Midwest Guest

Cincinnati Cuisine

We weren’t sure what to expect in the way of Cincinnati cuisine beyond the ubiquitous Skyline Chili, but we uncovered some interesting menu choices during a recent stay in the city.

We set out on foot from our downtown hotel, The Cincinnatian, in search of dinner one afternoon and found JeanRo Bistro, a French-style bistro a few of blocks away.

It was early enough in the day that we ordered from the lunch menu, which included classic French dishes like Croque Monsieur, steak frites and, my choice, Mussels Mariniere avec Pommes Frites. Well-prepared meals, attentive service and décor that included French posters, photos and artifacts from the owner’s collection, along with an eclectic mix of customers that included local business people and out-of-town tourists, made for a wonderfully cosmopolitan experience in the Midwestern heartland.

Later that weekend, we walked across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky and had brunch at Jean-Robert’s Greenup Café.

Tucked into a three-story house and filled with locals, the café had a distinctly neighborhood vibe.  There was a small outdoor patio, but the heat of the day and the walk over from Cincinnati made eating inside the more pleasant option the day we visited.

The menu offered choices like omelets, pastries and Eggs Benedict. I ordered the Croque Monsieur with two eggs sunny side up (in other words, a Croque Madame), and it reminded me of similar sandwiches I ate when I visited Paris a few years ago.

JeanRo Bistro and Greenup Café are part of a small group of Cincinnati restaurants owned by Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel. Born in Roubaix France, Jean-Robert came to Cincinnati in 1993 as Chef de Cuisine at the city’s Maisonette restaurant, according to a bio in a press kit at his restaurant group Web site. He opened his first restaurant, Jean-Robert at Pigall's, in 2002.

We didn’t make it to the more formal Pigall’s, but that just leaves somewhere new to eat the next time we visit the city!

Reading an issue of Midwest Living Magazine before heading down to Cincinnati, I found an ad for a restaurant called Hugo. Having loved the Low Country cuisine I sampled in Charleston, South Carolina, the idea of a Low Country-inspired restaurant in Cincinnati intrigued me.

We found Hugo in an unassuming strip mall location nearly 10 miles out from the city center (thanks to our trusty GPS!).

Inspired by the Charleston cuisine Chef Sean Daly prepared working in that city’s restaurants, the menu and the elegant dining room represented a fusion of “down home cooking and high-class flare”, according to Hugo’s Web site. The restaurant’s name comes from a particularly devastating hurricane that hit South Carolina.

Traditional appetizers like fried green tomatoes and corn fritters were comfortingly familiar, yet included imaginative twists like the chili jam that accompanied the fritters. My shrimp and grits entrée with a taste of Tasso ham was a nicely spicy take on the creamier version I remember eating in Charleston.

Of course, you can’t visit Cincinnati without eating the city’s signature Skyline Chili.

The chili has a uniquely cinnamon-like taste, and diners enjoy it one of several different ways.

I like the traditional “3-way”, Skyline Chili over spaghetti and covered with finely grated cheese, topped off with a generous dollop of hot sauce. The 4-way is a 3-way with diced onions or beans, and the 5-way includes both diced onions and beans.

Skyline Chili outlets are plentiful around the Cincinnati area and a budget-friendly option for a quick meal. You can buy canned Skyline Chili to take home from the restaurants or from many area grocery stores.

© Dominique King 2008

Are You Waiting?

The museum docent questioned us as we browsed through some exhibits at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

“Are you waiting?”

We weren’t quite sure what we should be waiting for, but her question seemed a little urgent as she directed us to a doorway at the side of the exhibit hall.

We followed her directions and found ourselves in a dimly lit room where we joined maybe a dozen other people already seated on benches.

We took a seat and waited.

It turned out to be the beginning of an interactive museum experience designed to give visitors a tiny taste of what it was like to flee a life of slavery to travel the informally organized Underground Railroad in an attempt to escape to freedom in the northern states or Canada.

Cincinnati Ohio’s location on the Ohio River, a narrow division between free and slave states during America’s 19^th century, makes it a logical location for a museum dedicated to sharing the stories of the era’s heroes, villains and the fight for freedom dating from the Underground Railroad era through today.  Cincinnati was one of the most important conduits for slaves moving north, and museum exhibits detail the stories of those who sought their freedom, as well as Underground Railroad “conductors” who helped with their journey by providing food, shelter and transportation.

