Crafty Supermarket

This year saw Crafty Supermarket's very first incarnation. Planted in the adorable neighborhood of Northside (specifically in Northside Tavern), this little local-goods flea market was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

There was a huge turnout-- from what I heard, it was much busier when it opened at noon, and by the time I got there (1-2pm) it was still swarming.

There was a plethora of local vendors and craftmachers, and I hope they bring this fest around more than even just once a year. Unfortunately I didn't end up buying anything-- I'm in Christmas mode, and while *I* wanted every single thing in that room, there just wasn't anything that fit the family members on my list.

Crafty Supermarket's website: http://craftysupermarket.wordpress.com/
Northside Tavern's website: http://lisalouuu.com/northsidetavern/html/

Don't forget: Dojo gift card giveaway!

Here's a picture of the Dan, drinking a Dojo Fluffernutter milkshake (gelatoshake?):

How can YOU get YOUR hands on a Dojo shake, or a big, fat, heapin' scoop of gelato? Don't forget to visit our previous post about Unchained Cincinnati and leave your comment for a chance at a free $5 Dojo Gelato gift card.

Paintball Country Ohio

Who's up for paintball?!

We were. My first time ever playing this game was in January, to celebrate my baby brother's 18th birthday. Ever since then, my gang of friends has been itching to play again. We were waiting until the weather cooled down so that we could layer up again... though that didn't exactly work out for us. Mid-November, gorgeous sunny warm weather.

If you're looking for a place in the area, I really love Paintball Country Ohio, out in West Chester. This place has a ton of land (the proprietor also owns a farm) and there are various scenarios set up outside. Some are your basic elimination setups, others are capture-the-flag types... we even got to take a bus out to the woods this time. Great fun.

Also, for the budget conscious: $30 gets you an all-day pass to the field, 500 paintballs, a rental gun and mask, an all the C02 refills you need. And if you have a group like we did, you get your own referee (so you're not playing against the speedballers) and they'll set you up with pizza and a party room.

Paintball Country Ohio website: http://paintballcountryohio.com/PaintballCountry/paintball.html

Cincinnati Unchained, + contest!

Earlier this week, Dojo Blogato wrote a post about BuyCincy's Cincinnati Unchained. It was the first I'd heard of it, though it wasn't the last.

Cincinnati Unchained is an event to draw attention to locally-owned and -operated businesses in the Queen City. As this is a big part of our journey, I wanted to make sure to spread the word here too.

For the event, Dojo is giving away a $5 gift card with the purchase of a $25 card. I'd like to give mine away!

Leave a comment here naming your favorite Cincinnati-based business for a chance to win a $5 gift card to Dojo Gelato. (Okay, $5 isn't much, but it goes a long way at Dojo!)

If you've already left a similar comment on another one of our posts, feel free to duplicate or leave a new answer. With any luck, I'll needle Dojo's Michael Christner into choosing a winner for us in a couple of days!

Send Me Something™ received!

Our Send Me Something arrived! (It was much quicker than this-- I'm just getting around to posting about it, sorry!)







Bummer that our cheeseburger bowl didn't make it intact. Regardless, I loved the process of buying and receiving our Somethings. I hope you'll consider them in the future!

Our posts about Send Me Something: http://www.cincinnatireadventure.com/search/label/sendmesomething
Send Me Something's website: http://sendmesomething.net/
The cheeseburger bowl, unbroken: http://sendmesomething.net/2009/11/somethin-something-order-no-0012/

Krohn Conservatory tour

Enjoy the Arts put together another awesome behind-the-scenes tour: this time, Krohn Conservatory. I was particularly excited about this event because Dan had never been to Krohn. (Usually I'm the total newb when it comes to Cincinnati.)

We both ended up learning a ton at this tour. We had an incredible guide who had worked at Krohn for something like 30 years, and now occasionally gives tours of the facilities. He walked us through the main room where we were able to see a display being built, and they talked through the process of putting together a show and how far in advance they have to plan it. We saw all the rooms, including the desert room, which I'd never seen before. Ooh, also loved the orchid room and the bonsai room!

I was also eaten alive by bugs-- the differences between seeing Krohn in the daytime and in the nighttime are vast. (Bugs aside, I still preferred the nighttime walk-through.)

There's one more Enjoy the Arts tour this year: Taft Museum. It's a Saturday brunch event-- anyone considering going?


Krohn Conservatory website: http://www.cincinnatiparks.com/krohn-conservatory/index.shtml
Krohn's new iPod tours: http://krohntour.org/content/krohn-tour
More of Dan's pictures from our Krohn tour: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrrrred/sets/72157622687482049/

Mayberry

The good people at World Food Bar have opened up a new restaurant on Vine Street: Mayberry. Heather (Cincinnati's Food Hussy) and I decided to hit it up for lunch-- and we were not the only ones.

Word to the wise: don't try to hit up Mayberry with more than 4 people. It'd be a great place to meet up with a friend, but not the kind of place you'd have a business lunch. I would say that business might slow down when the novelty wears off, but frankly the food was really good and I don't see that happening any time soon.

You want to see the food? I had the burger with a poached egg on top (delicious) with tater tot casserole (delicious delicious). Also check out the scrumptiousness that were Heather and Lisa's lunches:


I paid $8 for my entree and $3 for my side... and a ridiculous $1.50 for my tiny tiny drink. The food is of much higher quality than most of the lunches I typically eat, but the prices were still absolutely in budget. (Bring your own drink, maybe? Your options are tiny, overpriced, single-serving drinks or their warm, iceless tap water.)

I also liked the simple decor inside Mayberry: the walls were covered in black-and-white Cincinnati landmark paintings.


World Food Bar's website: http://www.worldfoodbar.com/