Upon waking up for day two, I had a general idea of how the early part of the day would be spent.
The morning portion would be in Fairfield, Ohio.
If that sounds familiar, it should as it was the first stop on the Omaha trip earlier in the summer.
This meant a return to Jungle Jim's International Market, which entails plenty of food shopping to bring home for myself and others.
I've written plenty about Jungle Jim's in the past and all I can say is- you have to experience it to truly understand just how massive the inventory at Jungle Jims truly is.
We drove up the highway for a stop at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall, which Cherie and I drove by on the Omaha trip but we didn't stop so we could hit Hoosier Gym in Indiana.
Ohio Valley was top-notch and I saw a few things that I considered purchasing but walked away without buying anything- although I have some items in mind for my possible return this year!
We decided to drive back to Florence and our hotel but first, we stopped by a place that I had visited before on a trip with Ryan- the replica of Crosley Field, the home of the Cincinnati Reds until 1970.
The town of Blue Ash constructed a scale replica of the dimensions of Crosley Field including a replica scoreboard, an original ticket booth, and some of the original seats at one of their recreational areas.
I find it interesting that near the Crosley location is a field based on Riverfront Stadium to the dimensions of that former Reds home with artificial turf (or a lookalike) as its surface.
We slowly found our way across the Ohio River to Florence and decided to eat (since we hadn't all day) at a place close to the hotel, so we could rest a bit.
The pick was Ford's Garage, a chain based in six states, and one that I had never heard of before.
The motif is automotive with the wait staff wearing mechanics uniforms, and several cars around the building, and the chain has a licensing agreement with the Ford Motor Company to use their name and iconic logo.
I ordered a cheeseburger and they used a brand to place the restaurant logo onto the bun, which I thought was interesting.
After a short respite at the hotel, we drove back to Cincinnati for my first visit inside Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds.
Ryan and I had stopped by on the mentioned trip earlier but only to check the outside of the stadium as there wasn't a game that day.
One thing that works against me going to major league games is the long walks to get anywhere near the ballpark.
Between my age and weight that gets harder every year but while the walk was lengthy, I don't think I did too badly and I didn't feel any pain from the walk.
When you walk up to GAP, the statues are all in front of the stadium, with a massive team store on the property but not as part of the stadium.
The stadium looms large in front of you as you walk up making it look even larger than it is!
Because we were only watching a few innings and wanted to get back before dark, we bought cheap seats in the upper deck.
I'm odd about heights, I don't mind once I'm at my destination but I'm uneasy about the climbing portion, I'm always worried about tumbling over, and that has been a concern of mine going back to childhood.
We didn't stay for the entire game as mentioned but we did see all three homers and all the runs that were scored in the game.
I liked Great American Ballpark, maybe a little better than Cleveland's Progressive Field but not as much as Pittsburgh's PNC Park.
The sight lines were good and I've always liked the right field stands overlooking the Ohio River from television viewing.
After we returned to the hotel and rested for the evening, we prepared for the final day of the trip which will include a stop at the independent Frontier League' Florence Ya'lls.
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