Today I had a great day in beer acquisition. This week Founder’s released their KBS, which is basically Breakfast Stout cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year. After a couple of near misses earlier in the week, I finally was able to buy a bottle at the Dilly Café. I would have liked to get more than one, but rules are rules and they are trying to spread the very limited supply to others. So if you are quick, there still might be some there this evening, though it was going fast.

What A Shelf

While there I also noticed that they had a pretty nice selection of Three Floyds beer available. Since their beers are still hard to find in Ohio, even though we are directly next to their home state of Indiana, these were also limited to one bottle per person. I was able to snag one each of Zombie Dust pale ale, Jinx Proof pilsener, and finally their Behemoth barley wine. I’ve had Zombie Dust a handful of times and it is a must buy when available.

My Purchases

Word on the street is that Dutch’s will be getting a case of KBS tomorrow. So I’m hoping I can score another bottle. For even more availability and a nice review check out Queen City Drinks.

Last week I met an old college friend for lunch at a somewhat new restaurant out near my office in Mason, The Old Bag of Nails Pub. This is the first Cincinnati area location for the Columbus based chain of just over a dozen restaurants. It sits in the space formerly occupied by Blockbuster in the Kroger plaza on Kings Mills Road just west of I-71.

Outside

The Old Bag of Nails is one of only a few open storefronts in the rather depressing shopping plaza and parking was a breeze in the massive lot out front. The outside of the building is very plain and simple, and it is actually rather tough to see that a restaurant is operating on the inside.

The inside of the restaurant is actually much larger than it would appear from the outside. There is a large bar on one side and numerous booths and tables on the far side of the room. There were a few others tables occupied during our visit, but the restaurant appears well capable of handling additional crowds. Our server only had a couple of tables so she was constantly at our side asking if we needed anything else, which was nice.

Turkey Reuben

I ordered the Turkey  Reuben  on marble rye with thousand island dressing, melted Swiss cheese  and coleslaw ($8.99). I should have paid better attention when ordering the sandwich as I would have much rather had the more standard sauerkraut than their runny slaw. Since the slaw was on the bottom of the sandwich, it immediately caused the lower piece of bread to become overly soggy and it quickly fell apart. I actually had to eat most of the sandwich with a fork and knife. My complaints aside, it was a fairly good sandwich and it was served with perfectly cooked thick steak fries.

My friend has visited the restaurant before and was complimentary towards their fish offerings. On this visit he had  Gaylord’s Fish Dinner –  freshwater farm-raised white fish filet, broiled or blackened, topped with garlic butter and served with wild rice and a vegetable garnish ($11.99).

Overall during my lunch visit to the Old Bag of Nails Pub our service was wonderful, the food was average, and we were in and out in well under an hour. There is definitely room for improvement as far as the food is concerned, at least with my very sloppy sandwich.

I really though this would be the year that I would finally attend a Red’s opening day game. I even considered buying a 10 game package to make sure that I got a ticket for opening day. But my planning fell through and I was stuck in the office all day. Next year I am definitely going to take the day off work and at the very least take Trey down to watch the parade. However I think I will also find a way to get into the stadium to enjoy the game. Go Reds!

I’ve always thought that Cincinnati lacked a mid-size outdoor concert venue. In some ways the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend fills that niche, but it is terribly underutilized. Plus it has a roof over it, so you never feel like you are out under the stars. Enter the Horseshoe Casino’s new outdoor event plaza, “The Shoe.”

Event Calendar

This morning their summer concert lineup was announced. You can click the image above for a larger view of the calendar, or here is a full list:

• May 16 –  The Killers – SOLD OUT
• May 21 –  The Shins
• June 8 –  Ke$ha
• June 9 –  Huey Lewis & The News
• June 14 –  Billy Idol
• July 6 – Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five, & Guster
• July 7 –  Alice Cooper
• July 19 – Willie Nelson & Family
• July 25 – Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon, & Fastball
• Aug. 23 –  Chicago
• Sept. 5 –  Jeff Dunham
• Sept. 22 –  Earth, Wind & Fire

I see a few shows that I’m definitely considering attending. It looks like some of the shows will have reserved seating, while others are full general admission. I’m told the capacity is over  3,000. The Killers show was announced earlier this month and sold out almost immediately. Time will tell how the acoustics are and how the venue is configured, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Pizzelii is a fast and casual brick oven pizza restaurant on Route 50 that just opened at the beginning of February. This past Friday, after visiting the Fifty West Brewing Company, which sits directly across the street, my family and I decided to give it a try.

