August 15th, 2010 | permalink

Disney World

I’ll admit, I was never much of a Disney person. We went once when I was about 12 because my sister was competing in the national high school cheerleading competition at Sea World. So the whole family went and I think we spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and a Day at EPCOT. I was at the age where I was more interested in looking cool in front of all of the cheerleaders rather than enjoy Disney. It was at the Magic Kingdom where I witnessed one of the few arguments that my parents had in front of the kids and it all stemmed from my brother’s need to have an invisible dog on a leash. Needless to say my father did not see this as a necessary souvenir.

We needed a family vacation this summer and after most of the summer passed, we finally decided on Disney World. We looked up the cost of a few other places including Cedar Point resorts and Virginia Beach, but when it came down to it, the price that we were getting for Disney won out. After all, traveling to Florida in August has to have some sort of incentive.

Erika did an excellent job of planning the vacation in 3 weeks. Many of our friends (thanks Rhea, Sam and Amy) had tips on what to do, where to go, how to navigate the parks, and many other helpful tips. She also read a couple of books on the topic. Then another friend gave her the number of a local travel agent that specializes in Disney World www.mousemadesimple.com. They handled making all of our reservations for our meals, character dinners, character lunches, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the Pirates League and made a bunch of other recommendations. A lot of these reservations are made much further in advance, but she got us in and the kids loved it.

We stayed five nights at the French Quarter at Port Orleans. I liked the resort due to its proximity to Downtown Disney which we could hop on the river taxi and ride on over. There are also Disney buses that pick up and take you to the other resorts and parks. We never had to wait too long and it was very convenient for getting around. The resort had a nice pool with a slide that the kids enjoyed on our downtime. Liv loved that the resort was New Orleans themed since she is a big fan of Princess Tiana of The Princess and the Frog.

My Foursquare check ins from our trip:

View Disney World 2010 in a larger map

Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

We were able to get to three of the parks, Magic Kingdom (three days), EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. We passed up Animal Kingdom so that we could get the third day at the Magic Kingdom and get to some of the attractions that we hadn’t got in the first two days.

Kade was made up as a skeleton pirate in the Pirates League at Magic Kingdom. It is located right outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. He made his own costume at home and packed it for the trip so we only had to get the face painting package. He received his pirate name, James Calicocash, and took the Pirate Oath and was lead back to private chamber where he received some of Captain Jack Sparrow’s treasure.

Liv had an appointment to become a princess at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Downtown Disney. Since her birthday is this coming weekend, she became a birthday princess. Her appointment included hair, nails and makeup. It was a very quick transformation but lacked the detail of Kade’s Pirate League experience.

After Liv was made up as a princess, we went to The Princess Lunch at Akershus in EPCOT’s Norway Pavilion was great. The kids got to meet Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel. Kade even got a kiss from Ariel and I think he fell in love.

We had a character breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Alice, the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins at the Grand Floridian.

EPCOT has beer and wine!

We rode on Dumbo the Flying Elephant as the fireworks were going off all around us.

Liv was one of the stars of the show at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She played the role of Boo in the interactive comedy show. She was pretty shy and preferred not to be on the big screen.

We rode most of the attractions, some multiple times. Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, The Mad Tea Party, Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, The Tiki Room, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, The Haunted Mansion, Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Stitch’s Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Carousel of Progress, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, The Great Movie Ride, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Star Tours, MuppetVision 3D and Toy Story Mania. Whew.

Some of the best advice we received and/or learned on our own:

Get the Fastpasses. Some of the rides had up to a 2hr wait which is not worth it. Let’s face it, the thrill rides are nowhere near Cedar Point’s caliber. We fastpassed a lot of the more popular rides which made them more enjoyable. It was nice to wait in line inside in air conditioned rooms on most of the rides.

Don’t do the meal plan. We did, but found that we were forcing ourselves to get to a certain place at a certain time. The meal plan we had included 1 snack, 1 counter service (entree, drink, dessert) and 1 table service meal (entree, drink, dessert) per person, per day. The plans do not include tip or alcoholic beverages. If it included an appetizer instead of a dessert at the meals it would be better.

Don’t go to the Magic Kingdom on the day you get there. We did but would not do it that way if we go again. Plan some days as “vacation” days. Plan some days to have no plans and sit at the pool or go shopping at Downtown Disney. We filled our itinerary with parks and it would have been nice to have some more relaxing days.

Have realistic expectations. If your kids have meltdowns at home, they will have them at Disney World. Don’t let it ruin the vacation. Easier said than done. Get to the parks early and ride or get fastpasses on the popular rides. It just gets more and more crowded at the parks as it gets later.

Have an escape plan. When leaving the Magic Kingdom at night after the fireworks, you can walk through all of the shops down Main Street. They open the adjoining doors. It is less crowded and air conditioned.

