No trip to Louisville is complete without a hot brown. On our most recent trip my wife and I stayed at the Brown Hotel, which is an awesome hotel. Before heading back home to Cincinnati we stopped into J. Graham’s Cafe for breakfast.

Hot Brown

The Brown Hotel is where the hot brown originated, so I immediately knew what I wanted. This did not disappoint and was delicious! The turkey breast was thick sliced, piled high on toast, and covered with a thick mornay sauce before being topped with bacon, tomato, and Romano cheese ($18).

Country Farm Omelette

Unfortunately my wife was not as happy with her choice, the country farm omelette with ham, tomato, and smoked Gouda ($14). It was overdone and the side of toast was burnt. The hot brown takes 20 minutes to prepare so I hope her plate wasn’t sitting under a heat lamp for an extended period. That is what it surely seemed like. Regardless I would still recommend a stop to any of the Brown Hotel restaurants or bars to sample their hot brown.

A night away without the kids took me and my wife to Louisville for dinner and a concert. I had a few places in mind for dinner and let my wife pick from the small list. We ended up at Garage Bar after making a reservation with Yelp.

Inside

Garage Bar is located in the East Market District and occupies a former auto service garage which was recreated and maintained by https://titangaragedoors.ca/garage-doors/residential/garage-doors-in-north-vancouver-bc/. Large garage doors are opened when the weather is right and a large patio is out front as well. We quickly grabbed drinks, a West 6th IPA for me ($6) and a Coopers Mule for her ($10 keeping the cup). People can check chicagogaragedoor.com for the best services.

Pimento & Crackers

We started with a couple of appetizers. The pimento and crackers ($4) were outstanding! The crackers were more like slim bread sticks that could easily be smothered in the delicious cheese mixture. The falafel ($6) was also good and was a generous portion. They might have been fried a touch too long, but still the inside flavor was spot on.

Falafel

For dinner we split the sweet corn pizza with cream, bacon, and jalapeno ($16). The crust was excellent and chewy as well as cooked perfectly. The combination of flavors was amazing on this pizza with the sweet corned complimented by the smoky and spicy flavors of the other toppings. I could have used a few more pieces of bacon actually, as those bites were my favorite!

Sweet Corn Pizza

Overall Garage Bar was a great place for a date night! I wouldn’t have brought the kids here as it didn’t seem like there was much that they would enjoy. The patio is awesome and there is plenty of room to run around by I don’t think the menu really would cater to their limited food interests.

The last meal worth mentioning from our trip to South Haven was from Joe’s Bar and Grill. We sort of stumbled across Joe’s on our walk back from South Beach to our accommodations near the Black River. We weren’t sure if it would be good for the kids, but were quickly told that there was a kids menu. Score!

Outside Dining

They have a large outdoor dining patio with plenty of room for the kids to run around a bit. The view is not scenic at all, but is much more spacious than the outdoor areas closer to the river.

Cajun Chicken Sandwich

My wife ordered the Cajun chicken sandwich ($12) and opted to sub the fries for sweet potato fries ($1.25 more). The chicken great was grilled perfectly and had a nice Cajun seasoning applied. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the fresh jalapeno and plenty of cheese smothered on top. My wife and I actually decided to split sandwiches are the food arrived and I was pleased with this sandwich.

California Turkey Reuben

I ordered the California turkey Reuben ($11) though I’m not sure what was Californian about it. It was just your average turkey Reuben on marbled rye. Nothing out of the ordinary but it was just what I needed to go with some of the local craft beers on tap.

Kids Burger

My son went with his standard ordered of cheeseburger ($6) and this was one of the better ones he’s had. It was a fairly large serving size and was plenty food for the little dude.

Kids Pizza

My daughter went with the kids cheese pizza with fries on the side ($6). It would have been nice if she could have caught some steamed vegetables or something else, but the pizza itself was decent enough.

Overall we had a good dining experience at Joe’s. Everyone in my family enjoyed their meals. However I was actually a little surprised by the prices, which seemed to be a bit higher than some of the other local spots that were closer to the river.

Another stop we made during our trip to South Haven was to the Idler Riverboat Bar & Grill for lunch. There was a decent crow there upon our arrival shortly after noon, but we were immediately shown to a table on the open air top deck.

