On Saturday some friends who live in a small town north of here came to the ‘Nati to play for the day. We get together a few times a year and just goof off.
And the best part? No detailed plans, just hanging out for the afternoon seeing where life would take us. Yeah Team Mellow.
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We drove up a large hill, on the west side of town, into an old part of the city called Price Hill, and stopped at a small city park dedicated to a long forgotten form of transportation, the incline. An incline was a cable railway that took passengers up & down steep hills. In this park there were a few plaques commemorating The Price Hill Incline, which allowed people to ride out of & into the city of Cincinnati from 1874 to 1943.
And the best part? This tiny park was a hidden gem– clean, quiet, providing a city view from a different angle than I have ever seen before. Way cool.
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While we were up on the hill we went to lunch at a restaurant, Incline Public House, located beside the park. We sat out on the deck that looks over Cincinnati, the Ohio River and into Kentucky. Even though it was a hazy day, seeing the buildings, railroad tracks and barges from way up high was mesmerizing. The food was delicious. I had lamb sliders with goat cheese + cherry bourbon chutney, along with a side salad of fresh greens + peppercorn ranch dressing.
And the best part? A shot of Woodford Reserve Bourbon in my iced tea. Yum.
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After driving around Price Hill so that we could admire the architecture of the old homes, we drove down into Cincinnati and went to the casino that opened there in March. Casinos are a new big deal in Ohio. While I’m not much of a gambler, I’m nothing if not a curious person so I was happy to see what Horseshoe Casino was all about. It was much nicer than I thought it was going to be– beautifully decorated, good sound system, a variety of restaurants and smoke-free. [Take that Indiana.]
And the best part? I walked away from the 25¢ slot machines, $5.00 richer! Cha-ching.
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THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Your words and pictures totally captured the fun day we enjoyed. I am really intrigued by the incline – love seeing the old pictures. Thanks so much for blogging about it.
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Zen-Den, it was a fun day, wasn’t it? There were other inclines running in Cincinnati besides this one. I need to look into that and see where else we can go. Maybe they have great views, too.
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I’m a huge fan of lamb anything. Cherry chutney sounds like a perfect accompaniment. We have a wine bar near us that does a lovely lamb slider, and now I’m thinking Rick and I have need for a visit. Thanks for a nice reminder.
Niagara Falls has an incline railway down to the falls. The whole ride lasts about two minutes. It’s a great shortcut, though.
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Nance, the chutney was just right on these sliders. Of course, I’m pro-chutney on just about anything.
Didn’t know about the Niagara Falls incline. I have no idea how long the Price Hill Incline took to get from point A to point B, but I suspect that it was longer than 2 minutes.
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Beautiful pictures……beautiful day! It’s fun to see what is so close to where each of us live. There are surprises everywhere. And great lunch places, too:)
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Beth, you’re so right. There are all sorts of surprising things around here. Not easy to get to, but kind of fun + quirky once there.
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Your photographs of present day Price Hill are lovely – and lunch sounds great – but the photos in your link! You know it looks like taking that incline railway would have been terrifying in its day. I love to find surprises, see places I’ve never been in my own town. Bourbon in iced tea sounds a little strange but… tasty.
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Zazzy, I know what you mean. The incline looks a little dodgy, but from what I read it only had one disaster the whole time it ran.
And as for bourbon in iced tea, it’s light and smooth. Very refreshing when the iced tea has some sweetener in it.
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I don’t like lamb but the rest of it sounds very gourmet. I don’t know that I’ve ever had bourbon!! I was fascinated by the incline info; I’ve never heard of such a thing. Is it too late to install it in Seattle? 😉 I’m jealous of your casino. All of our big, fancy casinos are tribal, thus smoking is permitted. And they don’t seem to have very good air filtration systems. Snoqualmie Casino is very nice except for the smoking.
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Margaret, I grew up in a house of bourbon drinkers and being so close to KY where it is made, I think the stuff is in my blood!
I was amazed by how much I liked this casino. Usually the smoke and/or the noise in casinos get to me, but not in this new one. Now will I be going back every week? No way! But if friends are in town it’d be a fun goof to go back. We enjoyed it.
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I don’t like to gamble, although I do enjoy low stakes pai gow(sp?) which is a friendly table. (just against the dealer and not against the other players)You can play a long time without winning/losing much. I’ve been once to the Quinault tribal casino in southern WA and it wasn’t as smoky–good filters? Never been to the Emerald Queen(our local Puyallup Tribe), the Muckleshoot or the Tulalip. We have tons of tribal lands here so lots of huge(but smoky) casinos!!
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Wow! You have quite a few casinos near you. Ohio only just allowed them & none of them are tribal. Ours are much more like east coast ones. Swanky with lots of food + drink.
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Some of the tribal ones are swanky too, if you can stand the smoking!! Blech.We have some small ones that aren’t on tribal lands and they don’t allow smoking. But they don’t have a bunch of restaurants, concerts, activities, etc. They’re strictly for gaming.
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