With the museum guide acting as our conductor, we heard about the perils faced by slaves escaping via the Underground Railroad and the risks assumed by those helping in their flight.

Our guide then led us down a narrow hallway to another dim room designed to evoke a stop under the stars along the route. We again sat on benches to view a short film dramatizing the story of one woman’s travels along the route to freedom, a sense of her fear and the people she encountered along the way.  As the film ended, our guide encouraged us to quietly reflect on the experience as we listened to the recorded chirps of crickets, and a ceiling adorned with leafy tree branches revealed glimpses of a simulated dark night.

The experience is one way the Freedom Center encourages visitors to become aware of freedom issues past and present, and to take action to further freedom today.

The center’s gift shop is part of the IndieBound network of independent book retailers,  and it has an excellent selection of books for those who want to learn more about the history and issues covered by the exhibits.

Find out more about Ohio’s connection to the Underground Railroad and other Ohio sites related to the route’s history.

© Dominique King 2008

Photo Friday

I love going to a night baseball game that includes a post-game fireworks show.

Here’s a fireworks photo I took with my little Canon point-and-shoot after a Cincinnati (Ohio) Reds game at the Great American Ballpark.

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2008

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We love taking in a ball game when we travel during the summer.  Here are a few out-of-town ball parks we’ve visited in recent years:

The Traverse City (Michigan) Beach Bums set down their blankets at the city’s new Wuerfel Park in 2006. The minor league team is in the Frontier Independent Professional Baseball League. Frontier League organizers originally conceived of the league as a way for cities that might not have a chance to land an affiliated minor league team to have professional baseball. Frontier League players can sign with any major league team, unlike a farm team affiliated with a specific major league club.

Games can be a leisurely affair as the pitching tends to be a bit slower than that in the AAA minor league or in major league baseball. But the relaxed pace lends itself particularly well to enjoying a picnic on a blanket in the grassy seating area around the outfield or eating a freshly cooked burger from one of the grills stationed around the concourse.

Kids enjoy interacting with team mascots Suntan and Sunburn, and everyone enjoys the family-friendly ticket prices.

The Toledo (Ohio) Mud Hens enjoy a long-term affiliation with the Detroit Tigers’ organization, meaning Toledo baseball fans can catch emerging talents as they make their way through Detroit’s farm system to earn a place on a big league roster.

Toledo’s Triple-A level status means fans enjoy a fast-paced game, with pitchers hurling balls in excess of 90 mph, and fewer of the lengthy stoppages in play major league fans suffer through to accommodate commercial breaks for televised coverage.

The Mud Hens take their nickname from a marsh bird that inhabited the area near the team’s downtown Fifth Third Field during the late 1800s. Today, it is one of the most popular team names and mascots Muddy and his gal, Muddonna, entertain crowds during games.

One of the team’s best-known fans, Jamie Farr, appears on the ballpark’s big screen doing public service announcements and promos. Toledo native Farr earned fame portraying Corporal Maxwell Klinger in the popular television series M*A*S*H. Farr helped boost the team’s popularity when Klinger received a care package of Mud Hens’ items during one episode, and cast members began wearing Mud Hens hats and shirts during the shows.

Catch some major league baseball action with the Cincinnati (Ohio) Reds at the Great American Ball Park.

The riverfront ball park, opened in 2003, sports a panoramic view of the Ohio River and neighboring Kentucky. The park is also a short walk from several downtown hotels and restaurants.

As always, team mascots Mr. Redlegs and Gapper are on hand to entertain the crowds. 

Make sure you seek out the Skyline Chili concession and have a Skyline Cheese Coney (a hot dog smothered in Cincinnati’s signature Skyline Chili and grated cheese).

© Dominique King 2008

Down on Main Street, out on Woodward

Classic car enthusiasts eagerly anticipate each annual Woodward Dream Cruise, but as with any event drawing more than a million people and streams of exhaust-belching vehicles, it can be crowded, noisy and smelly to headache inducing levels. There are many classic car owners who find driving the route too taxing on their vintage engines, preferring to rent pricey space along the avenue for the weekend of the event, parking and watching the passing show.

Here are a couple of my favorite cruise-related events that offer a closer view of the “classic car culture” experience and a way to really enjoy the spirit of the Dream Cruise.

