Today was the last official day of convention and our more chill day.
Once again just to mess with my sleep schedule, we woke up at 7 a.m. to make it to one of our group member’s presentation. We all fought off our grogginess to listen to her panel of freedom in flight, which did not actually fit her topic, but we were trying to be courteous about it. Her piece was nonfiction while everyone else’s was fiction. She tried to not be too salty about the placement of her topic, but it was kind of funny listening to her talking about it.
After the presentation, we went to the Cincinnati Fire Museum. It was about a fifteen minute long walk from the hotel that gave us a deeper look into the downtown of Cincinnati. It was a cold, wet walk as thick flakes of snow fell. The murals were cool, but the buildings looked increasingly more run down and more concerning of our surroundings. We tried to stay close together as we walked. As we walked, I smiled at people we passed by and they scowled back. I guess that’s just a midwestern-Wisconsin thing…
The Fire Museum was cool. Apparently, Cincinnati was one of the leaders in the firefighting profession. In great detail, the museum went through how the profession went from an inefficient bucket line to what we are more familiar with today. The mannequins were probably my favorite part because they were posed funny. They had antique buckets–fun fact, they were made out of leather–and bells. The whole history of how fire alert systems evolved from a watch tower and drum, to a bell, to a telegraph, and now electric signal system was spread out in an easy, understandable manner.
After adventuring through the museum, we split into two different groups: one group went back to the hotel, stopping at some point to get Starbucks while the other group, my group, went in search of the best donuts in Cincinnati. Unsurprisingly, I was starving by the time we finished at the museum and was craving a donut. I had heard that Holtman’s donuts were good, so I and three of my group members went in search of them.
Another fifteen minute walk later, we discovered Holtman’s amidst the snow. It was smaller than I thought since it seemed to be so popular. We got in line and debated what donuts we wanted. To get a deal, we bought a dozen to share. I ordered a glazed donut and a custard filled long john. We also ordered three for the group members who didn’t come along on our adventure.
The donuts were fantastic and long worth the walk there. If you go to Cincinnati, Holtman’s is one place you have to stop.
When we got back to the hotel, we took a nap while two of our members when to an alumni meeting.
After my brief nap, I went downstairs and looked at what the other chapters were selling. I ended up buying three literary nerd shirts, one of which will be for my little sister, 6 bookmarks, and 6 pins. I have an addiction to pins in case you do not know. My backpack and lanyard are completely plastered with them.
We then met up for the last presentation for our group.
Once the presentation ended, we all milled about the hotel. We were too tired from the previous adventures around the city. We ended up deciding to just relax before the gala. I worked on my internship since the wifi refused to work for my homework and nodded off again. The others took another nap or played games in the other room.
The gala went ok. Unfortunately, despite my listing my allergies when I registered for convention, I could not eat anything that they served. Thankfully, I always have snacks on me, because this happens more often than it should. I nibbled on peanuts I had in my purse and emphasized that we were stopping to grab food later so I didn’t starve through the night. The waitress was not very understanding and continued to be rude throughout the night. I understand if you’re having a bad night, but she did not have to throw the plates onto the table and yank them away like we were abusing her. She did not seem to want to be there.
One of our group members received an honorable mention for her essay on a two lined poem. We cheered for her as she received her check and was pictured with the head of Sigma Tau Delta. We lingered to take a group picture together and chat while allowing the elevator traffic to lighten.
Four of us then proceeded to walk to an ice cream place called Graeter’s. I ordered a giant shamrock sundae. Maybe not the healthiest of dinners, I was fully satisfied with the mint and brownie chunks throughout it.
We hung it in he hotel room and then chatted about random things throughout the night. It was a nice conclusion to the convention itself.
