Ben Bernstein: [00:00:00] This episode of Ramblin' on the River is presented by BB Riverboats. 

Sponsor Message: What does summertime in the Ohio River Valleying mean to you? From the deck of a BB riverboat, it means a breeze on the water, lush views, and a historic cruise by the queen city Skyline. BB Riverboats offers an experience as unforgettable as childhood summers.

This season let our crew take care of yours as you cruise the mighty Ohio. BB Riverboats. The river is waiting.

Moderator: You're listening to the Ramblin on the River podcast, presented by BB River Boats. The Bernstein family has been a predominant name in Cincinnati's hospitality landscape since the 1960s, and this podcast will be a collection of the stories, tales, and experiences from their entrepreneurial [00:01:00] endeavors in the restaurant and excursion boat business.

Join as they take you on a a journey through the family's history in their own unique style. Now, here are your hosts, Ben Terri, and Alan Bernstein.

Ben Bernstein: Welcome aboard and welcome to the Ramblin' on the River podcast. My name is Ben Bernstein. I am joined by my father, Alan, and my sister, Terri, and we are all very thankful you've chosen to join us for today's episode. Before we get started, we please ask that you head over and follow the show and connect with the show by giving us a like and subscribe on any one of your favorite podcast platforms.

You can also visit us on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Or by visiting our website at [00:02:00] RamblinOnTheRiver. com. 

Alan Bernstein: And it's ram blin, 

Ben Bernstein: not Ram bling. Yes. Also, if you have any direct questions or comments, you can even email us at podcast at bbriverboats. com. That email address will go to all three of us. 

Alan Bernstein: We want to hear from you.

Terri Bernstein: We would love to hear from our fans. 

Ben Bernstein: We would love to, especially since our new statistics came out and we are officially international. Wow. 

Terri Bernstein: That's enough clapping. 

Ben Bernstein: Oh my goodness. Frankfurt, Germany, Istanbul, Turkey. We would love to hear from any people who are outside of the confines of the United States.

Actually. We'd love to hear from anybody outside the confines of maybe maybe of our headquarters, BB Riverboats. Yeah. Yeah. But anyways, last episode, we talked about dad's summer on the Delta Queen, him leaving his parents a note. To tell them that he would be [00:03:00] traveling all summer.

Eventually he got arrested for skinny dipping and subsequently, Kentucky Lake, correct. Subsequently was bailed out of jail by his captain. Yes. And then finally a little bit about his journey of becoming a riverboat captain himself. This week, we will dive into the people who made. all of that possible, his parents, Ben and Shirley Bernstein.

Moderator: Gather around everybody because it is story time on Ramblin on the River.

Ben Bernstein: So considering we are on take 34 today we are going to throw this over to my sister to give us a little bit of history about Ben and Shirley Bernstein as far as their relationship, because it certainly seems that Al has no idea, although he just keeps saying, Well, I wasn't there. Well, we weren't there either.

No, [00:04:00] 

Alan Bernstein: no, I did. They did tell me stories, but Terri has a much better grasp because she and mom. We spent 

Terri Bernstein: a lot of time together. Yeah. 

Ben Bernstein: And maybe she can be a little more focused than you. Probably, maybe. So Ter, why don't you tell us a little bit about Ben and Shirley Bernstein and their early years. 

Terri Bernstein: So I believe they started out in high school. They were high school sweethearts. I think they went to Walnut Hills High School. Apparently in high school Grandpa was already balding. 

Alan Bernstein: Grandpa Ben was bald at a very, mean, in teenage, so it's not my fault, two teenage years. 

Terri Bernstein: What? That you're balding that? 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. 

Terri Bernstein: No, I think I always thought it was your mother's.

Ben Bernstein: It might be 

Terri Bernstein: father's hair, but Grandpa Jerry always had lots of hair. 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. Mm-Hmm. . 

Terri Bernstein: When did you lose your hair? 

Alan Bernstein: I was well into my thirties and forties. It's got a forehead, like a drive-in movie theater. 

Terri Bernstein: So do you. I wouldn't talk. 

Ben Bernstein: Alright, 

Terri Bernstein: so then they went to the University of Cincinnati.

They both went to college there. And I believe that [00:05:00] Grandpa left before college was over. Absolutely. Or he was at the very end and went off to war. World War II started then, and 

Ben Bernstein: What years did World War II go on, Ter? 

Terri Bernstein: Oh, I have no idea. Let's, let's go back to that. That's me 

Alan Bernstein: being a jerk. Forty one to Well, we entered the war in, I think, in 42.

And it ended in 45. Forty one to 45. Yeah. I would have been 

Terri Bernstein: close. I just didn't want to say it on here. I know. 

Ben Bernstein: I just wouldn't. Yeah. And 

Terri Bernstein: I don't like to be put on the spot. I know. Oh. I don't know. Especially how to spell considering 

Ben Bernstein: I'd try every opportunity I can I have to spell the word of the day every time

Terri Bernstein: Let's go back a little bit her parents did not seem real amused that they were together. 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah, dad was from the other side of the tracks from mom. And 

Terri Bernstein: grandma was a Tenenbaum. Yes. 

Ben Bernstein: From your mom's family's perspective. That's correct. And what he's trying to say is they did not think he was worthy to date grandma.

Alan Bernstein: That is correct. 

Terri Bernstein: They always told her 

Ben Bernstein: socioeconomic status. 

Terri Bernstein: Right. They always told [00:06:00] her that he was not going to amount to anything. 

Alan Bernstein: And mom's parents were very formal and dad was not dad's family. Wasn't. And he wasn't. So it was sort of, you know, a mismatch so to speak, but they fell in love.

Yeah, that's it. 

Terri Bernstein: And I guess when he had gotten his orders to go off, they decided to, well, I guess he was leaving out of Philadelphia. 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. The ship was leaving out of that's right. His orders were to go to Philadelphia. 

Terri Bernstein: They took his mother. And my grandparents went to Philadelphia and they decided to elope and get married. And they got married, and that night, I guess they could only afford one hotel room. So, Grandpa's mother slept in the bathtub. 

Ben Bernstein: Your great grandmother. My great 

Terri Bernstein: grandmother, who was 

Ben Bernstein: My grandmother. 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah, what was her name? [00:07:00] Dora, well, Dora, we, we called her Doda. The Explorer? Dora? No, we called her Dodo, I don't know why, but her name was Dora, actually, D O R A.

