All posts for the month August, 2016

Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition.

After wandering through the Northside Summer Market and grabbing a bite to eat at The Littlefield, we decided to check out Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition. Arcade Legacy has been Cincinnati’s premier classic gaming destination since 2009. At their all ages location in the Cincinnati Mall, you can find 70+ arcade games and pinball machines, 20 classic and current gaming consoles, giant projection screens for the newest titles and Rock Band all for just one low admission price. At Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition in Northside, they offer a great selection of beers, cocktails and hot dog creations along with the nearly 50 arcade games and pinball machines, a classic console lounge, current console bar and an outdoor patio space. All games are free to play with the purchase of drinks or food except pinball which is 50¢ a game. It sounded a lot like 16-Bit down in OtR. And 16-Bit was fun the few times we went. But it was just such a looooong walk away from us. Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition is just a hop, skip and a jump from our house near the end of Hamilton Avenue on Spring Grove…

They don’t have many taps but still had some great options with Sweet Baby Jesus and Urban Artifact’s Keypunch…

We had perfect timing. Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition had just opened for the evening and we almost had the entire place to ourselves…

We got to play every arcade game in the place. There were a bunch of good ones. Genifer also schooled me at some Super Mario Bros on SNES…

We never had Nintendo growing up. We had Atari and Sega. The whole place was such a throwback to childhood. And so much fun! We’ll definitely be back to Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition again and again. I want to try some of those gourmet dogs as well! 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 6, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Northside

Tagged 2016, Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition, August, Cincinnati, Northside, Ohio, Shaken not stirred

Posted by Thadd F. on August 6, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/06/arcade-legacy/

Northside Summer Market.

Today was the Northside Summer Market…

For over 15 years, the neighborhood of Northside has been hosting an annual, community-wide yard sale in conjunction with Corridor127 — better known as The World’s Longest Yard Sale. The event transforms our neighborhood into a shoppers paradise and gives both residents and visitors a chance to weave in & out of Northside in search of some the city’s most eclectic finds

We wandered up and down a few streets in Northside before calling it a day on the yard sale. It was really warm out and we got a late start on getting out to rummage…

We walked by The Kitchen Factory, which already smelled like delicious pizza…

And we walked by the future home of Apple Street Market…

Hoffner Street was closed off for the Northside Summer Market…

The really cool Northside t-shirts I saw at the Cincinnati T-Shirt Expo on Fountain Square were there…

Some day I’ll break down and buy one. She had really beautiful, gorgeous paintings…

And there was a beer garden at Northside About Space…

Afterwards, we had some outstanding cilantro & lime chicken wings with Thai coconut milk broth and warm 16 Brix bread at The Littlefield…

It was great to wander around and start to explore our new neighborhood a little bit. 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 6, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Northside

Tagged 2016, August, Cincinnati, Northside, Northside Summer Market, Ohio

Posted by Thadd F. on August 6, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/06/northside-summer-market/

Volksfest.

After running some errands this afternoon, we stopped at Listermann Brewing Company to check out this year’s Volksfest. You might remember last summer we managed to pull ourselves away from all the festivities of All-star weekend to check out Volksfest. And it was a lot of fun. It’s basically a summer beer festival serving only local beer from local breweries, and it was back…

On a side note, we didn’t realize that Listermann was so close to our new house, not walking distance or anything. But a pretty short car ride. We really need to check out some of their weekly specials…

Here’s the beer list for the two-day festival…

Everything with an X next to it is what was on tap while we were there.

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We got to taste a lot of new beers. We got to try…

Blank Slate Out and About Gose
Tap & Screw Witty Friar Hefe
Rhinegeist Chester Cherry Saisson
Mt. Carmel Hibiscus Blue Blonde Ale
Triple Digit Cortex Imperial Coffee Stout
Mad Tree BA Rubus Cacao Stout aged in wine/bourbon barrels
Cellar Dweller BmlGrl Experimental Brown Ale
Braxton Summertrip Berliner Weiss with passionfruit

Genifer’s favorite was the Braxton Summertrip. Mine was the Rhinegeist Chester.
Good stuff. Volksfest was really a lot of fun. 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 5, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY

Tagged 2016, August, Cincinnati, Cincinnati beer, Cincinnati Breweries, Listermann Brewing Company, Ohio, Shaken not stirred, Volksfest

Posted by Thadd F. on August 5, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/05/volksfest/

Constructing Cincinnati.

I walked over to Sycamore Place to pick up a package that got shipped to our old home by mistake. And I couldn’t help but notice that the new parking garage at the corner of Sycamore and Seventh Streets was now opening for public parking…

It’s a whole lot different than what it used to look like, from the old garage to the construction of this new garage. It’s a really big improvement. I wonder when they are going to start construction of the apartments atop this new parking garage? 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 5, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Central Business District

Tagged 2016, August, Central Business District, Cincinnati, Constructing Cincinnati, Downtown, Ohio

Posted by Thadd F. on August 5, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/05/constructing-cincinnati-7/

Tickle Pickle.

