René of the Day: René of the Day // 8.14.11 // Reds vs. Pirates with Nashvillians!

Saturday five of our friends visited from Nashville - the Elrod's who just had Baby Ellie Rose in February and were away from her for the first time - and Justin and his girlfriend Haley and Kenny. We met at Vale's and continued to drain his kegerator... then hopped in cabs and headed to Fountain Square to show them a slice of Cincinnati.

We grabbed beers and coneys on the Square - and I'm not sure what the hell they put in the hot sauce at that Skyline stand but it's at least 4 levels hotter than the sauce in the restaurants - God dog, I had tears in my eyes - it was seriously painful sauce! It was fun to see how excited the Elrod's were for a big night out since becoming parents - evidently this was a group of wild ones in college at the University of Tennessee and I really enjoyed hearing all their crazy stories and memories, per usual lol

We spilt up between Vale's seasons ticket seats - we let the out-of-towners take the good Castellini seats behind home plate and we sat in the Kroger bleachers - it was a blast but it's a bummer to miss the scoreboard entertainment since you're sitting right underneath it. The game ended 13-1 - I've never been to a ball game with so many homeruns & fireworks - just amazing! I hadn't been to a game this season since Opening Day in April and another that week so I was stoked. I even brought a pack of Big League Chew bubble gum... MR wore his #11 Barry Larkin tshirt that the boys got him for his birthday - with "Mr. Brunelle" on the back - awesome! Haha I was thrilled that he actually wore it to the game without being coaxed, too cute.

After the game we went the new Holy Grail - oh college memories of the Clifton location with the blueberry beer - which you have to eat because they soak up all the alcohol and you can't let them win! From there we went to Yesterday's in Mt. Adams and the rest of the night was a hot mess. I believe one of the crew was kicked out for falling asleep on the bar - not naming names! - and MR & I stayed a bit later to chat with our recently engaged friends Lori and Andy and also Kelley and Liz who came to meet up with us. Since it was like herding cats by the end of the night, we just grabbed a cab, got McDonald's - where I think MR ordered every chicken item on the menu - and went home to crash... I wish we'd seen everyone more during and after the game but on nights like that, you just have to roll with it. Glad they enjoyed their trip to Cincinnati and had a hell of a good time at the game - go Redlegs!