I reviewed another Mellow Mushroom location before, but decided to write-up another review  after trying additional menu items at the newly opened Hyde Park location. The pizza chain opened in the space recently abandoned by City Barbeque  in the Hyde Park Plaza.

Inside

The inside wasn’t as large as other locations I’ve visited in the past. As with all of their restaurants the decor is simple and the walls are covered with interesting paintings and decor representing various local attractions. There are a handful of televisions at the high top bar, and some neighboring tables have a good view, but for the most part this is more restaurant than sports bar.

Enlightened Spinach Salad

My wife and I started with the Enlightened Spinach Salad ($5.95 for the lil’ size). The combination of fresh spinach, dried cherries, apples, homemade candied pecans, and feta cheese is similar to many spinach salads I’ve had before. However the cherries were are nice replacement to the more common cranberries. The flavors were good and this is a nice way to start a meal.

Maui Wowie / Thai Dye Pizza

As far as pizza goes my wife and I split an order as well. Since we couldn’t decide on one pizza we did half Maui Wowie and half Thai Dye (just over $20 for the 14″). The Maui Wowie was my favorite of the two with a very interesting  but delicious  combination of pesto, ham, pineapple, jerk chicken, banana peppers, Applewood smoked bacon & mozzarella cheese. The jerk chicken was especially well-flavored.

The Thai Dye is no slouch either with olive oil and garlic base topped with curry chicken, mozzarella cheese, Roma tomatoes, onions, fresh basic, cucumbers, and a sweet Thai chili sauce. I think both pizzas are some of the more unique offerings on the menu and are both worth a try.

To wash it all down there is a really good craft beer selection. The prices at Mellow Mushroom are a bit high, but the quality and creativity are there to help justify the cost.

My family and I  spent all last week (and a couple of extra days) on vacation with my  parents, my brother, and his girlfriend on Hilton Head Island. We rented a three bedroom and three bathroom condo from Shorewood Villas, just a few buildings down from Coligny Circle. It is an excellent location to leave your car sitting idle for your trip, especially if you rent bikes for the week.

Shorewood Villas

Shorewood is an oceanfront property with a private walkway to the beach. There is a keypad locked gate at both the oceanfront entrance and at the  South Forest Beach Drive  entrance. Our unit was well-appointed and maintained, though I think the cleaning crew could use a full day to really scrub out some of the closets. However a little bit of dust wouldn’t stop me from staying at Shorewood again.

Zero Entry Pool

One of our favorite features at Shorewood was the zero entry pool, which our young children absolutely loved. There was also a decent sized kiddie pool and a hot tub. Private restrooms are also located poolside, which was a nice feature to have on long days spent between the beach and the pool.

Family Shot

We had an excellent trip and I will definitely have more posts coming in the near future about some of our dining and entertainment experiences.

Shorewood on Dwellable

I’ve always heard a lot about Ingredients from my wife but I never got around to trying it for myself until a couple of weeks ago. This salad, sandwich, panini, and pizza quick service restaurant is located in the atrium lobby of the Westin Cincinnati, just across the street from Fountain Square.

Atrium Lobby

The primary draw is definitely the salad station where the customer can choose from a wide variety of ingredients to create a personalized salad or select from one of their signature combinations. The line was very long for this station, while the sandwich and other station was not nearly as crowded. But as this was my first time I figured I better try one of the salads.

Inside

I went with the southwest chicken salad with black beans, corn, tomatoes, tortilla strips, avocado, scallions, cilantro, cheddar cheese,  and  jalapeno ($7.95). The employees at the salad station quickly threw the ingredients together, tossed it all together with ranch dressing and put it in a super sized to go container.

Southwest Chicken Salad

As the weather was nice I decided to take my lunch over to Fountain Square to enjoy in the sunshine. The salad was very large and I could have easily been split with another for a light lunch. The ingredients were all very fresh and the combination was great! I noticed that these signature salads are also available in a prepared cooler, but I think it’s worth the ten minute wait to get it assembled fresh and tossed together even if you aren’t making any modifications. Ingredients  is a great spot for a somewhat healthy lunch downtown.

