Christmas in Ohio Post #2 - Cincinnati Christmas, Cincinnati eats!

After our big announcement on Christmas Eve, we also had a very nice Christmas at the Mowry's house.  We woke up to the typical quiche breakfast and then went to the family room to open presents.  We were excited to give some of our New York City-themed presents we'd picked up in our trip to the city the week before.  Griffey sat with us while we opened presents, but he was nervous and spent most of the time lying warmly between his Mommy and Daddy.

Charlie, Abby, Grumpa and Tom played Wizard while Katie and Grandma Dorothy napped.  Leslie prepared an afternoon Beef Tenderloin dinner that was excellent.  After dinner, we made an initial failed attempt to go to a movie - but a second try at the Springdale theater was successful.  We saw the 2nd Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey, Jr., and we all agreed it was a good movie, but not as good as the first one.  Too much action, not quite as much of the detective work that Sherlock Holmes is known for.  Elementary, my dear Watson!

Charlie slept in the basement on a couple of different nights for old times sake to hang out with his old dog, Homer.  Homer is almost 16 years old, can't see or hear very well, and no longer believes he needs wait to get taken outside if he has to go to the bathroom.  But he can still sniff out the nearest treat and was happy to "see" Charlie.

While in Cincinnati, we made our rounds to many of our typical Cincinnati favorites, and also tried a few new ones.  The two new ones were places we'd heard about on one of our favorite shows - Man vs. Food, which is on the travel channel and follows a food fanatic around to different cities.  The host usually visits three restaurants, and one involves an eating challenge.  We went to the two restaurants that didn't involve the challenge from his Cincinnati stop.

The first was on Monday for lunch down at Newport on the Levee in Northern Kentucky.  The restaurant was the relatively new Tom & Chee, which is a grilled cheese specialist.  The restaurant serves all different takes on Grilled Cheese.  The menu includes make-your-own grilled cheese sandwiches and plenty of specific house specials.  Katie got a half BLT without the lettuce with a side of soup, while Charlie went with the "Armagoetta".  This was one of the two sandwiches they'd highlighted on the Man v. Food show, and it had Goetta (a Cincinnati sausage specialty with steel cut oats) and hot peppers mixed with a few different types of cheese.  We also got a "dessert" grilled cheese.  They have a number of these that feature a donut as the "bread" part, and the blueberry bleu cheese was the one shown on the TV show.  We don't like bleu cheese, so we shared the smores one.  It had just what it sounds like - graham crackers, chocolate, and a marshmallow flavored mascarapone cheese.  Yummy!

The next day for lunch, we tried an old favorite - a Cincinnati chili restaurant we'd not been to before.  While Cincinnati is known for its distinct chili parlors, most of the restaurants are chains, led by Skyline, Gold Star, and to a lesser extent, Empress chili (which was the first of these restaurants).  But there are a few stand-alone parlors around, and Camp Washington Chili is a new one - for us.  The parlor has been serving chili for over 60 years, and is on it's second building in the Camp Washington area near Clifton.  The food was as you'd expect for Cincinnati chili - tasty.  They also have a good selection of deli sandwiches, which is different from the chain restaurants.

The traditional Cincy/Ohio/Midwest restaurants we'd had plenty of times before included:

• Penn Station for lunch on the way down to Cincinnati Christmas Eve
• LaRosa's, the famous Cincinnati pizzeria, on Monday night after Christmas
• Buffalo Wings and Rings (there's a new one in Finneytown) with Charlie's dad on Tuesday night
• Quaker Steak and Lube with Charlie's friend Craig and his wife Mandy on Wednesday for lunch - who is expecting twins!
• Hofbrahaus, the German transplant in Newport, with our friends Brian and Adrienne - who just had their first baby (this is becoming a theme)
• Tai's Asian Bistro - the best take out chinese takeout food ever - on a Thursday trip to Columbus
• Gold Star Chili on Friday lunch for our second Cincinnati chili fix   

Charlie decided the only things missing were Montgomery Inn (can't do everything) and Skyline Chili (3 meals with Cincinnati chili are plenty)!