It is going to rain. It rained a little everyday we were there but it hardly effected anything because we were prepared with ponchos. Stay at one of the Disney resorts. The transportation from parks, attractions and other resorts is worth it alone.

Before this vacation, I thought that we would only do a Disney themed vacation once, but we had a great time and I can definitely see us doing another Disney vacation in the future. Maybe I am getting old, but seeing the kids faces light up at all of the amazement around them is worth it. All of the “cast members” or workers at the resorts and parks were amazing. The characters stayed in character and the staff was friendly and helpful ALL OF THE TIME. One instance was when we were leaving the Magic Kingdom, Kade bought a lollipop. When he opened it, he found it was cracked down the center into two pieces. He began to cry as a normal 6 year old would and before we could fix the situation, a woman walked up to us and explained if we go back in the store we could exchange it for a new one. The woman worked at the Magic Kingdom but was there on her day off and out of uniform. That is how friendly the people of Disney were.

If I had one complaint I would say the one thing they do need more of… craft beer at the resorts/parks. But Abita Turbodog and Yuengling Lager at our resort bar was a great sight.

View more photos.

April 22nd, 2010 | permalink

Who Needs Dark Lord Day Golden Tickets?

Due to a family illness, it turns out that I will not be able to make the trip to the Three Floyds Dark Lord Day 2010 on Saturday, April 24 in Munster, Indiana. So, I am offering up my 2 golden tickets. The festival is free, what the tickets get you is the guarantee of being able to buy some of their Dark Lord Russian Stout at the festival. This is the one day a year that you can buy this beer. The tap list for the festival was just released and looks amazing, too.

There is a catch, I would like to be able to purchase the allotted share of one of the tickets, the other ticket’s allotment will go to contacts me first and agrees to the terms. Another catch, you will also have to pickup the tickets in Sandusky, OH since I am there right now. It is on the way to Indiana from Cleveland.

It is unfortunate that I cannot make it, but family is the most important thing that we have in life. I hope that someone else is able to take these tickets and enjoy the festival.

April 21st, 2010 | permalink

Win two tickets to Thirsty Dog Craft Beer Dinner at The House of Blues

Have you ever wanted to get the Rock Star treatment? Here is your chance. I have been given a couple of tickets to give away for the Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Craft Beer Dinner at the House of Blues Cleveland on Tuesday, April 27th. Thirsty Dog is one of North East Ohio’s premiere breweries hailing from Akron, OH. The concept is unique, experience the House of Blues as if you were the artist. This is the first in their Craft Beer Dinner Series. Meet and greet at 5pm and dinner on stage starts at 6pm. The Price is $75 per person, but I am giving you the chance to win 2 tickets free of charge simply by commenting on this post.

Here is the lineup and menu…

A Special Cask Conditioned Meet & Greet Backstage Accompained by House Made Bavarian Pretzels & Mustard Seed Aioli

“Chicken & Waffles” – Confit Organic Bell & Evans Chicken Thighs, Roasted Corn Waffles and Cabbage Slaw, Truffled Honey Drizzle paired with Whippet Wheat

Coriander Crusted Diver Scallops, Micro Cilantro Nage Braised Baby Potatoes, and Root Vegetables paired with Hoppus Maximus

“3 Little Pigs” – Porter Brined and Double Roasted Pork Shoulder, Hickory Smoked Port Belly and Crispy Pancetta, Sauteed Dill Dumplings, Brussel Sprouts, and Spring Onions paired with Old Leghumper

Siberian Night Imperial Stout & Milk Chocolate Gelato, Pan Toasted Poundcake, Thirsty Dog “Raspberrys” paired with Siberian Night

Download the full House of Blues Thirsty Dog Beer Dinner Menu

All that you need to do to enter the contest is comment on this post. You must be 21 or over to win. In your comment, please include your name and email so that you may be notified. All entries are due by 11:59 pm Sunday, April 25th. A winner will be randomly selected by Random.org on Monday, April 26th.

Good luck to all! I hope to see you all at this unique dinner concept.

April 8th, 2010 | permalink

Baseball Beer

Above is the newest tap handle for The Greenhouse Tavern and Buckeye Brewing Co. that I designed. After the first design for Saison de Maison (pictured left), some people were offended by the nude female figure. So with this design, we opted for the nude male figure in the style of the old Chief Wahoo sign that stood at the top of Cleveland Municipal Stadium for years. It also ties in the likeness of one of the bartenders at GHT, Will Hollingsworth, who was up for an award as Metromix Cleveland’s Hottest Bartender.

The story of this series of tap handle logos is further explained on the Cleveland Magazine Blog in an entry written by Laura Taxel.

