The latest Cincinnati Craft Brewer’s festival took place this past weekend at the Listermann Brewing Company. From the event website, “VolksFest is a festival for the people of Cincinnati, brought to you by your favorite local craft breweries.” You may recall the StarkBier Fest I attended earlier this year, well the idea was the same with VolksFest, a celebration of Cincinnati area breweries.

Beer Truck

The breweries involved were Blank Slate, Fifty West, Christian Morelein, Rock Bottom, Rivertown, Mt.Carmel, Mad Tree, Cellar Dweller, Wiedemann, Quaff Bros, Rhinegeist, Triple Digit, and Listermann. The idea behind Volksfest is lower ABV and session beers for the hot summer days in July.

Crowded Afternoon

Fortunately the weather was not all that hot on the day of the event, so a very large crowd was assembled by the time I finally made it over at 4:30. The festival space appeared larger than at StarkBier Fest, so there was plenty of room to spread out. Unfortunately due to a time constraint, I was only able to sample a couple of beers. I guess I’ll have another shot at the soon to be announced craft beer Oktoberfest, assuming it is happening again this year.

Food options were plentiful at the Bunbury Music Festival, which took place a couple of weeks ago. In addition to some standard festival food offerings, I was happy to see a few of Cincinnati’s increasingly popular food trucks on hand. My favorite meal of the weekend was provided by one of the newer trucks in town, Urban Grill Food Truck.

The Truck

Their menu rotates daily and features sandwiches and marinated skewers of meat. They are the only local truck to have a full commercial kitchen and an on-board wood-chip smoker.

OTR Club

The sandwich that I absolutely loved is called the OTR Club. It features Glier’s Goetta, thick sliced applewood smoked bacon, pepper-jack cheese, tomato, and a made in-house Cajun mayonnaise on a toasted Sixteen Bricks Challah bun. My mouth is watering again just thinking of this amazing flavor combination. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from the Urban Grill Food Truck soon.

For our final meal on our recent vacation to Hilton Head, we made a reservation for sixteen at the Old Oyster Factory. This restaurant is a bit off the beaten path, but it’s secluded location gives it a nice waterfront view over Broad Creek.

Parking

Despite a massive parking lot, all spots were filled and I was asked to park in the overflow grass lawn on the other side of some trees from the main lot. I did circle through the lot once, but it was clear that the restaurant was a popular place, especially on our Friday night visit.

Outside

We arrived just before our reservation time, but unfortunately our table was not ready. We were told that the group ahead of us was paying their bill and it wouldn’t be much longer. Unfortunately the wait was still a half hour or so, but I’m sure that was better than what any walk-in groups would face in this restaurant or anywhere else for that matter.

Inside

When we did finally reach our table, we were seated in the middle of a large room with large glass windows overlooking the creek and surrounding marshland. It was a nice setting for a meal.

Hush Puppies

Complimentary hush puppies were delivered to our table after our drinks had been ordered and delivered. These were delicious! Our table easily went through a half-dozen baskets of the wonderfully fried dough balls.

Crab Cake

Some in our group ordered appetizers. I did not order one, but did have a very small bite of my parents crab cake ($11.99). This was served with a tasty chili lime rémoulade. Overall a very good crab cake from the little I had. Not the best out there but certainly not the worst either.

Smoked Bourbon Chicken

As I am not the biggest seafood eater, I went with the only chicken dish on the menu. The smoked bourbon chicken, served with creamy Carolina stone ground grits, baby French beans and julienned carrots finished with a bourbon glaze ($21.99). I didn’t detect much smoke flavor in the chicken, but it was cooked well and the bourbon glaze was a nice touch. The grits and vegetables were certainly nothing to write home about. Overall a decent dish, but very much overpriced. It was also saddening to see that there were no vegetarian options on the menu either.

Tilapia Special

My wife had a tilapia special that came topped with shrimp, a scallop, and a lemon cream sauce. She and another diner at the table who ordered the same dish commented that the fish tasted a lot fishier than it should have. She loved the scallop but was disappointed that there was only one on her plate. On the side were the same underwhelming vegetables that I had with my dish and some pretty plain rice. Overall a fairly disappointing dish.

The ambiance and view from the Old Oyster Factory are top-notch. However the entrées leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps this spot is best for drinks and appetizers at one of the multiple on site bars.

Palmetto Dunes on Dwellable

A couple of Friday’s back my two favorite bands of all time played together at the same venue on the same night when O.A.R. opened up for the Dave Matthews Band at Riverbend. This was not the first time it has happened (the 21st time actually), nor was it the first time I’ve seen it happen (the 8th time), but it was just as memorable as the first.

