Pop Tarts and other funny American things

Some more fun pics from my time with Mike and Heather! On the morning we drove to the conference in Cincinnati, we stopped for a bathroom break at McDonalds in a small town en-route. Both of them were flabbergasted by the numbers of cars lined up for the drive-through. "Is it like this every day?" Mike asked. And "Why don't they just park and go inside? Wouldn't that be faster?" (You can't tell in the photo but Mike has his hands in the air and a querying look on his face.)

The first night of the conference was Free Ice Cream for participants at a downtown ice cream shop - delicious even on a cold evening.

One of the mornings we walked from our suite at The Ascent (see previous post) over to a breakfast cafe. Our server was pretty excited to meet two South Africans ("What in the world are you doing in Kentucky?") and explain the menu to them. Mike and Heath: "This pancake is Huge!" and "Look, they bring you your own carafe of coffee. ...Americans drink a lot of coffee."

One evening (after doing some grocery shopping at a local Kroger) Heath and I indulged in some Pop-Tarts, which was Heather's first experience. Although "indulge" is perhaps a bit strong. I mean, even though they have a fun name, they really do taste like cardboard. Initially Heather was feelin' groovy...


...then a bit skeptical...

...and here's the first bite! After that it was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. I guess you have to be a hungry kid in order to enjoy these.

BUT the big highlight at the suite was the coffee machine in the lounge. I'd never seen one like it and it made very nice cappuccinos (for an automated machine). The neat thing was that you stick a cup of cold milk under the tube (on the left), press "froth", and out it comes hot and foamy into the cup on the right. Then the espresso dispenses from the middle nozzle. Now with this, we weren't disappointed.

And a couple more area shots, since it was a really pretty time of year. This "welcome to Covington" sign was directly outside our suite windows, greeting cars as they cross over the Ohio River and enter Kentucky.

And what is more uniquely American than steamboats?!! Cincinnati was a hub for them in their heyday. Maybe next time we'll get to do a dinner cruise on one.

(p.s. thanks for the photos, Heath)