Labor Day Weekend Trip
For Labor Day in 2023, my husband, David, and I decided to go on a short weekend trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. On Saturday morning, we drove a few hours to Cincinnati, Ohio with a lunch break in Shelbyville, Indiana. David had found a neat looking restaurant in Shelbyville that he wanted to try: The Fiddlers Three. When we pulled up to the building, we noticed that the parking lot was quite empty! We saw a sign on the door that it was closed. We were baffled because their website nor their Facebook page indicated that they would be closed. We took out our phones and started Googling for an alternative, and we came across Grandma’s Pancake House. We ordered breakfast food that was really good; I had pancakes with apples. David didn’t like his, because it came with processed cheese. I also became annoyed when I saw that I was charged extra for the apples even though the menu did not state this extra charge.
We then drove to Me & My Sisters Flea Market that I had seen on Pinterest. We saw some interesting items but didn’t purchase anything. We then continued our journey to Cincinnati. The hotel we stayed at was right next door to Element Eatery, a food hall, so we walked there for dinner, drinks, and live music from the Troublemakers Band.
The next morning, we got up early and traveled to the Cincinnati Zoo. I of course wanted to see the red pandas, but unfortunately, only one seemed to be active in their enclosure. It was a pretty hot day, so I do not blame him for not being outside as much. We went to the Wings of Wonder show in the afternoon where we got to see some birds up close and personal. Because we had gotten there early, one of the workers told us where to sit so the birds would fly right over us. They flew so close to us that I thought they would hit us!
As we were leaving the zoo, we heard a group of protesters yelling about the animals not being treated well in the zoo and that people who visit zoos are awful. I believe zoos protect animals. They conduct research, teach others about animals, and help to preserve animals from becoming extinct. They also allow people to view these majestic creatures up close. I do think that there should not be any more zoos constructed. And I feel that some zoos need to do a better job of figuring out what animals should be brought to their zoo. For instance, one zoo in the middle of the Midwest brought in penguins. I do not think that the climate was favorable to the penguins, and some of them even passed away due to avian flu. I felt awful for those penguins. I think that zoos can do a lot of good as long as they are run and managed correctly. I do think it is fine to be against zoos, but I feel that the protesters could have come when the zoo opened rather than in the afternoon. I think they missed an opportune time.
For dinner, we walked back to the Element Eatery for more good food. On Monday morning, we drove to the Jungle Jim’s location that we hadn’t visited before. Located in Fairfield, Ohio, Jungle Jim’s International Market has food and drinks from all over the world. We stocked up on our favorites and picked out some products that looked appetizing. We prefer the Eastgate location in Cincinnati, because it was easier to walk around in. The Fairfield location was quite crowded with people and displays. The Eastgate location also has better and more parking spaces. On our way home, we stopped at the Buck Creek Winery in Indianapolis, Indiana to try some wine. We had a lovely Labor Day weekend trip!
