I checked out of the Sheraton, and used my iPhone to locate a breakfast place called the Half Day Cafe, which turned out to be in a little village south of Sharonville called Wyoming. The cheerful, brightly-colored restaurant was crowded, but I had no trouble finding a table, and enjoyed a great breakfast there. Then I headed to CD Warehouse in Sharonville, CD Exchange in Kenwood and Everybody’s Records, dropping off Haystak postcards and posters, before Abdullah called me to meet him at a coffee bar near the University of Cincinnati.
First I dropped more promotional materials at CD Game Exchange on Short Vine Street, and then I ran into some young men in front of a recording studio, and I talked with them briefly about Select-O-Hits Music Distribution, and then headed up the street and over to Taza Coffee Lounge, where Abdullah and a young rapper from the Elementz program were waiting for me. After enjoying a latte and talking with them, I headed on to Shake It Records on Hamilton Avenue, and then over to the westside CD Warehouse, listening to the CD of Cincinnati soul star Kenny Smith which I had purchased at Everybody’s Records earlier in the day.
Afterwards, I headed across the bridge into Kentucky, and I decided not to eat dinner in the area, but to drive on to the Louisville area. The sun was just beginning to set when I arrived in Louisville, and I drove across into Jeffersonville, Indiana to the Buckhead Mountain Grill, which had an outdoor deck and was built on the bank of the Ohio River. Although it was somewhat cool, and a lot of people were out on the river deck, I chose to eat indoors. After dinner, back on the Kentucky side, I drove to Underground Sounds and then to Ear X-Tacy in the Bardstown/Highlands area. I had seen a place called the Pie Kitchen on Bardstown, so after I finished distributing promotional materials to record stores, I drove back there and enjoyed a cup of coffee and a piece of homemade chocolate silk pie just before they closed for the night.
Then, driving downtown, I easily found the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where I valet parked my car and checked in. My room was large and spacious, with a beautiful view of the downtown skyline, and, better yet, an iPod dock that played the music on my iPhone. The hotel was within walking distance of the Fourth Street Live district, but I decided to go on to bed instead. (August 7, 2008)