This past Sunday I drove the family up to Lebanon, Ohio for a train ride on the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad. My father in law had bought us all tickets for the Great Train Robbery ride:

Travel back to the rough and tumble times of the old west alongside gold prospectors departing out of Lebanon to a connection bound for Yuma. Prospectors, known for carrying large quantities of gold, are often targets of train robbers. Warning: Be on the lookout for the  Big Iron Rangers, a gang of notorious robbers known well in these parts! The prospectors are prepared to defend their gold to the end, are you?

Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad

Indiana & Ohio Car

Kim, Trey, and Nick

After a four mile or so train ride, all passengers were allowed back off of the train where a mock gun battle was staged. A couple of the period dressed employees acted as robbers of the gold on the train, so the sheriffs had to chase them down and shot most of them dead on the spot.

Sheriffs Doing Work

One Man Dead

Nick And Conner With A Robber

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. Train rides of all kinds are offered most weekends throughout most of the year.

Since it’s opening nearly a year ago, the Taste of Belgium Bistro  has been on my radar. I tried their waffle last July and fell in love. Unfortunately I never made it down to check out the bistro until this past Saturday. We arrived just before 6pm and grabbed one of the last available tables directly next to the baker’s kitchen, complete with a 15 foot table that is available for large groups and special events.

Bakery And Baker’s Table

Our server was quick to provide water for our table as well as a plastic cup for our young son. We inquired about draft beer and she smoothly ran through the special draft list of American Belgian style ales and answered any questions we had about them. The normal draft list is full of great Belgian offerings too.

Summer Couscous

Prior to our visit, I had read good reviews of the food, especially the waffle ‘n chicken. I nearly had everyone at the table trying the dish. Since I had my wife convinced, I decided to try something else and went with the summer couscous, a recently added seasonal item to the menu. It combines their  Israeli couscous with red onions, celery, basil, and lemon with roasted chicken served on top (I think around $14). Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of meat on the dish, but what was there was tender and juicy. It also paired well with the flavors in the couscous. However, I don’t think I would order this dish again.

Chicken ‘n Waffle

When my wife ordered the chicken ‘n waffle our server encouraged getting the hot sauce and maple syrup on the side of the chicken ‘n waffle since it was her first time trying it. This dish is as simple as it sounds –  local chicken, Ohio maple syrup, hot sauce, salad ($14) – but the flavor is outstanding! The piece of chicken was quite large and my wife was full after eating half of the plate, leaving plenty for me to eat. I would definitely order this again and next time I’m getting the sauce served on top.

Boulets à la Liégeoise

My mother went with the  Boulets à la Liégeoise –  Belgian meatballs, frites, salad ($14). Though she enjoyed the dish she said that she too preferred the chicken ‘n waffle. My father ordered the  Carbonnades à l’OTR – six hours beer-braised Belgian beef stew ($19). As usual, he was quick to dig in before I could get a picture and was able to clean his plate well ahead of the rest of us. I didn’t hear any complaints, so it must have been good.

Though I enjoyed dinner for the most part, I think my future visits will be for lunch or possibly even Sunday brunch. The chicken n’ waffle is still available all other times, and it costs only $10 with the salad from the dinner plate removed. I would also like to try some of the crepes or baguettes.

For the first time in its short history, the World Choir Games are taking place in the U.S. The games started in downtown Cincinnati on July 4 and will conclude just four days from now on July 14. Awhile ago Kim and I bought 1 day  Competition Flex Passes for this past Saturday. Later my mom and dad decided to join us for the day and to help with Trey.

Mixed Youth Choirs at Cincinnati Masonic Center

We beat my parents downtown, but we decided to head inside the Cincinnati Masonic Center  without them to see the mixed youth choir competition that was taking place in the large auditorium. The inside of the building is very ornate and the  acoustics  of the auditorium were outstanding. We found our seats just before the gold medal winning SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School from Hong Kong began their performance. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from this competition, but I actually really enjoyed it. Unfortunately Trey could only sit quietly for a few songs before we had to leave the venue.

Mixed youth choirs were also competing at the Duke Energy Center and we were told that the acoustics there weren’t as good (meaning our young son’s noises would be  drowned  out easily). So we met up with my parents and headed that direction to watch some of the open competition that was taking place.

Friendship Concert At St. Francis Seraph

Once that competition was over we rushed up to St. Francis Seraph church for the free friendship concert that was taking place. The weather outside was above 100 degrees, which means that the church was super hot without any  air-conditioning. We watched a few songs from another Chinese choir before moving on to dinner and the end of our World Choir Games adventure.

