Last night was the final night of this years Tunes & Blooms at the Cincinnati Zoo. We made it to three of the four weekly events and experienced the record-breaking crowd last week with over 5000 people in attendance. I wish the crowds were as large as they have become, but it is nice to see so many families getting out and enjoying themselves.

Green Light Morning

Originally Tunes & Blooms was supposed to end last week, but they had to postpone the first week due to severe weather. Normally the event is every Thursday in April but with the delay it spread into May this year and helped kick off this year’s Zoo Babies.

Tulips

Last night also kicked off the annual flower sale and I was able to get a couple of bags of tulips for $5 each. Each bag has at least two dozen bulbs in it, so they are a definitely a steal. If interested in getting your own, call  the Tulip Hotline, 487-3399 ext. 2015 for more information. See you next year, Tunes & Blooms.

Last night my family and I kicked off yet another year at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Tunes & Blooms. This has become one of our favorite activities to kick of spring, and I don’t think we are alone. Years ago the crowds were nothing like they are now, but with a little planning ahead we’ve always had a great time.

Shiny & The Spoon

The blooms have not really arrived at the zoo yet, with the cold winter weather earlier in the year. Fortunately there are three more weeks of Tunes & Blooms and I’m sure the tulips will be ready one of these days. Last week’s event was postponed due to weather and will now end this year’s season on the first Thursday in May. See you there!

This year is shaping up to be our busiest wedding year in history. So far we have six save the date cards and already know of another wedding taking place just after the new year. We kicked it off this past weekend with a wonderful party for one of my best friends.

Group Shot

Kenny and Hannah renewed their vows at St. Francis Seraph, the same church Kim and I were married, and held a reception at Washington Park.

Cake Pop Cake

We had a wonderful time celebrating and catching up with old friends that I don’t get to see as often as I would like. Fortunately some of these friends are getting married later this year, so I hope to see them again in the near future!

Yesterday I took a half day off from work and finally took Trey (and Paige) down to the Findlay Market opening day parade. My mom came along for the fun as well as my cousin-in-law (is that a real term?) and her three kids. We couldn’t have asked for a prettier day and we all had an excellent time. I’m already planning on how to make it even better next year. Finally going in for the game would be a good place to start!

As has become one of our Cincinnati traditions, we took in the Bockfest parade on Friday evening. We used to watch it from outside Mayberry, but they no longer exist. Instead we found a fish fry taking place outside of Old St. Mary’s in the parking lot and decided to enjoy a few Bock beers and enjoy the parade from there.

Waiting for the Parade

Goat Pulling Keg

Trojan Goat

Keg Walker

Dragon Goat

Rabbit Hash

What Does the Bock Say?

The parade was longer than I remembered it and overall Bockfest had a record year, so I guess that makes sense. Once the near hour-long parade was over we walked up to Bockfest Hall for a couple more beverages and some food. This year the hall was expanded outside with a large tent and a street closure, which was needed as the crowds inside the event center have been and continue to be very large. Fortunately the weather was great and we spent an hour or so outside enjoying the festival site and all that it offers.

Over the weekend we visited a couple of Mardi Gras events. First up was the Carnival de Levee at Newport on the Levee. Running from 1-6 on Saturday, the event featured aerial acrobatics and a Cajun band. It was billed as a family friendly celebration but my young kids were not impressed and the oldest just wanted to go to Gameworks instead.

Newport Express

After a few minutes watching the performers we all headed outside to enjoy the surprisingly nice weather. We discovered the Newport Express mini, trackless train ride which entertained the kids on a five or ten minute ride around the Newport on the Levee complex for $3.00 each. From there we moved on from Newport on the Levee. We’ve enjoyed other events there, but this was not one of them.

Hey Ladies

We had a little better luck with Sunday’s celebration, Mardi Gras at Findlay Market, unfortunately the weather was not nearly as nice. A tent was setup outside the market with bands playing throughout the event held from 10-4. Free samples of a traditional lowland seafood boil were given out and beer was available from the OTR Biergarten. Many of the booths inside the market had Mardi Gras themed decorations and special food offerings for the day.

Lagniappe at Findlay Market

We stayed for a couple of hours to enjoy some of the music and sample some of the food. Had the weather been better we might have stayed even longer, but the roads were getting icy and a major snow storm was supposed to be coming our way. At least the weather is looking better for Bockfest this weekend!

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!

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.

We had plans to attend the second annual  Christmas Saengerfest  this past Friday night, but the winter weather caused the organizers to cancel the event. Fortunately it was a two-day event, and everyone with a ticket for Friday night was invited to attend Saturday instead.

May Festival Youth Chorus

We started off our night listening to the wonderful sounds provided by the May Festival Youth Chorus  at Memorial Hall.  The May Festival Youth Chorus, was organized in 1987 to give high school students the opportunity to rehearse and perform challenging choral music in a highly stimulating artistic environment.

Awaken the City Gospel Band

From there we moved on to Awaken the City to hear their phenomenal Gospel Band. We saw the band perform last year  and had to take our family to see them this year. The band did not disappoint and once again by the end of their show the entire audience was up on their feet celebrating with them.

Moerlein Barrel Project

We got a late start on the evening and were not able to see any other performances aside from a few small choir performances from inside the relatively new Moerlein Tap Room. I’ve been in this location numerous times before, but had not seen the renovated bar and tasting room. I also spotted a row of barrels used for aging beer, which is very exciting for the continually expanding brewery. We had a couple of Moerlein pints to wind down a great night.

In addition to the Duke Energy Holiday Trains at the Museum Center, another Christmas tradition we never miss is the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.

International Tree Lighting

A couple of Fridays ago was opening night for zoo members only. We took advantage of the slightly smaller sized crowd to get an early visit to this wonderful holiday tradition.

Wild Lights Show at Swam Lake

The Festival of Lights is the  largest holiday light display in Cincinnati and can become quite crowded as we get closer to Christmas. If you want to visit I recommend avoiding Friday and Saturday nights and make sure to get there as early as possible.

Carousel Ride

The displays will be up until January 4 and are open Sunday through Thursday 5-9, Friday and Saturday 5-10.