You know your social life is down in the dumps when your parents are telling you about the “hot spots” downtown and are actually going to some of them.  My parents, moved to downtown Cincy over 2 years ago and they have never looked back.  In fact, I sometimes have trouble looking for them due to their over abundant social calendar.  I guess they paid their dues raising four children and all that entails.  My parents will tell me, “we saw this great play last night”, “we went to happy hour at _______”, “we just got invited to a party”, “we’re heading off to a wine tasting”.  Oh my….my parents are now hipper than me (although, I don’t think I’ve really ever qualified as “hip” – my friends laughingly kindly referred to me as “stuck in the 80’s” but, hey, even some of those styles eventually came back, right????).

Now, I just live vicariously through my parents.  While they’re out enjoying that Friday night happy hour, I’m at home giving my girls a bath and hoping that my husband might, just once, stay awake for a movie.  But every so often we do get to get out of Mason and actually go out.  Chris’s Dad was in town a few weeks ago and we wanted to take him downtown.  My parents invited us to meet them at a great happy hour at the The Cricket Lounge in the Cincinnatian Hotel (yes, it’s really called The Cricket Lounge).  If you’ve never visited the four-star, four-diamond Cincinnatian Hotel, you should stop by since it’s one of the oldest hotels in Cincinnati. It was originally built in 1882 and the architect who designed it also designed Cincinnati’s Music Hall and City Hall (wow).  Their happy hour is great and every day from 4-7pm, you can get ½ price Cricket menu snacks and appetizers. We tried the hummus, chicken wings and spinach and artichoke dip (all yummy).  Drink specials include $2.50 draft beers, ½ price on House wines and $5 specialty cocktails (Appletini anyone?).  On the weekends, they have a soothing jazz trio playing.  The ambiance reminded me of a cruise ship where you don’t have a care in the world and you can just sit back in a comfortable chair, enjoy your drinks, & savor your food while conversing contentedly. The jazz trio and the eight story atrium definitely added to the cruise ship illusion for me.

Someday, I’d love to eat at the Palace Restaurant located in the Cincinnatian.  It’s known for its fine dining and on every third Thursday of the month they have a “2 course dinner for 2 with wine” for only $60.  They also have a $44 three course prix-fixe dinner available nightly that includes a first course, entrée and dessert. They’ve received some great reviews and rewards so I’d really like to try it firsthand (check out Wine Me Dine Me’s review for further confirmation).  They also have a cool dining experience called “The Kitchen Table” where you and a group of friends can hang out in the kitchen at your own personal table and really see what happens behind the scenes.  There’s a $200 minimum and the table can seat 8 so make reservations and get to the Palace for a truly unique dining experience. 

My parents did give me a gift certificate for my birthday for a dinner out with babysitting included (big bonus) so maybe I’ll take them up on their offer soon and make reservations at The Palace.