Stage Right

As he normally does, Dave Matthews came out to introduce O.A.R. before their opening set. After greeting the crowd in his typical way, he had some very kind words to say about O.A.R. “They do not need to be opening up for us. In fact, if I’m lucky, maybe someday I’ll be opening up for them. Anyway, it is my great pleasure to introduce my friends, O.A.R.”

Stage Left

During O.A.R.’s opening set, touring members of the Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross, came out to play saxophone and trumpet on “Road Outside Columbus.” With O.A.R.’s touring band having two additional horn players to compliment Jerry DePizzo on saxophone, there were five horns on stage at once. It was awesome!

O.A.R. also played a new song titled “Peace” from their upcoming release later this year or next. It was a nice opening set and the entire thing can be streamed online thanks to my good friend Mike Sarnovsky. Unfortunately I do not have plans to see them headline this summer, but I’m hoping I’ll catch them again in the fall.

One of two large family dinners we had while on vacation in Hilton Head was at Steamer Seafood. They gladly made a reservation for our group of sixteen, and when we arrived at the designated time our table was ready and waiting.

Steamer

There are two very large dining rooms with a combined total of 160 seats. There are also 175 seats outside on two decks and a 70-seat raw bar. This place is large! In addition live music is featured every night on the outdoor deck and they have over 250 different beers from around the world.

Inside Room 1

We were seated in the second dining room, which doesn’t have as much of character as the first room we passed through.

Inside Room 2

I started my meal with a house salad topped with a house made balsamic vinaigrette ($6). While the salad itself was fairly standard, the dressing was excellent. However the price felt a little high.

House Salad

As I am not a big fan of seafood, I tried their grilled chicken sandwich that comes topped with ham, BBQ sauce, and Swiss cheese ($12). This was served with a mound of crinkle cut fries and a cup of coleslaw. The sandwich was actually better than I was expecting it to be. As one of only two chicken items on the menu I did not have high expectations, but it was cooked well and the toppings were a great combination of flavors.

Chicken Sandwich

Our son wanted to try the popcorn shrimp. As this was his first time trying any seafood, we asked if we could have a kids basket with half shrimp and half chicken fingers. Our server said that it would not be a problem, and it was served to him just as we had asked. He loved the shrimp and ate more of those than anything else on his frisbee. That’s right, kid’s meals are served on a frisbee that you can take home ($5.99 for this selection).

Kid’s Popcorn Shrimp

My wife had a blackened fish of some kind. The menu doesn’t list many standard entrée selections, instead they feature quite a list of fresh catch each night that can be served blackened or grilled. If I recall she was very happy with her selection. It was served with red roasted potatoes and fresh vegetables.

Blackened Fish

Following the lead of the other menu items, the fresh catch plate was a dollar or two overpriced, but that is to expected from a restaurant just a block from the beach. The fact that they took a reservation for our large party and delivered a pretty tasty meal is reason enough for me to return again in the future.

Last night I attended the streetcar social at Rhinegeist Brewery hosted by Cincinnatians for Progress. Mayor Mark Mallory was on hand to give his remarks on the past, present, and future of the Cincinnati streetcar project.

Mayor Mark Mallory

Earlier this week the construction contract was signed and phase one of the streetcar is expected to be open on September 15, 2016. More details on the contract and the timeline can be found at the Cincy Streetcar Blog and Building Cincinnati. 5chw4r7z was also in attendance last night and he has shared his thoughts as well. Let’s go!

To help ring in my mother-in-law’s birthday, our family recently spent the day at Hueston Woods with all of my wife’s family. Besides swimming at the pool outside of the lodge, my favorite activity of the day was going to the Nature Center.

Dinner Time

Sunday afternoons at 2 PM throughout the summer, you can watch as the Nature Center’s resident cougar cub and bobcat are fed their dinner.

Cougar Cub

At first when we arrived at the cougar cub’s cage, he was very shy and hiding in the cave. Once the park employee appeared with the food he was very active and ready to eat.

Hungry Fella

The cub is around six months old. His enclosure was redesigned prior to his arrival and after the death of the old cougar who passed away last year at the age of 18.

Bobcat

In contrast to the playful cougar cub, the park’s bobcat is nearing the end of his life and the park employee said he wouldn’t be surprised if this was his last summer. He didn’t move much while we were there, though I did catch a peak of him eating his dinner once the large crowd had left.

Red-Tailed Hawk

In addition to the cats, the Nature Center also has a dozen or so large birds of prey including a red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and even a bald eagle.

Turkey Vulture

Most of these birds are permanent residents as they have injuries that would not allow them to live outside of captivity. However the Nature Center does Raptor Rehabilitation and accepts on average 50 injured birds of prey a year with a nearly 50% success rate of release.

Bald Eagle

The Nature Center also has an inside building filled with reptiles of the area. It too is worth a quick visit. The Nature Center is open year round, 10 AM – 4:30 PM daily and is always free.