Do you have a swiper, 

Ben Bernstein: no swiping? What? Oh. He has no idea. I haven't, yeah. The kids will love that reference. Go on. 

Terri Bernstein: Anyway, she slept in the bathtub so they could consummate their marriage. 

Ben Bernstein: That is weird. 

Terri Bernstein: That is weird. Oh, 

Ben Bernstein: I think it's sort of 

Terri Bernstein: fun. I think it's kind of sweet. Sweet. 

Ben Bernstein: Now today's July the 12th, I'm getting married in one year from today.

Alan Bernstein: I will be sleeping in your bathtub. You're gonna need a big jacuzzi tub, I guess. 

Terri Bernstein: So , he went off to war, I think grandma said he threw his little backpack on and away he went, he went over the hill and she said goodbye and she didn't see him again for Like three and a half years. Yeah, she came back home to her parents and went back to school and [00:08:00] finished school 

Ben Bernstein: They wrote each other a lot.

Terri Bernstein: They wrote each other a lot I have a whole box of letters between the two of them which are on this real thin Well, that's 

Alan Bernstein: because airmail back in those days It was expensive. So you wrote on very thin paper to keep it light and the envelopes were light, you know, so it didn't weigh more than it needed to so that when you paid for postage, the 

Terri Bernstein: military would pay for the, I don't 

Alan Bernstein: know, but back in the old day, when you sent something, yeah, very, very close.

I think it was a little better than tissue paper, but that's what they wrote on to keep the envelope light. 

Terri Bernstein: they were neat letters. Grandpa had great beautiful handwriting. 

Ben Bernstein: My mother had terrible handwriting. Awful. 

Speaker 7: Yeah. 

Ben Bernstein: We used to, she would give everybody a card. You always got money. Yeah.

For your birthday or for Christmas, and 

Alan Bernstein: you never knew what it 

Ben Bernstein: said. And we had to, if it was your birthday, you had to sit [00:09:00] there yeah. In front of everybody and read grandma's card. Yes. And nobody, maybe with the exception of my sister. Yep. Because she sucks up to grandma, grandpa so much. Not one person could ever get half of the words, correct.

Yes. 

Terri Bernstein: And at Christmas time, she'd always write us all a poem 

Ben Bernstein: It would take hours, right. For all right. For all of us to to do . 

Terri Bernstein: Well, Christmas slash Hanukkah. 

Ben Bernstein: Yeah. Yeah. I get both. Yeah. Christmukah. 

Terri Bernstein: Christmukah. 

Ben Bernstein: Oh, I like that. 

Terri Bernstein: They were writing letters and . It was just a sweet love story. They, you 

Alan Bernstein: have most of them. I am most 

Terri Bernstein: of them. It would be these highs and lows. It seemed like he was really depressed at times and others. I mean, I yeah, I'm sure 

Alan Bernstein: world War two was terrible. It was just an awful. 

Ben Bernstein: Where was he? Where was he sent? 

Alan Bernstein: Well, he was in northern Africa first or at the beginning and then went into Italy. They moved artillery forward advancing. Yeah, [00:10:00] so that's how he ended up in Italy. I think that's where he came home from was Italy 

Terri Bernstein: She always talked about how every I guess every day there was a period of time that all the death list Yeah, you would check and you know be all 

Alan Bernstein: Can you imagine being away three and a half years, and the only way to communicate was by letter and try to be a student at a university, and your husband is fighting in a war where people are getting killed by the dozens, and 

Ben Bernstein: By the dozens? By the thousands? 

Alan Bernstein: Well, by, okay, that was an expression. Yes, by the thousands. 

Ben Bernstein: It wasn't a good expression. 

Alan Bernstein: Okay, I'm sorry. They were dying every day. A lot of people, both sides. So, you can only imagine how, in that time, and everybody was going through it. It wasn't unique to anybody. It was everybody. 

Terri Bernstein: I experienced it much later in life, but it was a lot different.

Alan Bernstein: It was a lot different. You had [00:11:00] phones. Much different. 

Terri Bernstein: Suddenly the war ends. Okay. And he comes back home. 

Alan Bernstein: He discharged from the army. Correct. And they started a new, life together. 

Terri Bernstein: He goes to work for the VA. He then. Start a family and they start a family and then he gets into the dress manufacturing business, right? Uncle and father. 

Alan Bernstein: That is correct. And a few years down the road. The business goes south because his uncle passed away. Right. They were living in Bond Hill? Bond Hill, by that time, yes. I was born in Eagan Hill, so was Jim. When they came 

Terri Bernstein: back from the war, where did they 

Alan Bernstein: go? They, they went to Avondale. where they had had established homes there.

And then we moved when Linda came to bond Hill, probably because of schools, I don't know. And then Jimmy and Alan were born on the Eagan Hills drive address. 

Terri Bernstein: Then you went [00:12:00] to Torrance court 

Alan Bernstein: and well, that's 

Terri Bernstein: correct. We're yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotcha. 

Ben Bernstein: Which is where she stayed until she died.

Actually, where, where her and grandpa died. 

Alan Bernstein: That's correct. Both on that street, not in 

Ben Bernstein: that, I mean, not in 

Alan Bernstein: the same house, but it was close. Yeah. Very close. Dad gets the job in Ecuador. We move and come back from Ecuador and we're now in the late sixties, early seventies. And we have started Gregory's Steak. 

Terri Bernstein: Let's talk a little bit about Grandpa and Grandma. Grandma, I think I'm a spitting image of, I am just like her. Yes. 

Alan Bernstein: You forget your purse everywhere? Mom was a very dainty kind of lady. She always was fixing her nails and she always worked on her toenails. She was always dressed appropriately.

She always wore a girdle. All. Yeah, she, she was a very, well, put together [00:13:00] lady with a great personality. Oh my 

Terri Bernstein: goodness. She would correct me with my grammar enunciation. 

Alan Bernstein: An enunciation. Now, now, there's a reason for that. Because Mr. Ronca the teacher from Ecuador was very, very, very particular on how you used grammar.

