The sun was shining warmly when Chris and I pulled into a parking spot at the base of Mt. Adams.
The neighborhood is a historic, tightly designed community on a steep mountain overlooking the Ohio river. Named for President John Adams, the hilltop boasts a stunning Catholic cathedral with sweeping views of the river, the city, and the Kentucky side.
Chris and I started at the base, looking up a steep sidewalk.
“It’s about a mile and a half, pretty much straight up,” Chris said. “We’ll pace ourselves.”
I could already tell I wouldn’t make the whole run. But, I took off jogging anyway and figured I would go for as long as I could.
About seven minutes in, my legs turned to jelly. I run fairly frequently, but the incline killed me.
“It’s all good,” Chris said. “We’ll walk it from here.”
We continued up the winding hill, passing historic old homes and brick restaurants and bars.
It felt good to walk and stretch my legs. And the views were beautiful.
When we got to the top, we stopped at the cathedral and looked out over the river.
Chris explained that the Mt. Adams stairs have special significance because they have an annual prayer event there.
“Want to do the stairs one time?” he said.
“If we go down, do we have to come back up?” I hesitated.
“Yes, but just once,” he said.
We went down and up the stairs. Then we walked over to another overlook, where, thank goodness, there was a bench to fall into.
Through the branches and under the blue sky, I looked down and saw a riverboat on the sparkling water below.
I looked at the riverboat and decided exactly what my next adventure would be.