Cincinnati Museum Center with Whittingtons

Cast of a Pompeii resident

We picked Whittingtons up at the Cincinnati Airport (CVG) in Northern Kentucky around 11:30 and drove to the Cincinnati Museum Center where we purchased tickets for the special traveling exhibit on Pompeii. We had seen this display of artifacts before but it had been a number of years and we were interested in the items of daily life that were on display. The timeline and videos of the eruptions that covered Pompeii and Herculaneum with ash, lava and other volcanic were of special interest. There were several recreations of people, pets and items that had been covered by volcanic debris and left in as they had died in 79 AD.

When we left the Pompeii exhibit we went to the service desk and renewed our membership and purchased tickets to the museum and the Omnimax film on volcanoes. We walked through the Cincinnati history museum and the Museum of Natural History as well as the ice cave before going in the surround theater for the film on an explorer, Carsten Peter, studies and photographs active volcanoes.

Hofbrauhaus Schnitzel

After leaving the museum we went to Hofbräuhaus in Newport, Kentucky where we all had different types of schnitzel. Mary had the Bayern Schnitzel, I had a Jager Schnitzel, Mark had a Parmesan Schnitzel and Cindy had the Bayern Jager Schnitzel. Mary had water, Cindy had a cider, Mark had a Weissbier and I had a Dunkel. Everyone enjoyed the meal.

We came home and watched a little television and visited before turning in.

 

Egypt comes to Cincinnati

After taking care of a few chores in Georgetown today we drove north on I75 to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see the traveling exhibit on ancient Egypt. This is the first time that I had been to the museum since it reopened following significant structural repairs and upgrades to the building and exhibits. As members of CMC we have been to many traveling exhibits that have all been excellent. Some of the notable recent exhibits have included, the photography of Tsarina Alexandria, Viking culture, the Dead Sea Scrolls and many others.

I had been fighting a cold so I slept for most of the trip north while Mary drove. Our membership got us free parking at the museum and we arrived at the exhibit hall shortly before our scheduled 2:15 entry time. We saw only about 10 other guests entering the exhibit at our time. We were pleased that a school bus and a charter bus pulled up to the museum to take guests for departure as we were arriving. Because most people tend to go through a museum much more quickly than us, we had the exhibit to ourselves after we have been in the displays for about an hour. It was nice to be able to spend as much time as we liked looking at each artifact without feeling rushed.

There was a great deal of information presented on life during the early, middle and late kingdoms as well as social structure, technologies and geography. There were a number of interactive displays where visitors could explore hieroglyphics, mummification and other topics. One display that especially interested up was a 360 holographic movie of mummification

We were amazed not only with the number of artifacts but the quality of the items displayed. Many of the display pieces were over 3000 years old yet appeared to be like new. I suppose since the items would have been stowed in a dry desert climate deep in a pyramid or other safe location there is no reason that they should appear other than like new.

We stayed in the Egypt exhibit until nearly 5 pm then took a quick walk through some of the other areas of the museum that have reopened. We didn’t go into the children’s museum but it appeared to have been overhauled. We know that Peter can spend hours in there without ever tiring for something to do. There is a new activity section where guests can blow smoke rings with dry ice, float paper cones up a wind tube, drop a bowling ball to propel a tennis ball up into a net or use low frequency sound to make patterns in sand. 

The Cincinnati history section is still incomplete but the sections that are open are very nice. The city scale model with trains and street cars has been updated and only one car, a 1950 Crosley Hotshot, donated by the grandparents of Otto Warmbier, was on display. We spent a good bit of time in a new exhibit dedicated to Cincinnati’s own Neil Armstrong on the 50^th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk. The 360 degree footage of the lunar landing and walks on the surface were thrilling to relive. The display was interesting and informative. We took a quick walk through the newly displayed dinosaur fossils then made our way to the exit. On our way out we noticed that the tile mosaics in the large entry had been nicely cleaned and restored.

Although we left the museum at the peak of rush hour, the traffic on I75 south wasn’t as bad as we expected. We made it back home to Georgetown in a little over an hour. We always enjoy our visits to the Cincinnati Museum Center and can’t wait to see what will be coming after the Egypt exhibit leaves in August.

Mummies invade Cincinnati

We left home at 6:30 am to drive to Cincinnati to see the Mummies of the World Exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center then on to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.  We arrived in Georgetown, Kentucky to pick up Ian and Emily around 9 am then drove up I-75 to Cincinnati. We were pleased to find gasoline for $3.25 in Georgetown which beats the best price around home at $3.59.