A few weeks ago some neighbors of ours across part of Williamstown Lake put in a giant  slip ‘n slide. Since then they have added a sand volleyball court and tether-ball turning our little part of the lake into party cove.

Slip ‘N Slide

A few years back we created  our own giant slip ‘n slide, but  it was much rougher than this new and improved version. I took a few rides on it with my youngest brother-in-law and even shot some video with the GoPro.

FYI, the noisy one is my brother-in-law.

Looking for a fun activity for your family on a nice Saturday afternoon? We recently went blueberry picking at Rouster’s Apple House in Milford.

Berry Barn

Blueberry Field

I’ve never picked blueberries before, but it was really simple and kind of addicting. Many times the blueberries would just fall off the stem and into the provided buckets.

Fun For Three-Year-Olds

Ready For Picking

The blueberries cost $2.75 per pound. They also offer frozen apple cider in containers as well as in Popsicle form. Only cash and checks are accepted.

Getting Her Fill

Full Bucket

Due to large crowds picking is not offered everyday, though they will be picking this coming Saturday, August 9, from 8 AM until noon. Watch this page for other dates and times.

Ten Pounds Ready To Go

We had a great time, but now I’m trying to come up with ways to use ten pounds of blueberries.

If you ever find yourself in Port Clinton, perhaps on the way to Put-in-Bay, I can now recommend a  good spot for lunch. Slater’s Madison Street Pub is on Madison Street just a couple of blocks from the Jet Express ferry terminal.  Port Clinton was established in 1828 and the buildings in this section of town  definitely show their age.

Outside Slater’s Madison Street Pub

The inside of Slater’s looks dated at well, but it has been well maintained for the most part. There are just a couple of low seated  tables right when you walk in, and the rest of the space is served with a few high-tops and bar seating. In the back are a variety of classic arcade games. It reminded me of some of the bars I used to frequent in my college years.

Inside Slater’s Madison Street Pub

The food menu was actually much larger than I expected and features soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, burgers, steaks and seafood options. There were a few lunch specials that I immediately took advantage of.  My ham and Swiss melt on rye was great  and the hand cut fries were a nice touch.

Lunch  Special

Slater’s offers evening entertainment and a weekly jazz night on Wednesdays. I could see this being a regular stop for myself if I lived in the area.

After our stay in Maumee Bay State Park, we made the  45 minute drive east to the  African Safari Wildlife Park  in  Port Clinton, Ohio. My wife bought tickets for this attraction through Groupon after hearing some of her family talk about it for years after their last visit.

The big attraction here is the drive-thru safari where you get the chance to see and feed deer, bison, alpaca, bongo, zebra, and even giraffes! Some of the animals are behind fences, but others are able to walk right up to your car and beg for food. The bison are just a little intimidating when doing this!

There is also a walk-thru safari similar to other zoos, with gibbons, hogs, various antelope, birds, and even a white alligator. There are also pig races, camel rides, and education animal shows included in the price.

We had a great time and would definitely go back again, especially at a discounted price. I’ve never experienced anything quite like the drive-thru safari.

In addition to the two big music festivals that came to town over the last month, I was also fortunate enough to see my two all-time favorite bands recently.

Phillip Phillips at PNC Pavilion

First up was 99th O.A.R. show, which took place at PNC Pavilion June 28. This was a co-headline show with Phillip Phillips, who played first for just over an hour. This former American Idol winner actually puts on a pretty good  live show and has a very solid backing band.

O.A.R. at PNC Pavilion

Due to the co-headline show, O.A.R.’s set was a bit shorter than the standard two hours they usually play. It was a treat to hear some of the new songs live for the first time including “Two Hands Up” and “We’ll Pick Up Where We Left Off.” The band was on fire and the show was a ton of fun!

