Cincinnati

Today was the long planned and much anticipated Baylor Community Group road trip to Cincinnati. It was my first time actually hanging out in the town, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

The first stop after hopping on I-71 N was IKEA, the much-hyped Swedish furniture mega store that features the rare combination of super stylish yet affordable home furnishings. I succeeded in locating an inexpensive bookcase, which I was finally able to purchase after braving massive lines of furniture-crazed middle class Buckeyes. The whole crew ate lunch in the IKEA cafeteria, which like the rest of the store was ridiculously large and crowded.

Our next visit was here. No. Although it was an early Sunday afternoon, we did not stop at this old renovated church building to attend a worship gathering. Instead it was to check out Urban Outfitters, the textile Mecca for today's more affluent hipster. The store's wide selection of retro-meets-mod fashions was well complimented by a soundtrack of indie music that would have been equally apt for an underground dance party (you can download all of the songs they play here). When several less interested members of the group opted to walk down the street I jumped at the chance, that is before I bought a cardigan or hoodie I couldn't afford.

We proceeded a few blocks down the road to the American Apparel store, which was situated in the middle of a street on par with Louisville's Highlands. The following picture I believe illustrates the astronomical levels of hip-ness that was occurring.

Here the American Apparel store is shown adjacent to a bicycle shop (with a window display of track bikes) which is flanked by an independent coffee shop. This must be very convenient for area scenesters, who can patronize multiple levels of local business without stooping to even walk past a non-Bohemian business.

After trying on some amazingly short corduroy shorts (which I would have purchased, had they been cheaper) and attempting to avoid looking at the semi-pornographic decor, I ditched the L.A.-made threads for Baba Budan's Bearcat Cafe. Dirty Chai proved to be the cure for shopper's fatigue and before hopping in Josh's mini-van for the 502 I was able to make a contact about the possibility of booking a show.

Good times.