If you are still debating taking in any of the events, I’d encourage you to at least make it out to one of the many free friendship concerts. There is also the Celebration of Nations taking place at 6pm tonight with a parade from the Duke Energy Center to Fountain Square. We are heading down for that, so look for us there if you are attending.

On the second day of my jury duty service I met up with my cousin and one of his coworkers for lunch from Turophilia, a quesadilla food truck operating out of a 1967 Airstream trailer. I had seen the trailer before but never when it was open for business. Currently they are open  at 8th and Vine Tues-Fri from 11-2:30pm.

Turophilia Trailer And Menu

The menu changes daily and is written on a whiteboard outside the door to the trailer, which is also where orders are placed. Most quesadillas cost $5 for the small soft taco size and $7 for the larger more traditional quesadilla size. One item that sounded really interesting was the Waylon Jennings, which was served with Eli’s BBQ pulled pork inside. Unfortunately they had already run out earlier in the day. That was no problem as there were plenty of other great looking options.

I’m Not Hungover

I decided to try a small I’m Not Hungover –  turkey, avocado, firehot chips, peppercorn ranch, Dijon mustard, and Monterey Jack ($5). I think the chips were Lay’s Flamin’ Hot potato chips, and though I wasn’t sure what this would taste like inside the quesadilla, the crunch was hardly detectable after cooking so it really just added a nice bit of heat to the mix. I really love turkey and avocado together, and the rest of the ingredients added some interesting flavor combinations. The quesadilla took a little while to prepare, but it was definitely worth it in the end. I can’t wait to try another.

Jury duty this week hasn’t been all bad. Well the sitting around in the courthouse has been pretty bad, but because of the jury duty I’ve been able to sample some downtown eateries that I otherwise wouldn’t visit. First up is The ‘Wich on Sycamore, previously known as Wicked ‘Wich. I met my wife there on Monday afternoon for lunch. Though it was my first visit, she is a regular lunch time customer since her office is a block away.

Inside the ‘Wich

We arrived a little before 1pm and found no line to order. From what I’m told this is a  rarity, as the line is often out the door at lunch time. If you are a downtown worker, it may be a good idea to wait a little later to take your lunch if you don’t feel like waiting in line. The menu is written along the back wall and consists of a large number of salads and sandwiches that are all prepared fresh. Orders are placed at the counter and your name is called out when your food is ready.

Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich

After staring at the menu for some time I eventually decided on the pecan chicken salad sandwich – chicken, pecans, celery, green onion, apple, and tarragon yogurt-mayo served on butter toasted honey wheat bread ($7.79). The sandwich comes with a choice of one side dish, I chose the  pecan cranberry slaw. Both the sandwich and the coleslaw were really good. I’m a big fan of chicken salad and I have to say that this was one of my favorites in the city.

Special Ham Sandwich

My wife ordered the special of the day, which was some sort of ham sandwich. I believe it had Muenster cheese on it as well as their horseradish sauce and was served on the multi-grain baguette. I just had a small bite of the sandwich, but again I felt it was really good. On the side she ordered the spiced fruit cup, which adds a nice little kick to the otherwise standard fruit cup.

The only complaint I would have is that the serving size is a tad small, thus the price is a little high for what you are served. However the quality of food is excellent and it is all very well prepared. I would definitely go back.

Before I turn my attention to the happenings of this past weekend and this week, I wanted to provide a few pictures from the recently ended Homearama. Kim and I decided last-minute to go check out the Homearama on the last day it was open. This years event took place just off my parents exit on I-275 (Wards Corner) so I drove by it fairly regularly during the two-week opening. Though it never looked overly crowded, it was a relatively cheap ticket to get in ($11 if you bought them at Kroger ahead of time).

Exterior of My Favorite Home

Basically the Homearama is a new home showcase that features some of the latest trends and styles, although it is done at a much higher cost than the average homeowner can afford. Regardless it is still pretty cool to see these lavish homes and dream the day away. Take a look at some of the crazy things that were in these $675,000 – $1,000,000 homes.

007 Bar with 3 TV’s

Basement Wine Cellar

Massive Wraparound Screen

Huge Swimmable Hot Tub

Golf Simulator

Today was the start of my jury duty that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I always thought it would be interesting to see the inner workings of a court room. Unfortunately that has yet to happen for me. I arrived at the courthouse this morning at 8:30, waited in line to check-in, and then went through orientation until around 10:30. From that point I sat with the other citizens (somewhere between 100 and 200 of us) in various rooms waiting for our names to be called in a juror pool. We were told that once in a pool we would be taken to any of a few dozen courtrooms for additional questioning and then finally jury selection.

