I watched a fair amount of musical films growing up. My grandmother was a big fan of them and because of that I was exposed to them fairly often. In fact I think I could still sing along to most of the songs from The Sound of Music.

When I was invited to Broadway in Cincinnati’s season opener of Ghost The Musical last Tuesday, I decided to give it a try despite never seeing the Oscar-winning movie that it is based on. I did read the story from the musical’s website, so I had a very general understanding of the plot, but I was still surprised when the major events all took place.

The musical features an original pop score from multiple Grammy Award-winners Dave Stewart, one half of the 80s pop duo the Eurythmics, and Glen Ballard, co-writer with Alanis Morissette on the multi-platinum album Jagged Little Pill, among many other notable credits and collaborations. Adapted from the hit film by its Academy Award-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, Ghost the Musical follows Sam and Molly, a young couple whose connection takes a shocking turn after Sam’s untimely death. Trapped between two worlds, Sam refuses to leave Molly when he learns she is in grave danger. Desperate to communicate with her, he turns to a storefront psychic who helps him protect Molly and avenge his death.

Ghost The Musical

Aside from the great singing performances and creative acting from the cast, I was most impressed by the visual effects on the stage. Rather than relying solely on a physical backdrop, many of the scenes were created on giant LED screens that allowed the ghostly characters to fly through doors and appear to board and even ride on moving subway cars. I was very impressed with Ghost The Musical and would recommend it even if you have never seen the movie. Performances run through October 6th at the Aronoff.

Yesterday my sister-in-law asked if she should upgrade to the latest iOS 7. I told her that she absolutely should, but as always make sure to do a backup to iTunes before upgrading. I’ve been using iOS 7 since a day or two after its release and have had a wonderful experience with the redesigned user interface.

iOS 7 On My iPhone 5

I did notice one very small issue today. Somehow my phone has downloaded the same exact app twice. I’m clueless as to how it happened since I haven’t tried to download or update any applications since the upgrade. However, I do love the new automatic application updates, easily my favorite new feature behind the control center. Control center allows me to easily turn on and off my WiFi connection and easy access to other common things that were buried in Settings.

The one built-in application that seems to have changed the most is the calendar, and I’m still trying to get used to the new layout, but I honestly don’t use it too much on my personal phone. It seems like it is now designed much more for business purposes, so maybe it will be nice once I am able to upgrade my work phone, which I hope isn’t too far away. Switching between different operating systems is a bit challenging, especially when they are so different.

Over the weekend my family and I ended up at the Yard House after an unsuccessful attempt at attending Oktoberfest on Friday night. We parked the car just as the rain started to fall and decided that our evening would be best spent inside. Fortunately the Yard House was nearby and was on my restaurant wish list.

Inside

The inside of the Yard House is massive! I was expecting to have to wait for a table at 6 P.M. on a Friday but was pleasantly surprised to be seated immediately in a large booth overlooking the covered patio. There were a few other open tables inside but I’m told that Reds games can pack quite a crowd as the restaurant sits just a block from the stadium. The bar area appears plenty big enough to handle a much larger crowd than I saw.

Patio

This wasn’t my first visit to a Yard House restaurant. There are now roughly 40 locations in 15 states with more opening soon. I visited the Denver location a few times in the months it was open before moving to Cincinnati. The large craft beer selection was usually the primary motivator for my visits, though I will admit to drinking a half yard glass filled with light beer on one visit. During our most recent visit I would not be ordering any beers of this size, but I did witness an entire tour group ordering round after round of the tall glasses.

Classic Ranch Salad

I started my dinner with the classic ranch salad ($2.95 when added to your meal). The mix of iceberg and Boston lettuce was topped with tomatoes, carrots, sweet corn, jack, cheddar, croutons and buttermilk ranch. The serving size was smaller than I was expecting. And though I liked the addition of corn to the other standard toppings, I just didn’t love this salad and would definitely skip it in the future.

Kid’s Cheeseburger

Our two-year-old son decided to eat a cheeseburger from the Kids Klub menu. This came served with a choice of side (he chose french fries of course) and a drink ($6.95). Since we usually encourage him to drink water when dining out, I would have preferred to have a cheaper priced option without the drink. With that said the serving size was generous for a kid’s meal and he seemed to enjoy it.

Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza

My wife ordered the spicy Thai chicken pizza, a lovely combination of firecracker sauce, mozzarella, macadamia nuts, carrots, green onion and cilantro ($12.85). The pizza is easily enough to share. I had a couple of slices of it and we still had two pieces left to bring home with us. I really enjoyed the macadamia nut topping, which is something that I have never seen before. The firecracker sauce has the right amount of spice to it and the dough was perfectly cooked with a chewy center and crisp edges. Their pizzas seem popular and for good reason.

Street Tacos

The food menu is equally as lengthy as the beer list, which features over 100 draft options. I’ve sampled their sandwiches before and enjoyed them, but I was looking for something different on this visit. I found the street taco menu that offers two tacos with spicy rice and beans and decided to give that a try. I asked for the carnitas tacos and our waitress kindly pointed out that I could mix and match the two tacos. I quickly decided to try one each of the carnitas and chicken tinga ($10.65).

The carnitas taco was a delicious combination of roast pork with grilled onions, pico de gallo, guacamole and pineapple, while the chicken tinga added a rather bland chipotle tomato sauce with green cabbage, cilantro, feta cheese and cumin crema. I easily enjoyed the carnitas better and should have went with my original order. The spicy rice on the side was actually very good, but the beans were terrible. The soupy bean mix was very bland and barely warm. How they got the cheese to melt on top is a mystery to me.

With a few exceptions, all the food I’ve tried from the Yard House has been great. The beer selection alone is reason enough to visit. With all of that said I think I enjoy the neighboring Moerlein Lager House food and environment better, though the Yard House wins for beer.

Yesterday was Paige’s baptism day! She was baptized at St. Francis Seraph by Fr. David Kohut, the same church Trey was baptized, and where Kim and I were married as well.

Paige Being Baptized

Paige was a perfect little angel for the entire mass. She slept right up until the water was poured on her head. She was a bit startled by the awakening, but she never cried. As for Trey, he definitely wanted to see what was happening to his baby sister.

Trey Looking On

Thanks so much to Paige’s godparents, Melissa and Chris, for helping us out during the day and for many future years of love.

Godparents

We had great weather for a party at our house afterward and were very blessed to have so many members of our families over to celebrate with us.

Tonight is the last of this summer’s Bandstand Bluegrass nights at Washington Park. This has become one of my family’s favorite activities this summer and we definitely will not miss it tonight. Our friends The Turkeys are playing from 7-9 and as always Eli’s BBQ will be there with delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Look for us there with our bottomless stroller of kiddie gear.

Lots Of Gear

I took my family out to the Old West Festival on Saturday for a few hours. I first heard of this fest through Family Friendly Cincinnati, which is a great resource for things to do with the kids. The fest remains open weekends through October 6th.

Welcome Wagon

We arrived just before noon and found that we weren’t the only ones with the idea for the day. Fortunately I had enough cash to skip the credit card line for entry payment, and we were inside the gates in no time. Admission is $12 for adults, children ages 6-12: $6, and children under 5 are free.

Ticket Line

We were treated to a gunfight right away upon our entry. It reminded me a lot of the shootout we witnessed as part of our Great Train Robbery experience last year. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of the actors from the train ride were participating at the Old West Fest. Our two-year-old though it was too loud this time, so we moved along right away.

Gunfight

The town buildings are very cool to look at and each one has a real purpose inside. Some sell arts and crafts, while others serve as a saloon for drinks and food.

Old West Town

There were numerous activities for the young ones, including a sing along band performance, a really impressive magic show, panning for gold, and the always exciting play-set with slides and swings.  We were most entertained by the Pickled Brothers Circus, who we caught on our way out. The combination of fire eating, juggling, and sword swallowing was enjoyed by the whole family.

Native American Weekend

This past weekend was Native American weekend and we witnessed a drum circle performance. Each weekend has its own unique theme, so some specials acts and exhibits can be expected at other times.

Miniature Buggy

We all had a good time at the festival, even though my wife and I thought it was a little expensive. Mainly the food and drinks were not as cheap as I was expecting, and there were a handful of children’s activities that all cost extra as well. I did see people bringing their own coolers with them, so that could be one way to cut down the cost, though I don’t see it mentioned specifically on their website. It is probably best for families with older children.

With Kim already planning to attend last Tuesday’s Reds game with work, I decided it would be fun to take Trey down for another game before the season is over. My father-in-law scored some great seats just behind the dugout for the game, though not as nice as the suite Kim was watching from.

Great Seats

The game was slow and painful to watch as the Reds quickly lost control and went on to lose 1-9 to the Cubs. We made it through six innings before retreating home to get a good night of sleep. On the way out we saw a World Trade Center steel artifact on display. 9/11 was the next day and there were special events and memorials to remember the sad day in American history.