We walked over to Tickle Pickle on Hamilton Avenue to pick up a couple of burgers to go for dinner tonight… 28680789492_27b8ac30b2_b

The burgers weren’t much to look at when we got them home. But they sure were tasty. Genifer had the Bread Zeppelin with a house salad, and I had the Meatallica with a side of smashed potatoes. Really great burgers. 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 4, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Northside

Tagged 2016, August, Cincinnati, Northside, Ohio, Tickle Pickle, We ate this

Posted by Thadd F. on August 4, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/04/tickle-pickle-2/

Reds baseball game #12.

It felt like forever since we’d last been to a Reds game. It had been over a month since we were last at the ballpark. I don’t think we went a month without going to a baseball game in all the time we lived downtown. Heck, I don’t think we went a week without taking in a Reds game. But with all the FC|C soccer and our move, things happen and times change. Tonight, we hopped on the Metro 17 bus (god bless that 17 bus) and made our way down to Great American BallPark. Taking the bus in was super easy and much cheaper than an Uber and definitely way cheaper than paying for parking. We got off the 17 at Government Square on Fifth Street, and walked down Main Street to GABP. We had almost the same distance to walk to the ballpark as when we lived on Sycamore Street. It felt a little odd and weird to walk down a different street after so many trips down Sycamore Street to see the Reds. But there we were at Reds game number 12. The journey might be a little different now but it’s still the same beautiful ballpark we know and love…

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The Reds were playing those whiny birds…

We had tickets for the Cincinnati Bell Fioptics District again. We really like those seats. It was pretty empty on the way to the district.

And not surprisingly, they were plenty of good seats still available…

The Reds were down to their last strike…

And this one did not belong to the Reds, 5-4 to the Cardinals…

The Reds took two out of three from St. Louis. Since the All-Star break, they’ve won six straight series. And win or lose, it’s always great to be at the ballpark. We ended up riding the Metro 17 home. And that was a bit of an experience just because the bus was surprisingly packed. We had to stand the entire trip home. Next time, we go to an evening Reds game, we’ll most likely just catch an Uber home. 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 3, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Reds baseball, Sports

Tagged 2016, August, Baseball, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Reds, Downtown, GABP, Great American BallPark, MLB, Ohio, St. Louis Cardinals

Posted by Thadd F. on August 3, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/03/reds-baseball-game-12/

Django Western Taco.

When we moved into our house, Deskey gave us a $50 gift card to Django Western Taco in Northside as a house warming gift. Just a side note… I work for an amazing company. They’re always doing things like this to make their employees feel special and appreciated. I’ve never worked anywhere else where I’ve felt like part of a family. And I love that. I really love where I work. 😀

Deskey gave us this gift card. And tonight, we put it to good use…

We walked the couple blocks over to Hamilton Avenue and then a few more blocks down Hamilton until we arrived at Django…

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The interior of Django from the bar looking back towards the front door…

Turns out Chef Josh Campbell of Mayberry fame took over ownership at the beginning of the year. It was an awesome surprise getting to run into him. It’s a small world. And I’m glad he’s back in town. Here’s the view behind the bar at Django…

Genifer started with a classic margarita and chose to make it a spicy one by adding a bit of habañero puree. She got it about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5, and it definitely had some heat to it. I got a Miller High Life because I jumped the gun and ordered a beer before hearing about the margaritas…

We started with queso and chips and salsa…

The salsa was really good. And the queso was outstanding. Some quesos arrive as molten cheese and as they cool solidify into a unmanageable, impenetrable brick of cheese. Not this queso. It was perfect from first scoop until the last. And we also ordered some tacos. You have to order tacos…

From left to right, we had the fried chicken taco, carne asda, fried shrimp and carnitas. Genifer like the carne asda and carnitas the best. I like the chicken and shrimp. All were really delicious. We washed down our meal with a round of margaritas. I had a peach with just a splash of the habañero puree and Genifer had another classic, but non-spicy without the puree this time…

Great stuff! And we still have money left on our gift card! When we come back next time, we’re going after the Jerk Chicken Quesadilla. Thanks, Chef Josh. And thank you, Deskey! I see Django qucikly becoming one of our favorite spots in Northside! 🙂

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by Thadd F. on August 2, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in #SUMMERinCINCY, Northside

Tagged 2016, Cincinnati, Django Western Taco, Northside, Ohio, We ate this

Posted by Thadd F. on August 2, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/08/02/django-western-taco/