A fruit stand on the "porch" of the Findlay Market.
I saw more of Cincinnati in our 2.5-day birthday trip than I did in a dozen childhood visits to the Queen City.
The 156-year-old main market building is long but narrow
Those trips tended to be event-oriented; we went to see a Reds ballgame or ride roller coasters at King’s Island.
Here’s one of the things we missed: the Findlay Market, Ohio’s “oldest continuously operated public market and one of Cincinnati’s most cherished institutions,” tucked in a historic neighborhood called Over-the-Rhine.
Dating to 1855, it’s a dizzying mash-up of old school and new ideas.
Hard-luck musicians strummed guitars for pocket change outside a deli stocking more than 100 kinds of cheese, some selling for upward of $25 a pound.
Now that's what I call an oatmeal cookie!
There was more naked animal flesh than I’ve ever seen in one place, ranging from cage-free chicken to the official brats of the Cincinnati Reds.
We even found what appeared to be an exact replica of Starbuck’s “ultimate oatmeal cookie” — only fresher, cheaper and so enticing that it was all I could do to get Bob to stop photographing it so I could taste the darn thing.
Can you tell I enjoyed eating on this trip? My inner “conquestrian” had a blast exploring restaurants and food stands yet somehow managed to avoid awakening my inner pig.
Hmm…. Maybe I should’ve tried to trade that beast for an armload of artisan bread.
90in9 