And how you speak and who you are speaking to. And he got her hooked on correcting people when they use wrong language. So for example. You cannot say very unique. I 

Terri Bernstein: was just going to say that. That was, 

Alan Bernstein: you are not allowed to say very unique because, and that is because unique is already unique.

It isn't very unique. It's unique. And that was one of Mr. Ronca's favorite. 

Terri Bernstein: She said that all the time. What about grandpa? 

Alan Bernstein: Well, grandpa was a great [00:14:00] person. He was a great storyteller. He loved to tell , jokes, stories. And I thought even at an early age, dad was sort of aging quickly because he would tell stories that I knew.

But I didn't know what he was talking but he would always come back to where he needed to go. So he was embellishing a story. He was a tremendous embellisher. Tremendous.

Terri Bernstein: I wonder where you got it from, 

Alan Bernstein: Oh yeah. I mean, it's a part of storytelling is that you don't necessarily have to speak factual things more than embellishment things.

Because it would help the story. And that's exactly what dad did in the middle of a story. He would embellish it and I would go, I don't know anything about this that he's talking about, he was a great storyteller. He had great humor. He loved humor. And in fact, one of the, I don't know that this is really good to tell the public, but [00:15:00] I think it shows how dad's humor.

Even in bad things, it was there at his mother's funeral, not at his funeral, I'm sorry. It's at the visitation at their home. You know, when Jewish people die, they all come over to the house and we had a reception and dad had a machine, an old, old machine with a little rubber band and a washer.

And if you rolled it up, it would make a sound like a fart and dad brought it to the funeral visitation. And every 10 or 15 minutes he would let this thing loose and it sounded like he was farting. And then at the end, he would say. Oh, excuse me, but everybody would sort of stop and everybody heard it. I mean it was loud and it was pretty funny. It really it really was 

Ben Bernstein: Totally [00:16:00] unrelated. If you were to buy a tesla You can send different sound effects to different speakers in the car, or even outside.

So if you have somebody get in the back seat, you can set it to only come out of the speaker in the back seat where somebody got into, and you can play a fart sound. In a Tesla? In a Tesla. You can. Nice. I have a friend that just bought one. I almost want to 60 years ahead of time. Yes. 60 years. 

Alan Bernstein: So that's the kind of humor that he had, and he wanted everybody to enjoy that. It's just the way he was. And he and I enjoyed, we would bust out into hysterical laughter, and that, that's just what, what he was. Not only did he have a humor that was important to him, but his work ethic and the work ethic of his family and people were important to him. And [00:17:00] in, in those years people did learn how to work hard. Their parents told them to work hard. The schools would often tell them that working hard is something very, very important.

And it became really a big part of my life. As I grew up in the business and as we taught. , young people what to do and how to work and why it's important to be nice to people. You know, hospitality is the definition of being nice. It's welcoming people. It is making them feel good.

It is making making yourself make other people enjoy what you are saying or doing. So we were drilled about working hard. Dad did not believe in an eight hour workday. If you didn't work a 10, 11 hours in a day, you weren't working hard and you would have trouble [00:18:00] sleeping. He said, I had no trouble sleeping because at the 17th hour of working, I went to bed.

Terri Bernstein: Also a very, very, very smart man. 

Alan Bernstein: Yes, he was. Super smart. He was. And I think that mom's family never really got to see that. Because grandpa, my grandpa, mom's father, passed away very early. And my grandfather on the other side Mose died very early, so they never got to see dad's big accomplishments, which I thought was sort of sad because they were the ones that were caught, you know, causing him, eh, he's from the wrong side of the tracks.

He was a great guy, had a great heart. He wanted people to have the better side rather than the worse side. And dad was great at hospitality. He loved people. 

Terri Bernstein: So was grandma. 

Alan Bernstein: Oh yeah. Well, grandma was way better than dad, but he still had that.

[00:19:00] And in the early days there's a lot of funny stories. 

Terri Bernstein: I think the best one is at El Greco. 

Alan Bernstein: Now. This is our very early years at El Greco probably in the late 60s We get took over in 68 out there and we probably were struggling 1969 maybe even To 70 and even 71.

So in 1971 or so dad was the bartender. Mom was the hostess. I was the bus boy. We had one waitress and we had one cook. That was the extent of the staff at El Greco probably a terrible bartender. Oh, he was awful. He was awful. But he made it. 

We had a food critic one night and thought it was great. And wrote a food review and said, this is a great place. And the next night we were [00:20:00] slammed. And , we didn't really know what to do or how to do it.

And finally, a guy came up to the bar and said to dad, the bartender. He had no idea who he was, but he said sir, this is the worst restaurant. I have ever been. I haven't been able to get waited on. I don't have a drink. He said, sir, if you would return to your seat, I will take care of it. I'll take care of everything.

So he called mom. He would yell, Shirl, you know, there was no PA and 

Terri Bernstein: the bar is packed 

Alan Bernstein: and the bar is just packed like a four deep behind the seats. And so mom comes over and she says, the guy at table 38 is very upset. Go over there make him happy. So she goes over there and she sits for, I don't know, a long while, and she comes back to the bar.

And the bar had a little jail bars like thing at it so that you could speak through it. And she said [00:21:00] Benj? The guy at table 34 or whatever I just gave him the greatest blow job he has ever had. And, and Ben goes, no, no, no, Shirley. It's a snow job. It's a snow job, not a blow job. Oh, no, I gave him the greatest blow job he has ever.

And he kept saying, surely in the bar here, the bar went nuts. And then everybody at the bar said, I want to sit in her section. I want to sit in her side. And . Mom did not want to say blowjob. She wanted to say snow job, but she just, she made those mistakes. She made those mistakes all the time.

And they were very funny, very, very funny. So that is one of her, that's probably one of her most famous mistakes, but she made several of them made several of them. Mom and dad did not have a big social [00:22:00] life because their restaurant was their social life. They every day there was no days off Every day they'd go to the restaurant.

We would do the restaurant stuff and people would come and Mom and Dad would both sit down with the with their friends and that was their social you know, although I think they both love to go to movies. Yeah. I think I were 

Ben Bernstein: thinking back and the 

Alan Bernstein: only things that we did as a big family is we would 

Ben Bernstein: go to movies.

