Octoberfest Cincinnati - Sept 2017

Cincinnati

Continuing on our 'festival' tradition with John and JoAnna, John chose that we go to Octoberfest in Cincinnati which is the largest Octoberfest in the US.  We shared a room at the Westin downtown - it was a bit expensive but very convenient and the room was quite large!  We had planned that Shawna and Keith would fly in on Thursday night late and John and JoAnna would arrive Friday morning.  However, Keith's flight was late and thus he missed his connecting flight in Chicago - he stayed the night there and arrived instead on Friday morning.  Shawna worked a half day on Friday and while Keith said he worked a full day, we caught him napping Friday late afternoon!!

John, JoAnna, Anna Liisa and Shawna at Bling Pig

JoAnna has a friend, Anna Liisa with whom she went to nursing school and who lives in the area so she and her husband Chris joined us for some of the festivities.  Throughout the weekend, we enjoyed the festival, tasting many of the foods (schnitzel, pretzel, noodles, potato cakes, strudel, etc) and of course much of the beer.  We listened to some of the bands, attended the kickoff where John got a picture with Jim Koch (owner of Boston Brewing Company), played games and participated in the world's largest (or so they claim) chicken dance!  Both mornings, we went for a walk across the river and back to try to make up for some of the calories we consumed!

Festival Photos

Needing a break from festival food, we also went to the following restaurants/bars:

• A Tavola - Had lunch here.  Shared meatballs and a salad. Yummy.
• Bling Pig - Had a few drinks here.  Nice rooftop area.
• Moerlein Lager House - Had dinner here.  Great location on the river.  Very tasty schnitzel with a cream sauce.
• Nada - Had dinner here.  Hip Mexican place. Shared guacamole, pork and steak dishes.
• Metropole - Had drinks here late night.  Great rooftop bar. 

On Sunday afternoon, we all went to the airport and flew our separate ways - Shawna to Hartford for work, Keith to AZ, and John/JoAnna to NC.  We had a great time - it was a fun festival and it was nice to see a new city!