WTC Steel Artifact

We also got our first glimpse at the new Joe Morgan statue just outside of the ball park that was dedicated the weekend before.

Joe Morgan

Even though the game wasn’t a good one for Reds fans, it is always a good time enjoying the park with family and friends.

I finally made it down to MadTree Brewing Company this past Sunday. I have been wanting to visit their tasting room since it opened in April, just a couple of days after my daughter was born. However I haven’t had much free time to do so with two little ones keeping us busy. Fortunately I needed somewhere to watch the Bengals game Sunday and it just so happens that there was an Alzheimer benefit going on at the brewery at the same time.

Road Signage

The brewery is just a ten minute drive from my house, but road construction in the area has made it a little difficult for me to get there. Once the Kennedy Connector project is finished, it will be much easier for me and it should also bring a lot of extra traffic past the brewery.

Tasting Bar

The tasting area at MadTree is really quite large. There is a bar that wraps around the beer cooler and seats at least a dozen. Plus there are another dozen or so high top tables that each seat over a handful of people. The space was crowded on Sunday, not to the point that you couldn’t move, and it was great to see such wonderful support for the brewery and for the charity.

Fermenters

The brewery recently had a capacity expansion and their two new 60 barrel fermenters are the first thing you see from the tasting room. These brought the capacity up from 90 barrels to 210, a 133% increase! Needless to say, MadTree is doing very well in their first two quarters of operation. More details on the expansion can be found online compliments of the Brew Professor.

Big Winner

My parents joined Trey and I on this visit to the brewery and my mom put Trey’s name in for a variety of baskets. We had to leave at half time for his nap, but eventually had to drive back to pickup three baskets that he had won. The one that he was most excited about was filled with Coke and candy. I’d say it was a great first visit to MadTree and that I will be back again soon.

The Mt. Adams Bar & Grill has been around for a long time. When prohibition was repealed in 1933 the Bar & Grill in its present location was the first drinking establishment in Ohio to obtain a liquor license.

Sign Outside

Surprisingly this past Saturday’s visit was my first time inside the historic building, but we don’t make it up to Mt. Adams as often as we once did in our younger years for bar hopping. We arrived around 6:30 in the evening and found no wait for a table of four. We were seated right away in a booth behind the hostess stand, near the large wooden bar.

Inside

While waiting for the other couple to arrive, my wife and I snacked on a small order of fried jalapeño ravioli ($7.25). Though the menu claimed that the ravioli are stuffed with chopped jalapeño peppers, I did not detect much spice in them at all. With that said I still enjoyed the fried pasta filled with ricotta cheese.

Decor

For dinner I ordered the southwestern chicken sandwich, which features a chicken breast marinated in a special sauce and grilled to perfection, topped with sour cream, green taco sauce, pepper jack cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise and served on grilled buttercrust bread ($6.75). It comes served with a side of chips, though other options are available for an additional charge. The sandwich was really good with a nice spicy finish. The chips were nothing special, and I probably should have went with sweet potato fries instead.

Southwestern Chicken

My wife ordered the veggie burger, a combination of oats, tofu, wheatgerm, sesame seeds, and a variety of seasonings. It is served with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickle, red onion, mustard and Monterey jack cheese ($6.25). I was fortunate enough to have a couple of bites of this sandwich and I have to say this is one of the best veggie burgers around. The mix of so many ingredients comes together in a somewhat spicy and very filling meal.

Veggie Burger

I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the food at Mt. Adams Bar & Grill, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The prices are extremely fair and the food is very good. This is easily a top spot in Mt. Adams for an affordable and casual meal before heading out to the bars, and is even worthy of a visit at any other time.

This past Saturday my family and I made a brief appearance at the first annual Fifty Fest down at Fifty West Brewing Company. Throughout the summer the brewery hosted smaller concert series leading up to this day long celebration at the end of summer.

Festival Grounds

In addition to numerous offerings from Fifty West, select beers from Blank Slate, MadTree, Triple Digit, Mt. Carmel, and Rhinegeist were all available. The event also featured eights bands on two stages. My favorite beers of the short day were both from Rhinegeist, the limited Monogamy: Mosaic and their latest seasonal Fiction.

Rhinegeist!

It was very family friendly. My family especially enjoyed the nice hillside lawn where we spread out a blanket and had some lunch while listening to the music of Los Honchos. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was hot outside and we had a few other things to accomplish throughout the day.

Family Shot

I hope the event returns next year!