Experiencing the Ghost of the RhineThe day has finally come. It's time for me to push past my fears. All week I keep playing the scenarios over and over in my head...people are going to stare at me, maybe I will be mugged outside while walking there….people will say rude things to me...like Muslim women don’t belong here… Over and over these thoughts flow threw my head. It’s time to put on my superwoman cape and face this challenge strong! It's 8:30 pm on Friday night I am just starting to go threw OTR. All the fancy people are out enjoying dinners and drinks at local restaurants and bars. I get to finally make it to Elm Street, I find the parking lot across from the brewhouse. I pull into this tiny caged in lot, only to be disappointed because there was no spots. So I drove around in circles for a good ten minutes. I was to scared to park far from the brewhouse and walk…. Finally participants worked for me and someone left the Rhinegeist parking lot.It's 8:51 I start walking towards the entrance, Walk in and have no idea where to go, so I start climbing a mountain of stairs...keep climbing…..and climbing….and climbing. Finally I made it to the top! I give my ID to the gentleman at the door and he kindly welcomes me with a huge smile. It made me feel a instance of calm, like I was accepted by the Rhinegeist people. I decide to walk around and look at everything while I wait for my two superhero buddies to get there. The first thing I noticed was the aroma of the air..beer everywhere! Not so great for me, but I'm sure the beer lovers love it! Next thing I notice is the seating, It seemed to me a lot of people were standing arounding in groups because there was not enough seating and most tables had reserved signs on them. I stop for a second and just take in my environment...Everyone is interacting with one another as if they all know each other, almost like they are family. People are playing ping pong and cornhole, people are on the sidelines watching and cheering on their buddies. It was a very nice feeling and a beautiful thing to observe. Even I, the women completely covered from head to toe did not feel like I didn’t belong! It’s now 9:02 and my two super buddies Sam and Joey show up. Joey brought our Chipotle dinner to share so we could connect and bond! We all went to the bar and got drinks to eat with out dinner. Since I don't drink alcohol I asked the bartender if they had any other beverages, she informed me that they only have diet coke and sprite. So sprite it was, but I really wished they offered other beverages for non drinkers or people that would like to just go there and enjoy the environment. We made our way back to our table and enjoyed our delicious Chipotle and had great bonding conversation!It's now 9:3o and Joey introduces us to two very nice ladies that had agreed to let us interview them. They told us that they really love come to Rhinegeist to support good causes when Rhinegeist is working with different organizations that support great causes in the community of Cincinnati. They also suggested that they have a better sign outside at the entrance of the brewhouse, that most people don't even see it when driving by. Another wish they had was better seating, that the seating is uncomfortable. They also suggested that more artwork that represented the history of OTR was displayed on all the empty walls in the brewhouse. It's now about 10:00 and it's time for me to thank everyone that made this night an eye opener for me. I truly enjoyed getting to know my super buddies more and meeting really nice and open minded people at the Rhinegeist Brewery. Experiencing the Ghost of the Rhine was not as scary as my mind try to make be believe, yet it was a memorable experience I am so happy i got to experience.