Yesterday was a big day in Cincinnati, Opening Day! Though I didn’t make the game or the parade, I did head downtown after work to soak in the great vibe of the city. After a few hours hanging out with friends I realized that I definitely want to take the entire day off next year, take Trey down the parade, and then head in for the game. I’m sure I can convince my buddy Kenny to come along.
Mr. Redlegs
I’ve been listening to Of Monsters and Men’s album My Head is an Animal since late last year. The album was released in the band’s native Iceland in September of last year, but it was just released in the U.S. this past Tuesday, April 3. It is currently on iTunes for the very low price of $6.99. I would highly recommend picking up a copy. This is easily my favorite album I’ve listened to so far this year. You can listen to their hit single “Little Talks” in the official music video below, or in an acoustic live version even further down.
Over the weekend I took my first ever trip to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Kim, Trey, and I left early Saturday morning to meet up with some friends who had already camped the night before. Since this was Trey’s first time camping we decided that we should only do one night and see how it went. Trey did great and I really think he loved the hiking and camping. In addition Kim and I both really enjoyed our first trip to the gorge. I’m sure it won’t be the last.
While out in Steamboat a couple of weeks ago, our group headed out for dinner to celebrate a birthday and to see more of the town. One of the first places we passed while walking around was the Tugboat Grill & Pub. Once I entered the inside of the ‘boat I immediately remembered stopping here on a previous visit to Steamboat years ago. After telling those in our group that I had been here before, it seemed that everyone in the room overheard me and told me that they get that a lot.
It seems that during non-peak ski season, the Tugboat is likely filled with a good number of local regulars that help to keep it in business, which it has been doing since 1972. The inside of the wooden structure is full of animal trophies as well as lots of other memorabilia. That was what I remembered most from our past visit. What I should have remembered was there incredible drink prices during happy hour, even offered on a couple of craft selections. They also had a couple of half price appetizers. We had the Chili Verde – green chili, pork, and some other secret things – which was really good!
Chicken Burrito
For dinner I selected the chicken burrito ($11.99) – shredded seasoned chicken, melted Colby and cheddar cheese rolled in a chipotle flour tortilla, topped with pork chili verde. Served with a side of Spanish rice, black beans, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and guacamole. First off this was a huge plate of food! Even with my wife helping me out, we still had plenty of leftovers. In addition to the large size, the dish was big on flavor too.
Soup
Others in the group had burgers, soups, and other various sandwiches. Everyone seemed to be happy with their dinner selections and I think nearly every plate was completely finished. Our service was excellent and I would definitely not hesitate to return for a third visit.
On our way into Steamboat Springs for vacation last week, we decided to stop for some Mexican food at Tequila’s, which is in the historic downtown area. Nearly everyone in the group opted for one of their house margaritas that come served in a pint glass. With that much tequila to start our trip, we knew we were in for a good one. I’m told that their margaritas are made with just tequila, lime juice, and agave natural sweetener. I do recall them being pretty tasty and not overly sweet.
Inside Tequila’s
We were given a few complimentary baskets of chips for our rather large table, along with a traditional red salsa as well as a non-traditional cabbage based salsa. I will admit that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the cabbage salsa at first, but after trying it on top of a warm chip I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a little like coleslaw but not very creamy and much more bold in flavor.
Cabbage Salsa
For lunch I ordered chicken enchiladas with salsa verde. This plate was served with refried beans and rice. I’ll start with the beans, which didn’t appear to be from a can, but I really didn’t enjoy them that much. It seems that they weren’t very fresh and when the plate was warmed in the oven they got crunchy around the edges. The rice was alright too, but not worth the extra money. If I were to order again I would have went à la carte, as the enchiladas were surprisingly good! I also had a bit of my wife’s chile relleno, which was great too, even though they prepared it with beef when she requested vegetarian. Nearly everyone in the group licked their plates clean, so Tequila’s is definitely worthy of a visit.
Chicken Enchiladas
My brother and I spent many hours playing with LEGO’s growing up, so it’s easy to understand why I was super excited to accompany my youngest brother-in-law and his friend to LEGO KidsFest this past weekend. Kim and Trey also came along for the fun-filled day.
Batman greeted everyone at the entrance.
Lightning McQueen too!
Nick and Nash with SpongeBob.
Darth Vader
I was expecting a ton of really large sculptures made completely out of LEGO’s, and while there were well over a dozen, the real attraction at the KidsFest are all the play areas, construction zones, group builds, and games.
Group build map of the USA.
Trey driving a DUPLO car.
Trey running away from a taller LEGO man.
This brick pile was nearly a foot deep!
Burying Nick in the big brick pile.
If you couldn’t already tell from the photos, we had a great time!
If you didn’t notice by the lack of posts last week, I was on vacation. Kim and I decided earlier this year to take a snowboarding trip back to Colorado. Since we wanted to bring Trey along with us, we realized that it would be more fun if we brought one of Kim’s siblings along with us to take turns hanging with Trey and hitting the slopes. Turns out that both of her college aged brothers wanted to join in on the fun, so we planned the trip for their spring break. It also turns out that her sister and fiancé wanted to join in too!
We flew out of the Dayton airport very early two Saturdays ago. Rather than driving up that night, I found a reasonably priced hotel near the hotel that we all stayed at Friday night to make the 6:30 flight a little more tolerable. We choose this flight so that we could be in Denver in time to catch the always entertaining St. Patrick’s Day Parade. While at the parade we got to see a bunch of old Denver friends. Sorry for those that we missed, but our stay in Denver was much too short.
