I think I have found my music festival destination for this summer! The Nelsonville Music Festival takes place at Robbins Crossing historic village on the campus of Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, less than three hours from Cincinnati. The four-day festival offers multiple stages of music along with camping on site, kids activities, local art vendors, food, and a beer garden.

The 10th annual festival will feature over 40 bands including The Avett Brothers, The Head and the Heart, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, and Jason Isbell with even more to be announced. Tickets are just $100 for the weekend and children 12 and under are free. Camping is just $20 extra, but we are considering finding an offsite cabin around the nearby Hocking Hills State Park. Anyone want to join us?

I was recently sent a couple of boxes of the new Fiber One Meal Bars thanks to BzzAgent. These bars pack 10 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber while reducing sugar down to only 6-9 grams depending on the flavor variety. I received the chocolate peanut butter bars, a classic combo of roasted peanuts plus creamy peanut butter and chocolate flavored chips, as well as the strawberry Greek yogurt bars, roasted almonds are complemented by strawberry flavored fruit pieces and a Greek yogurt coating.

I have an almond allergy so my wife got to enjoy the strawberry Greek yogurt bars, and that she did. I think she went through the 5 pack in a matter of days. I think she really enjoyed the flavor of the bars and appreciated the high protein and fiber content.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

The chocolate peanut butter bars were all mine. I tend not to snack throughout the day, so I still have one or two of these left, but I did use them as a breakfast substitute a couple of times. The flavor was good, not as good as the chocolate chip and peanut crunch Clif bars that I love, but was more than acceptable. The peanut taste is a lot stronger than the chocolate, and I was surprised to find so few chocolate chips in the actual bar when compared to the picture on the box.

When I ate the bar for breakfast my stomach stayed full for just a couple of hours, so I think these are better suited to those who need a filling snack halfway through the day. If that is you, the Fiber One Meal Bar will curb cravings and give you the protein and fiber needed.

A week ago I had a rare lunch time excursion out for lunch. It was my brother-in-law’s birthday and he wanted to go to one of his favorite restaurants, Foley’s Irish Pub in Reading. It is located in the heart of the Reading Bridal District, something I had no idea existed until my visit to Foley’s. The area was a nice surprise that I may have to explore more in the future.

Outside

Foley’s looks like one of those bar and grills that has occupied the same building for many years. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it does look like it closed briefly in 2009 for a renovation and with new owners. The inside of the pub is decorated with loads of sports memorabilia and feels like a great neighborhood bar and grill with friendly staff and typical bar food offerings.

Foley’s Club

We started with an order of Mile High Nachos ($8.25), that was more than enough for our table of ten. I ordered Foley’s Club with the included side of chips ($7.99). Fries and onion rings are available for an additional charge. The club was piled high with thick cuts of turkey and ham along with both American and Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Mayonnaise came on the side, which is nice for the health conscious. The double-decker sandwich was tasty and filling.

Others in the group seemed to enjoy the massive cod sandwiches, burgers, various wraps, and wings. Fairly standard bar food is offered at Foley’s Irish Pub and not what you may expect at a more typical Irish pub, however everything that I sampled was good. Just don’t expect to find any bangers or corned beef.

I’ve been slightly obsessed with the winter Olympics once again this year. Obviously ice hockey is a favorite of mine, but I also really enjoy the freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The snowboard cross and ski cross events are also highly entertaining. If you have not seen either of those, it is like motocross but on snow. I would love to give it a try, though I have never seen a track open for the public.

Now I have just discovered something else that I would really like to try, ice cross downhill. Red Bull Crashed Ice is one such event just getting under way in Saint Paul, Minnesota this weekend. Ice cross downhill is basically the same idea as the snowboard cross and other similar events, but this one has athletes on skates over a frozen track. Think this could be an Olympic sport?

My wife and I were in need of a quick bite to eat this past Friday evening. We were originally thinking of having an appetizer at one of our usual spots near Fountain Square, but after finding somewhat large crowds we decided to stop at Al-Amir Cafe instead. My wife had tried Al-Amir a week or two ago and had positive things to say.

Counter

I was honestly a little skeptical after stepping into a tiny and somewhat dingy restaurant. However my wife reassured me and insisted that I try the chicken shawarma wrap that she had earlier ($4.99). On this visit she went with the falafel wrap (also $4.99). After placing our orders at the counter my wife took a seat at one of only a few tables while I waited at the counter.

Inside

I was able to see into the kitchen from the ordering counter and watched as the cook scooped the falafel and placed each ball into the fryer. He also put a couple of pieces of marinated chicken breast on the grill for my wrap. I always like to see food prepared to order. I’m sure this could add some wait time during the lunch rush, but our food was ready in less than ten minutes.

Falafel Wrap

Each of the wraps was topped with onion, lettuce, tomato, and garlic sauce. We added a side of fries ($.99) which were also fried to order and plenty for the two of us to share. I think I liked the falafel wrap slightly better than the chicken shawarma, but both were really good. The last few bites were pretty messy but totally worth it. Don’t let the appearance of Al-Amir deter you from giving their delicious Mediterranean food a try. You are also likely to leave smelling like the food you just ate, but that is also totally worth it.