The small town of Clawson, a couple miles east of Woodward Avenue and a half-dozen miles north of Detroit, likes to do things in a big way.

Clawson began closing Main Street for a half-mile stretch through town the Saturday before the official Dream Cruise ten years ago to stage their first “Down on Main Street” car show. Hosted by the Clawson Lions, with promotional assistance from the Clawson-based United Street Machine Association, the show draws more than 500 classic cars. The car show registration fees go to charities benefitting disabled children and adults.

We love walking up to Clawson from home and strolling along Main Street, stopping to admire some of our favorite cars, taking photos and talking to the owners.

Some owners display scrapbooks and photo albums detailing the meticulous restoration of their vehicles. Others display a more puckish sense of humor by decking their cars out with drive-in restaurant trays or dolls dressed in leather jackets, peering into their car’s engine.

Fundraisers are a big part of the Dream Cruise experience and another of my favorite events is the Champagne Cruise benefitting Forgotten Harvest.

 Forgotten Harvest addresses the dual problems of hunger and waste by arranging to pick up surplus food from area grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and other commercial food businesses and delivering those donations to area soup kitchens and to others in need.

The Champagne Cruise offers a more elegant way of watching the cars from a prime Woodward location while sipping champagne, dancing to the music of an oldies cover band and chowing down on an array of food from Detroit-area restaurants and the event host, Westborn Market, in Berkley (Michigan).  Even as the event is a relatively high-ticket fundraiser at $150 per person, the vibe is distinctly laid-back and the money supports Detroit’s well-regarded mobile food rescue operation.

 

© Dominique King 2008

Photo Friday

I found this photo while sorting through my files to find pictures to go with my Dream Cruise posts, and I thought it made a prefect subject for a Photo Friday post.

This 1960-vintage McDonald’s sign is in the Automobile in American Life exhibit at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.  The exhibit, created in 1987, displays many of the museum’s vintage vehicles alongside artifacts related to automotive life and travel.

McDonald’s kept this particular sign up at its original location on John R in Madison Heights, Michigan long after other area McDonald’s installed more modern versions of the golden arches. I always enjoyed driving by this sign, but was happy to see it go somewhere that I could continue to enjoy seeing it when the John R McDonalds finally decided to modernize their sign.

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating this effort to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2008

Car Crazy

Switch on your television late at night and you’ll likely find yourself vicariously cruising to Al’s for a burger with Fonzi, listening to the jukebox and admiring those classic cars from the 1950s and 1960s on television reruns of the popular 1970s show “Happy Days”.

But if you’re looking for more than a vicarious thrill, rev up your engine and visit the Detroit area during the third weekend in August to relive those “happy days” with more than a million other folks during the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise—a celebration of vintage vehicles, classic music and those carefree cruising days billed as the “world’s largest one-day celebration of classic car culture” by organizers.

Special events like car shows, classic music performances, sock hops, parades and The Grand National, an annual contest between ¼-scale gas-powered cars, stud the official 16-mile cruise route running from Ferndale in the south to Pontiac in the north.

Woodward Avenue, an eight-lane boulevard extending from the Detroit riverfront to the city of Pontiac in neighboring Oakland County, became known as a cruising strip as early as the late 1940s when the road’s northern sections cut a straight path through Oakland countryside to form the perfect drag strip.

My father remembers cruising Woodward as early as 1949, driving a 1948 Ford and only losing races to a “hopped up” 1940 Ford, modified in the rear so it would accelerate more quickly. There wasn’t even a speed limit on the road north of Birmingham (about 7 miles north of Detroit’s northern border), so it was a racer’s paradise.

Cruisers in the late 1940s and early 1950s stopped at places like the Hollywood Drive-In or the Totem Pole along Woodward, much as the “Happy Days” gang frequented Al’s. Cruising the parking lot, maybe stopping for a shake, seeing who was out cruising and being seen were the major activities and remained so throughout Woodward’s cruising heyday during the 50s and 60s, until its death at the hands of the gas crisis in the late 1970s when carmakers quit making the gas-guzzling “muscle cars”.

My own days cruising Woodward came in the mid-1970s, when I cruised the well-traversed strip through southern Oakland County, just north of Detroit, between 9 Mile Road in Ferndale and 14 Mile Road in the northern end of Royal Oak in a 1968 Pontiac Firebird. Many cruisers from that era used their citizens’ band (CB) radios to hook up with friends and make arrangements to meet at the “O.S.” (or “oil slick”, which was the unpaved, oil-covered parking lot on the north east corner of Coolidge and 13 Mile).