Kitchen

An open air kitchen greets guests as they walk in the door. On our visit Gary Gottenbusch, one of the owners and also an owner of Servatii, greeted us as we walked inside. He was happy to give us a quick introduction to the menu that is hanging above the ordering counter as well as fill us in on some of the facts of Pizzelii. It turns out that everything is made fresh in the restaurant and there are no freezers on site.

Ordering Counter

Orders are placed at a counter adjacent to the kitchen. Only one size of pizza is offered and it is a thin ten inch. You can create your own pizza starting at $6 with either the classico (crushed San Marzano tomatoes) or the bianca (garlic infused extra virgin olive oil). Both are topped with a mozzarella and provolone blend and toppings can be added for a dollar each. Also available are specialty “piis” for $8 and a few salad offerings. Four beers are available on tap, including one from Fifty West. Bottled beer, wine, and soda are also available. They are the only independent restaurant in Ohio that has a  Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.

Dining Area

After orders are placed you receive a number from the cashier, and you can then seat yourself in the  extremely  large dining area that is packed full with tables. A secondary bar is available at the rear of the dining area for additional  alcoholic  beverages. The brick oven cooks the pizza between 800 and 1200 degrees, so it doesn’t take more than a few minutes for orders to arrive at your chosen table.

Daily Special

I ordered the daily special, which was a bianca pizza topped with goat cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and  drizzled  with balsamic vinaigrette ($8). It arrived hot from the oven and after a minute or two to cool I immediately grabbed a slice. On my first bite I was impressed. The crust was dense, chewy, and crisp on the outside. The goat cheese added a great flavor to compliment the other more subtle ingredients. In my opinion, this pizza should be on the daily menu.

Margherita

My wife ordered the margherita with  red sauce, fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, and garlic infused extra virgin olive oil ($8). This pizza definitely needed more toppings and sauce. The sauce was spread so thin on top of the crust that it became very dry and mostly baked into the crust. The mozzarella and basil tasted great, but I wanted a little more of each, the cheese especially. I did find that extra sauce is available in plastic cups, which helped somewhat, but I still would prefer a little more on the pizza itself.

Dessert

Though the restaurant is counter service, we still experienced wonderful service. When the owner found out that our group was out celebrating my birthday, he kindly dropped off a delicious cinnamon apple dessert pizza for us all to share. Earlier in the meal when a miscommunication in our group left us one pizza short, the young employee that dropped off our order was happy to take an additional order from us while we stayed in our seats. I think with time the small issues I had with some of the food should be worked out to match the excellent service.

Before skipping town for the majority of the weekend, I made a quick afternoon stop at the first ever Cincinnati Craft Brewer’s StarkBier Fest that took place this past Saturday at Listermann Brewing Company. This festival featured beers from local Cincinnati breweries only and most were  7.5% or higher. Fortunately small samples were available so I could try a few beers and still be able to drive out-of-town.

Beer Trucks

Among my favorites that I sampled were  Mt. Carmel Brewing Company’s latest Snapshot Series, Ardennes Belgian Quad, and Blank Slate Brewing Company’s Shroominous, which is a brown ale brewed with  shiitake mushrooms. There were also some barrel aged beers on hand such as Quaff Bros.’ Corn on the Knob and a very boozy Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale from Rock Bottom.

Live Entertainment

The festival had a nice little crowd during my early afternoon visit, but from pictures that I’ve seen online it got much more crowded. Though I missed the Cincinnati Craft Beer Oktoberfest completely, I’ve also read very favorable reviews. It too was held at Listermann’s and I hope that they continue with these mini beer festivals. They not only are pouring some great beer, there is also live entertainment, food trucks on site, and it is all family friendly. It makes for a great way to spend your Saturday.

