My travel adventures thread

[verse]

Who wears a Notre Dame shirt or jersey to an OSU vs Wisconsin game?

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

Who wears a Notre Dame shirt or jersey to an OSU vs Wisconsin game?

 

We went to eat with a couple other friends, one of which is my buddies gf who is a ND fan. They didn't go to the game though. She catches shit from all of us when we get together as she is the only non-osu fan there.

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

November 5th, Newport Aquarium (Kentucky) trip, dinner at Terry's Turf Club:

The first time I heard of this place was about 5 years ago, it has taken me that long to finally ventured down there. I guess having a kid kind of gave me an excuse to finally make the trip. It was definitley worth the wait and the adventure. Admission is $22 dollars per adult, kids 2-12 are $12 and kids 2 and under are free as are veterns. We was able to find coupons online that made admission for adults $20, so saved $4 bucks lol.

 

The first thing we did when we entered was head towards the gift shop. The main lobby area was crowded with Boy Scouts and the Aquarium wasn't open quite yet so we figured might as well get this out of the way. We found a patch for my son (not sure if I mentioned this already but he has a patch blanket with souvenir patches from everywhere he's been). There was a ton of things in this gift shop and honestly probablly the biggest gift shop I have seen from all the places we have been to. It wasn't overly expensive and we made off by only spending $3 lol.

 

Once we was done with the gift shop the aquarium was ready to be explored. You take an escelator down stairs (if you bring a stroller you have to take the elevator). Upon entering the downstaris area you are stopped by a guy wanting to take a picture of you by the Shark that has "Newport Aquarium" in his mouth. From there it is nothing but awesomeness. The exhibits are big, clean and filled with aquatic life. There are spots in the flood that are plexy glass in which you walk over and can see sharks swimming below you. My son wasn't so sure of this at first but with a little coaxing from his grandpa he was over that fear quickly.

 

The coolest part of the aquarium was the tunnels. There are sharks swimming beside you and above you, its really cool. Of course there are touch tanks and like a champ my kid had to touch everything including rays, crabs and sharks. The penguins at the aquarium are the biggest ones I have ever seen and they know how to put on a show. I would have to say that the Penguins were a close 2nd behind the sharks as my favorite things to see, right behind them would be the baby gators.

 

There is an area that houses different types of frogs which is pretty cool. It has a playground in the middle of it as well. After that you head into an area that has otters and birds. The birds fly around freely, let me give you a warning, heads up! Ask me how I know, damn bird pissed on me lmfao, luckily they have stuff to clean you up with and thank god it only hit my hand and not my head!!

 

It took us just a little over an hour to walk through the aquarium and that was with us taking our time. It wasn't overly crowded and I didn't feel rushed looking at any of the animals. I would give the aquarium a 10 out of 10!

 

After the aquarium we headed back outside to the Newport on the Levee to figure out what we wanted to do since it was only 11am and we had planned on it taking longer to get through the aquarium. I had read about there being a Freedom Bell in Newport so I asked a worker where it was exactly. It is litterally 2mins away from the Levee, so we headed over there to check it out. It was a sight to see as its by far the biggest bell I have ever saw lol. There was also a monument deticated to fire fighters right next to it.

 

As we stood there our stomaches started rumbling and that only meant one thing, lunch time!! I had a couple places in mind as to where I wanted to eat, so we talked about it and headed back over to Cincinnati to try The Montgomery Inn, however to our dismay it was actually closed until 3pm. There was no way in hell my hunger was going to wait til 3pm to be satisfied. So we headed to our 2nd choice which was Terry's Turf Club. Upon arriving to Terry's I knew this place was something special. The building they use is apparently an old Neon Light company building that went out of business. It isn't in the best looking part of Cincinnati, but judging by the cars sitting there you can tell it must have good food. There was an Audi R8, 2 Cadilac Escalades, a couple Mercedes among others. Now if you plan on eating here you should be warned that you will be waiting. We was told 20mins but it turned into an hour and 20mins real quckly. Once we got inside it was jam packed and pretty small. There is a bar, but it was filled with people eating as well. Now if you're taking a small child as we had with us be prepared to let them sit on your lap. They do not have high chairs or booster seats!

 

The food made up for that though!! The bugers were absolutely amazing and weight 1/2lb each. There is only 6 or 7 items on the menu, my wife got a BLT that she couldn't finish and we split an order of fries between me, her and our son. I had no problem finishing off my burger, however my mother in law and brother in laws gf couldn't finish theirs haha. For me and my wife we paid $24 to eat (our son ate some of my wifes food along with sampling everyones burgers)

 

Overall we spent less then $50 bucks for the entire trip (didn't have to pay for gas in vehicle), thats not bad for a family of 3.

 

The Aquarium:

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111115.jpg

 

Lobby Area:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111006.jpg

 

Sharks:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111054b.jpg

 

1 right above me:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111055.jpg

 

Tunnel:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111047.jpg

 

 

Penguins:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111101.jpg

 

Cool Jelly Fish:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111051.jpg

 

View from the Levee of Cincy:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111123.jpg

 

The Bell:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111140.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111142a.jpg

 

Firefighter Monument:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111142.jpg

 

 

Terry's Turf Club:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111220.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/PART951320515915273.jpg

 

Couple of the cars outside:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/1105111229a.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/Newport%20Aquarium%20November%205th/PART951320515864688_2.jpg

 

http://www.newportaquarium.com/

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/32/363284/restaurant/East-End-Mount-Washington/Terrys-Turf-Club-Cincinnati

 

 

 

 

Next trip on the agenda is the Air Force Museum in Dayton with a stop at Rudy's BBQ in Springfield for dinner.