Wash Park – near our old home in Denver
After breakfast and a quick stop at a nearby park for Trey to run around, we packed up the rented Suburban and headed for Steamboat. We realized that trying to drive up to the slopes and get a full day in would be impossible with our already limited sleep and having Trey with us, so we took our time getting to Steamboat. We did make it up in time to watch the UC Bearcat basketball team beat Florida State in the NCAA tournament from our rented condo in the Bronze Tree.
Trey enjoying the deepest snow we’ve seen all winter.
Trey really loved being pulled around in sleds.
The following three days were spent on the slopes of Steamboat. Since we had six adults on the trip, one of us would stay back for the morning shift with Trey and either take him out on a sled, take a dip in the pool, or just hang around the condo. We would then all regroup for lunch each day around 11:30 to enjoy macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then another person (or sometimes two) would hang back for the afternoon shift. This actually worked really well for all of us.
CAUTION: Deep Snow Conditions May Exist.
Ski Yesterday…Ski Today…Ski Tomorrow
We really lucked out with the snowfall. We arrived Sunday to find sunshine and cool temperatures, but before we headed to bed that night the snow really started to fall. When we woke up we had three fresh inches of snow to play in on Monday morning. Fortunately the snow continued to fall throughout parts of Monday, leaving another three inches fresh for Tuesday. I had the Tuesday morning shift with Trey, but I heard that some in our group found half a foot or more of untouched powder that morning. Wednesday was a warm day, complete with spring skiing conditions (slush). Hard to complain with what snow we did see though. It felt great to be back on the slopes.
Snow At Steamboat
Snow In Trees
My birthday was this past Saturday. When asked by my family where I wanted to have lunch that day, the obvious choice for me was the Moerlein Lager House. Since opening late last month I knew it was only a matter of time before I would stop in for a visit. Though I’m not a fan of most of the Christian Moerlein brand of beers, I do appreciate the efforts that Greg Hardman has put in to bring Moerlein and other Cincinnati heritage beers back home. This brewery is another step toward that goal.
Moerlein Lager House
Prior to our visit on Saturday I had seen many pictures of the newly built restaurant, and I must say that no amount of pictures can convey how neat the building truly is. I love the amount of glass that was used in the construction. It allows a ton of natural light in, while providing diners with wonderful views outside. The large wood beams and contrasting black metal work really well together, and there is also a large amount of granite inside too.
Upstairs Inside
John Hauck Brewing Co. Room
In addition to eight or so Christian Moerlein draft selections, there is a great selection of guest beers also on tap, not to mention the lengthy bottle list from around the world. It may not have the best selection in the city, but I’m glad that they didn’t limit it to only Moerlein products. The food menu is also fairly lengthy as well, even during lunch. Eventually I settled on the smoked stack BBQ sandwich ($11) – pulled pork, smoked sausage, chipotle BBQ sauce and fried onions on brioche roll.
Smoked Stack BBQ
The pulled pork itself was good, though not excellent. The real treat of the sandwich is the spicy smoked sausage that is mixed in with the pork. The fried onions didn’t add much to the sandwich other than an occasional crunch. I opted for coleslaw on the side and not the sweet potato chips. The slaw was okay, but fairly bland for my tastes. I did steal some sweet potato chips from my mom and liked those better. Though I think I would like them even more if they were thicker cut.
Beer Can Chicken Melt
I also stole a couple of bites of my mom’s beer can chicken melt sandwich ($11) – pulled rotisserie chicken, applewood bacon, caramelized onion, roasted tomato and cheddar with honey mustard on French roll. This sandwich was awesome! I would definitely order it again. My wife had the applewood chicken salad ($14), which I also sampled. This combines grilled chicken over spring greens tossed in cranberry poppyseed dressing with bacon, egg, cranberries, spiced pecans and bleu cheese. The portion was huge and again pretty tasty.
Applewood Chicken Salad
I’m excited to see how the menu progresses over time, and hope that the beer list continues to grow. I know that I will be back to sample more of the fine food and drinks. Below are some additional photos from my mom, with a few more on her flickr page.
Reflections In The Glass
Christian Moerlein Brewing Co.
Taps
Three Meat Flatbread
Black Cherry Forest Cake
So far so good with my march madness picks. Five games have been played and I correctly picked the winners of each one. As I normally do, I’ve picked Cincinnati pretty far into the tournament. It would feel wrong if I didn’t do so. I was getting nervous that Syracuse was going to lose their first round game, but it looks like they are starting to pull away with just a few minutes left to play. I think many are predicting them to have an early exit, but I don’t think many picked them to lose the first round.
For those of you who would like to stream all the games from your computer, you can do so here. This used to be a free service, but now they are trying to charge $3.99 for access. However I found a way to get it for free again this year. Just text “0BEARCATS” to 2653 and you will receive a code that you can enter for free access. The first character is the number zero, not the letter. Enjoy!
I have finally found a recipe for roasted asparagus that is on par with the recipes I have for grilled asparagus. This recipe combines the fairly standard garlic and olive oil with the less common Parmesan cheese and lemon. The recipe actually denotes the latter as both optional ingredients, but I would not skip them. I used the juice of half of a lemon and just guessed on the amount of fresh grated Parmesan to use. The results were excellent!
Oven-Roasted Asparagus
edpaffjr.com
