The 'Nnati!

Last week I had the wonderful pleasure of driving to Cincinnati to have a visit with lifetime friend Casi! I have been so excited to cross paths with her as she and her husband move to D.C. for the summer. Girlfriend Casi found an excellent meeting place called Newport on the Levee.
It's a "shopping area" (but we found only restaurants, an Imax, an AMC, and sweet shops) right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, in a quaint little town called Newport, KY. To get there, I had to cross the river into Ohio, drive through downtown Cincinnati, then cross the river again back into Kentucky. Besides taking one wrong turn and ending up in the Ghetto with some white missionaries, the drive was very beautiful. I'm really impressed with downtown Nnati. It's very clean and well-kempt. Sitting across the river in Newport, we could see right into the Red's (baseball) stadium, the awesome city-scape, and the steamboats passing under colorful bridges along the Ohio River.
Casi and I had some yummy lunch (Thanks, girl)! After, we walked up the street to the infamous Graeter's Ice cream, a local favorite, and tried the famed Blackberry Chip, which was delectible! We talked about marriage and memories, friends me miss and friends we don't, and our families. It was really great catching up. We mozied on over to the beautiful view of the river and sat in a bench as the humid but cool air kissed our faces. It seems to me to be a moment out of a book. Two semi-grown up best friends meet in a totally unfamiliar place, talking of the past, present, and future, and really soaking in the moment. I could do that again!
The rain drops starting falling, and we parted ways-- Casi off to the big life in the Nation's capital, and me back to the life of luxury (psh!). When we'll meet again? Who knows... but I know it'll happen! I love you girl!
The drive home was nightmarishly awful. First I took the same wrong turn and ended up inthe ghetto without any missionaries. Then I was trapped in stop'n'go traffic amid a torrential downpoor, which continued the entire drive home. At one point, it was raining so badly, i couldn't see a thing. I thought of pulling over, but didn't want to get hit, so I just kept driving. I made it home 2 and a half hours later with a migraine and thanking Heavenly Father for sparing my life!
What an adventure....