Pictures From the 2012 Trip With My Son

My brother was asking about the pictures from a trip that my son and I took some years ago to Cincinnati. We had stayed across the river in Kentucky, and he was asking if we had stayed at the same town of Covington where those students from the Covington Catholic High School that has been getting so much attention - mostly negative - is located. But that really did not sound familiar. It took a bit of mental digging, but I came up with the name, eventually. It was Florence. Mostly, I remember that name, because we had seen something somewhere which had read "Welcome to Florence, Y'All." It was the most southern welcome, if you will, that I had experienced to that point, because the only real trip down south that I have been on would come a couple of years later. 

The trip that I took with my son way back in the summer of 2012 wound up being the first major road trip that he and I took together. Up to that point, I figured that he was too young to go without his mom for several days at a time like that, but it seemed like a good idea to go ahead and try and take a nice trip together, just father and son.

And indeed, it was fun! We left on an evening, heading towards Cincinnati. I felt good and strong, and we made it past Pittsburgh. But that was when I began to feel really tired and worn out. We had made it as far as we were going to go, but I pulled over at a rest stop and allowed myself to doze for a few hours. My son had been asleep for quite a few hours by then.

We awoke, went to the bathroom, and began driving again. It was still mostly dark outside. I remember we stopped at some point at some rural area with farmland to take in the view of the sunrise. I believe that this was the first sunrise that my son actually watched, and it was definitely the first sunrise that my son and I watched together. It was memorable for him, because he remembered it years later. Hopefully, he still remembers, and will hopefully that is a memory that he will continue to hold throughout his life. There certainly are worse memories to have than that moment.

Later that morning, we reached Cincinnati. We reached the hotel where we were staying across the river at Florence, Kentucky. Washed and freshened up, and then went back out to the city. It was nice. The main attraction for both of us was Fountain Square, which was really nice. Both of us have always had a fascination with water fountains, and this one was no different. My son kept asking for more and more change, until I no longer had any for him to throw in and make a wish. I got the distinct impression afterwards that he was thinking of throwing himself in, because it was a hot day, and the water must have been very inviting.

Fountain Square, Cincinnati

Cincy - With my son at Fountain Square, in Cincinnati. He really enjoyed the fountain, and wanted to stay all day. Is it obvious that I've been working on my tan all summer?

Sometimes, you just don't have enough change.

Downtown Cincinnati

I'm not sure about the name of this bridge, and the picture does not do it any justice. It was a bit reminiscent of Brooklyn Bridge in NY. Very beautiful, connecting Ohio with Kentucky, to my understanding.

My son clowning around on some weird bicycle statues in Cincinnati

Cleveland - Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

Now we're at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio

My son rocking out in front of the Hall!

Here I am in front of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, but at night. Nice building, from IM Pei. Same architect that built the Louvre Pyramid. I should mention that this picture was taken by none other than my son, and I am assuming this was one of his first photographs, although I could be mistaken.

Straight up night shot of Rock Hall of Fame, Cleveland

Another angle of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, this one looking out to Lake Erie in the distance, stretching out behind the building.

Pretty cool pic of Sebastien in front of the Rock H of F

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

This picture is nicer than it might first appear. It looks like a blinding shine or so from the windshield or window of a car, but we were outside. A beautiful rainbow is captured, but obscured by the white from the mist and the actual falls, giving it a strange look. If you examine it more closely, there is another, fainter rainbow on top of the obvious one - but you really have to look in this picture.

My son enjoying the sun at Niagara Falls. Just look at how incredibly happy he is to be posing for the camera!!! LOL!

My son was flirting with scaling the walls, wanting to climb to the other side. Ummmm.....no.

Double rainbow, with the American Falls and the Peace Bridge in the background, Niagara Falls, 2012

Back to the camera. These were the easiest shots to take, because I did not have to fight with him.

Much happier now than in some of those other photographs. Again, my son really loves the water fountains that he can throw coins in and touch the water (and get his clothes wet in the process). Niagara Falls cannot compare, I guess.

My son looking very happy. He actually was not as miserable as this picture suggests, although he was not thrilled with the idea of being in a picture.

He's actually looking at the camera!

My son enjoying some time on a German cannon captured during World War I. I believe this was at Niagara Falls, although I cannot remember too well any longer. 

Here are the links to the posts from this trip that I published around the time that we went. At the time, I did not have a cell phone that could easily post pictures online, and so none of these had pictures in them. I only realized that today, when my brother brought it to my attention, and so decided to go ahead and try and remedy that with a post about that trip which did indeed include some pictures taken from that trip:

Going on Vacation, published August 22, 2012:


https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2012/08/going-on-vacation.html

Back From Vacation, August 27, 2012:

https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2012/08/back-from-vacation.html

A Little Note About Florence, Kentucky...:

https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-little-note-about-florence-kentucky.html





That Southern Feel...:

https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2012/08/that-southern-feel.html