Cincinnati, Ohio- September 23-24, 2019

Seven days before our planned vacation for Spring 2019, I fell off our porch and broke 5 bones in my foot and tore my Lisfranc ligament. This meant I was non-weight bearing for 11 weeks and needed at least three surgeries (thankfully one will be in the future. Because of the severity of the injuries, my diabetes, and the physical demands of my job, I was off work for a total of five months. Our finances were strapped! No more traveling for us for a while! After my second surgery and I was able to walk comfortably again, we were itching to get back on the road, even if just for an overnight. We knew we couldn't afford anything too extravagant, but we knew we needed the mental break. We decided to head towards Newport/Cincinnati for the weekend. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Newport.

Original injury, first pic post-op

Post-op screws to come out in surgery #2, hard cast

Just a little swollen, walking boot

Evan painted my toenails

We love staying at these facilities for the clean rooms and the free breakfast! We went to the Newport Aquarium. We are picky with aquariums, we usually aren't impressed with them. We heard the reputation of this one, so we had to check it out! The aquarium had underwater tunnels which were so much fun. We also got to walk across a 'shark bridge', a rope bridge with netting that goes across the shark tank! We got to see an awesome octopus with a beautiful red color. I could have stayed to watch him all day! We saw a four eyed fish that keeps one set of eyes under water and one set above the water to watch for enemies. They had a large sting ray pool where we got to pet the stingrays. We also saw some workers dressed as mermaids at the poolside. They also had a tank with sharks that we also got to pet! We were definitely not disappointed with this aquarium!

When we got done there, we decided to walk the riverfront area and walk across the Purple People Bridge. This bridge connects Newport to Cincinnati. After our walk, we drove into Cincinnati to go the the zoo. We finally got to see the famous Fiona, the baby hippo!

We were glad for the much needed trip, even if it was a small journey!