After fourteen years it looks like my time has come to  fulfill  my civic duty and become a juror. I have received a few notices in the past in different cities, but those always had a phone number to call the day before you were to report. And each time I called I was told not to come in. I’m actually excited to see how this whole jury thing works. It sure does look fascinating on TV and in the movies. I’ll be sure to post again after July 2nd detailing my experience.

Notification

I took a ride on my bike during my lunch break today to head down to Armleder Park for the opening ceremonies of the bike trail that connects to the Lunken Trail. With the connection complete there are now over eight miles of continuous paved trails packed into the urban setting around Lunken Airport. I found out about the ceremonies from queencitybike.com  and though I couldn’t leave in time to start the ride with them, I did catch up to them on the Lunken Trail.

Ohio River Trail Marker

Before riding on the Lunken Trail, I rode on a very small section of the Ohio River Trail, which is still under construction. As it is now, the section of trail is not very scenic and most of it runs along the side of Kellogg Avenue. Though once the trail detours away from Kellogg (at Carrel Street) it gets a little better. One cool relic left from the railroad days is the  Carrel Street Station, a remodeled freight transfer terminal, which now serves as a resting place.

Carrel Street Station

Shortly after Carrel Street Station, the Ohio River Trail ends at Wilmer Avenue where connections can be made to the Lunken Trail. This was actually my first time riding the Lunken Trail, which despite running around a small airport, has a secluded feel. After a mile and a half on the trail I caught up with the previously mentioned group and we all rode toward the new connector trail to Armleder Park. Once there we had to ride the mile trail to the ceremony that was taking place over at Armleder.

Councilman Wendell Young

Members of the  Hamilton County Park District, along with  the  Cincinnati Park  Board and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission  all gave short speeches from the temporary podium.  Councilman Wendell Young was there to congratulate everyone on a job well done and to emphasize how great things can happen with cooperation  from these organizations. From there a ribbon cutting ceremony was held before I again rode back along the connector and toward home.

Ready

Cut

Hamilton County Park District, Cincinnati Park Board, and Cincinnati Recreation Commission

150′ Long Steel Truss Bridge

My full bike route can be viewed below. I really enjoyed the ride and hope to get back on the saddle a little more often this summer.

Two Saturdays ago my wife and I participated in a scavenger hunt on the west side of town. We had a late lunch and the scavenger hunt started at 6pm, so we didn’t have any time for dinner. The game was over at 10 and we eventually started making our way back home to Hyde Park around 11. It was at this time that I realized how hungry I was and then I soon realized that our route would not be taking us past any late night dining spots. That was until I got to Mt. Lookout and spotted Lucy Blue Pizza.

I don’t recall ever having pizza from any of their four locations before, though I’m sure it was possible in my younger days. Lucy Blue is definitely late night pizza, and though a few tables are in the back of the Mt. Lookout location, I don’t think many people use them. There is a carry out window on the sidewalk side of the building, which seems to get the majority of the business. That’s where my wife ran to get a few slices upon our visit while I waited in the car.

Pepperoni Pizza

I’m not going to lie and say that this is the best pizza I’ve ever had, because it really wasn’t. However the slices are large and they only cost $2 each. I definitely could have used more pieces of pepperoni on my slices, and probably a little more sauce too. The crust was good, but I felt that overall the slices might have been a bit overcooked leading to some dry and crunchy spots. The first few bites of each slice were really pretty good though. I doubt I’ll stop by for more often, but their pizza definitely works in any late night pinch.

Great American Ball Park

I finally made it to my first Reds game of the season, which is actually more than a month before my first game last year. Friends of ours were married on Saturday evening and they bought a block of tickets for the Friday night game for added celebration.

Corinne And Ted

It also was a big celebration for us as it was Trey’s first Reds game. The employee who collected our tickets asked if it was his first game and directed us toward guest services where they printed out this certificate free of charge. I think you can also get certificates on your birthday or for an anniversary as well. Trey really loved the game, especially all the music, clapping, and cheering.

Trey's First Game

He also took any opportunity he could to steal his own seat, while grabbing peanuts from the guys behind us and snacking on cracker jack all night.

Stealing Seats

As far as the game goes it was a fun one and a victory of the Reds, including a three run home run by Joey Votto and a 10th inning squeeze bunt by pinch-hitter Wilson Valdez to drive in  Miguel Cairo for the 6-5 win!