Dave & Tim at Riverbend

Just a week and a half later I was treated to my 52nd Dave Matthews Band show. This summer tour is one that you definitely should not miss as the band is playing two sets, the first being  an acoustic set. To kick of the night at Riverbend, Dave and Tim Reynolds played a couple of songs alone followed by a number of full band acoustic songs.

DMB Full Band Acoustic at Riverbend

It was really cool to hear some of the live staples being played in a different manner, such as “Ants Marching” and “Two Step.” After eight acoustic songs and a short break, the band was back on stage for a dozen or so plugged in songs followed by a few  songs in the encore.

Dave Matthews Band at Riverbend

Thanks to a Riverbend ticket giveaway I was able to watch the entire show from the general admission pit. It had been a couple  years since my last shows in the pit and I forgot just how awesome it can be. What a night!

A few weeks back my family and I stayed a couple of nights inside the Maumee Bay State Park  at the Lodge. Maumee Bay is located in the northwest corner of Ohio near Toledo. The park features fishing, bicycling, wildlife viewing, and plenty of swimming.

Lake Erie Beach

It seems that the Lake Erie beach often has high bacteria levels, so swimming is not advised here. The only time we entered the water of Lake Erie was to go on the banana boat or jet ski rentals. Instead there is the Inland Lake, which has a wide swimming beach, plus another area for canoeing and fishing.

Inland Lake Swimming Beach

We brought along a couple of bikes to enjoy on the numerous paved and unpaved biking and hiking trails. Biking is not allowed on the boardwalk around the wetlands surrounding the nature center, but it is well worth checking out on foot.

Big Hill

The Lodge was a great place to stay with both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, multiple dining options, every sport court imaginable, and tons for the kids to do.

Very Old Lighthouse

In addition to rooms in the Lodge, cottages and cabins  are also available for rent. We are already talking about going back up for another visit in November for Thanksgiving with my in-laws. They came along on this trip as well, and everyone seemed to love our stay. Maumee Bay has easily become my favorite state park resort.

A few weeks ago my family and I found ourselves in Springdale with no dinner plans. After quickly browsing Yelp for someplace new, I easily settled on Ena’s JerkMania!  The concept is a fast casual spin-off of Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen in Columbus, specializing in jerk cooking.

Roadside Sign

The location at 411 West Kemper Road was easy enough to find, and was obviously once an old  Taco Bell restaurant.

Old Taco Bell

There isn’t much space inside for dining in, but we had sleeping kids in the car anyway, so I placed a carry out order. The only other patrons I saw during my brief visit also took their food to go.

Menu Inside

Orders are placed at the counter and food is prepared in the back. There is a small window back into the kitchen so you can kind of see your food being prepared. The menu is pretty simple. First you pick one of a few meats, and then you pick either rice bowl, sandwich, wrap, or salad. From there you select among the handful of jerk sauces and add your own toppings or try a classic build.

Chicken Rice Bowl

My wife ordered the chicken rice bowl with sweet jerk sauce ($6.50). This comes on top of Jamaican rice and beans and has Caribbean slaw on one side. The slaw is a of the dry variety and didn’t add much flavor to the dish. My wife found it best to mix all the ingredients up and enjoy with all the flavors blending together. With that said it might be worth added three build your own items for 50 cents.

Chicken Wrap

I went with the  spicy chicken wrap Spanishtown style with mozzarella, Caribbean slaw, and maniac mayo ($6.50). The chicken and sauce weren’t overly spicy but definitely had a nice kick. The cheese and mayo probably helped to subdue the spiciness. The slaw added a nice crunch to the wrap. I was pleased by this classic build and would definitely try some of the other builds on a future visit.

Rosemary-garlic Fries

We also shared a side of fresh-cut rosemary-garlic fries ($4.00 for large order). Their kickin’ ketchup was served on the side and was excellent. It provides a nice spice thanks to the  scotch bonnet pepper infusion. The fries were also very tasty by themselves.

Overall we had a great meal from Ena’s JerkMania! It is a the only quick service Caribbean restaurant that I can think of and is definitely worth a try.