Part 11: Cincinnati

On Sunday, we did not get up until two o’clock in the afternoon. The Taste of Cincinnati was going on downtown so we decided to check it out. I targeted a few of the German booths, getting a mettwurst and a corned beef sandwich, while Bareback Jack grabbed some Greek food. We grabbed some Yuengling to wash it down and walked over to the newly built Jack Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, just a short distance from downtown. With a new casino in the heart of the city, the other casinos in the area, such as those in Lawrenceburg, will probably be taking a hit. Jack went to the bar to watch the Cubs beat the Reds in extra innings, while I lost another $60 on the roulette wheel.

We walked back up Mount Adams, stopping at a dive bar called City View to have a few beers and get a great view of the skyline from their patio. I was interested in fishing the Ohio River, so I suggested that we go fishing, but did not know where to go. The bartender told us the Little Miami River was a good spot, so we jumped in the car and headed east.

Bareback Jack and I stopped at a gas station to get bait and a six pack of Coors Light, then headed down to the river. We fished until dusk, not getting a single bite on the line. It was a complete waste of time. On the way back to the car, we ran into a couple veteran fishermen. They told us they were there all day and only caught one fish, a sauger. However, last weekend they caught over one hundred fifty fish. They said it depends on the water level and weather. The Little Miami can be hit or miss.

On the way back to Jack’s place, he remarked, “That was fun. I am going to have to get a fishing pole and start fishing again.”

I said, “How was that fun? We did not catch a single fish and are covered in mud.”

Jack said, “Well, I had a six pack of beer and was on the river.”

We headed back to the house and washed up. Pregaming for the bars consisted of Jager Bombs and Jack Daniels straight up. We hit St. Gregory Street, and I was coming in hot. I started ordering pizza slices at the first bar we went to. Needless to say, I had the munchies and ended up eating all of the pizza they had. They only charged us for half of the pizza slices I ate because Bareback Jack had become friends with the bartender since moving to The Nati. We then jumped to another bar which was crammed with twenty-somethings grinding to hip-hop. I was prowling for some single coeds, but it seemed all of the females were accompanied by males. There was once a time when bars were places where singles went to meet new people or hook-up. Nowadays, it seems bars are places where people go with a group of friends to converse over drinks. There are definitely more bars filled with tables and chairs than there were fifteen or twenty years ago.

Finally, we went across the street to a club called Pavilion which had a great view of the night skyline. Closing time was an early 02:00. One of the black guys in the club who was getting bottle service decided that they had paid too much for the Grey Goose to let it go to waste. He walked out of the club with the open bottle in hand. A police officer, who was known to harass the bar patrons in the neighborhood, pounced on the black guy and pinned him to the police cruiser. The black guy ended up going to the city jail.