These posts are going to be a little delayed because of the craziness of going away, coming back, packing up my life, and moving in Minnesota pretty much all in the same week. I will do them in chronological order, probably over the next few days, starting with the trip to Cincinnati (really Mason, OH) with my friend Ashley to watch some tennis. I think I’m going to separate it into the tennis part and the road trip/Cincinnati party.
I drove to Johnstown, PA, where Ashley is from, Tuesday afternoon. Her dad and stepmom very nicely let me stay with them so that I can break the trip up into two days.
On Wednesday morning we got up early and headed to Pittsburgh to drop my car off at her mom and stepdad’s place and go to to Pamela’s. Ashley suggested we got to Pamela’s a few years ago so that I could see a little of Pittsburgh and it’s been a tradition ever since. It is an amazing diner with really heavy, but delicious, food. This year I tried the banana and walnut pancakes and had the Lyonnaise potatoes, which are always delicious.
Unfortunately we got to Cincy mid-afternoon so we had to park in a parking lot that was about a mile from the tournament. Which is fine, neither of us minds walking. But then, pretty much right after we got there, it started raining. And then it stopped raining, and then it started raining, and then it stopped raining, and then it started raining and thundering and lightening and the radar did not look so good.
Ashley had the brilliant idea to go back to the hotel, check in, change, and then come back if it stops raining (the hotel is about 10 minutes away). Which worked perfectly, except we had to walk a mile in the rain (it had stopped thundering and lightening by then) and the parking lot had turned into a giant mud pit. They literally had a tow truck ready to pull cars out.
The good thing about the rain was that it gave me an excuse to eat Cincinnati (Skyline) chili. I LOVE Cincinnati chili, which is a chocolate and cinnamon flavored chili served over spaghetti with cheese (and I add onions). It sounds awful but it’s delicious. Once the rain stopped it held off the rest of the week and we got to watch some great tennis.
Here’s Andy Murray on the second show court. This was his match against Mardy Fish.
This is Novak Djokovic and Stan Warinka is a French Open Final rematch.
And this is Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic. Of all the years we’ve been going (5 for me, 6 for Ashley) I think this is the best picture of the two of us. Thank you random stranger!
One of the best things about the Cincy tournament is how small it is. You can just walk by the ESPN booth and see Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, etc. (those are all tennis broadcasters for my non-tennis fan friends and family) hanging out doing their broadcast.
I really like this panoramic picture I took of the grounds. From left to right there’s the food court, main stadium, shopping area, and smaller/practice courts.
Oh and I got to pose in a Graeter’s cone. More on Graeter’s later, but their ice cream is amazing.
Maggie in Minnesota 