One afternoon of our recent vacation to Hilton Head Island my wife and I snuck out of the house while the kids napped to have a quiet lunch on our own. Her only request was fish, and since that seemed to be available everywhere we went, I choose a restaurant that looked the most interesting to me, A Lowcountry Backyard.

Outside Dining Area

The have an awesome outdoor dining area, but it was raining throughout our visit so we were not able to sit there. I read stories of waiting an hour or two for a table and with the outdoor area closed I was expecting the worst. Fortunately we were told that it would only be twenty or thirty minutes for a table to open up inside. If you don’t want to wait long for a table at this restaurant, might I suggest going out for lunch rather than dinner.

Inside Details

The inside of the restaurant is very small but not cramped. There are plenty of windows to let natural light in and the walls are adorned with nautical artifacts and it feels as if you are sitting right off the beach. In actuality the restaurant sits a mile and a half inland and back off the road in a shopping plaza filled with crafty stores and a coffee shop. It is next to The Smokehouse, which is probably easier to spot on Palmetto Bay Rd.

Fried Green Tomato BLT

I already knew what I was going to order when I walked through the door, the Charleston fried green tomato BLT sandwich ($9.95). The thick slices of green tomato were skillet fried and piled two high on each half of the sandwich along with romaine lettuce, applewood smoked bacon, and homemade ranch dressing. The flatbread was delicious and made the sandwich easy to share. It was outstanding! The sandwich was served with homemade sweet pickles and a choice of side dish. I went with mom’s macaroni salad, which was also very good.

Blackened Tuna

My wife tried the calibogue catch sandwich, which was blackened tuna on the day of our visit ($9.95). This was also served with sweet pickles and a choice of side. She went with baked mac ‘n cheese, which was very creamy and delicious. I did not try the tuna fish, but she was very happy with her choice. She was also a huge fan of their moonshine drinks, which are definitely worth a try as well.

A Lowcountry Backyard provided our best overall dining experience on our vacation to Hilton Head Island. I would definitely visit the restaurant again on future trips.

I had a great weekend down at the second annual Bunbury Music Festival. I did not make last year’s festival as I was out-of-town, but everyone I talked to had such positive things to say about it, that I went ahead and bought tickets for this year before a lineup was even announced. I would have preferred to have a few more acts on the bill that I was already familiar with, but I found some new acts that I really enjoyed. Plus the festival was very family friendly and in a great downtown setting. I feel it is worthy of buying again for next year before any bands are announced.

New bands that I discovered and really enjoyed include American Authors, Delta Rae, Empires, The Mowgli’s, Twenty One Pilots, A Silent Film, and Black Joe Lewis. I was also very surprised and impressed by Robert DeLong, who’s electronic style does not normally fit my tastes. However the amount of energy and ingenuity with instruments that he displayed was top-notch. Plus he had everyone in the large crowd up and dancing along, many of who I assume also do not typically listen to his style of music either.

The food and beer were not outrageously priced. In fact most of the food trucks and vendors that I saw inside the festival gates were charging the same amount as they normally would in other scenarios. All beers were $6 for what I think was a 16 ounce cup, excluding the craft beer village which was a $1 more per cup. Even though I prefer craft beer, I would have paid the extra money just to not have to wait in longer lines for domestic beer.

The policies in place for the festival are wonderful. You can come and go as you please, which allowed our kids to take a break from the festival for a few hours and still come back later in the evening. Also kids 10 and under are free with a paying adult, which is a very nice touch. They truly have created one of the best festival settings I have been to.

My one complaint that I hope can somehow be addressed would have to be large crowds at the main stage as the evening goes on. I know that large crowds are going to happen, so it seems that there needs to be a larger space for the crowds to grow. Each night the crowd would spill out onto the sidewalk next to the stage, making it very hard to get back and forth from stage to stage. There is a much larger lawn where they had the Bud Light stage setup this year, and I think that could be a much better solution for future years, even if it means not using the built-in stage and orienting the main stage in a different direction. I really think it could work and would alleviate some of the congestion issues. Other than that, I was definitely impressed and I will absolutely be back for more next year.

Cincinnati has yet another brewery open and creating great beer, Rhinegeist Brewery.

Outside

They opened two weeks ago in the old Christian Moerlein bottling facility just two blocks north of Findlay Market on Elm Street.

Bar

They are pouring four different beers currently. I just tried Truth, their take on the very popular IPA, and I was very impressed.

Mural

My friends who have tried all of their beers are partial to Truth and Uncle, their English mild.

Brewing Equipment

The brewery space is slightly elevated but barely separated from the massive tasting area.

Huge Space

I can’t wait to check it out again and taste more of their beer offerings.