Last night I finally got to see The Avett Brothers live. They have been on my radar since the release of the last studio album I and Love and You  back in late 2009. For various reasons I never got to see them perform live, most recently it’s been the fact that they seem to refuse to play in Cincinnati. Fortunately they added a date to their current tour outside of Dayton at Fraze Pavilion.

Top Of The Lawn

It had been ten years since my last visit to Fraze, and I truly forgot just how intimate the venue is. You can see just how small the space is in the photo above that was taken from the top of the grass lawn. I don’t think there is a bad seat in the house, especially not when you get to enjoy the show from the front row of the Orchestra sections.

Early In The Show

The show itself was great! It started off a little slow for me with a handful of songs that I’m not very familiar with before they launched into “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” followed by “January Wedding.” I also enjoyed an early set “Paranoia in B Flat Major” before they played a five song tribute to Doc Watson who passed away last week. After finishing the 23 song set, including hits such as “The  Ballad of Love and Hate,” “Kick Drum Heart,” “Laundry Room,” and the set closing “I and Love and You,” the band was quickly back on stage for a four song encore with “Talk on Indolence” and “Slight Figure of Speech” ending the show.

After Sunset

The show was easily over two hours long and I was still left wanting more. I hope that three more years don’t pass before I see them perform again.  After the show was over I had the pleasure of meeting touring bassist Paul Defiglia, who happens to be friends with a good chunk of the group I went to the show with. They are playing Bonnaroo in about an hour from now, and you can watch it online,  along with tons of other performances throughout the weekend.

Kim and I have been busy watching craigslist for some new backyard entertainment for Trey. We finally secured a clubhouse on Monday and yesterday I picked up a swing set with slide. Hopefully this means that we won’t have to bust out the pool every time we go into the backyard to play. It seems to be working so far as Trey splits his time between both new items.

Clubhouse - Complete with mail.

Swing Set And Slide

The people I bought the swing set  from have twin girls, hence the pink baby swing. Trey doesn’t discriminate though.

Slide Time

He’s already figured out how to use the rope ladder that is on the front side. I figured he would use the steps on the backside for a while but he is proving me wrong already. I hope this provides hours of entertainment for the little guy.

I took a gamble and headed to the Radiohead concert last night at Riverbend. A friend had an extra ticket in the lawn, so I figure it was worth checking out. Many people regard them as a great live band, but unfortunately I just didn’t get it. I will admit that I’m not very familiar with much of their catalog, but only one song that I even remotely recognized was played. After glancing through the setlist, it seems that most of the material was from the bands last couple albums, which I have never listened to.

I will admit that the light show was pretty impressive, but it was a little hard to view many of the special effects from the lawn. The normally somewhat helpful video screens on either side of the lawn were terrible last night. Rather than alternating between shots of the band members the screen was always divided into sixths and filled with grainy imagery. Plus with Riverbends terrible sight lines from the lawn (can’t they find a way to support the roof structure without massively obstructive steel columns?), I could not get into the show at all.

Terrible View From Riverbend Lawn

Sometimes gambling on a show pays off, but it doesn’t always work that way. I can now scratch Radiohead off my list of bands to see and realize that most of their music is not for me.

After a quick trip to the zoo, my family and I decided to get some lunch near Clifton and the University of Cincinnati. We quickly remembered the large number of Indian restaurants in the area and decided to give one of them a try. We settled on Dusmesh, which just might be the highest rated Indian in the city.

Outside Dusmesh

Dusmesh isn’t as close to campus as other Indian places, but would it be worth the extra drive? It does sit across the street from Cincinnati State Technical  and  Community College.  The building itself appears to be an old house that has been modified into a rather large dining area when compared to other Indian restaurants we have visited. Google maps shows a different outside color, so it seems that the outside was painted somewhat recently.

Inside Dusmesh

There are two main dining rooms, and we were sat in the street side room, which was relatively empty compared to the other room. The other room also contained the lunch buffet, the main reason for our visit. We were quickly offered water by our server and he asked if we would like anything else to drink. The restaurant does not serve alcohol, but you can bring your own.