I 

Terri Bernstein: always thought that was Jimmy. Jimmy always wanted to go to movies. Yeah, but I 

Ben Bernstein: think that came from them. Yeah, I 

Alan Bernstein: think Jimmy 

Ben Bernstein: loved movies. When Grandpa was alive, 

Alan Bernstein: they would always go. Oh, we'd always go. That would be their favorite thing to do. Yeah. So, they would 

Terri Bernstein: take me to the theater and he would sleep through the whole thing also.

Oh, yeah. Also. 

Alan Bernstein: Well, you were a dancer and a, you know, a balletist and all that stuff. I'm talking 

Terri Bernstein: about Broadway shows. I know. I know you are. be so excited and Grandpa would be sound asleep. But 

Alan Bernstein: Dad would tell me, we have to go to Terri's recital tonight. [00:23:00] And I said, Dad, I don't know if I can make it through.

He said, I'll be out in the first five minutes. 

Terri Bernstein: That was better than my horse shows that were all day. Oh my 

Ben Bernstein: God. Well, that was, those were 150 degrees. What about the piano lessons and recitals? Oh, book one. Yeah. 

Terri Bernstein: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I took piano lessons for seven years. They're nine years? No, 

Ben Bernstein: seven years. No, no, it was nine, it was seven 

Terri Bernstein: years.

And I was still on level one when I quit . 

Ben Bernstein: She's quite the entertainer. Oh yeah. Oh yes. Musically they went. We 

Terri Bernstein: had a grand piano and Or a baby piano. Piano, yeah. Oh, no. We, we didn't. And, and my grandmother wanted me to play the piano. She could play very well. Oh. 

Alan Bernstein: Oh. She played very well. Very well, she 

Terri Bernstein: wanted me to learn and I just could not her whole 

Alan Bernstein: family.

Dr. Kessel was a great pianist and Mom was very sure you in the 

Ben Bernstein: eight 

Alan Bernstein: p pianist. He in this no pianist Now my sister yeah, my sister's back and [00:24:00] Actually, I think mom's mom was An accomplished piano player, I believe you could say grandma My grandma, my grandma to me. Yeah. Grandma Hattie. 

Terri Bernstein: I only remember grandma Hattie when she was very old.

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. She was. Yeah. Yeah. 

Terri Bernstein: She lived, she lived 

Ben Bernstein: in 99. Yeah. 90, 99. It was not over a hundred. Yeah. She was like 97. It was like, no, 

Alan Bernstein: mom died a year younger , than grandma. Grandma Hattie, 

Terri Bernstein: but 

Alan Bernstein: they both lived into their late nineties. 

Ben Bernstein: What was it like working for them? 

Alan Bernstein: It was rough. At the beginning Dad expected more from me than anybody. 

Terri Bernstein: Really? 

Alan Bernstein: Oh, yeah. 

Terri Bernstein: Really? 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. 

Ben Bernstein: Does it sound familiar? 

Terri Bernstein: It sounds so familiar. 

I think he fired you a few times. 

Alan Bernstein: Oh, my God. . That was almost an everyday thing because , he would say, Alan, if you can't do this right, you can't work here.

See ya. And, and yeah, and, and he would say, get out. So I would leave and about five minutes later, he [00:25:00] would call the apartment and he said, get back here. Get back down here. And I'd go back down. That went on for years. 

Terri Bernstein: Can we tell that famous story? 

Alan Bernstein: Dad, dad got upset with me about handling the dishwashers. And he said, Alan, you are fired from the dishwashers. I'm taking over. And my dad proceeded to hire. Three young men that were quite unique.

Quite unique. They were not very unique. They were not very unique. They were quite unique. The first one was Johnny Cash. He hired Johnny Cash as our dishwasher. The second one was Henry Ford. These are true names. The, these are real names, obviously not the . 

Well, I mean, it was their real names.

It was their real name. It wasn't the, , the famous people. And there was a third one that was a famous name and , he put them back there and he would come back very often into the kitchen to make sure that they were doing okay because I was watching. [00:26:00] Very intently with how they were doing, but as the night, this was a Saturday night and as the night progressed, they, they had a little backup at the very beginning and he would come back , and Johnny Cash , how are you doing Henry?

And he would say real fine. And so he would go on and then there was a little more backup. You could see the dishes piling up and he would come back. He was a Henry. How are we doing back here? And he's real fine. And now the backup is severe and , you could not see the dishwashers anymore through the piles of dishes.

So dad comes back and sees the huge pile up and he goes, Henry, how are we doing back here? And he goes, Ben, you and I quit. And dad was so astounded, , dad froze in his step. , he turns [00:27:00] around and he goes, Alan, get over there and clean those dishes up. So I had to, after working all night, I had to go back and wash dishes.

And poor Henry he and Ben were good friends for about an hour and a half, two hours. And then it was out to the rescue, out of the rescue. So, that's the famous dishwashing story. 

Terri Bernstein: The real key takeaway of Grandpa was how big of an entrepreneur he was. He was a visionary. 

Alan Bernstein: He was. And. When we decided to grow, this was a pivotal point in our restaurant history. We were at El Greco only.

Well, you Gregory's Steakhouse. We separated from Gregory's Steakhouse, so we are now El Greco and that was all we were and dad dad Thought that we might need to expand and We were doing okay, but El Greco became a very very busy restaurant. So it came a [00:28:00] time that he thought we might be able to expand and he was on the Convention Bureau and at that time the Mike Fink, which was an independent restaurant down on the river announced that they were moving to New Orleans You And they were leaving Cincinnati or the Northern Kentucky area, Cincinnati area.

And 

Ben Bernstein: How long, how long did the Beatty's run in Cincinnati? 

Alan Bernstein: The Beatty's moved it from 1965. Moved it from Cincinnati. Over to Northern Kentucky and how long did they 

Ben Bernstein: operate it? 

Alan Bernstein: Well, they operated it pretty long over on Northern Kentucky and then it was going to be sold to New Orleans to a group in New Orleans and the Bureau didn't want that to happen.

The Bureau thought that the Mike Fink was a Cincinnati thing and so Dad being on the call 

Terri Bernstein: then 

Alan Bernstein: Mike Fink. 

Terri Bernstein: Oh, it was always the Mike. 

Alan Bernstein: Oh, it was always the Mike Fink 

Terri Bernstein: It was 

Alan Bernstein: the Mike Fink in Cincinnati. 

Terri Bernstein: Oh, I thought we named it that. 