Baseball Beer is three-way blend and cask conditioned ale made up of Buckeye Aquarius, Buckeye Bling Bling and Saison de Maison. This beer will be released (on tap only) on Sunday, April 11 from 2pm – 11pm, the day before the Cleveland Indians home opener. It is part of the Pre-Opening Day festivities at The Greenhouse Tavern.

Also, congratulations are in order for Chef Jonathon Sawyer and the whole GHT crew as he was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs 2010. This is a truly great accomplishment and I think it is just the beginning for this great person and chef.

April 7th, 2010 | permalink

Thirteen years

Kyle & Erika photo set on Flickr

As of April 8, Erika and I have been together for 13 years. It is hard to believe it until I started to look through old photos the other night. It all began when she came up to the University of Toledo to come visit with my cousin, Keri (Kromer) Bechtel. We began dating at the end of her Senior year of High School. In the Fall she left for school at Washington University in St. Louis. A year later we both transferred to Pittsburgh, her to the University of Pittsburgh and I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She also studied abroad in Italy, was published multiple times for her medical research and for her work on the European Drawings 1500 to 1800 book and exhibition at the Frick Art and Historical Center, and finished post-bac pre-med program Duquesne University. We got our first apartment, graduated from college, got our first professional jobs, got married, honeymooned in Italy, rented our first house, vacationed in Hawaii, got our dogs, vacationed in the Caribbean, and decided to start our family all while we lived in Pittsburgh.

Then, it got interesting. We decided to start our family.

Just before the birth of our son, we moved to Sandusky. We lived in the apartment on the top floor of her Grandmother’s Tea Room. We loved the Tea Room but we knew that we could not stay in Sandusky.

After a year, I got my current job in Cleveland. It was a rough first few months as I commuted back and forth, but soon after, we bought our first home where we reside now. Here we had our second child and began to put down roots and embrace the city. Then, another turn, my Mother was diagnosed with Leukemia four years ago and Erika was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes three years ago. As with anything, it is not always easy, it is up to us to make our own path when there is not one.

It was Grandpa Kraus that told us when we asked him how he and Grandma Kraus made it last (now over 56 years married). He told us that you have to keep the romance. Those are the words that we try to live by.

It has been a long winding road and I am sure there will be more turns but I am glad that I have Erika every step of the way.

March 31st, 2010 | permalink

Passion Pit at the House of Blues, Cleveland

I am glad that I got to see Passion Pit again, this time at the House of Blues here in Cleveland. The tickets went on sale a while back and they were pretty cheap, part of 92.3‘s Cheap Date offerings. The cost was $9.23 per ticket. You can’t pass that up.

Our first experience seeing Passion Pit live was pretty cool. It was at Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago and they put on an amazing show.

This show was great as well, however, Erika was not able to attend due to some family health matters. So I took my friend “Kromer”.  It was nice to run into some other friends, Nicole & Eddie and Rachel & Mike.

After watching some of Mayer Hawthorne‘s performance from the balcony, we decided to get to where the action was a couple songs into the Passion Pit set. I am glad we did. Totally different point of view being on the floor in the pit. They played a three-song encore and threw in a cover of The Cranberries “Dreams” which may be on the upcoming album.

Yes, I may have been on the upper end of the age scale of the concert-goers, but hey, good music is good music. Plus, our kids ages 6 and 3 absolutely love Passion Pit. Played some tonight while cleaning up dinner and Sweet Baby Girl dances through the kitchen and tries to sing along (The Reeling: “Oh no oh oh oh oh, Oh no oh oh oh oh ).

Fun times.

March 28th, 2010 | permalink

Keurig Review

We decided to get a new coffeemaker. The old grind and brew hasn’t been used much and the downfall with the Bodum French Press is that it only makes 2 cups at a time with much prep (grind the beans, boil the water) and cleanup (clean grinder, clean press). I have used single serving coffee makers before and currently use Flavia at work, but the problem comes from freshness of the coffee and the waste that they produce. In comes the Keurig. Erika purchased our Keurig Select at Costco and after using it a few times, I have a few pros and cons.

Pros:

• Coffee On Demand: Heats up in a few minutes and ready to brew. We set the timer to start warming up before we wake up in the morning, so it is ready to go
• Versatile: K-cups or local coffee
• Coffee flavor and style per cup: If you choose the K-cups, there are plenty of flavors to choose from
• Detachable pitcher: Fill it up at the tap and then place back on unit

Cons:

• Not hot enough: Seems like the temperature is not hot enough and there is no temperature setting
• Cleanup for reusable basket/filter: If you choose to use other coffee that is not in a pre-packaged K-cup, the basket has to be cleaned after each use
• Brews only one cup at a time: Can be a pain when trying to brew for multiple people at one time
• Wasteful: Seems like it is not the greenest coffeemaker if not using the basket

It allows you to still use our local coffee, or any other coffee, and gives the option of less waste by doing so. The bottom line is, if you want good coffee, it takes a little time, use the french press. If you want fast coffee, use the Keurig.

