Cincinnati Bound

Wow!  I just drove from central Florida to Cincinnati,Ohio. What a journey! I allowed myself two days to reach my destination thinking I wouldn't tax "my poor worn out ole self" too much that way.  The first day went really well.  The sun was shining brightly and I just boogied on down the road without a care in the world!  First travelling up through Jacksonville where I encountered just a bit of morning rush hour traffic and then on into the coastal region of Savannah, Georgia, through South Carolina and finally into the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina;  the smoky blue haze overlooking the mountain peaks on the winding mountain roads was breathtaking.  Of course, my camera was in the trunk of my car so I didn't get to snap the serene beauty on my digital.  Exhausted from my day's journey, I settled into a luxurious hotel room in Asheville, North Carolina and snuggled under the covers for twelve hours.

Being well rested after my night of peaceful slumbering, I was excited to start the second day of my journey.  I sprinted out to my car to retrieve my espresso machine so I could have a tall latte and get going.  A thick chilly rainy mist was in the air.  Clearly, this was going to be an entirely different experience than day one. 

Ready for the adventure of the day, I drove out of the hotel parking lot and snapped into expressway mode. I was glad I'd had that latte. The windy mountain road was thick with dense fog and pelting rain.  Even with my windshield wipers on super speed,I could barely see a quarter of a mile in front of me.  I settled behind the line of trucks and hoped the rain and fog was short lived.  Unfortunately eight hours later,I was still dealing with both rain and fog as I pulled into my hotel parking lot in Cincinnati,Ohio. 

Glad the second day's nightmare was over,I mused over what "the roller coaster of life" had heaped upon me this time! "There but for the grace of God go I" is all that came to mind.  Stay tuned for part two of Becky's winter automobile trip to the Midwest.

Segment Two
 
After I had finally dragged all my wet and soggy stuff into the Extended Stay which I will be calling home for the next few days. I decided to find a Skyline Chilli. As I was walking out of the lobby,I asked the desk clerk "where is the nearest Skyline?" To my delight,she said "right across the street; you can't see it from here because the bank is in front of it."  Now,in case anyone doesn't know,Skyline has been a tradition in Cincinnati since 1949. The company was originated by Nicholas Lambrinides  who came to the US from Kastoria, Greece.  As a small boy he had watched his mom and grandma prepare Greek dishes and he used those secret recipes to create the  Skyline Chilli restaurants  No one knows the ingredients in the chilli but my taste buds say there is definitely some chocolate in it.  At any rate, I love Skyline's three ways and chilli cheese sandwiches.
Having now satisfied my craving for Skyline, I returned to my room, made a few phone calls to let my family know that I had arrived at my destination, had a couple of glasses of wine while listening to some jazz and unwinding , then went to sleep.

I awoke to a new day and a new feeling.  When I looked out my window while sipping my latte, I noticed that  heavy winter coats were the order of the day.  The sky was a bit overcast;  lots of traffic was moving  at a rapid clip along the roads and sirens could be heard in the distance.   Determined to jump into the day and excited to make an excursion into the past to check out all my old hangouts, I hopped into my car, made a quick stop at Skyline for lunch and then ventured gingerly into the day.

My initial stop was at my first home, the one where I had raised my children and had so many happy memories.  As I stared at this place, I didn't feel any of those nostalgic sensations.  The house was a run down empty shack in a desolate and barren ghetto neighborhood.  As I moved on up the road to look at my next nostalgic memory, I noticed a brand new playground with brightly colored equipment where none had existed previously and I felt good that this generation of children would have a brand new clean park in which to play! 

I'd had enough of nostalgia so I headed off to the local mall for a little shopping.  After buying a shiny blouse for my night's adventure and stopping at Starbucks for my caffeine fix, I headed back through the dense traffic to my abode.  I'm having dinner with my brother tonight and perhaps we'll go out on the town to catch some sounds.  I'l l share that experience with  you  tomorrow!

