My favorite hotel in the entire world sits near the bank of the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky. It’s a round hotel that’s had five or six different names since I first stayed there in 1984. I’ve stayed there what seems like 100 times since then, although the real number is probably far less than that.
If you’ve ever been in Cincinnati, and paid attention, you’ve seen it. Heck, you may have even stayed there yourself. If you have, and you’ve stayed on the side of the hotel that overlooks the river and the Cincinnati skyline, then you may know why I love it so much.
What’s so special about this hotel, you might ask? I mean, there’s thousands of other hotels out there that are probably nicer, swankier, priced better, I don’t know. The Covington that sits below is nothing to shout about. There’s a couple other hotels I see, a Waffle House, Wendy’s, Frisches, and a Lexus dealership. There’s two Speedway gas stations, literally right next door to each other.
But I have to admit, for a Reds fan like me, the view is spectacular. And a city lit up at night is always a pretty cool sight. But it’s not the hotel, or the view, really. It’s so much more than that. It’s the memories.
I fell in love for the first time at this hotel. That very first stay way back in 1984, I had a picture of a little freckled-faced girl I’d just fell for in my pocket. I took it out and just stared at it for hours as I sat out on the balcony for the first time. I had no way of knowing then that it would never work out, but I fell anyway. And the memory has never left me.
Over the years, countless times I’ve literally taken the mattress off a roll away bed and slept on it out on the balcony, (more than ten stories up, with nothing but the railing between me and a plunge to the ground) with the roar of the traffic from the nearby interstate as my lullaby, and the wail of a fire truck as my morning alarm clock.
Many has been the time I’ve sat out on that balcony and smoked a cigar with a friend, or chatted until the wee hours of the morning, or watched a storm rage around us, with the balcony above as our only umbrella. Or just sat and stared and let the view and noise take me away.
Many times (notice the plural, again) has a wiffle ball and bat been employed as entertainment in the room, with the goal of hitting the ball out through the open balcony door to see how far it would travel in the parking lot below. On the river side, the goal, of course, was to clear the pool on the first floor. Some shot, that. This was with adults, you know, like me.
Me and most my family watched the demolition of Riverfront Stadium from the top of that hotel. The day they announced the date of the demolition, I booked two rooms in that hotel for the perfect view. I have it on video of you want to watch it.
There are names: yes, there are lots of names. Friends, family, partners in crime. Scott Moore, Paul Shupe, Danny Bradley, Scott & Ted Johnson, Kevin Uhls, Bryce Mansfield, Tammy Cooper, Tony Wilson, and so many more. All who have ventured to join me on a Reds excursion, this hotel serving our overnight stay.
I’ve stayed here when the Reds weren’t even in town. A great place for a few days getaway. The other side of the hotel offers a view of Old Town Covington. The Mainstrasse as it is known, for it’s German heritage, complete with the Clock Tower that shows the story of the Pied Piper every hour during the day.
I’ve stayed in every type of room they offer: double, king, the suites with the hot tub! I’ve dined in the revolving restaurant above, the one that offers a 360 degree view of Cincy and Covington. And I’ve looked longingly at the hotel from the windows of other hotels in which I’ve stayed in Cincy over the years. Yes, I come to Cincinnati a lot.
But the best memories I have — oh, the best of all — are the ones with my family. My wife, and my two boys.
I’m sitting out on the 11th floor balcony as I write this, in the desk chair I’ve moved out here with my laptop on my lap. It’s 1:02 in the morning. The interstate is busy as ever, and the river is as calm as I’ve seen it in a long time. It’s an absolute beautiful night. We watched the Reds win tonight, and Great American Ball Park is still lit up with a faint glow across the river. In the room, directly in my line of sight, the absolute love of my life is asleep in the bed, still in her #19 Joey Votto t-shirt. This is rough livin’, let me tell ya.
My wife and my two sons have stayed here with me more times than I can remember. And for every memory I have with them, I’m sure there are a hundred I have forgotten. And for every memory here at this hotel, there are a hundred more associated with it around the city on one of our trips here.
In the early days, before the kids, it was our go-to vacation getaway spot. Often was the time Ginger and I would sneak away for a couple days, stay in the round hotel and watch a couple Reds games. When the boys arrived, things didn’t change. They just got packed along!
As the hotel is round, as I’ve noted, the hallway on every floor goes in a complete circle. Every time we’d leave our room, the boys would run one direction, and I the other, to see who would reach the elevator first.
I bet me and my kids have splashed more water out of that pool over the years than it actually holds. And if management knew about the pillow fights, the ball playing (yes, me and the boys hit wiffle balls out of the balcony doors too — not to mention off the walls of the room) and the jumping and wrestling on the beds, they’d probably kick us out for good.
And I can’t even tell you about the memories with my wife — those are just for me and her.
I miss my boys immensely tonight as I sit out here on the balcony by myself. But I’m also boundlessly grateful for this time together with my wife. I’m excited my kids are moving on with their lives, and so looking forward to the time I will now get to spend with my wife in the coming years, God willing.
But I miss those times of the past, and a little part of me hurts. What I wouldn’t give for one more swing of the wiffle bat, or for one more pillow fight, or one more wrestle on the bed with my boys.
Perhaps they’ll find a place to make memories of their own with their own friends and families someday. And Lord willing, there will come a day when my grandkids get to hit wiffle balls out the balcony door with me. I’m looking forward to that, and so much more.
And as for me and Ginger, well, there’s more memories to be had. (A few on this excursion, already!) Because that’s all I’ve really ever wanted to do, was to make memories with her. And I intend to continue to make it a priority. Soon, we’ll be moving to a place well south of here, and home. And there will be a beautiful ocean nearby, and we will make memories there watching sunrises and sunsets.
But there will always be a place and a time for a particular round hotel. And it will be as cherished to us in the future as it has been in our past.
P.S. Thanks, Bob, for setting this up for us. We needed this one.