We arrived at the Museum Center around 10 and had a little time since our pre-purchased tickets for the mummy exhibit were for 10:45.  We were happy that we had purchased our tickets in advance.  Not only did we avoid standing in a line to buy tickets but we got the tickets at nearly half price using our museum membership.  Since we had some time, we visited a small but informative exhibit on the last passenger pigeon, Martha, who died at the Cincinnati Zoo one hundred years ago (1914) making the species extinct.  It was interesting to learn the factors that caused the birds, once so plentiful that flocks would black out the sky, became extinct in such a short time.

The Mummies of the World Exhibit was outstanding.  Since photos were not permitted, promotional images are linked in this blog entry.  The exhibit emphasized to visitors that the mummies on display are the remains of humans and should be treated with respect.  Most people think of Egypt when they think of mummies and the ancient Egyptians were certainly skilled in preserving the remains of their rulers and aristocracy.  However, mummies can be found in many areas of the world produced by intentional mummification processes or through natural effects of climatic conditions.  Displays at the exhibit included actual mummies from Egypt, South America, and even Germany and Hungary.  Once mummy on display was preserved in 1994 at the University of Maryland in Project MUMAB.  A collaboration of scientists used materials, tools and techniques from ancient Egypt to preserve a donated body as a modern mummy.  We also saw the mummies of a baron, baroness and their infant child from Vac, Hungary.  The bodies of the Orlovits family were placed in a family crypt in the early 1800s.  The movement of cool air through the crypt cause the bodies of the three family members to be well preserved to this day.

In a macabre way, it was fascinating to learn that mummies were so common in Egypt that they were sometimes burned as fuel in locomotives or home furnaces.  Visitors to Egypt could purchase a mummified human hand or foot as a souvenir.  Pulverized mummy bodies were sold to artists as a pigment in paint making a color called “mummy brown”.  Entire mummies were sold and used at “unwrapping parties” where the mummy was taken apart at dinner by the guests. 

Another exhibit covered shrunken heads that were made among certain South American tribes of indigenous people.  Some cultures collected and prepared the heads of enemies to wear in battle and as part of ceremonial rituals.  More recently, these Indians shrunk heads for sale to tourists using traditional techniques.

The exhibit included mummies from the mountains of South America and arctic regions of the world that were preserved by a natural freeze drying process due to the low temperatures and humidity of polar or mountainous regions. 

By noon, we were all hungry so we left the museum for nearby Findlay Market where we knew we could find something good for lunch.  The market was busy, as it is on many weekends, but just before Christmas, it was especially busy.  After a walk through the market, we settled on Aretis Gyros.  We were amazed at the size and quality of their gyro sandwiches, especially at the $5.50 price.  Since there was no place to sit at the busy market, we ate our gyros standing at an exit near the Kroeger and Sons Meats.  While we were there, we purchased 8 sausages made by Kroegers to take home.  Fortunately, we had a cooler and ice packs in the car.  On our way out we stopped at Dojo Gelato for dessert.  Ian & Emily had a split of Rum Egg Nog and Dutch Chocolate while I opted for just the Rum Egg Nog.  Mary had a ginger cookie from a nearby booth.  We all enjoyed our lunch then drove on to the Cincinnati Zoo.

Since the zoo doesn’t get busy this time of year until after dark, we had no problem finding a nearby parking spot on the street and walked a short distance to the zoo entrance where our membership got in free and half priced tickets for Ian & Emily.  We saw the five Maasai giraffes including the youngster that is now about a year old and the two toed sloth that is always napping when we are there.  Since the weather was very nice for mid-December in Cincinnati, we saw many of the animals outside.  Mary was pleased that the red pandas were actively feeding on some fresh bamboo that was placed in their enclosure.  

Sarah joined us at the zoo after she got off work and walked around through the insect, cat and nocturnal animals houses.  We sat by Swan Lake for the first 15 minutes of the light and music show that was even better than in previous years.  The light show starts at 5 pm after the sun has set enough to make the light show more visible.  We left the zoo about 5:15 and headed for dinner.  We were happy that we were leaving the zoo and not just arriving since there was a flood of visitors coming into the zoo as we were leaving.

