In September we drove from North Carolina to Illinois to spend a week with Leandra’s sister and family. Given it is a ~14 hour drive we broke it up into two days, spending a night in Cincinnati. We’d never been before so we made an effort to try a few things new-to-us.

Aloft on the levee – since we were traveling with our mini schnauzer pup, Pasha, we made it a priority to stay at a dog-friendly hotel. This Aloft was great, with dogs staying free, and a nice location on the Kentucky side of the river from downtown Cincinnati.

we all enjoyed the very comfy bed

Just around the corner from the hotel was the Purple People Bridge, a pedestrian bridge across the Ohio River with nice views. We tried it at sunset, evening, and a final morning walk.

Hofbräuhaus Newport – located just across the street from our hotel and with a dog friendly outdoor patio, this was a no-brainer for us. I ordered an Oktoberfest beer and the Pretzel Ham & Cheese Sandwich, while Leandra went for the regular German pretzels and a Dunkel. Lucky for us it was a beautiful night!

Dixie Chili – we had to try chili while were in Cincinnati! Dixie was a 10 minute walk from our hotel, so we put Pasha in the car and walked off our pretzels. Leandra got a to-go of the chili to try in the room. You could definitely taste the cinnamon!

Sis’s on Monmouth – For breakfast the next morning we called our order in and walked up Monmouth again to pick up our food. I had a ham omelette, while Leandra got the biscuits and gravy, plus another local item, a goetta (a meat-and-grain sausage).

All-in-all we had lovely 20 hours in Cincinnati.