Outside Dining

The view from the top deck is pretty awesome. My kids loved watched the boats pass by on their way to and from Lake Michigan. My wife and I also enjoyed the view while sampling the S.H.I.T. or South Haven Iced Tea (similar to a Long Island, $8) and a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.

View

If there are fried green tomatoes on the menu, chances are I am going to give them a try. The Idler offers a fried green tomato BLT that adds hickory smoked bacon, romaine, and a roasted garlic Parmesan mayonnaise ($9.25 with chips). The tomatoes themselves were really good, thick cut and golden fried. I would have liked to see a thicker cut bacon as well, but the flavor there was good. Overall it was a good sandwich.

Fried Green Tomato BLT

My daughter had the kids peanut butter and jelly ($3.95) which was actually the same size as my own sandwich. No complaints from the little one though, and she did her best to eat it all.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

My wife went with their award wining Jamaican Me Crazy sandwich that combines a jerk chicken salad with cranberries, something called holy trinity (Cajun spice), mixed greens, mango chutney, and Parmesan on a roll ($10.95). There was a lot going on with the sweet flavors of this sandwich but we both thought it was very good!

Jamaican Me Crazy

My son had the grilled cheese again served with chips ($4.95). This was another large serving for our elementary aged kids, but he did his best to polish it off. The chips were not to his picky palate as they were a salt and pepper mix. Keep that in mind for the little ones.

Grilled Cheese

Overall we had a solid dining experience while aboard the Idler Riverboat and would happily return for another lunch on the deck. And if inside dining is more of your thing, they also offer seats inside, though during our visit the dockside room was completely empty. The weather was just too nice to be inside!

Dockside Bar

During our trip to South Haven, Michigan I convinced my family to take the 45 minute drive north to New Holland Brewing’s Pub on 8th. It helped that the day of our visit was Kid’s Night with free family-friendly fun in the form of games on the patio.

Inside

After dropping my family off at the door, and then finding a place to park, I was delighted to find that they had already been seated inside the sprawling complex. We had a low table near one side of a long rectangular room. The other side was occupied with a very long bar and plenty of high top tables.

Beer

There are so many beers on tap that deciding can be difficult for any craft beer lover, and there should definitely be something for everyone including cider and kombucha. I enjoyed their Brew Tang take on the New England style IPA ($5 pint) as well as the Hoptronix double IPA ($5.50 10oz). In hindsight I should have followed my wife’s lead and got a sampler tray as there were plenty of other options I wanted to sample.

Equipment

After placing our orders I took the kids around to look at some of their brewing equipment and to check out the kids activities. There was definitely plenty to do to pass the time and our food actually was served pretty quickly.

Hot Brown

I’m a sucker for a hot brown, so when I saw one on their menu I knew I had to give it a try. The NHB take combines Michigan turkey with cheese sauce, bacon, pimento, mustard, and beer bread with chips on the side ($13). The portion size was smaller than what you’d often find in Kentucky, but the ingredients were top notch and really went well together. I would not hesitate to order this again.

Black Bean Spelt Burger

My wife went with the black bean spelt burger with vegan mayo, lettuce, tomato, and onion with raw veggies on the side ($9). It’s always nice to see a made in house black bean option and this was one of the better ones we have had in recent memory.

Kid’s Plate

My daughter loved the kid’s place with cheese, turkey, fruit, and vegetables ($3.50). This is a preschoolers dream come true!

Kid’s Burger

The kid’s burger was also well liked, though a bit on the pricey side once we added cheese and subbed for fries ($8). I would include cheese and fries for the original $6 and then this would be a great option.

Overall my family and I really enjoyed our meal at New Holland’s Pub on 8th and I hope to make a return visit on future trips to the area.

Happy New Year! Below is the list of cities that I visited in 2017 with at least one night spent in each place.

• Sevierville, Tennessee
• Cincinnati, Ohio *
• Seven Springs, Pennsylvania *
• Denver, Colorado
• Copper Mountain, Colorado
• Williamstown, Kentucky *
• Duck Key, Florida
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Beachwood, Ohio
• Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
• Asheville, North Carolina
• South Haven, Michigan
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Mason, Ohio
• Saline, Michigan
• Mount Sterling, Ohio

* Those cities marked with an asterisk were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

See also: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006