Alan Bernstein: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Mike Fink, Captain Beatty named it the [00:29:00] Mike Fink.

And it came to Northern Kentucky. He got mad at the city of Cincinnati. I think someone told me he ran for city council and lost. He didn't win the election. And that's when he decided to move to Northern Kentucky. So the Mike Fink moved over and then dad was a part of the group of the bureau that were here to try and save it.

So dad bought it and we moved to the Mike Fink. Well dad and I moved to the Mike Fink. Mom was up at El Greco. Jimmy was up at El Greco. And he had started, he came over from GE as an engineer and started as a busboy at El Greco. So he and mom stayed at El Greco and dad and I were off to the Mike Fink.

At the Mike Fink it was a very failing restaurant when we bought it. And within weeks of the purchase, we had turned it [00:30:00] around, both personality wise, food wise just everything we turned it all because people knew El Greco. Well, absolutely. Okay. When they found out that the Bernsteins were down that Mike Fink and it was a river spot, people started and the river was not looked upon as a positive place to be, no, it was not.

And that was because it was , a polluted place. So, you know, the, industries along the river just dumped whatever they wanted into the river and it became a very nasty place nasty to swim. It was dirty. Birds had left a lot of the indigenous birds along the river left, and it was not a reputation of a great place to go and enjoy yourself.

Although the restaurant was a really good restaurant. And people came down and the city of Covington embraced it, the city of Cincinnati embraced it, 

Terri Bernstein: talking about grandpa and being an entrepreneur. That's 

Alan Bernstein: right.

Dad continued [00:31:00] to , make things. We then expanded. Tremendously with the success of Mike Fink and we probably did five, six, seven restaurants. We started BB Riverboats. We started a catering company. We started probably 

Ben Bernstein: in many ways grew too quickly. 

Alan Bernstein: We 

Ben Bernstein: probably did. And although I contend that in the landscape of restaurants in 2024, we would be very successful with the type of restaurants we, yes, that the types of restaurants we used to own were just unique places we're independent. We're, yes. We're very eclectic and yes. And 

Terri Bernstein: I miss them. I mean, I, I would, I would love El Greco to be here. I would love the Mike Fink to be here. It was 

Alan Bernstein: a great restaurant.

It was all those were, they, they all had their greatness. They all had their downfalls, but it didn't stop dad. Dad was [00:32:00] not afraid of risk of, of diving in and then saying, Oh, I shouldn't have dove in, he was unafraid , he would dive in. He would say, Alan, we'll make it work.

I know we can do it. We just have to work hard. Everything came back down to hard work. So we had I think 

Terri Bernstein: even Covington Lanning would have done very well, but I think he was about ten years too early. 

Ben Bernstein: I would contend that if he was healthy, it would have been very successful.

I think that probably Everything started going downhill when 

Alan Bernstein: he When he passed away. Yeah. And he was not sick real long. He, he got diagnosed with colon cancer. He was sick in Hawaii. Very sick. You didn't really know that he was real sick but he knew he was real sick.

And so the day he passed It is a very sad day in my historical. It was one that's burned into my 

Ben Bernstein: memory. Yeah. 

Alan Bernstein: Yeah. Well, you were all there. It was a sad day because I lost probably the best friend that I ever had. [00:33:00] And dad and I would always joke.

About him saying, well, Alan, when I'm not here and I said, well, dad, are you planning on checking out soon? I mean, do I need to plan the funeral or, and we would laugh and carry it. And the last time we said that it was the last time so he was a great man. He was absolutely a great man.

And I don't know that my mother and father, I would change it. For anything my mother and her glory years, entertaining heads of state in Ecuador doing the restaurant my mother was a tremendous cook, tremendous. And , dad and mom made the absolute perfect restaurant partner. Dad was out front telling stories.

Mom was in the back. Yelling at everybody, they're not doing things right, and all that stuff. And she was generally right. She would yell at people and carry on, and they would all be [00:34:00] upset. And I you know, I'd look at them and I'd go, you know, she's right. It was a sad day when dad passed but I think it was good because he was in a lot of pain.

He, at the very end, probably wanted to get out of pain. And we had some great last moments. 

Terri Bernstein: His funeral there were He didn't have a funeral. Well, 

Alan Bernstein: he didn't have a funeral, but we had a reception. 

Terri Bernstein: At the Mike Fink. Yeah, there was only 

Alan Bernstein: about 10, 000 people there. The line was up the street across We, we were actually stopping traffic up the street.

The police had to come down and help. It was an overload. We tried to do it in four or five hours. I think it was seven or eight, maybe even more. But Dad did not want a funeral. Yeah. He didn't want anybody. He said, no crying at my funeral. Nobody. He said, I want everybody to enjoy the memories and the humor and the fun.

He wanted a band and my mother would not have a band. Mom said there were I said mom we have to order a band. [00:35:00] She said you are not ordering a band at dad's reception Okay, he wanted a bed doesn't matter what he wants. I'm here and there's no band. Okay, mom But he didn't want anybody Sharing any tears over his passing he wanted everybody to celebrate it and he still remembered today very very very clearly By a lot of people that that say hello to me.

So he was quite a guy and my mother was I learned a lot from her. Yes. Yes learned 

Terri Bernstein: a lot from her. I spent all my I don't know teenage years with grandma Well, even before that, my, from the 

Ben Bernstein: day you were born, from 

Terri Bernstein: the day I was born, I remember spending a lot of time in El Greco 

Alan Bernstein: well, you were a hostess at six weeks. I remember as a kid just playing in the 

Terri Bernstein: restaurant sitting in the back. Yeah. I used to build whole fortresses out of sugar packets. We still do. 

And the spoons. You taught Elim 

Alan Bernstein: how to do that. Remember the 

Terri Bernstein: spoons with Grandpa? [00:36:00] You put two spoons, you hit them, and it goes into a glass.

I was great at that. 

Ben Bernstein: You said that, and the last time you did it, you couldn't do it. I haven't 

Terri Bernstein: done it in a long time. It's been a 

Ben Bernstein: long time. 

Alan Bernstein: He'd got several awards. there are some accomplishments. Dad was the entrepreneur of the year for the state of Kentucky in the nineties Dad received that 

we did not win entrepreneur of the year in Washington. That it was another state, but we were represented. We were one of 50 that could have been chosen, but dad didn't win that competition. But we were there. We went to the white house. We went to Capitol Hill. We were, you know, entertained very, very, very well and it was , quite an accomplishment.