March 28th, 2010 | permalink

DORIS Day

Yesterday was an “open day” in our calendar and it just so happened to be DORIS Day at Hoppin Frog Brewery. So we took advantage and headed down to Akron to spend the day.

First stop, Hoppin Frog Brewery, Rate Beer’s 2010 24th Best Brewery in the World. I had never been before and thought we had arrived at the wrong location. It is in a sort of industrial park that looks more like a storage facility location. After walking into the door marked “Hoppin Frog”, I was thrust straight into the brewery, tanks and fermenters all around. It was a strange yet awesome experience to walk into ground zero of the Hoppin Frog operation and be greeted by their Owner/Brewmaster, Fred Karm. He took me over to the single refrigerator that he was selling beer out of and explained all that was available. It was very cool to make my purchase directly from the man who brewed the beer. While there to pick up the D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer Double Imperial Stout, I also picked up a Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. Oatmeal Imperial Stout, Smashin’ Berry and Smashin’ Berry Dark Ale. The latter two are not available elsewhere.

View non-flash version of the photo set.

After hitting Hoppin Frog, we had to get lunch. We headed downtown and decided upon Bricco. We have yet to go to Bricco here in Cleveland so this was a first for us. For 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon the place was relatively empty. It was fine by us. The kids ate well (plain cheese pizza) and the food was good. The cheese on the pizza was very good, I really wish that the pork was ready for the Cuban sandwich that was on the menu. (How can the pork not be done at 2 on a Saturday if it is on the lunch menu?)

After lunch we stopped at the Akron Art Museum. Since we are members at the Cleveland Museum of Art, we got in free. They have a reciprocal deal between the museums but we did not realize this until we asked. The museum is beautiful and they have a nice collection. Currently, there is an exhibit running called Pattern ID. Very cool designery exhibit with contemporary artists.

Last but not least, we stopped into Revival on E. Market. Have been past this place many times but never stopped in. This little boutique shop sells a lot of vintage clothing, Akron themed clothing and accessories. Cool t-shirts and clothes with shockingly low prices on most items.

We were going to grab a coffee at Angel Falls and maybe a cone for the kids at Mary Coyle, but we were all exhausted so we decided to head back north. Thanks for the great day, AK-Rowdy.

March 17th, 2010 | permalink

I got a Golden Ticket…

Today was a huge day for beer and I am not talking about St. Patrick’s Day. I am referring to Warehouse Beverage getting Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout in and Three Floyds releasing their Golden Tickets for Dark Lord Day. I was fortunate enough to get both.

First up, the KBS. This was my first experience with this beer. It is a very limited release. The beer itself is an Oak Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and coffee. That is a mouthful. Now I see what all of the fuss is about on KBS. Sweet, chocolaty, smokey, oak, bourbon with some heat and a short, dry finish. It mixes all of my favorite qualities in an imperial stout. Tastes like it already has some age on it. Smooth. I also heard from Erich at La Cave du Vin who told me they have a keg that they will most likely tap this weekend. Stay tuned.

The second incredible beer related item of the day was the release of the Three Floyds Golden Tickets for Dark Lord Day. The word of the sale came from their twitter account. I was able to get in as soon as I got the twitter update and purchase two tickets before the system crashed due to demand. Twitter was on fire with the news of the tickets release and in Chicago, the event had two trending topics on twitter. 55 minutes later, the tickets were all gone.

The Dark Lord Day event is held on April 24 and is free to enter, but the tickets are to purchase the beer. This is the only day that you can purchase this Russian Imperial Stout. Three Floyds doesn’t even distribute to Ohio, so I may have to pick up a couple other items when I make the trip to their brewery in Indiana. It is just south of Chicago, so my other ticket will be going to my brother in-law, Marc, who lives in Chicago with Erika’s sister, Brittany. He just has to put me up for the night.

March 14th, 2010 | permalink

Buckeye Beer Engine

A true beer treasure on the west side of Cleveland is the Buckeye Beer Engine. This is the brew pub of the Buckeye Brewing Company located in Lakewood, Ohio. The Beer Engine has an amazing lineup of craft beers in bottles, on draught and two beers on cask. The beer list is always changing based upon limited releases and seasonal brews.

I met my friend, Matt Kromer, at the Beer Engine for lunch today. Beers tasted on draught were:

Buckeye – Aquarius Double IPA
Bells – Java Imperial Stout
Ithaca – Cold Front Belgian-style Amber Ale

I also filled my growler with Buckeye Beaucoup D’Houblon Belgian IPA for $11. Good beer at a good price.

Mark your calendars now for 420 Hopfest which is held on and around April 20th annually. If you are a hop-head this event is a must.