Weekend of Wine and Food!

Oh Boy! What a weekend we had! Friday morning we got up and headed for Dayton/Cincinnati for a weekend of wine and good eats. Jon and I and his cousin, Barb and spouse, Tim hit the road together.

First stop - Wright/Patterson Airforce Museum in Dayton. There was a special "behind the scene" tour and we got to tour the hangar where there are many planes in the process of being restored. One of those is Memphis Belle. Our tour guide was an old hand at her volunteer job and she was very knowledgeable. Both Jon and Tim are very much into military planes. I don't really have much interest in the planes, but it was still fun.

Next stop - a great Mexican Restaurant - El Picante in Loveland, Ohio. We are good friends with the owner of a Mexican Restaurant near our house and his brother-in-law, who we know also, works at the location in Loveland. Food was good, atmosphere great, and service even better! Azael was so happy to see us! We enjoyed a few pitchers of frozen margaritas and I had a great shrimp dinner with onions, zucchini and yellow squash. We rolled on out of there and headed for our hotel.

Saturday was to be a day of hitting wineries. Jon had mapped out our gameplan. First winery he had down the hours were 8 am - 8 pm, so we arrived at 9:45 ready to sample some wine. The sign on the door said the hours were 11 am to 8 pm, but the door was open. Not being the shy sort I walked in and hollered out "Hello" until someone came out from the back. The man said he could arrange for us to have a tasting even though they really weren't open. First he let us in the cellar to tour the place. Very interesting and we got some fun pictures that are, of course, still on Barb's camera so I can't post any here. We bought a case of wine between us and headed off to the next winery. The second winery was a quaint little place located in a house. We had lunch there and some excellent cheese and breads. We bought several bottles there as well.

Then we headed off to the next one. This winery not only makes wine but is Ohio's only micro-distillery. We've been there before and they do make a mean vodka. I really want to try their bourbon, but they can't offer samples there and I didn't want to spend $90 on something I may not like. She gave us a list of what bars/restaurants sell their beverages so maybe next time we're in the area.....

The fourth and final winery that we made it to had beautiful grounds and nice patios and decks where you could sit and view the great scenery. All in all we both ended up with a case of great Ohio wines.

Dinner that night was to be at Pappadeaux's. A great cajun seafood place. I had stuffed shrimp that were fabulous! We all left stuffed, yet managed to stop and have dessert and coffee. I was miserable by bedtime. Why can't I learn not to stuff myself so much??!!

Sunday morning we got up and nobody wanted breakfast. So, we headed to Jungle Jim's. Jungle Jim's is a Foodie Delight! It is a HUGE place that houses a regular grocery store, and every kind of food you can imagine! Their seafood dept. actually has aquariums with live fish in them. You pick out what you want and they get it for you - can't get any fresher than that! I think every country is represented and they sell foods and spices and oils you can't find in most stores. Their beer and wine departments are phenomenal! The bakery was great! We passed a counter where an Asian man was placing packages of sushi. I really never had tried sushi before and was curious. He said he had just made these up and they were very fresh and very good. I bought a seafood combo with 4 different kinds: smoked salmon, eel, yellowfin tuna, and shrimp. I brought them home so my son, Steve, could have them. He's had sushi before and liked it. He said this was the best he'd ever had. To me, it was OK, but I won't go looking for more.

All in all it was a great, fun weekend spent with people we love to spend time with, doing what we love best - eating and drinking!