It really was. When 

Terri Bernstein: he won the one from the state, there were lots of letters written by a lot of very famous people. Famous people. Very famous. 

Alan Bernstein: And we have a lot of [00:37:00] those. I don't think we have all of them, but we do have And I have a library that has a lot of this in it. Ben, my son, Ben is totally uninterested in not your library.

Ben Bernstein: I'm not interested in all of your relics. I don't want. a 1982 World's Fair pin to put on my t shirt. We will talk about my library in another episode. 

Alan Bernstein: The 

Ben Bernstein: library is fantastic. 

Alan Bernstein: Your junk is not. It is not junk. I will , remind you. It is 

Terri Bernstein: all coming to me.

That's 

Alan Bernstein: correct. It is all coming to me. In the will. Nothing is Including the library goes to you. It's all going to Terri. Well, you better watch it or you won't get a band.

I don't want a funeral. I want a celebration just like that. You won't get a, I will have a band at mine. 

Ben Bernstein: Who's gonna come play? Barry Manilow? Dad. I'm coming to America. 

Terri Bernstein: Dad [00:38:00] was wrecking. He loved Neil Diamond. 

Alan Bernstein: Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow. They all came to the restaurant. Oh, was that Barry Manilow?

Remember 

Terri Bernstein: he used to listen to Phantom of the Opera and he would sing it really 

Alan Bernstein: loud. And we had a lot of the cast members of Phantom of the Opera come to the Mike Fink and all of that. So yeah, that, that's another episode. Dad was recognized for business of the year and.

Many different awards man of the year, man of the year. Oh, one of the famous Ecuadorian things that we got. Was dad was made top banana in Ecuador. Top banana was a big deal because Ecuador was the banana capital of the world. So every year they gave a top banana award, which was a big deal in Ecuador.

And he was named top banana and I might have the. Not, not the [00:39:00] real award, but I think I have something with a banana on it that said he was nominated or something for top banana.

 I think now it's where we sort of get down to. Word of the day or not. You are very excited about the word of the day. Well, I am because it goes right. Dad was the one that taught me this word. He always 

Terri Bernstein: said it to me.

Moderator: Now it is time for Ramblin' on the Rivers.

Word of the day. 

Ben Bernstein: Each episode. We're going to pick a word or phrase from my father's vocabulary and have him tried to explain it enough to add it To your, which could be considered very unique 

today's, today's word is offtaglubloozem.

Alan Bernstein: Yes. Now offtaglubloozem [00:40:00] is not spelled the way you have spelled it 

Ben Bernstein: on this piece of paper. All right. Why don't we begin with you spelling offtaglubloozem for us?

Alan Bernstein: Well, I how do you know it's not spelled that way? Well, I actually don't, but off is good. I think I might have another F there. Ta would be good.

This is riveting radio. The blue, 

Speaker 8: blue, 

Alan Bernstein: blue. Well, I don't know. Optical blism. Anyway, it is when you, when you come out from behind a door and you are totally disheveled. My dad disheveled, 

Ben Bernstein: disheveled, disheveled. It's not disheveled. You weren't taken with a snow shovel and thrown out in front of people. You are disheveled.

[00:41:00] Oh, Disha. Your mother and your sister should have taught you this 

Alan Bernstein: shit. Well, oh, well Well, I didn't, I didn't want to say disheveled like you have been shoveled, but that's the whole point here. 

Terri Bernstein: It's so grandpa always told me that my hair was very, yeah, it would be 

Alan Bernstein: if it was like going everywhere in all different directions, my grandpa would say, Terri, you are very offtaglabloozem today.

So that's what the word is. Now, I don't know if there's a real word for that or not. It is not like week number one where there was a word for it. Yes. You corrected me that there was a word, but I'm not still sure that it's. Well, anyway, off the cat, a 

Ben Bernstein: wampus and Cali whoppers well, can you define offtaglubloozem?

Terri Bernstein: Disheveled. 

Ben Bernstein: Where does it get its origin? Oh, I 

Alan Bernstein: [00:42:00] would say in, 

Ben Bernstein: In Germany, in Germany. Yeah. In Germany. Why? Because it looks like a German word.

Alan Bernstein: That sounds like a German word to me. Can you use it in a sentence? Yes. Terri Bernstein came out and she looked totally offtaglabloozem. Anyway, this is the best one of them all. 

Terri Bernstein: We have some better ones. 

Alan Bernstein: Oh yeah. They're, they're coming there. They're coming in future episodes. 

Ben Bernstein: Is there anything else you want to add to, was there a time that grandpa used this word that. Sticks out in your mind. Well, he always tells Terri. He always said it 

Terri Bernstein: to me. Cause I would come, like when I was little, my hair would just be everywhere and I wouldn't brush it 

Alan Bernstein: or whatever. I would say he said it about Terri more than , anything.

And you know 

Terri Bernstein: how much dad and grandpa wanted everything neat and kept [00:43:00] and brushed their 

Alan Bernstein: we would say to other people or to ourselves. When dad saw other people disheveled like that, that they would, that he says, they look offtaglabloozem now 

Terri Bernstein: disheveled should have been the word 

Ben Bernstein: We'll do that on another episode. And its definition is going to be off to Kabbalism, disheveled. That's the 

Alan Bernstein: so dad did pass away. 1991. 

And at home, which , we had said. We were all there, 

Terri Bernstein: but we, well, the kids left. 

Alan Bernstein: The kids had left and I had left with. I remember being 

Ben Bernstein: so blindsided.

You were? I mean I was 10 years old. You went up with us to Jimmy's house to go to sleep. No, but that was before. We all gathered. Yes, at their house. We watched the Super Bowl. Yep, it was at, yep, that's right. And think, I don't know if I really knew that he had cancer. Oh, well maybe not. I don't know.

You were only 10. went up to his room and he was on his last [00:44:00] hours of his life. Yes, he was. He was. Breathing heavily and in a coma, he was in a lot. Yeah. Oh, and that's, that was a, a seminal moment in my life. As far as a memory goes of your first experience with death. Yep. Yep. 

