Spring Break continued ~ Cincinnati & Indiana (Mar 28-29)

Couple more stops during our Spring Break trip - this time Cincinnati and Indiana. It's just amazing how many murals there are.  I think Chicago is definitely missing out on this. Unless there are some and I haven't seen them yet!

Another one of a little girl. So well done:

We were supposed to meet up with an old friend whom I had met during one of the Future's Tour golf tournament a long long time ago.  Tom was part of the organizing committee and had helped me in getting the Hair Donation sorted out with the golfers. Unfortunately he was unwell, so we had to skip lunch. By the way, when he found out that I was pregnant with Graham, he sent 3 pints of Graeter's ice cream to me from Ohio all the way to Tulsa, OK! 

Since we had some time to spare, we decided to check out the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains. Built in 1845:

I just noticed this Welcome sign, but some guy inside the Cathedral actually told Bobby to leave because there was a service going on while we were inside:

I think this was City Hall next door. Family we-fie!

The inside of the Cathedral was beautiful:

Pretty amazing!

The cherry blossoms are blooming!!

The Fire Museum was close by so we walked over to check it out:

The lady at the front desk was not very friendly. Ha! But it was an interesting museum no less:

I can't imagine going to a burning building on this!

Those poor horses!! How could they possibly calm the horses down when they got close to a fire??!

Of course, Graham and Charlie had to push every single button in this play fire engine:

C'mon boys, keep pumping that water!!

One more spot checked off our travel list:

More murals. This one was pretty impressive.  I guess any of these massive ones are almost always impressive:

Murals galore!!

We head over to Finley Market.  My friend Tom had recommended it:

Inside, it's a collection of vendors selling anything from raw meats to cooked food and desserts:

And spices too.  We actually bought a few from this vendor. We might have to order some more online. It's been quite the hit in the kitchen!  And of course, I still can't find that box with all of our spices from CA.  So strange!

It's funny how this street is called Essen Strasse.  There's definitely a lot of German influence here.  Essen means to eat and Strasse means street. Ha!

Okay, I just had to do a selfie with this guy.  I guess I should figure out his official name?

Oh, he's just called Mr. Red.  Ha!

And by the way, we discovered some new treats. It's sort of a blurry photo but the ones to the left are balls of peanut butter covered in chocolate.  Somehow I can't remember the name of it now, but it was soooo YUMMY!!

Aahh, Buckeyes is the name of the chocolate treat.  Thank goodness for the internet!

Okay, I really didn't pay too much attention to this mural, but now that I look at it some more - is the lady in the mural surrounded by sperms??! Ha ha ha!!

I guess all that talk of puberty with the boys is putting me in a particular mindset.  You almost have to hold all your giggles in when Charlie uses the word "ejaculation" in his sentence. LOL!!

Okay, one more stop before leaving Cincy - it's the Hard Rock Café!  

Unfortunately, it's a casino and no one under 21 years of age is allowed in. Not even to just take a looksee in the souvenir shop!  Booo...!! How are kids going to learn about Rock and Roll if they can't even walk around to look at the memorabilia. Oh well!

We stop instead for a quick coffee:

Another photo op for a family we-fie :-)

Big cup of hot chocolate for the boys:

Graham didn't want to ruin the heart pattern so he drank it in a way that the pattern was at the bottom of the cup when he was done. Too funny:

For dinner, we decided to try something fancy.  Mmmm, I love scallops:

Can't go wrong with yummy food on the table. Happy family!

Graham loves his steaks!  When is this kid going to start eating vegetables??!

The next morning, Graham and Charlie don't waste much time. It's back to their normal routine of playing video games in the morning:

This is an interesting trip for us - we decided to visit the Indiana Museum of Medical History. Built in 1895:

We heard about this place from a random TV show during this Spring Break trip. Something about Unsolved Mysteries or something like that.

Check out this water fountain! Too cool!!

The instructors actually get their chilled ice water in this lecture room.  The block of ice is placed  in an old-school cooler behind the other side of the wall, tucked behind the door. Ha!

Way back when, the lecturers would teach as well as perform any sort of dissection in this room. Yikes!

Some tools for the job:

Always the need for a couple of skeletons in a medical museum:

And there were also lots of containers filled with dissected brains. Once Charlie figured out what was in the jars in these cabinets, he came over to me and whispered, "Why do you do this to us??"  OMG, I could not stop laughing. Haha!!

Our tour guide was excellent but I couldn't help looking at these round islands. I almost feel like we need to get one of these for our next kitchen. He he :-D

And a sink just like this one too!

I love the soap dish holder right by the top of the faucet:

Such a cute sink and the rack above it is so clever:

This is how huge the place was many many years ago.  This museum is the only remaining building now:

This entire place was basically a hospital for the insane. There was a whole wing for the men and a separate wing for the women.

Again, I'm checking out all these little things - like how this window above the door opens up for air circulation:

Woah, this is the longest camera I've ever seen! 

I love the natural light that's coming in from this skylight.  Pretty cool paneling too:

Traditional 3-D glasses.  So clever!

Okay, an hour later - our tour is all done. What a cool experience!

Unfortunately, we did not find or see the item that was talked about in the TV show and our guide did not know anything about it.  Looks like we might have to dig some more into that TV program. Until then, let's check this one off our list!

On the way out, we drove by the Indy Motor Speedway.  It was probably only about 5-10 minutes down the road.  We decided not to do the tour here though. Next time perhaps:

Instead, we dropped by a Graeter's ice-cream shop. No one was complaining about this stop :-D

Yuuuuummmm!!!

Boys are constantly looking over our shoulders to see what we are reading on our phones. If anything, at least they will ask to do so these days compared to before:

Another great day! 

It was a great Spring Break - 6 days on the road.  But I was definitely ready to sleep in my own bed.  I'm glad Bobby, Graham, and Charlie all had a great time too!  Here's to more adventures :-)