Segment Three

After slipping into my new blouse , throwing on some makeup and jewelry, I drove  south on the expressway to my brother's home in Over the Rhine.  The sixteen mile trip turned out to be quite an adventure as three police cars, sirens blazing, rushed on to Interstate 71.  "No big deal on a busy highway," I thought to myself until three more cop cars entered and then at the next juncture three more until  fifteen  had emerged before my exit.  I still do not know what transpired but I did hear on the news today that a family of six had been murdered last night in Cincy.

Having exited the interstate, I began my journey through the ghetto streets of Over the Rhine to arrive at my brother's place.  The street was dark and menacing so I gave him a buzz on my cell to make sure the door was unlocked.  He appeared in the doorway and escorted me up the dimly lit staircase into his personal living space. 

My brother is a jazz musician, culinary genius and essentially an extremely eccentric man.  He lives in an historic building that he purchased thirty years ago.  Upon perusing the space, I decided that he had now become a hard core pack rat in his old age!  Ever y where you looked there were knee deep stacks of stuff.  On one table, hundreds of CD's, on the chairs many reams of musical scores;  even the piano was eclipsed by all the musical score paper stacked high upon it.   The dining room table was set with a potpourri of wine bottles, candles, dishes, ashtrays, ice buckets , glasses , silverware and more.  This massive table was meant to seat at least ten people but now the space had been squeezed by a setting for two.

This master culinary artist had been to Findley market and scored a lobster and some mussels.  He prepared a delicious dish complete with steamed mussels and lobster in a spicy fresh tomato sauce  served over pasta.  A salad made of marinated endive lettuce and anchovy paste topped off our meal.  In addition to food and wine, we had great communication about the ups and downs of his artistic endeavors as well as mine. 

I had hoped for a musical experience tonight which extended beyond the realm of my brother's crib but what I got were some snippets of his original tunes played in a private serenade to me.  Perhaps tonight our adventures will include more people and some great jazz music!

Segment Four

My brother, Ed, his girlfriend, Peggy, and I went to a Macaroni Grille in the suburbs of Cincinnati for a bite to eat.  This was my first encounter with Peggy but I felt as if I had met her previously!  Perhaps we met in our last reincarnation.  At any rate, the three of us settled in at the bar for a glass of vino while we waited for a table to become available.

When the table was ready, we settled the bar tab, with some confusion about who would pay it, and then moved to our designated booth.   I couldn't wrap my head around the energy as we ordered but it felt like three separate and  unintwined  characters  placing food  and drink orders. 

This dilemma was a bit unsettling as my brother usually brings people together around food and spirits.  However, looking back on the evening, I can now see that this suburban setting was not comfortable for Ed.   Basically, the food was mediocre and the energy was untenable.  Peggy had just met us for dinner and was not going to join us for the rest of the evening.  She said, "my twelve year old son has a friend over that I have to drive home and I've got to get up early to take the kids skiing in the morning."

Having completed our meal, the waiter brought the check and sparks begin to fly between Ed and Peggy.  I felt like I was in the middle of a three ring circus.  On the surface, the argument seemed to be about money, ie, how to split the bill but the underlying scenario was more about power and manipulation.   Interestingly enough, we had split the check into three equal parts.  Everyone paid the same amount and yet this didn't seem to be good enough for Ed. 

I walked out to my car and they were still power struggling with each other.  Eventually, I drove Ed back to his car, which was parked at my suburban abode.  By this time, it was 11:00PM and we decided to call it a night.  I considered going alone to a jazz club downtown as I really wanted to hear some music while I was in Cincinnati but the hour was late and it was a long drive to the downtown area so I gave up the idea and just sat and listened to jazz on my favorite internet radio station in Tacoma, Washington, KPLU.

As Ed departed, he said "tomorrow I'm having a get together at my house: you must come for food and music."  By this time, all I could think was how disgusted I was with the events of the evening and how I didn't want a repeat performance.  I gave some serious consideration to leaving town a day early but decided to stay for tonight's adventure. I hope it turns out to be the grand finale I'm wishing for.  Tomorrow I'll be back on the road.