Terri Bernstein: It was devastating me 

Alan Bernstein: You were the love of his life other than mom.

Grandma Terri, you, you were second. You were second on the all time list. 

Ben Bernstein: But anyway, then we left there. We went to Jimmy and Barbara's house to go to sleep. And then in the middle of the night at like midnight, yep. They called and said, and everybody knew. I never went back to see him.

That's right. So you, 

 You stayed where you were. Yeah. But all the rest of us all went back and we were up all night telling stories and reminiscing and 

Terri Bernstein: kind of grandma Shirley, we all went after grandma 

Ben Bernstein: Shirley died during [00:45:00] COVID. There was only 10 people were allowed to be 

Terri Bernstein: when she passed away.

She was at home. We all, 

Ben Bernstein: we all went over, which I wasn't there. Linda was in town. I was on zoom with you guys. You guys were all there. I wasn't. Oh, I didn't know that , we couldn't have it. It was during COVID. If you don't need to come, you don't come. Right. Brad was there and you guys, I went, yeah, but there weren't many.

There was Terri, myself, mom, and we 

Alan Bernstein: were on FaceTime and What was the name of the house guy? The guy that lived at that house? The guy? Yeah. Dc yeah. And then the funeral house came and took him away. 

Ben Bernstein: But, and then her funeral was on Zoom. Broadcasted across 

Terri Bernstein: the 

Ben Bernstein: globe. There's 

Terri Bernstein: only a few of us.

10 

Alan Bernstein: people. That was very strict. That's correct. That was at the graveyard. Well, 

Ben Bernstein: it's not the 

Alan Bernstein: graveyard. 

Terri Bernstein: He's 

Alan Bernstein: in the cemetery. That's what I mean. She [00:46:00] passed away at 97. That's right now in her sleep very very peaceful she She deserved that as well. 

I'm ready for current events All right now we can do current events 

Moderator: Welcome to as the paddle wheel turns our look at pertinent current events happening right now in the world 

Ben Bernstein: All right. A week ago, it will be a couple of weeks ago by the time this airs. Yes. We had a new event down here on the river on the 3rd of July. Unfortunately, the event that used to take place up at Coney Island, Coney Island is no longer a thing being demolished and revamped into a larger, more cutting edge amphitheater concert venue.

So for many, many [00:47:00] years, the LaRosa's balloon glow and fireworks and everything up at Coney Island was 3rd of July every year. We've been taking our boat up there for many years, as long as I can remember. Since. Coney Island is no longer in business. There was a new event here in Newport called Newport Blast.

And 

Terri Bernstein: well, first we thought that maybe we would just do something on our end. We, we needed to fill the void of 

Alan Bernstein: When Coney announced that they were not going to do their thing. Terri came to me and said, dad. We ought to do what Coney is doing.

Terri Bernstein: I actually 

Alan Bernstein: think I called my brother, but Okay, well maybe you did. You didn't tell me that. You called me and said, What do you think if we did the 3rd of July down here in the waterfront for all the people that are living downtown? And I said, actually, I said, [00:48:00] we were, 

Terri Bernstein: we were going to do our own fireworks display.

We were going to take the boat to Dayton, Kentucky. We're going to shoot them off in Dayton and have our own private fireworks display. That's what we originally had talked to 

Alan Bernstein: you and Ben had talked about. We had 

Terri Bernstein: talked about that. Yes. And then I thought, well, this is dumb. I mean, there is nothing here in our city for the 4th of July.

I mean, the weekend and why don't we put something together and do a big event. 

Speaker 7: Downtown. 

Terri Bernstein: Downtown. So I went, I'm on the board. It's genius. 

Alan Bernstein: It is absolutely genius. And , we only had a month and a half or so, two months maybe to pull it together, but we did and I think after all of the mess ups that, that happened in year one it was a great event.

Terri Bernstein: We didn't pull the event off ourselves. We had, oh, we had partners. That's right. We had 

Alan Bernstein: the Newport on the 

Terri Bernstein: left, 

Alan Bernstein: which I have to tell you, it was the largest crowd I [00:49:00] have ever seen at Newport on the Levee ever, ever. There were people. everywhere along the rails and along, and we had full boats where there was a lot of people on the land it was not a great day and it rained a bit.

And how was 

Terri Bernstein: water patrol? 

Alan Bernstein: It was a bit moist outside. How 

Terri Bernstein: was water patrol? Were you, were you overworked? Ben 

Alan Bernstein: was given the responsibility to be a patrol boat on the river because we thought we were going to have millions of boats. And we got underway 

Ben Bernstein: right before the front of the storm came. And we're out on a pontoon boat with a little bimini top.

And we got soaked. I have 

Terri Bernstein: pictures of that too. I'll post that on our Facebook page. 

Ben Bernstein: Oh, you have to. You have to. So I took the boat up. I tried to hide underneath the bridge. But as Forrest Gump would say, it was sideways rain. It wasn't coming straight down. So You and 

Terri Bernstein: your 

Ben Bernstein: [00:50:00] bride. Yes, me and my future bride. Actually the couple who set you 

Terri Bernstein: up 

Ben Bernstein: and their daughter my son was supposed to be on board. Unfortunately, he came 

Terri Bernstein: with me, 

Ben Bernstein: His cousin was on board and I think he wanted to hang out with the big kids. So he decided to stay with he was a smart 

Terri Bernstein: one. 

Ben Bernstein: He was a very smart one and saved a lot of.

But 

Alan Bernstein: I remember in the middle of the patrol time, Ben calls me on my phone and says, Dad, I need a raise. I have ward off all of these boats. There were so many boats, I could not possibly deal with them all. I don't know if we saw five boats on the way. I don't. Well, there might have been fireworks.

Ben Bernstein: Right before the fireworks. There were more. A bunch of them started coming. But there was three or four other patrol boats. 

Alan Bernstein: There was. There was. So we stopped. A shout 

Terri Bernstein: out to Boone County Water Rescue. Yes. 

Alan Bernstein: Boone County Water Rescue. And wait a minute. The Campbell County Sheriff's [00:51:00] Department gave us a law enforcement.

And the Coast Guard. The United States Coast Guard. We 

Ben Bernstein: stopped patrolling and we started watching. Yes. 

Alan Bernstein: Yes. 

