The second Familiarization Tour of 2008 hosted nine meeting planners from across the country. At noon the guests arrived with their escorts to there first stop of the day, Jean Robert at Pigalls, where the guests were treated to an exquisite dining experience in one of Cincinnati's finest restaurants.
At 1:30 sharp, dinner (lunch, if you are from the North) concluded and the guests boarded a deluxe touring bus provided by Crown Charters.
Harriet, the very competent and hopitable tour guide, enthusiastically greets everyone with a big smile and wave of the hand. (Truth is: she didn't want me to take her picture!)
The tour bus, after taking a drive around a couple of the downtown blocks, took the guests to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
The Freedom Center tour guide was superb. If any of the participants caught his name, please let me know, as he should be recognized.
By four o'clock everyone was hungry again. The timing for said hunger could not have been more perfect as it was time for the guests to experience a Cincinnati dining tradition, Skyline Chili.
At 5:30, after the guests had a brief break in the hotel rooms to nap and freshen up, there was a reception in the Duke Energy Center, where, to no one's surprise, was a spread to titillate the senses. Check out the desserts. Ovations, the official caterer at the Center, deserves a standing ovation for their artistic display of culinary delights.
Barrie Perks, VP at Cincinnati USA, for reasons yet undetermined, began to have a meltdown.
Marc Edwards of the Millenium Hotel tells Barrie, "Get a grip, man!"
Don Roesch of Prestige Audio Visual converses with a couple of the out-of-town guests.
The next stop, at approximately 7:30 p.m., the guests were entertained at Paul Brown Stadium's Players Lounge (the planned dinner on the football field was changed to indoors due to inclement weather).
If you are a meeting planner, it would behoove you to contact CincinnatiUSA and reserve your spot for the next Fam Tour and experience Midwestern hospitality unlike you have ever experienced it before.