I spent a good chunk of this past weekend down at the Duke Energy Convention Center for this year’s Cincy Winter Beerfest. Many of the things I’ve said in the past years are still very true, this biggest of which is to attend Friday night’s session rather than the much more crowded Saturday session. Saturday was easily twice as crowded as Friday, if not more. I think the snowy weather on Friday may have deterred some last-minute attendees from making the trip.

Friday Night VIP Crowd

My wife and I opted for the Connoisseur ticket for Friday night, which provides access to the Connoisseur Reception Area with appetizer bites from a dozen local restaurants each paired with a rare or super premium beer. My family was down on the main floor for the VIP hour, so we pretty much went straight down to join them for that time. However that caused us to miss out on a couple of the food and beer pairings upstairs, as those seem to go pretty quickly. Next time I will plan to take full advantage of the Connoisseur area by skipping dinner before and spending the first hour or so upstairs.

PortaBeer

Saturday I decided to volunteer my time to working the festival in exchange for free beer. I ran into some friends while checking in at the volunteer booth and they told me that they had been assigned to the ticketing area. I agreed to join them and soon found out that this could be one of the best kept secrets of the fest. Our job was to unwrap the sample glasses, fill them with the tasting tickets, and then hand them out as people entered the gates. However before that even started we were able to go around and sample beer from any of the open vendors for an hour or so.

Me And Penny Lane

A half hour before the gates opened we had to report to our position and get ready. It was actually somewhat tiring work and a lot of time on my feet, but it only lasted for a couple of hours. The gates opened to VIP ticket holders at 6:30 and then at 7:30 for everyone else. By 8:00 or 8:30 most people were already through the door. So at this time most of us were able to leave the post and offer to help the volunteers that were pouring beer.

From there I found a couple of booths that I wanted to sample and offered to help out. I spent the majority of my time at Oskar Blues and at Fifty West. A brewery rep from Oskar Blues gave me a couple of koozies for helping them out and I was allowed to get behind the wheel of Fifty West’s Penny Lane after assisting them (and drinking my fair share of Ghost of Imogene). I had just as good of a time volunteering for the fest as I did attending and I will be sure to offer my services again in the future. Long live beerfest!

Last night we wrapped up yet another season of Fountain Square Broomball. As has become our custom, we all gathered at Market Wines in Findlay Market for beer, pizza, and a comical awards ceremony. One of our newer teammates pointed out that it was nice to see each other with normal clothing on and in a more social situation. I totally agree and it was a great time as always.

MVP

After three years on the squad, I was finally awarded Most Valuable Player! This was due in part to my good friend Kenny constantly being called for penalties and thus he was not awarded MVP this year but was given Most Hated By Ref, despite scoring the most goals on the team.

Intense Broomball Action. Photo credit: 5chw4r7z

However looking at the schedule, it seems that our celebration may have been premature. Typically a 1-4 record would not send your team to the post-season. However, contrary to years past, it looks like all teams made it into the playoffs this year. So we now have a game tomorrow evening, and if we win we keep on playing that night until a champion is crowned. Go Little Kings!

Sunday night I caught Beatles tribute band Classical Mystery Tour‘s performance at Music Hall with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. My brother has an Enjoy the Arts membership and since his girlfriend could not join him for the show I got to go instead. I had never heard of Enjoy the Arts before, but I now know it is the ideal gift for anyone aged 35 and younger. Worth almost $1,000, Enjoy the Arts members get free tickets to cool arts and a great way to experience the city all year-long for a fee of $50 ($35 for students with ID).

The performance started with a ten minute Cincinnati Pops medley overture of Beatles songs. From there the four members of Classical Mystery Tour arrived on stage to perform with the orchestra. The highlights of the first set were mostly from the Magical Mystery Tour album, including “All You Need Is Love,” “Penny Lane,” and “Hello, Goodbye” because of the amount of orchestration on the studio versions of each song.

Beatles Music With Orchestra

The band had a number of costume changes with wardrobes spanning the Beatles career. And while they certainly looked the part, it was amazing how close their voices sounded so familiar and spot on. Orchestral highlights from the second set included “A Day in the Life,” as well as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and even Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” They also threw in hugely popular songs such as “Imagine,” “Something,” and “Hey Jude.”

This was a one-night-only show but it seems the band is on tour often, so be sure to catch them their next time through town. You will not be disappointed.

Friday night I was thrilled to join thousands of others at an event benefiting the A Kid Again organization. A Kid Again strives to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses and their families by providing healing times of respite through fun-filled group activities and destination events.

Basketball Extravaganza

My father-in-law’s company helped sponsor Friday night’s 23rd annual Basketball Extravaganza. This event pitted a team full of former and current NFL football players against a team full of other area celebrities, including former Reds players. The game was entertaining and both teams helped get the crowd into the game by having kids shoot their free throws and occasionally letting an attendee inbound the ball.

It is always great to have a nice night out while helping to support honorable charities such as A Kid Again.

Today kicks off the third annual Cincinnati Beer Week. There are so many events this year that everyone should be able to find something that interests them. I’m hoping to hit up the Lagunitas Official Cincinnati Release event at Market Wines tonight after Broomball. Lagunitas has been distributing in all other corners of Ohio except for Cincinnati. But that all changes today and the California based brewery will be appearing in all of your favorite better beer locations.