Final Segment

It was 8:30AM as I dragged myself out of bed and prepared some coffee. I was in limbo!  The weather report was forecasting snow flurries in Cincinnati and a big snow storm was headed toward the East Coast.  Part of me wanted to pack up and get on the road, feeling apprehensive about driving through the mountains in the snow and the other part wanted to stay in Cincy for one last adventure. I packed all my belongings,took a shower and got dressed and then waited for Ed to be in touch. 

That Sunday afternoon seemed to last forever.  Finally,at 5:00PM,I called Ed and got his answering machine.  That was the moment that I decided to hit the road.  I got a cart and put all my bags, boxes and suitcases on it and headed for the elevator. On the way down,it crossed my mind that I would have to pay for the day at Extended Stay because I had waited too late to checkout.  Luckily for me, they let it slide.  Now that I had checked out of my suite, I would call Ed to see if the night was on or off. 

He said "come on down; the door is unlocked." Upon entering, I found Ed in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  He had prepared a crab meat and avocado salad with some warm Jewish bread for an appetizer,followed by a casserole of poached salmon topped with cheesy potatoes with just a hint of saffron and further some sliced sautéed scallops with an anise flavor. I sipped some Apollonius with my meal and then had an espresso.  Ed made me a thermos of coffee for the road and I was off into the cold winter night. 

As I drove through the back streets of downtown Cincinnati heading for the bridge which would take me to Interstate 75, I heaved a sigh of relief that I was finally out of the grips of the limbo that I had been feeling all day. I was on my way home. I felt exhilarated! 

Blowing snow flurries blanketed the road for several hours and the late hour led me to believe I needed to pull up for the night.  I spotted a sign that said Rocky Top Tennessee-Comfort Inn.  This sounded appealing to me.  As I descended the ramp, I saw the Comfort Inn; It looked ever so inviting so I drove up the long steep well lit driveway to check in.   Unfortunately, the doors were locked so I moved on down the road to fill up my gas tank.  While I was inside paying for my fuel, I noticed a family of twelve dressed in native African costume; I overheard them tell the store clerk that they were headed for Cincy. 

Back on the road again and determined to find a motel soon, I sped along until I reached the Knoxville area. I chose a Super8 and rested comfortably for six hours. Awaking the next morning with a determination "to do the mountains," I took a long warm bath, drank some coffee and hopped into my vehicle.  The roads were just up and down hills for a while and then came the steep curvy mountain extravaganza!  Trucks were allowed to travel only in the right lane of this road.  Passenger cars could pass at their own peril.  The left lane of the highway was sided with a twelve foot cement wall.  For me, the temptation was to just follow the trucks however slowly they were traveling but finally I got brave enough to jump out into the left lane.  Big mistake-once in the passing lane you have to continue until you pass at least 40 trucks because the truck drivers will not let you back into their lane. So, on one side there are 18 wheelers and on the other there is a cement wall. 

Finally through the mountainous terrain, I patted myself on the back for surviving and decided to stop for a late lunch in Spartanburg.  What a quaint little metropolis this was!  I wanted to "hang out" there but expediency drove me forward. Desirous to make it back to Florida as soon as possible, I put my foot to the metal and barreled down the highway.  I thought I could make it home but I got bleary eyed and had to stop.  I picked a Super8 in Brunswick,Georgia. I was so close and yet so far away. 

Having secured a room, I set off to get some nourishment to bring back to my quarters. I thought I was in for the night only to find that my key wouldn't open my door. I descended the elevator from my third floor room back to the front desk and obtained another. This time it worked; I turned on the TV, nuked my now cold food and settled in only to find that the maid had failed to clean the bathroom.  As I returned to the front desk to complain once more, I stumbled upon a two year old child from India playing in the elevator.  I was concerned about her and tried to get her to exit but she wouldn't.  When I got to the desk, I told the clerk that she was in the elevator and she said it was okay for her to play there and that she did it every evening.  This time I requested a first floor room.  Finally, exhausted by all the inadequacy of this motel, I got a relatively decent room for the night.