. Toby then decided that he didn't walk to walk anymore, but that he wanted to crawl. So Steph let go and he went absolutely crazy. He loved it as you can see. That was definitely the highlight of Toby's trip. The most depressing part was 20 minutes later after we took him out of the water. He cried and cried. He was really upset by it, but at least it let us know that he had a great time and that he definitely isn't afraid of the water.

We then walked to Buckingham Fountain (famous from Married with Children). This was the first time I've seen the fountain during the day. It was peaceful just to stand there and look at it. It didn't feel like I was in the 3rd largest city in America. I could of stood there for an hour. Toby was sleeping, so he didn't remember any of it. We then walked along lake Michigan then the Chicago River to our favorite bakery Magnolia Bakery. We were introduced to it 2 years ago when we were in New York and we fell in love with their banana pudding. Trust me, this is the greatest banana pudding you've ever had, even if you don't like banana pudding you'd love this. About a year ago they recently opened a store in Chicago and every time we drive through Chicago we grab some for the road. Since we were there, we grab 2 containers for ourselves and 2 for my parents & Mike & Em. That was our last stop. We then walked back to the hotel, grabbed our car and headed back home.

Overall it was such a cool and memorable trip. I can't believe that we were gone for 9 days. I'm glad we did it and that everyone enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I took all 392 pictures and took a little time to document our experiences. It will be fun going through this with Toby someday when he is a little bit older. Our first Schwarz Family Vacation.