A Kentucky Tour

Like I said in my post earlier, Kim and I took a tour yesterday. Quota set it up and we were on a bus with about forty other Quotarians (and a few spouses).

We went an hour south to Old Friends, where former race horses go to retire. We got a tour of the facility and got to see many of the ninety plus horses they house there. We also got to pet and feed carrots to the horses.

I took pictures, so I'll have to post those once I get back home.

From Old Friends, we went to Midway. A small town full of southern charm along with train tracks that run straight down the middle of town.

We ate lunch there, I forget the name of the restaurant but I know it's in a picture, where we had Kentucky Hot Brown. If you don't know what that is I'll tell you. It's a piece of toast/bread (we never did figure out if it was actually toasted), covered with shredded turkey, diced ham, bacon, a rue with cheddar, mozzarella, and provolone, topped with a tomato and baked in the oven. It was delicious. This restaurant is also known for it's cobbler and we were all treated to apple cobbler a la mode.

From Midway we went to a vineyard called, Equus Run Vineyards. We got to sample a couple of their wines and then walk around and shop. The owner talked to us about her wines and her grapes. It was great; she was down to earth (she retired from IBM after thirty years to open the vineyard) and hospitable.

From there we came back to our hotel where we met up with other Quotarians to have dinner and ice cream. The local place to go for ice cream is called Graeters. I tried their Buckeye flavor.

In case you didn't know; there is a long running joke that between Michigan and any other state (in my case Indiana) the one thing we can agree on when it comes to sports and our universities is that Ohio State sucks, pardon my language. We have several friends who have lived in Ohio and have gone to schools in Ohio including my in-laws. But we are specifically talking about the Ohio State.

We also refer to Ohio as, "Land of Land". Have you ever driven through Ohio? You might agree. Especially after Kim and my drive down here Wednesday. We did not drive through the pretty side of Ohio.

So Ohio is the butt of jokes, at least around our house.

Which is why I surprised myself by trying the Buckeye flavored ice cream and then was shocked when I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that it may be my new favorite ice cream flavor of all time.

I know.

Okay, it could be my second because that Jersey Express with the chocolate fudge and peppermint that Hudsonville ice cream made a few years ago does take the #1 spot in my taste.

But still, second place. An Ohio named ice cream. Huh.

I told Shannon that statement because she had asked (or told me to) check out Graeter's. Her response is  very appropriate, "That is a statement with lots of research backing it!!!" How true!

My time is running short here at Panera where the lunch hour has arrived making it a busy place. Plus my laptop is going to die because I didn't bring my charger. I'll see if I can blog again while I'm in the expensive fancy hotel (wi-fi is free in the lobby I discovered). If not, you'll hear from me when I get back home.

Free wi-fi

I am in Cincinnati for our Quota Convention.

Kim and I drove here on Wednesday. It took about six hours with a stop for lunch. That took longer because Kim tried checking her email which decided to act geriatric. (The computer, not Kim.) But we finally made it. Even after driving through parts of Ohio that no one has ever seen. We have to check the setting on her GPS, we think it was set to "scenic".

At any rate, we're staying at the Hilton downtown.

Where they don't have free wi-fi.

Why?

It's 2014. The motel down the street has free wi-fi. Panera has free wi-fi.

In case you didn't know, the Hilton hotels are not cheap. So why isn't the wi-fi free? Kim decided to call the front desk because, after all, she is a Hilton Honors member.

She doesn't have the higher tier of membership though.

Seriously.

And then there's parking. Valet parking is as expensive here as it is in Chicago.

Our tour guide yesterday told us Cincinnati is the 26th largest populated city in the U.S. Except I googled it and on the top 50 list I found, Cincinnati did not make it. So how in the world can they charge the same for valet that a hotel in Chicago does? It's outrageous. They think very highly of themselves here at the Hilton in Cincinnati.

I'll end my rant for now and write another blog about the tour we took yesterday.