My Buffet Plate

I started with a large serving of chicken tikka masala, chicken & broccoli, and some mixed vegetable pakora (clockwise from bottom). First of all the pakora were delicious, easily the best I’ve had. This was my first experience with an Indian style chicken and broccoli dish and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit sweet at first taste, but comes through with a nice kick of spice at the end. The sweetness was a little much on my second plate, so I don’t know if I would order it as an entrée, but I did enjoy it at first. The chicken tikka masala was also good, but I wish it was a bit spicier. I would definitely consider ordering it as an entrée and spicing it up a notch.

Wife's Buffet Plate

My wife sampled a lot more of the food than I did with her first plate. From what I can remember the real standout of her choices was the mushroom saag (at the top of her plate). We’ve had other saag dishes before, but the mushroom was new to us and it was very tasty. This was easily the favorite of our toddler son. The buffet itself cost just $8.50 each, which I feel is a great price for a lot of excellent quality food. We will be back.

Loveland has a new restaurant, Kirby’s, which opened just a few weeks ago in the old Sleepy Hollow space. Not much has changed, as far as I can remember, on the outside of the building, but the inside is much different from the old space that used to be a Christmas celebration every day of the year.

Inside Kirby's

Truth be told, I never went inside Sleepy Hollow but I heard enough stories to feel like I had. We arrived around six this past Friday evening and though the parking lot was nearly full it was no problem getting a table. Perhaps there are a few too many tables on the inside as it felt a bit cramped and was really loud.

Our service was adequate, though we did have a fairly long wait between drink and food orders. That was the only complaint I would have as far as the service goes and a manager even stopped by at some point to see how we were doing. Also there is a pretty good list of craft beers available, another bonus in my book.

Gourment Grilled Cheese

For dinner I went with the gourmet grilled cheese – a double decker of three different cheeses, tomato slices, and grilled bacon. It is served with homemade Saratoga chips and a pickle spear ($8.95). Overall I was happy with my choice. I wish I would have asked about the bread, as I would much rather have it served on something other than plain  ol’ toasted white. I’ve never had a double decker grilled cheese before, but it worked well. All of the bread was crisp and the cheese was very gooey. The Saratoga chips were also good.

Grouper Finger Basket

My wife may have ordered the best dish we sampled that night, the grouper finger basket – fresh grouper fillet cut into thick strips, breaded and deep fried. Served with fries ($11.95). The serving of fish was large, enough for all at the table to have a piece of their own. I’m not normally much of a fish eater, but this was very good! The also offer a grouper sandwich that comes blackened that is likely very tasty too.

Sandwich / Soup Combo

My mother went the sandwich and soup combo, selecting a half blackened caesar wrap and french onion soup ($9.95). I didn’t get the chance to taste any of her food, but I didn’t hear any complains from her. My dad had the ravioli creole – pasta filled with sausage, peppers, onions and a blend of cheeses tossed in their homemade creole sauce ($14.95). He really seemed happy with his choice and was the first to clean their plate.

Despite some potential issues with the restaurant size and layout, the food at Kirby’s was good. My parents live in Loveland, so I’m sure we will be back to sample more from Kirby’s in the future, though it will be hard to overtake Paxton’s and The Works as our go-to spots out that way.

Last night I took a walk down to Dutch’s  for a tapping event benefiting the  Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with proceeds going to help  fund the fight against blood cancers. For the event, they tapped  all five beers of the Dark Horse Holiday Stout Series, 2012 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Epic Brewing Big Bad Baptist, and Dogfish Head Black & Blue.

I started my tasting with Epic’s Big Bad Baptist. This is ranked as a world-class beer on BeerAdvocate and it did not disappoint. There was quite a bit of coffee flavors, so beware if you aren’t much of a coffee fan. However I really enjoyed the coffee flavors as well as the subtle tastes from the barrel aging process.

Next I sampled the Tres Blueberry Stout from Dark Horse on suggestion from a friend in attendance. I could smell the blueberry as the beer was being poured from tap. However, on first state the beer wasn’t nearly as sweet as I had expected. It seems that most of the blueberry is in the nose, with just faint fruit flavors in the taste to go along with the dark chocolate and coffee flavors. It’s a unique beer that is worth trying.

Finally I had a glass of the Stone Imperial Russian Stout, another world-class beer from BA. This was not nearly as coffee flavored as the other two, with much more chocolate and burnt malt taste. The alcohol taste is also more prevalent than in the others. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Big Bad Baptist, but still a very solid beer.

It was a great event with some really wonderful beers available. As I spend a lot of time trying a wide variety of craft beer, I’m hoping to make beer a more prominent feature here on the blog.