by Behold the Buckeye!
When William Henry Harrison successfully ran for president, his campaign created souvenirs carved out of Ohio’s state tree, the buckeye. Since that time, Ohio residents have been called “buckeyes,” though it seems a bit odd to me, considering the tree produces a poisonous nut.
“Buckeye” appears in many business and organization names, and is even the official state mascot of The Ohio State University. But the only thing I was really interested in was the Buckeye candy made of chocolate and peanut butter and bearing a resemblance to the buckeye nut.
Getting my hands on some quality buckeye candy was priority number one when we got to Ohio. I don’t think I need to even say it, but they were delicious. I undertook a thorough and comprehensive analysis, which will be ongoing for the rest of my life.
Ohio is Presidential!
Ohio is the birthplace of seven U.S. Presidents (only Virginia can claim more), so there’s lots of presidential sites in the state. However, that doesn’t really explain the assortment of presidential statues we saw in Cincinnati. For instance, William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati and has no statue at all.
William Henry Harrison, was not born in Ohio and didn’t even move here until he was 41. He may have lived here when elected as President, but he has by far the shortest term of any President. He died of pneumonia (or maybe typhoid, or maybe both) just 32 days in to his term. Legend says he fell ill after not wearing a coat in bad weather while delivering the longest Presidential inauguration address ever, lasting more than two hours. Though the only words on the base are his name and “Ohio’s First President,” he is shown in his role as a military officer -– atop his horse, but without a saddle!
James A. Garfield was the 20th president of the United States. He was born about four hours from Cincinnati, and he doesn’t look very presidential in this statue, in my opinion. He’s holding a stack of papers, but there’s no interpretation of why he’s presented like this. He looks to me like he’s returning from a night out, a bit rumpled. Interestingly, Garfield has the second shortest presidential term (after William Henry Harrison) at 199 days, brought down by an assassin.
Abraham Lincoln has no connection to Ohio other than making some campaign stops here. Yet he wound up with a statue thanks to Charles Phelps Taft, who commissioned it to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. However, it was not well received, thanks to the deep wrinkles and missing beard! Critics called it “a monstrous figure, which is grotesque as a likeness of President Lincoln and defamatory as an effigy.”
Ice Cream Smackdown!
We accidentally had ice cream for dinner. We didn’t mean to, but we were downtown on a Friday night and it turns out not much was open for quick service. Since Graeter’s ice cream was on my list of “must have in Cincinnati” – well, ice cream works for dinner for me.
Graeter’s was founded in Cincinnati in 1870, so they’ve had plenty of practice to get it right. Mine had a banana and nuts in it to make it healthy. It was delicious, I’d definitely have it again and again. Doug got some seasonal flavors, also delicious.
Just to be sure about Graeter’s, we checked out the competition, Aglamesis Brother’s. It’s hard to tell what I thought of the ice cream because it was drowning in chocolate syrup. I also was not impressed with the amount of whipped cream. Doug was better pleased with his choices.
So I guess that means I’m a Graeter’s girl in the end, but I’m willing to give it further study, in the name of journalistic integrity and thoroughness. Aglamesis was also founded in Cincinnati, but not until 1908, so they’ve had less time to get it right.
Cincinnati Chili Showdown!
Cincinnati-style chili has been a thing since the 1920s. It’s a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce, seasoned with cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, and chili powder. One does not just eat the chili itself, it’s used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs (also known as “coneys”).
The most popular way to have it as a “three-way”, in which a heaping pile of shredded cheese is added on top, but a “four-way” or “five-way” can get you beans and onions, too. Oyster crackers complete the ensemble. Adding beans to spaghetti sounded gross to me, but it was actually a tasty combination.
Anthony Bourdain called Cincinnati chili “the story of America on your plate.” Apparently Cincinnatians (and I’m assuming the city’s tourists) consume two million pounds of the chili every year, along with 850,000 pounds of cheese.
There are a few iconic places to get them, and we tried them three of them (yes, three!). Skyline Chili opened in 1949 while Gold Star Chili dates to 1965; both are larger chains with quite a few locations. Camp Washington Chili (founded in 1940) has just one location, but they have won quite a few accolades over the years for their version, including an “American Regional Classic” James Beard Foundation Award in 2000.
Meeting Up With Friends!
We met up with some friends Doug knows through work, who knew enough to take make sure we hit up The Turf Club on Burger Night. It was a lovely fall evening on the porch overlooking the golf club.
A Taste of Belgium in Cincinnati
Founder Jean-Francois Flechet may be from Belgium, but his home now is Cincinnati. In 2007 he went to Belgium and brought home a 120-pound cast iron waffle maker, along with a determination to recreate his beloved childhood waffles in his new home.
Inconceivably, Doug had previously been to Taste of Belgium for the beer and did not try the waffles. Am I partnered with a psychopath? Actually, the real reason this restaurant came on our radar is because it was a recommended place for the goetta (mentioned up in the chili section).
The waffles are stuffed with “pearl sugar” that creates “crunchy pockets of sweetness”, because a waffle is not sweet enough on its own.
I got the “Over the Top,” which was a healthier version due to the lemon curd, mixed berries, maple Ricotta whipped cream, and black pepper nuts. It was a thing of beauty.
The Cincinnati “All Other” Section
