Once Upon an Adventure

 Hi Everyone!     Miss me? The last few months have been a whirlwind of weddings, family reunions, work chaos, and computer problems (the last of which isn't completely resolved 😐). I didn't forget about our blog adventures, so bear with me while I get July, August, and September's posts up within the next week. I appreciate everyone's patience!     In July, we visited a NEW Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives location in Cleveland Ohio: Fat Cats . The new episode aired on May 22, 2022. The restaurant itself was established in 1997. Like our other favorite DDD place in Cleveland, Lucky's Cafe , Fat Cats also works with local farmers for regional produce and has a garden on site. Similar to a lot of other Cleveland and Tremont area parking, they have a small parking lot next to the restaurant or street parking. As far as DDD locations in Ohio, the ones in the Tremont area are knocking it out of the park so I didn't even hesitate when I heard there was a new one.      W

 Hello Everyone!      Spring is almost here and I am ready for it. I am a March baby and it is a difficult time to plan anything because the weather can go either way. This year, we celebrated my birthday on a bitter cold day. The high was in the 20s midday. Every indoor activity we could think of  (TopGolf, bowling, arcades, etc...) was  jam packed with people and wait times upwards of 2-4 hours. We didn't want to keep wandering all over Columbus and hitting dead-ends, so we decided to just explore some local breweries. My brother was here to celebrate and he really enjoys the small uptown vibe of Powell, so we looked up some options and headed that way.      Our first stop was my choice: Nocterra . I pass this brewery next to the railroad tracks every time I head to the Columbus Zoo. This place always looks busy inside and outside when the weather is nice. They are a drinks-only brewery with a local food truck and live music on certain days. I wish it hadn't been so cold that

 Welcome back for post #2 this month!  I will be transparent and say that this was not my intention for the second post this month; I really wanted to do something different. However, I opted to get my COVID booster and ended up getting all those fun side effects like I had after the 2nd dose. After the symptoms subsided and my appetite came back, I did not want to cook. I also wasn't feeling myself quite yet and wasn't in the mood for our usual brunch go-tos, so I wanted takeout from a new place we hadn't tried yet.  Enter: Kitchen Social. I have passed this restaurant many times and it is always busy. I also am aware of the reputation of their food being really, really good. Their brunch options were all appealing to me (you can find the menu here ) and it was difficult to narrow it down. The caveat is that you have to call to place a takeout order for curbside pick-up. You cannot order and pay online. I am still very undecided on how I feel about that. I like my online o

 Happy 2022!  This is technically December's post. We will have two posts this month. The end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 has not exactly been ideal.  We had a few family members get COVID around Christmas. A few more got it after the New Year. I got sick after the New Year (not COVID), and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. Everyone is doing okay, and for that I am so thankful. Without further ado, let's check out another Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives location.  My love language is tacos and whiskey so when Guy Fieri visited a Mod-Mex place in the Cleveland area, I was ready. The original location is Momocho in Tremont. They have since opened a second location, El Carnicero in Lakewood. I have now been to both locations, so I'll do a little comparing. I must emphasize that these are not traditional Mexican dishes, Chef Eric Williams does a modern twist on the classics. When you think you know what you're getting, you're going to be pleasantly

  Hello fellow coffee addicts,       Let's take a minute to rejoice that it is officially Pumpkin Spice Latte season. Personally, I have shifted over to the Cold Brew life because they have more caffeine, so Pumpkin Cold Brews are my current favorite. My mom likes to record episodes of New Day Cleveland  and told me about a coffee shop in Medina, Ohio. When my mom had called me about this coffee shop, I originally wasn't interested thinking it would be your average coffee shop. Then she said, "They have flights of coffee." Wait, what?! I'm sure everyone has had beer and wine flights. It's a fun way to try different flavors. I have never had a flight of coffee. You have now piqued my interest.      The cafe itself is on the corner of a busy street across from a little park square in the middle of downtown Medina. The park square has festivals and live music throughout the year. All of the buildings in the downtown area are old and therefore have beautiful detai

Good Evening,      It's hard to believe it's the last day of July already. The good news is we are one day closer to pumpkin-flavored everything and Halloween 😉. Late summer/early fall is my favorite time of year for farmers markets. It's when they have the best quality and most options of produce. I happened upon Lynd Fruit Farm a few years ago on an apple-picking field trip with a client's school. I enjoyed it so much that I promised myself I would go back for apple-picking, but I was also thrilled to find out they have their own market as well. Part of this post is from last fall, so keep it in mind for the upcoming months.      The first thing I did was go on their website to sign up for weekly emails. The emails let you know what produce they have at the market, the "U-pick" dates and farm locations for various fruits depending on the month,  and weekend events and hours. When we did apple-picking last year, we went at the end of September for the Jonago

 Happy Summer!     It has been unusually hot here in Ohio for June. With these 90+ degree days, I wanted to try some non-chain ice cream places. Two of the most Instagramed ones are in Italian Village in Columbus, so we're doing a friendly head-to-head competition between S'witch Social and CRMD.      Up first is S'witch Social. They are known for their cookie ice cream sandwiches. I love the decor in this place. Very cute and bright. There is no seating inside, but they provide a couple benches outside. They also have a water dish outside the door for your furry friends, which always scores points.       You can pick any cookie, two of the same, or two different with an ice cream of your choice for your cookie sandwich. (You can check out the cookie and ice cream flavors here .) They have so many cookie options that I was torn for a while before settling on the Party Animal. It was perfect for indecisive people like me because I couldn't decide if I wanted chocolate or

 Good Evening!        It has been too long since I have been to a restaurant that has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. I was getting incredibly antsy, so I decided to find a new one in my area. Turns out, Ray Ray's Hog Pit is literally in my backyard less than 10 minutes away. Rumor has it that Guy Fieri says it is one of his favorite BBQ joints in the Midwest that he has been to, so I had to check it out.      It is in the middle of a parking lot. I'm not kidding. A tiny building smack-dab in the middle of a parking lot for Kroger, Wendy's, and a bank.  Pre-COVID, it looks like there's a little outdoor seating area and a little bit of space inside, but at the moment they are drive-thru and walk-up window only.  The drive-thru line was already into the street when we got there. It was pretty cool to see all the signs of the magazines and TV features they have had. It's worth noting that there is more than one Ray Ray's location