Visiting Cincinnati

Yesterday I was in Cincinnati in an all-girls' Day Trip to visit my gorgeous friend of tree-fame with my bestest-of-friends KG, and my great friend DM.

We first visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which I think is a must-see for everyone who lives in this country. None of my chica friends had been there before (I was there with my husband a year or so ago) and the four of us spent almost 3 hours walking through the three floors of exhibits, which the imposing building, set right next to the river, offers its visitors.

The exhibit that moves me the most there (where I feel enveloped by this preternatural sadness and am near weeping when I step into the structure) is the slave pen. Bruja that I fancy myself to be, I feel the strongest vibes coming from that building, filled with the greatest of sorrows and pain and loss.

But the center also gives you a sense of how, beyond all hope and against all odds, African-descended people (and others who have faced similar oppression) persevered and survived and overcame the racism (the institutionalized subjugation and disenfranchisement) that preceded slavery, went along with slavery and continued after slavery ended.

It is a place where one feels not only the horror of slavery but also the power of survivance, a term developed by Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe). Survivance unites the ideas of survival and resistance and examines how native texts "convey the continuance of stories that resist and confound dominant narratives of tragedy and victimization." I think survivance also describes the main theme of the center.

After our visit to the Freedom Center, we headed to the Findlay Market in the late afternoon, after the rush of the morning had ended and only a few vendors remained. Inside the market, we found the best cobbler ever in the history of cobblers. Aunt Flora's Cobbler House and Down Home Diner has become a must-eat-there place for me now anytime I find myself in Cincinnati. Next time, I'm going to make sure I try their fried fish and their fried chicken, too!

This time, however, I only brought back two cobblers. A medium-sized blackberry rectangular cobbler that my husband devoured in one sitting, and a small, round sweet potato cobbler that I'm exercising all my willpower not to eat in one sitting. I'm happy to report that it has now survived two nibbles: one yesterday and one today. Their peach cobbler, which is truly out-of-this-world, and of which I only got a small taste, is also next on my list to get from there.

Oh, and lest I forget, before we headed for the market, we all had lunch at Ambar, which has the best Indian food I've ever eaten, ever.

What a fun Saturday! The day boasted clear skies and little humidity, and I spent it with great girl-friends in a fascinating city. It doesn't get much better than that.