The Soap Lady Should Clean Up Her Act

I thought I would mosey on down to the Lilac Festival this morning.  It's been almost four years since I first moved to Rochester, and it would be a shame if I never experienced its famous flower festival.

I decided to walk there since it's less than a mile and half away from my home.

I thought maybe I had made a mistake when I saw this.  Slightly ominous, no?

But the forecast said no rain until 1:00!  And thankfully, they were right!

I wandered around the park admiring the blossoms.  

Inhaling the sweet smells.

 Cursing myself for not checking my camera batteries before I left...

Sorry about the low-quality, blackberry shots. But you get the idea, right? Beautiful flowers!

After about an hour, my allergies told me it was time to head over to the food and craft fair across the street.  I had high hopes to score some lilac wine, lotions, homemade jewelery, jams. Maybe even grab a snack.  Unfortunately, the food fair did not live up to my expectations.

There really was not a great selection of vendors.  Perhaps this is due to the extremely wet weather we've been having?  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt...

There were a couple interesting booths, though.

Artichoke French.  Don't know what that is, nor did I see anyone order one, but sounds promising...

SWEET POTATO FRIES. Yummmm. I love me some sweet potato fries, not so sure about smoked turkey legs though...  I've never seen this at a food fair before.  There was another booth selling baked sweet potatoes too! Wild Rochestarians and your sweet potato treats. :)

Lobster and Prime Rib?! What the hell is going on?  I am at a food fair, right?  This booth is definitely trying to class it up. 

I tried this lotion on.  It smelled pretty good.  Very lilac-y.  It just didn't scream homemade, support the local economy to me, so I didn't purchase it.

Lilac soap.  Once again, nice smelling, but BAD experience at this booth.  I was browsing, smelling the soaps, minding my own business, and stopped to take this picture.  The vendor-lady came rushing over and got all up in my face, demanding to know why I was taking a picture of her soaps.  I told her I was just documenting my trip to the Lilac Fest.  She huffed and said, "well as long as you are not a competitor."  Really lady?! As if taking a picture of soap, of all things, will reveal all your secrets on how you get it to smell so good. Ugh.

On that sour note, I decided to head back home.

The verdict?  Check out the beautiful, delicious, fragrant flowers, but skip the craft fair AND the soap lady.

Marathon Mania

It would be a crying shame if I didn't share with you all of the wonderful photos I took while in Cincinnati.  Plus, I think it would be a blogging sin if I didn't do a race recap! So here we go!

I flew in to Cincinatti on Friday and met up with my family who came all the way from Washington State! They're the best!  We got stuck in major traffic headed to our hotel, and when we finally arrived we discovered the local news was on site!

View from our hotel room.

My dear ole' (and slightly nosey) dad, went down and talked to the reporter to find out what was going on, and when he would be on tv.

Look! There he is! We see you!

Apparently, there was a hit and run which was followed by a police chase.  Then somehow the bad guy (Don't you like my third grade vocabulary? ;) ) stole a van too, which had a little kid in the back seat.  Pretty great introduction to the city of Cincinnati, eh?

Later that evening we headed out for dinner and drinks.

Aren't my parents cute!

The next morning we hit the Expo up bright and early! It was held at Duke Energy Center.

Everything was Pig themed!

There was information on the pacers, the route and what to expect at each mile.

I especially loved this...

It's a video of the course sped up.  It also shows the elevation at each mile.

We had fun at some of the different vendors. :)

We got free posters! Mountains and mountains of posters. This picture doesn't do it justice.

I came back with lots of free swag!

Free backpacks!! AWESOME! And probably the best race tee I've received to date.

 

These weren't free. I had really been needing new running head bands. Mine were all stretched out. My mom picked up some Sweaty Bands for me and I absolutely love them! They are backed with velvet so they don't move at all. I may have to order a few more!

After the Expo, we decided to go check out the starting line and drive the course.

It was a beautiful day!

Look at the line up of port-o-potties!! Honey buckets as far as the eye can see! They were well prepared for the 30,000 participants!

 We followed the Official Marathon Course signs.

We passed  a wedding party! And got a glimpse of the bride!

Little flying pigs!

Cincinnati has some interesting architecture!

Then we headed back downtown for some lunch.  We checked out a brewery called Rock Bottom Grill.

It was great! I had a veggie pizza without the cheese (I try and avoid dairy before races).

Spinach, tomatoes, onions, and zucchini topped with balsamic vinegar.  Deee-lish!

We took a stroll through a downtown park.  Then it was back to the suburbs to pick up gatorade, coconut water, pretzels and a cooler in preparation for race day.  I had a waffle for dinner, and then it was to bed early for this little runner for a 4:15am wake-up call.

I had my usual oatmeal, cup of coffee, and liter of water for breakfast, pinned on my number, then headed downtown.

Very wet morning, but the show must go on!

3 hours 54 minutes and 27 seconds later I crossed the Finish Swine! Woohoo!

They had apples and pears from my hometown after the race! A treat all the way from Washington State!

After resting and cleaning up, we backtracked along the marathon course in search of an authentic, non-chain Cincinnati restaurant.  I was craving burgers like mad!  We ended up in Hyde Park at a spot called Arthur's.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

An awesome, random find!  And a perfect way to end an amazing race weekend!

I don't know about you, but I am itching to do another!

Any suggestions on where I should run my next marathon?!