With our lack of recent travel and very soon to be arriving baby girl, my wife and I had a bit of a travel bug. When we heard that her parents were going to be spending a weekend in French Lick, Indiana we jumped at the opportunity to join them. We planned the three-hour drive during our son’s afternoon nap, so we didn’t arrive at the French Lick Springs Hotel until around 4 P.M. this past Saturday. Her parents had already checked us into our room, so we dropped the car at the complimentary valet stand, and went upstairs to unload our luggage.

Our Room

The French Lick Springs Hotel was established in 1845 and was rebuilt in 1901 after the original building caught fire. The hotel is a massive structure with 443 guest rooms and suites, a  109,000 square foot conference and events center, and a 24-hour casino just to name a few  amenities.

Lobby Ceiling

After walking through some of these features, we found our way over to their daily KidsFest. Here we found a few bounce houses, a large movie screen, Wii gaming consoles, and all the popcorn we could eat. KidsFest is a complimentary activity for kids ages 6-12, though smaller children are permitted as long as a parent stays with them.

KidsFest

After an hour or so at KidsFest, we rented a bicycle surrey cart to take our own tour around the outside of the resort. The highlight of the exploration was finding the French Lick Scenic Railway Museum  where we could climb inside an old steam engine. Train rides are also offered daily.

Steam Engine

The rest of our evening was spent back inside the resort. We had worked up quite an appetite so we had pizza at Pluto’s Pizzeria, which is adjacent to the arcade and bowling alley. The bowling was a little too expensive and crowded for us, but we did take a few turns on the arcade games. From there we enjoyed the indoor and outdoor pools and outdoor hot tub, before finally making it to the casino for a little adult entertainment.

West Baden Springs Hotel’s Domed Atrium

The following morning we took a complimentary shuttle to the West Baden Springs Hotel, also owned by the French Lick Resort, to see it’s famous domed atrium. When it was built in 1902, the 200-foot dome was the largest in the world and held that title until 1913. Even to this day, it is a very impressive structure. The French Lick Springs Hotel seemed to have more activities to offer, but the West Baden Springs Hotel was much  quieter. Either make for a fine place to escape, depending on what you are looking for.

French Lick on Dwellable

Fifty West Logo

To kick off my birthday weekend I finally made it to Fifty West Brewing Company, which has been operating out of the old Heritage Restaurant space on Route 50 since late last year. The historic building that now houses the brewery was built in 1827 and while it still has some of its original charm a lot of work has been put into modernizing the structure. It is really beautiful both inside and out.

Outside

My parents, my brother, and his girlfriend would all be joining my wife, son, and I for the evening. We asked about a table for the seven of us and were shown to a side room where two large tables take up the majority of the space. It is a little disconnected from the rest of the bar and restaurant, but it would work perfect for our rather large group. I grabbed a snifter of their bourbon barrel aged Horse and Buggy scotch ale from the bar while the staff worked to prepare our table. My first beer at the brewery was excellent and the evening was off to a great start!

Tap Wall

Once our table was set we all moved back to the side room for some additional beer sampling. Thanks to a sampling tray I was able to quickly get a taste of a handful of their 14 different beers available. Other favorites of mine included Gaddy’s Irish Red, Alternate Route German style brown ale, the Loneliest Road stout, and finally the Punch You in the EyePA.

Sampler Tray

While enjoying the beers we were treated to complimentary dough pretzels while we looked over the newly added food menu, which features mostly tapas style small plates that are meant for sharing. My favorite of what we ordered was easily the roasted poblano pepper ($8)  that is stuffed with house chicken chorizo queso fresco and topped with citrus crema. The red sauce that blanketed the pepper had a nice kick to it that really spiced up the dish.

Roasted Poblano

We also shared smoked salmon guacamole ($7) and an order of their “potato skins” ($6), which features twice baked Yukon Gold potatoes filled with house boursin cheese, parsnips, house bacon, and roasted garlic before being finished with a balsamic fig reduction. The skins were tasty, but the serving size was very small and hard to share with our larger group.