Sarah had made reservations at the German restaurant Mecklenburg Gardens which is a short distance from the zoo.  Sarah was waiting on us when we arrived after finding a parking spot on the street.  Mecklenburg Gardens is a 150 year old Cincinnati biergarten on University Avenue that serves authentic German food and has a selection of good German beer on tap.  We enjoyed kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes) and warm rye bread while we surveys the menu choices.  Ian had goulash with a Dunkel Hefeweisen, Mary had spaetzle with vegetables and grilled chicken, Emily had a weiner schnitzel with rotekraut, Sarah had a sauerbraten sandwich and I had a chicken schnitzel sandwich.  We shared a cream puff and apple strudel for dessert.  Everyone was pleased with their meal and we were impressed at the good value of our meal.  After leaving the restaurant we gave Sarah some of the grapefruit that we brought and started driving back. 

We dropped Ian and Emily off at their Georgetown home around 8:30 and arrived back home by 10:30.  Since our day started before 6 am, we were both very tired and slept well.

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Zinzinnati Oktoberfest 2014

We always look forward to the third weekend in September because that means that we go to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Zinzinnati Oktoberfest is the world’s second largest with only Munich’s being larger.  Oktoberfest started in Munich in 1810 as a wedding celebration for the popular Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese.  Although starting in September, the original two week long party lasted into October 1810.  Even today’s Oktoberfest celebrations begin 16 days prior to the first Sunday in October.

Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest is only one weekend but is no less festive.  There are tons of bands from Germany, the US and other countries.  Dancers, street performers and other acts line five blocks of East Fifth Street as well as out Vine, Walnut, Main, Sycamore and Broadway.  The streets are closed to all but foot traffic.

We met our friends, Rex and Natalie Dillinger, at 9 am to drive down the AA Highway to Cincinnati.  Since we were planning to drive on to Indianapolis, we needed to take a separate car from Dillingers.  We took a break from the three hour drive in Cold Spring, Kentucky at a Gold Star Chili which we all enjoyed.  When traveling to Cincinnati, a bowl of Cincinnati Chili can really hit the spot.  We continued on to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see the Cincinnati Under the Sea exhibit.  Although not a large exhibit, the informative displays illustrated what the area of current Cincinnati was like during the late Ordovician Period (450 Million Years Ago).  

We moved to the Cincinnati History Museum where we saw a model of the city as it looks in the early 1900s through the 1940s.  A large display showed the role of Cincinnati in World War II.  In the replica of the Cincinnati waterfront there was a full sized replica of a riverboat of the late 1800s and many historical interpreters to explain the significance of the items.  We finished up at an exhibit of black and white photographs of the Cincinnati area.  We all enjoyed our visit to the museum especially considering that we had seen only about one third of the exhibit area.

At three o’clock we drove to the Over the Rhine area and, on Greg’s recommendation, we found parking easily at the Gateway Parking Garage.  Although this parking area was further from Oktoberfest than other parking areas we have used, it was very easy to get in and out.  As we were parking we saw J. K., Deanna, Ian and Emily outside the parking garage.  It was great to see them there.  We walked several blocks over to Fifth Street and we were very surprised at the size of the crowd.  In other years we typically came earlier in the day and had much smaller crowds but at 3:30 the streets were packed.  Lines for beer and food were very long.  There were bands on the stage at Fountain Square as well as sponsored tents on each of the streets intersecting Fifth.  Lots of guests were in lederhosen, dirndl, and chicken hats.  There were living statues and even a “naked cowboy” on the street.  We ate goetta balls, goetta reubens, sauerkraut balls, potato pancakes from Izzy’s, Kaiser Schloss, Mecklenburg Gardens, Laslo’s Iron Skillet and other street vendors.
Of course we took part in the "world's largest chicken dance" led by Drew and Nick Lachey (formerly of the band, 98 Degrees) with just under 50,000 people participating.

I was pleased to meet up with my former student Andy Adkins.  Andy was a classmate of Sarah’s and was a star member of our school’s Quiz Bowl team.  It was great seeing Andy and we hope to meet up with him again soon since he is living in Cincinnati. He told me that his brother, Tim, had lived in Cincinnati but is now living in Arizona.

At five o’clock, Greg was part of the Young Professional’s Choral Collective that performed several German songs on the main stage at Fountain Square.  We enjoyed the performance and our visit with Greg afterward.  We left Oktoberfest and said our goodbyes to everyone and drove west to Indianapolis where we had reserved a room at the Sleep Inn near the convention Center.

We were very impressed with the Sleep Inn here.  The lobby borders on luxurious and our room has a king sized bed, microwave, refrigerator and tasteful décor.  With our AAA discount, this motel is quite a find.  We watched a little of Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts on PBS then turned in for the night.

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