However no names were ever called today. What a complete waste of time it was. I killed the three hours of waiting time by walking 21 laps around the courthouse’s fourth floor (I was told 7 laps was a mile), playing on the internet with my phone, and even closing my eyes for a few minutes. Around 12:30 an announcement told us all that we were dismissed for the day.

And guess what happened next? I went online to see if I have to report again tomorrow, and it must be my lucky day because I do. You can bet that I’m bringing my laptop and other entertainment items with me to help pass the time tomorrow. I really can’t believe how  inefficient  this system is, plus each person is given $19 per day so it isn’t a cheap process either. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that tomorrow I at least get to see the inside of one of the courtrooms.

Saturday night I attended the St. Columban Festival, my first Catholic summer festival in quite some time. I spent many days at St. Columban from fourth grade through eighth, and though much of the school and church has changed since then, the festival continues to be a good time. The Rusty Griswolds were on hand to provide music throughout the night, which is always a bonus in my book.

Since Trey was along for the ride, we spent the majority of the night playing kids games and watching him take a turn on some of the carnival rides.

Fishing with Mom

Back for more

Digging for Dinosaurs

Riding the Train

Driving Cars

Eating Corn

Imitating Hendrix

Monday night I attended my second Reds game of the season. Some of Kim’s extended family was in town and organized a family outing to the game, complete with great seats down the third base line.

Outside Great American Ball Park

Third Base Line

It was also Reds Racing Night with  â€œThe King” Richard Petty, NASCAR drivers Bobby Labonte and Aric Almirola and the largest collection of racing showcars, simulators and interactives ever in the Ohio/Kentucky area.

Richard Petty

Eric McClure’s Car

More importantly, the Reds pulled out an exciting 3-1 win over the Brewers. Reds pitcher Mat Latos pitched a complete game with a career high 13 strikeouts. Anytime the Reds pitch 11 or more strikeouts,  fans in attendance receive a free LaRosa’s pizza and a scoop of UDF ice cream. Latos performance made for 34,485 very happy people.

Reds Win

Fireworks

I was off work this past Friday and so we decided to spend the day down at Williamstown Lake, where my wife’s uncle has a cabin that I’ve mentioned a couple of times before. Throughout the afternoon I hung a gutter on one side of the cabin before we took the pontoon out for a ride and swim. We will actually be spending a lot more time down at the lake, since a group of us all chipped in and bought a neighboring four bedroom house that we will be fixing up and then using to stay the night.

Outside Edwardo’s

Anyway, the real point of this post is to write about Edwardo’s Pizza & Subs in Williamstown, KY. We visited with my in-laws and my youngest brother-in-law, who have all eaten at Edwardo’s before. We arrived after 8pm and found a couple of the last remaining spots in the small parking lot. We immediately saw a large back patio that was still packed full of people, as well as a DJ playing some music from the far side.

Edwardo’s Back Patio

After a few minutes wait a couple of tables opened up, and a couple of servers quickly cleared them off for us. We split a pitcher of Amber Bock while deciding on pizza. Our server pointed out that if we bought one large pizza at regular price, the second would only be $9, a deal that we couldn’t refuse. We eventually settled on the Hawaiian Delight Pizza (Ham, pineapple, green peppers, red onions, topped with diced tomatoes and our special blend of real cheeses) and the White Pizza with Grilled Chicken (White, creamy, gourmet alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, red onions, and bacon, topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses). Regular price for both is $16.99 for the large 15 inch.

White Pizza with Grilled Chicken

I sampled the  White Pizza with Grilled Chicken first, which we actually had spiced up with buffalo chicken. I’m glad we ordered it with the buffalo sauce, otherwise I’m afraid the pizza would have been a little bland. The sauce didn’t have much flavor to it, but the I didn’t have any complaints about the rest of the ingredients. We ordered this one on the thin crust, which our server said she liked the best, but I’m going to have to disagree and say the thick was better.

Hawaiian Delight Pizza

The  Hawaiian Delight Pizza we ordered on thick crust. I really liked this pizza. The sauce was full of flavor and all the toppings were plentiful. The thick crust was still chewy on the inside and was cooked perfectly. I liked having additional toppings on the pizza, when compared to other more standard Hawaiian pizzas. I would easily order the Hawaiian Delight again, and I will not hesitate to visit Edwardo’s in the future.