It's a Date

My husband and I recognize the importance of going on dates together, even though we have 2 little ones at home.  But because those little ones don't quite know how to sleep in (well, actually my son doesn't quite know how to sleep AT ALL) we try to have date days instead of date nights.

This way we aren't out late, only to be woken up at the nice early hour of say, 5:30am, by our sweet children.  And as an added bonus, the kids get some quality time with their grandparents!

We tend to steer away from traditional “dinner and a movie” dates, so this past Saturday we took at trip to Over-the-Rhine (OTR) in Cincinnati.  Not exactly a hot spot for a date in Cincinnati...but it was for us!

We finally experienced Findlay Market and then took a walking tour, sponsored by the OTR Brewery District.

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to visit Findlay Market.  It was so much fun!

There is an unbelievable amount of fresh food to choose from and so much fun variety!

Since we were going to be doing the walking tour right from the market, we had only brought a small cooler to store some food.  We didn't load up on the produce like I would have liked, but we definitely plan on heading back down soon!

At one of the entrances of the market, there is the Over-the-Rhine Biergarten at Findlay Market.  After we strolled through the market, drooling just about every step of the way at the amazing selection of food, we sat down to eat and have a beer before the tour started.



(Beer and Fudge, what could be better?!)



Our tour guide was so informational and you could tell he loved what he was doing.  While the tour was focused around beer brewing and the impact beer making had on  the city, there was a lot of historical information about the OTR area, then and now.  It was such a sad statistic to learn that an area that was once the home to over 44,000 people now cites a population of only around 8,000.  This in turn means that over 70% of the buildings in OTR and vacant.  Due to the sad state of the buildings (and the area in general), real estate is beyond cheap.  I think my husband was ready to call a realtor before we were even finished with the tour (but with 2 kids and a limited budget, I was able to remind him that we don't exactly have the time or finances for a complete building renovation right now)!

We were able to walk through some of the old vacant brew houses.  This one was in process (actually, halted) renovation to be turned into condos. 



Original conveyor system...how cool!



Do you know what this is growing on the side of this building? 

Hops!  (Who's ready to make beer?!)

Luckily we got a break from the heat and traveled into the old lagering cellars that are carved into the hillside!  It was dark, wet, and cool...and quite amazing.

 2.5 hours after we started our tour, we concluded our walk back at Findlay Market...time for another beer!

My husband and I had a great time on our date day.   We even finished early enough to eat dinner with the kids before it was off to bed (for everyone...including us!)

We definitely enjoyed our time visiting new places in the city, learning a little history, and of course, spending some quality time together!

Do you take the time to "date"?

What fun things do you do for dates, that are different than the standard dinner and a movie?