Day 34 - Cincinnati

As we entered Macy's in Cincinnati we were greeted by this sign. An interesting read!!

Statue of old man Garfield was once a President of the United States. He was raised in Ohio. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio

Anne receiving the beginner's lesson on how to use a Segway, Cincinnati, Ohio

The building in the middle is suppose to be Cincinnati's oldest - now a cafe

The Great American Insurance building in Cincinnati - an unusual "opened" roof-top

An interesting statue of Abe Lincoln. What is so special about this statue is Abe does not have a beard. One of the few statues like this in the US. Located along the Riverfront, Cincinnati, Ohio

The Taft Museum - he was the President of the US prior to WW1, Cincinnati, Ohio

A view of Cincinnati's riverfront - just been recently built. The Cincinnati Baseball Stadium is just behind the series of steps

Many barges are towed downstream along the Ohio River, Cincinnati. The barges carry coal and oil to the refineries down river. This is interesting as the river is still used for transporting raw materials

They call this the "purple" bridge spanning the Ohio River. Only used for pedestrians. Taken from the Cincinnati side.

Not sure what the burnt out river pylons are about. We glided past these at 10MPH. Notice the segway rider on the left - that's Anne! Located in Bicentennial park, Cincinnati

Well now - the two of us having a spell in Bicentennial Park, Cincinnati

We took a photo of the "purple" bridge, this is the "blue" bridge. It was designed by the same guy who built the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC. Only this one is smaller and actually a test bridge for the one for the New York City version. Cincinnati, Ohio

The "blue" bridge. Taken from the Cincinnati side. Used by most travellers between Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the bridge that we used on many occasions to ford the Ohio River

Returning our segways to home base in Cincinnati. Travelling along Vine Street.

This is a painted wall along Vine Street, Cincinnati - looks real and impressive?

We had an excellent dinner at Rock Bottom - tried their micro beers and their Cincinnati food. Located near the Fountain Square in Cincinnati just prior to our carriage ride

We had a choice of a Cinderella or a plain carriage. We ain't no Cinderella or Prince Charming so we just opted for the simple coach. At the Fountain Square, Cincinnati, Ohio

An example of the Cinderella carriage. For those special people who want a fairy-tale ride. Located at Fountain Square Cincinnati, Ohio

The City Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio

A clear view of Cincinnati's skyline

Crossing the "blue" bridge over the Ohio River. Our steed is named Cody and he was galloping across the iron road - giddy-up

The designer of this building didn't think straight! Well look at the angles - all edges are curved. Apparently he is the same guy who is looking after the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City. Located in Covington, Kentucky

Another good view of Cincinnati from the up market location in Covington, Kentucky

This was once owned and built by a slave who eventually bought his own freedom. Located in Covington, Kentucky that was in Confederate territory. Across the river is Ohio, a Union state and freedom for the slaves.

The "blue" bridge from the Covington, Kentucky side. Is there any resemblance to the Brooklyn Bridge?

Our ride is finished and we paid Karen our rider/driver/tour guide and saying goodbye to Cody. Taken in front of our hotel, Covington, Kentucky

We caught the trolley bus into Cincinnati at 1030 after using the hotel's complimentary washing machines. We had breakfast in Cincinnati and made our Segway tour at 1130 am. Now this is something new to us. A segway is a machine that is computer driven and senses rider's movements - lean forward you start to go forward. Lean back you stop and from the standing still position you can go backwards. If you lean to the left the machine turns left and so on. It took us about 15 minutes to be at a stage to be road or footpath able. About 1215 we were off. For two hours we travelled over 12 klms gliding along the Riverfront of Cincinnati. It was fun. We covered a lot of sites in that short amount of time which we would take all day if we walked. We are now converted souls and believe this is a great way to get from A to B. We had a camera fixed to our machines and yet to watch what we did. We'll check it out when we get back home. After our Segway experience we returned to our hotel and just in time to watch a stream of Harley-Davidson riders check in. The average age of the group is about....50 years old. We had to use the only hotel's clothes dryer and lucky to beat the rush before the bikers took over. At 5pm we went back into Cincinnati and had dinner at Rock Bottom a restaurant next to Fountain Square. We had a local Cincinnati cuisine and one of the best meals we had so far. Neil tried the six micro beers that are brewed in the facility and still surmise that US beers are like "weasel p**s". Our carriage ride began at 6:30 pm when the temperature was comfortable for the horse and we toured Cincinnati Downtown. Followed by a spectacular ride over the "blue" bridge into Covington. The bridge's road surface was iron and we could see the surface of the Ohio River as we crossed. We felt unsure about Cody our horse handling this bridge but he made it with ease - he was actually galloping so as not to hold up the cars following us. In Covington we toured the peaceful and opulent side of the Ohio River and we were impressed of the history about slaves and the way people had lived during that era. Our tour returned us to our hotel and that was it for the day. It was a good experience. A lot of Americans had treated Cincinnati with unfavourable recommendations, however we and many Americans now see this city as a vibrant and interesting part of the US. Tomorrow we head up to Dayton in Ohio for one day. Dayton is the birthplace of air flight - home of the Wright Brothers and home of the US Air Force greatest air museum. Cheers.