A Whirlwind Trip to Cincinnati

Dale was born in Cincinnati. It’s true, he’s not a native Texan, but I love him anyway. His family came to Texas many years ago though, and in the 34 years I’ve known him he’s only been back to see his Ohio family a few times. So, when we received an invitation for his aunt and uncle’s 60th anniversary and 80th birthday party we knew we had to be there.

Dale’s mom only has one sibling, a brother. He and his wife have four children and these are all the cousins Dale has, or at least has ever heard of. (Dale’s dad was adopted and only recently found his siblings so we don’t know much about any cousins on that side.) We haven’t seen any these cousins for more than 14 years. As you can see from the photo below, their family has grown to include daughters- and sons-in-law, as well as one grandbaby.

Our trip began with a very early Saturday morning flight and a car rental snafu. We arrived at the venue ten minutes past the 1pm start, but it turns out that we were early enough to join in on the surprise when the couple walked in. So glad of that!

We spent the next three hours reliving memories, making new friends and visiting with family. It’s such a blessing and joy to spend time with family who know and love the Lord.

The following day we enjoyed a leisurely lunch with Dale’s aunt and uncle and three of the four cousins. It gave us all the opportunity to visit on a more personal level.

After lunch we all parted ways. Dale’s parents and sister headed out on their road trip towards Tennessee, and Dale and I headed to the Cincinnati waterfront to spend an hour before our late afternoon flight home.

It was a beautiful afternoon. We found a parking garage right across from a very charming area of the river. We walked along the river near the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, which has been in use since 1867. Roebling designed the bridge, and later the famous Brooklyn Bridge. We watched some of the river boats, enjoyed snow cones and sat in some swings overlooking the river. We only had an hour, but it was a very good hour.

I was a little nervous about our flight home because I booked a flight on Frontier. I didn’t know what to expect from such a “cheap” airline company, but I can confidently say that we will not hesitate to fly Frontier again. I’d say the only challenging part was that Frontier uses the south terminal at Austin airport. When we walked down the stairs onto the runway I had no idea where we were and had a second of fear that we’d gotten on the wrong plane. Ha! We had to take a shuttle to the main terminal, then make our way to our car which was parked in the economy lot.

Our whirlwind Ohio adventure was a success.