Spent the day with my older sister, Sujean, and my brother-in-law, Isaac, tooling around the Cincinnati area. We spent some time at the Cincinnati’s History Museum, which was very good, and we also saw the SuperCroc exhibit. I was a paleontology nut when I was a kid, and I still enjoy looking at fossils. Scientists have unearthed many new species in the past decade, and the SuperCroc — a 40-foot crocodile from 10 million years ago, discovered in the Saraha Desert — is one of the more interesting finds. (1RM)
The highlight of the day, of course, was the food. I’m always anxious to sample local specialties, and in Cincinnati (formerly known as pork-opolis), there are two. The first is a pork-and-oats hash known as Goetta. I was a bit scared when Isaac first described it to me — it sounded suspiciously like spam — but it’s actually quite good. Of course, my sister bought it from a great vendor at Findlay Market, so that might have had something to do with it. (1RN)
The second is Skyline Chili, also known as Cincinnati Chili. It’s chili cooked with cinnamon and cloves, served over spaghetti noodles and piled high with cheddar cheese. There’s a chain called Skyline Chili, where we ate, but there are also several other restaurants that specialize in it. (1RO)
Tomorrow, I’ll poke around the city a bit more, then will have drinks with Paul Visscher and Jason Cook of The Canonical Hackers. (1RP)