WCWW In Cincinnati or Better Late Than Never

This post typifies my trip to Cincinnati; I got drunk, woke up a bit hungover, and then realized that I still had something to do.  As I always say, better late than never!

A few days before the trip, my car decided that it didn't want to start.  I thought, "This is it. This is where my journey ends."  But then I thought about everyone with whom I've shared this experience and I decided that I needed to make it work so I sent my car to the shop and I hit up Enterprises Rent-A-Car for a cheap, three-day rental.  What I paid for was a cheap economy rental, but what I got was a nice surprise upgrade to a Jeep Cherokee with an upgraded sound system.  This was already shaping up to be a good trip.

Welcome to Slatts Pub, your neighborhood dining spot in Blue Ash, Ohio and home of the Greater Cincinnati Browns Backers Club.














I don't know if they roll out the banners just for the Backers Club, but on this night, the club banner was present.











I was really excited for this trip because I knew Hanford Dixon was going to be at the Browns Backer event on Saturday night.  About 8 or 9 years ago, I met him at a Napa Auto Parts in Mayfield Heights while picking up some brake pads for my Subaru.  We had stopped up earlier, but they gave us the wrong ones so we had to come back and lo and behold, there was the Top Dawg, Mr. Handford Dixon.  When I told Mr. Dixon that my buddy and I were replacing my brakes, he said, "You know how to do that?  It looks like your buddy is the one doing all of the work."











You'll be hard pressed to find something more motivating than a professional football player talking shit to you.  Funny thing was, after all of the repairs I've done on cars over the years, I wasn't able to diagnose my own car in time for it to make the trip...







After sharing my story with Hanford, I posted up at the bar and started chatting with the staff.  The OSU-Penn State game was starting, but since Slatts was closing before game end I asked them where to go and they pointed me to a place called the Corner Pub just down the street.  The Corner Pub is a nice little dive among shops and restaurants and somewhere I'd probably go if I were a local.  I took a seat at the bar, watched the Cubs win and the Bucks lose, and shared the story of my travels with some of the local.  After about an hour, I saw some of the staff show up and we picked up where we left off.  I felt like a local if only for that one night.  We shared stories and drinks, played some Keno, and before I knew it I was three sheets to the wind and trying to find a way home.  I'm a smart man so driving was out of the question.  Luckily, Uber operated in that area so I was able to get a ride back to the hotel.

Here comes 9:30am.  Now I planned on going to tailgate to get the full experience, but here I was, possibly still drunk from the night before, without a car OR a ticket to the game.  Prices were still around $95 with fees on Stubhub.  As I laid there in bed I thought (again), "This is it.  This is where my journey ends."  So I fell back asleep for an hour.





"You can do this.  You have to do this.  Make it happen."  Shortly after my nap, I got out of bed, cleaned up, and tracked down an Uber to take me to my car.  Once it was packed, I drove across the street to fill up on gas and that's where a ticket deal finally showed up.  I was still paying $95, but I scored a front row seat in the upper deck around the 20-yard line. 








I made my way downtown, found a $10 valet parking garage, and then proceeded to track down a FedEx Kinkos so I could print my ticket.



Travel Pro Tip: Enable Geotagging on your cell phone photos then take a picture of where you parked.  My Google Nexus usually tracks where I park on its own, but in this instance it didn't.  With the geotag on this photo, I was able to track down the garage and my car through Google Maps.

Paul Brown Stadium...I finally made it!
















Cincinnati and Cleveland fans were all over the stadium. 


















Random strangers try to make their way into my photos, but at least she was a Browns fan.




















And even though this was taken the week prior, it still applies to the trip.

View of downtown Cincinnati from the stadium

Paul Brown Stadium panorama shot with the Google Nexus 5

I thought I wasn't going to make it to the game (twice).  I had a buddy interested in joining me, but then backed out.  I had a whole Browns Backers club welcome me, but almost none of them went to the game.  I was alone on this trip and for the first time was alone at the game.  But I made it.  And luckily I had some Browns supporters in my section so I could cheer a few times.  When you have other people around joining you and your journey, it's easy to wake up and do what you need to do.  When you don't have other people around, you need to look within yourself and find the strength to keep going.


Next week we're back home in Cleveland to celebrate the halfway point of the season and cheer on the Browns as they look to take out the Jets of New York.  Stay tuned.

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