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

Well its been forever since I updated this thread, life took hold and we sort of lost track of our weekly traveling. We did manage to make it to the Air Force Museum which was an awesome expierence. If you have never been there I highly suggest you do so. Our 2 year old (was only 1 1/2 at the time) kept saying "wow" and "see" at every airplane in sight. Our 5 and 6 year old niece and nephew had a good time as well and it was able to keep their attention or the 2hrs o so that we was there. If your heading from Columbus or towards Cbus you gotta stop in Springfield and eat at Rudy's BBQ. It is plain and simply put amazing!

 

Back in March the wife and I decided to take our yearly vacation, this time without our son which was strange. We took 9 days and went to Texas and Florida. In Texas we flew into San Antonio and met up with my Aunt and Uncle. From there we spent the next 2 days visiting The Alamo, The Riverwalk and The Natural Bridge Caverns. I was not a big fan of San Antonio honestly, the people were not very friendly and just wasnt my kind of town. The Riverwalk was nice but crowded. It probablly doesnt help that we was there the week of St Patty's. We took a nice boat ride through the riverwalk and our tour guide was very knowledgable and quite funny. I highly suggest if you goto the Riverwalk, take the boat tour! San Antonio is also home to the worse zoo I have ever been to. The animals habitats were absolutely terrible, Jack Hannah needs to head south and help them out!

 

The Alamo was interesting yet very bland. I think the coolest part about going there was being able to say "I have been to the Alamo". For free though, you can't really complain too much. One of the strangest sites we saw was a house made out of beer cans lol.

 

The Natural Bridge Caverns was probablly the highlight of our Texas expierence. I had never been to an underground cavern before and it was nothing short of amazing. The natual beauty that was inside was remarkable. The best part of this was getting my uncle who is scared of heights and small spaces inside and actually enjoying his self.

 

After leaving San Antonio we headed to Houston, along the way we noticed a lot of badass cars on the highway. After several minutes of talking about these cars and wondering what was going on it dawned on me that it was TXTK12 weekend, doh! We ended up at the Houston Aquarium and it was really nice. The people here were definitley friendlier then those in San Antonio. We didnt stay in Houston very long before heading to my aunts hometown of Lufkin, let me tell you, there is nothing to do in Lufkin Texas haha. We did manage to find another zoo while there that was actually quite nice. My wife is a huge animal fan so we tend to goto a lot of zoos and aquariums.

 

The Alamo:

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/alamo.jpg

 

Riverwalk:

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/432179_2920648545171_1529521642_32367658_309083410_n.jpg

 

House of Beer:

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/394474_2936777668389_1529521642_32375532_1147589410_n.jpg

 

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/409671_2936778588412_1529521642_32375533_365021277_n.jpg

 

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/374522_2936779068424_1529521642_32375534_305182453_n.jpg

 

Natural Bridge Caverns:

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/422490_2922460030457_1529521642_32368511_776724342_n.jpg

 

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/427233_2936772748266_1529521642_32375520_671349986_n.jpg

 

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy218/guy_from_nerk/Texas%20%20Florida%202012/426259_2922457710399_1529521642_32368509_425959801_n.jpg

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

After being in Texas for 5 days it was time for us to venture East and enjoy Florida. We flew into Sarasota which is the smallest airport I have flewn into. We met up with our friends who were hosting us fo the next 4 days and headed to their home in Port Charolette (bout 30mins from Sarasota). We ended up going to Siesta Keys to enjoy the beach and hands down this is the nicest one I have been to (i've beem to Daytona and Virginia Beach). The sand was like baby powder, soft and cool. The water was so clear that I was out in it up to my chest (6'6) and could see my feet. Honestly I could move there and be happy. We drove around Sarasota looking at the million dollar+ homes and admiring the fact that Bentleys and Maseratis were driven like Honda and Toyotas up here, they were everywhere.

 

The night before leaving (Friday) we headed up to Tampa to attend a car meet. Let me tell you these boys do it right down there. The meet was at the University of South Florida and there was every bit of 300 cars there, nos energy as on hand passing out drinks, there was a live dj in the middle of the parking lot and even had judging going on for best cars in the crowd. Mind you this was a normal meet just like the ones up here at Sawmill, just much more organized and on a larger scale. The coolest cars I saw were probablly a couple LSX powered Supras.

 

I need to find the pics from Florida so I can upload them on here.

 

In the coming weeks/months we have several trips planned including stops in Maryland, Wisconsin, Alabama as well as many local places...stay tuned!

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

6/25/12: With the weather being damn near perfect I decided that staying in the house was not an option. Not having much money at the moment we decided to do something very cheap. We headed out 16 east to the 146 Zanesville exit and headed to Blackhand Gorge. There is a paved trail that is 4 miles long in which you can walk, rollerblade or bike down. There is a river that flows through the gorge that you can canoe down as well. There is also paths that take you around the gorge and through the woods. We had our 2 year old with us so we chose to stay on the pathway.

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/blackhand.jpg

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/blackhand2.jpg

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/alittlelessordinary/blackhand3.jpg

[Sledhead36]

Try going to the Wilds near Zanesville. The youngster will love it.

http://www.thewilds.org/

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

The wilds is going to happen but most likely next year when he is a little older to really enjoy it. The kid has been to several animal places and we are planning on taking him to the Cincy Zoo. So far we have taken him to:

 

Columbus Zoo/Aquarium

Virginia Beach Aquarium

Newport Aquarium (Kentucky)

Natural Bridge Zoo (Virginia)

 

In the coming weeks we have trips planned to:

AMA Hall of Fame (Pickerington)

Cedar Point

Maryland International Raceway