It is not often that airport Marriotts pay a lot of attention to aesthetics. They are meant for busy business passengers looking for a bed to sleep in for the night. That is why the bars are open very late at airport Marriotts đŸ™‚
The Cincinnati airport Marriott seems to be different. Beautiful fountain in the atrium.
I am surprised I did not learn this before today. I knew Kansas City airport is not in Kansas but Missouri… but Cincinnati too??
Got down at Cincinnati, took the rental car and my iPhone instructed me to take “Kentucky 212”. I am like, “What? I am still inside the airport area”. Checked into the hotel and asked the young lady what the deal was.
And it is then that I realized Cincinnati airport is not in Ohio either. It is in Kentucky.
So, I had to look it up. A very interesting history. Copied the Wikipedia story here…
President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved preliminary funds for site development of the Greater Cincinnati Airport February 11, 1942. This was part of the Army Air Corps program to establish training facilities during World War II. At the time, air traffic in the area centered around Lunken Airport just southeast of central Cincinnati. Lunken opened in 1926 and was located in the Ohio River Valley. Due to its location, the airport frequently experienced fog, and the 1937 flood completely submerged its runways and two-story terminal building. While federal officials wanted an airfield site that would not be prone to flooding, Cincinnati officials hoped to build Lunken into the premier airport of the region.
A coalition of officials from Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties in Kentucky took advantage of Cincinnati’s short-sightedness and lobbied Congress to build an airfield there. Boone County officials offered a suitable site on the provision that Kenton County paid the acquisition cost. In October 1942, Congress provided $2 million to construct four runways.
The field officially opened August 12, 1944, with the first B-17 bombers beginning practice runs on August 15. As the tide of the war had already turned, the Air Corps only used the field until 1945 before it was declared surplus. On October 27, 1946, a small wooden terminal building opened and the airport prepared for commercial service.
The first airplane, an American Airlines DC-3 from Cleveland, Ohio, landed at the airport January 10, 1947, at 9:53 am. A Delta Air Lines flight followed moments later. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 97 weekday departures: 37 American, 26 Delta, 24 TWA, 8 Piedmont and 2 Lake Central. As late as November 1959 the airport had four 5,500 ft (1,700 m) runways at 45-degree angles, the north–south runway eventually being extended into today’s runway 18C/36C.
The customer meeting in Austin had just gotten over. My sales team, happy with the proceedings, dropped me in my hotel. It was getting close to noon. And I had a long drive to Houston. To catch a flight to Cincinnati. Then drive to Lexington. Yes, I trust my driving more than those small planes with multiple hops when it comes to certainty of reaching my destination.
The margin of error was going to be small. I had the prospect of accidents on 290 or simply get blinded by sharp thunder showers. As luck would have it, both happened on my way. Fortunately, I am writing this from my flight to Cincinnati.
But before I left Austin, I had a chance to catch up on another intersection point from the past. For exactly 25 minutes. I was aware that Srinivas Palamarthy was nearby and a few calls and text messages later, we found ourselves at Annie’s bar and cafe. I always thought that our paths crossed in i2 only. Today I found out how wrong I have been.
Not sure why this never came up in any previous conversations (we worked in the same group for some time and I have talked to him before multiple times), but I realized today that he and I are from the same engineering college. Separated by only two years. And he lived in the hostel/dorm adjacent to mine!! I had many friends there and often visited that hostel/dorm! He recognized all of my friends and gave me some updates too!!
So this is the third intersection with him. College, working together and a chance meeting in the city he lives in now.
Srini, as we were prone to calling him, has remained the same. Physically, emotionally and intellectually. Looking at him, he does not seem to have aged even one day from the last time I saw him in 2003. He is also the same humble guy that can put you at ease from the moment you run into him. He has this unbelievable way of making you really feel good about yourself. I was certainly very proud of how his career has progressed and how he is crucial to RetailMeNot’s vision and plans. Good to see humble people like him succeed in this world.
That was the message Shruthi and Hank had written on the back of the nice gift they had for me this evening. As always, it was a delightful evening with this great young couple. Shruthi’s dad and I have worked together virtually in every company I have worked in. Having seen Shruthi ever since she was a few days world to now when she is a working lady living her own independent life, it is almost impossible to believe how fast time can fly by.
Their message for me was a reference to, of course Austin’s reputation of keeping itself “weird” as well as Sharmila calling me “quirky”. Speaking of Sharmila, Hank and she has a common background – both are or have studied Architecture in Texas (UT and UTA).
It was simply great to see them again. It has been many a moon since I stepped my foot in Austin last. Could not have gotten a better welcome!!
Remember how one evening, while spending a few idle hours with my inlaws in our backyard, I realized that Bidisha is a relative of mine? Bidisha being the person that we got to know regarding a nanny and while my family has met her, I have never met her. Of course, since she is my new found relative, I had figured that I would meet her next time I was in Dallas.
Last night, after 1:30 am (I am sure too much drinking was involved đŸ™‚ ) I got a message from Amitesh that her husband was in our town. He (Amitesh) was able to get the three of us together for lunch on my way to the airport.
That was a great hour. He is a SMU professor. Most of the discussions were around the fallacy of prediction methods – from biases in selecting independent variables to faulty assumptions in correlation methods to the almost impossible problem of finding discontinuous functions mathematically (unfortunately, real life does not work in a smooth curve). It was a very intellectually stimulating discussion. The yellow curry at Thai Spice was not bad either!!
Now I have two more books to read, thanks to Neil Bhattacharya!!