“Potato Skins”

Other items of note that I observed during our stay. The music being played throughout the bar and restaurant spaces is all on vinyl and comes from a record player near the bar. There is a shuffle board table hidden between the bar and the bathrooms. A window into the brewery can also be viewed on the same walk toward the bathrooms. The beer list is constantly changing and appears on large chalk boards with descriptions of each.

Brewery

Beer List

It is still hard for me to believe that it took me this long to check out Fifty West. It easily met my expectations and I honestly hope it doesn’t take me as long to make a repeat appearance.

This past Sunday I competed in the Heart Mini Half Marathon. This was my second half marathon after finishing the Cincinnati Half last October. One of my brother-in-laws signed up for the race and convinced me to join him in the fun. My dad is a frequent competitor in this race, so he joined us as well.

According to the official results I completed the 13.1 miles in 1:50:14, which barely beat my time at the Cincinnati Half of 1:50:39.  This was good enough for 483 overall out of 1593. I was also 66 of 143 in my division (male 30-34). I was very happy with the results and the run felt pretty good overall.

Finish Line

There were more than 23,300 registered participants in all the races throughout the day. And they raised nearly $2.3 million! The team I participated with from my wife’s employer raised over $23,000 with 288 members. We were the highest ranked fund-raising team.

As far as the race itself goes, I did not like the course as much as the Cincinnati Half, which was really flat. This course was filled with hills and running out and back on Columbia Parkway leaves a lot to be desired. Sure it is wide but there is very little to look at and you can see for miles and miles. I  would much rather run on Riverside Drive, which runs parallel to Columbia Parkway and offers plenty more sights along the way. But at least we ran the right course, which cannot be said for the majority of the 5K runners who ended up running nearly 4 miles instead.

My complaints on the course aside, the race was fun and it definitely benefits a worthy cause. I will likely run it again in the future. Plus my son enjoyed running the kids fun run the day before. Maybe next time he won’t have to hold grandma’s hand.

Run Trey!

Last month I posted about a new vacation rental website called Dwellable. My blog quickly rose to the top of their leaderboard and I was featured in an interview on their website. Though I have yet to use their service to plan any vacations, my blog posts are linked all over their website. My travel plans are taking a back seat until after our second child is born in less than a month. Once our trip planning picks back up I’m sure I will start using Dwellable even more, especially now that they have a beautiful iPhone and iPad app.

Where Are You Going

When the app is first launched the prompt is simply, “Where are you going?” When this is clicked a list of popular travel destinations immediately displays or you can simply type your desired location, whether that be a particular city or an entire state. The background of the launch page is a soothing ocean scene with a looping wave splash. One thing I did notice is that launching the app does stop my background music from playing. That is something that should be fixed as I find it nice to listen to music when making plans.

Colorado Ski Areas

Say you are planning a ski trip to Colorado. Well you can easily view the number of rentals in each of the locations along with a featured image of one of the vacation rentals. You can then select each ski area and see a list of available vacation rental properties. A filter page is available to select certain criteria for your search and a date planner is also available. It doesn’t appear that all the properties have their available dates posted, but I’m sure that will only get better with increased use.

Property Listings

Dwellable reminds me most of vacation rental website VRBO but the two are very different. I’ve always found VRBO to be lacking search filters and overall it is very ugly and cumbersome to use. Dwellable’s app and website are much more visually appealing and the filters are well designed. Last October my mother planned a large family trip to Hilton Head for later this summer. I helped with the property search using VRBO and we struggled to find the right size rental, on the beach, with a pool and hot tub. Look how easy it would be with Dwellable’s filters!

Search Filters

We are taking a last-minute trip to French Lick, Indiana this weekend. I used the app to try to find a vacation rental but there was only one result and it didn’t fit our needs. Again, I think the amount of properties available will only increase over time, but it is limiting currently. It would also be nice to see the blog posts that are featured on their website somehow integrated into the app as well.  Overall I’m very impressed with Dwellable’s search capabilities and can’t wait to use it more for vacation planning.