Ben Bernstein: And 

Alan Bernstein: by the way, I have to compliment you on the huge sign that said patrol boat. You can thank your 

Ben Bernstein: daughter 

Alan Bernstein: for that. Well, the sign was so big. I didn't know that you were on a boat. They're still on the boat.

Oh, I know. 

Terri Bernstein: They're not small. I mean, they're not bad. 

Alan Bernstein: They are so small, you would never be able to read Same size as 

Ben Bernstein: the Riverfest patrols. The what? Same size as the Riverfest patrols. Oh, 

Alan Bernstein: absolutely not. Oh, 100%. Absolutely. That's just 

Terri Bernstein: typical, Allie. Can't give us any compliments. 

Alan Bernstein: No. Well, I don't know who provided the sign for it.

I did. Oh, okay. I did. . It's always Terri. The big mess up was that drones were supposed to fly for 10 

Ben Bernstein: minutes. So we start the fireworks. We start the fireworks. Great fireworks go off. Music track on. Yeah. 107. 9. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What was the, what [00:52:00] was the radio state? 99.7. No, no. 

Terri Bernstein: 97. One of 

Ben Bernstein: 7.9.

No. Well, that's why I didn't hear it. 97.5, maybe 2 99. Whatever. 

Alan Bernstein: I'm killing myself. That's the reason I didn't hear it. I was on 99 7 instead of 97 9 

Ben Bernstein: and the, the fireworks started like every great Rozzi show. Yeah, and then we get to drone insertion number one. It was about nine minutes and 30 seconds into the show leading 

Terri Bernstein: up to the show.

Joe Rozzi says to me, I have two shows planned in case the weather goes bad. I have the fireworks and drone show, and then I have just the fireworks show. So we're good either way. Okay. 

Ben Bernstein: So the fireworks start like any, any great Rozzi show does.

And then we come to drone insertion. Number one. And nothing happens, 

Terri Bernstein: nothing happens. 

Ben Bernstein: So now, you know, when you're in that conversation with somebody who's not really a talker and then it gets quiet [00:53:00] and you kind of look at each other and you get that awkward feeling, how about for about five minutes, there's no fire.

That's kind of what I was in 

Terri Bernstein: a complete panic. I am on the phone, Joe. Just fire the fireworks. Just fire the fire. And he's like, I'm sorry, Terri. The drivers won't take off. Everything 

Ben Bernstein: was programmed. 

Terri Bernstein: They were hovering. There was a, they wouldn't take off. They wouldn't take off. And so he says, there's nothing I can do.

I said, well, just fire the fireworks. And he said, once you hit start, cause everything now is all. Program they're not out there lighting fireworks with a stick anymore, 

Alan Bernstein: right? They used to they used to watch them. But 

Terri Bernstein: once the program is a go, that's it so we have two lulls of 

Ben Bernstein: so we get back to the dock and everybody came off the boat though. I don't know if the passengers even noticed 

Alan Bernstein: Well, they or carriage Well, yeah, I, you know what? The end, the, the end of the show was spectacular.

And they did a great job. Next year we'll know that we have to do drones differently. 

Terri Bernstein: Next year will be [00:54:00] bigger and better 

Ben Bernstein: And it's probably gonna be cheaper too. Probably it 

Terri Bernstein: probably is gonna be a little cheaper 

Ben Bernstein: Joe if you're listening, 

Terri Bernstein: yeah, 

Alan Bernstein: we're expecting 

Ben Bernstein: a 

Alan Bernstein: discount. Oh, no not expecting it will be a discount 

Terri Bernstein: So I talked to joe. He is very apologetic and we know there's nothing 

Alan Bernstein: you can 

Ben Bernstein: I mean 

Alan Bernstein: really there was nothing 

Terri Bernstein: he could do We know how great his shows are, you know, what's 

Alan Bernstein: really funny the next night On Friday night, it was a fireworks Friday on the Reds game and they had drones.

Do you know the Friday night fireworks had drones? No. And everybody thought it was spectacular. Yeah. I was very excited about the drone show because it's new. It's a new, that was the next night. It was, but it was supposed to be our night. 

Ben Bernstein: It didn't work on our night. It worked out. . The reds have probably had a little extra to make sure. 

Alan Bernstein: So next show, what are we gonna talk about? I 

Terri Bernstein: think we should talk about this. I 

Alan Bernstein: think the 1982 World's Fair is a very good topic. We can have some [00:55:00] visuals. You can take some pictures of my memorabilia.

No, not my junk. 

Terri Bernstein: I'll take some pictures. I'll 

Alan Bernstein: would you For me, you have this in your 

Ben Bernstein: home? . I think I would win that one. Well, 

Alan Bernstein: I, 

Ben Bernstein: it's a whole display.

I mean, you can, it is. What did you buy every, did you buy one of every souvenir I tried to buy. Did you buy five of every souvenir? No. There's at least 

Terri Bernstein: five of every soen. At least not, that's not true. 

Alan Bernstein: That's not, that, that is, it's not true. It's not that far. That is not true, but I tried to get a variety of different I don't think that's all of them.

There were many more. But I have a whole case. Didn't that guy lose his ass too? Who? Well, he went to jail. Oh, Jake butcher went to jail. We'll go we'll get into that. Yeah, 

Jake Butcher's the head of the world's fit he was the united bank of knoxville or whatever.

Terri Bernstein: I went to school in knoxville. 

Alan Bernstein: I know Yeah 

Ben Bernstein: All right, she can even talk knoxvillean. 

Terri Bernstein: Yeah 

Ben Bernstein: all right. Well, thank you for [00:56:00] listening to our latest episode. We'll see you again next week.

Moderator: Thank you for listening to the Ramblin' on the River podcast presented by BB river boats. Stay tuned for the next episode of our podcast and remember to like, subscribe and follow us on all your favorite podcast platforms.

Ben Bernstein: The previous episode was brought to you by BB riverboats. 

Moderator: The moments that await just around the river's bend are what we look forward to each day watching high school sweethearts tie the knot or watching them celebrate 50 wonderful years together a group of old friends reuniting for one more adventure or young minds embarking on their first.

At BB Riverboats, we believe a cruise on the mighty Ohio is where [00:57:00] lifelong memories are made. And that once you experience it, you'll want to share it with others time and time again. Plan your group event at BBRiverboats. com. Journey Aboard.