While the CBs lent a new twist to cruising, the appeal of checking out the cars, the kids and the drive-ins and diners up and down the strip remained staples of the cruising experience, just as they did in my dad’s days cruising Woodward.

The official Woodward Dream Cruise evolved out of a fundraising effort among Ferndale residents for a youth soccer field. The committee nixed the initial suggestion to stage a classic car show as a fundraiser in 1994 because they felt a car show required too many expenses to be successful.

However, the idea evolved into a proposal for a nostalgic “cruise” and found an enthusiastic audience among Ferndale city council members, and eventually city officials in the neighboring suburbs of Birmingham, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Berkley and Pleasant Ridge.

The cities geared up for the first Dream Cruise in 1995. The event exceeded organizers’ expectations, drawing an estimated crowd of nearly 100,000 people to watch thousands of classic cars cruise Woodward. Organizers expect this year’s 14^th annual cruise to draw over a million spectators and 40,000 classic cars and other unusual vehicles.

The Dream Cruise is officially a one-day affair, taking place the third Saturday in August, but cruisers often begin circuits of the route earlier. This year, cruisers began congregating at hotspots along Woodward in late spring, and a trip up the boulevard Monday evening of this week found it choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic through Royal Oak.  As with any big event, some area residents see it as a great opportunity to throw a party, while others see it as the best time to flee the traffic, crowds and exhaust fumes by spending a weekend out of town.

Check back here next week for more on my favorite cruise-related events.

© Dominique King 2008

Savory and Sweet in Dearborn

Dinner out at a good ethnic restaurant is a little like taking a virtual vacation. So battling a case of cabin fever the other day, we decided to vicariously enjoy a little taste of India at The Peacock Restaurant in Dearborn Michigan, followed by a sweet Arabic lagniappe at Masri Sweets.

Tim and I first encountered the Peacock’s cuisine when we bought a couple of samosas from the restaurant’s booth at Detroit’s Concert of Colors diversity music festival. That was our first real taste of East Indian cuisine, and the generously-sized appetizer left us hungry for a taste of more.

The Peacock Restaurant is within a half mile of the Arab American National Museum, making it the perfect place for dinner after our recent visit to the AANM.

We arrived at the Peacock just as they opened for dinner, so we had the restaurant to ourselves as we read through the detailed menu and occasionally glanced at the Bollywood-style melodrama playing on the television over the bar.

Our attentive server helped us navigate the extensive menu, suggesting that we try the mixed Vegetable Pakora (spiced veggies, deep fried in a chickpea flour batter) as an appetizer and a side of Onion Kulcha (bread stuffed with chopped onion and spices before being baked in a clay oven).

I opted for Murgh Malai Kabab, an Eastern Indian chicken dish marinated with ginger, garlic and cream cheese and cooked in a clay oven. Tim’s Tandoori mixed grill featured several styles of lamb and chicken cooked in a clay oven.

Our meals proved to be savory, yet not the seeringly spicy fare we’d expected. Portions were plentiful and provided a perfect introduction to a cuisine about which we’d always been curious. I’m sure we’ll book a return trip!

Heading toward home, we were quite full and really not thinking about dessert, until I spotted Masri Sweets a little over a mile from the restaurant.

We’d gotten into a conversation with a woman working at the gift store in the AANM earlier that day. She mentioned the plethora of quality Arabic bakeries in the area, with a special mention of the nearby Masri Sweets.

We were surprised to see a bakery still open at 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening and stopped to get a dessert to take home.

We squeezed into the last available space in the parking lot. We found the bakery packed with customers, most of them ordering massive platters of sweets. Most of the customers were speaking Arabic, which we took as a good sign the bakery appeared to be a favorite with the locals.

Bakery workers kept bringing out trays of freshly baked pastries as the friendly clerk waiting on us gave us samples of a couple Masri specialties and helped us select a few to take home with us.

Our selections included Shaibeat, an Arabic sweet consisting of layers of filo dough, cream and a drizzle of sweet syrup, and a couple other filo-cream-syrup based treats. Four dollars bought us five pastries that we shared for dessert over the next two evenings at home.

© Dominique King 2008

Coming to America

The brightly tiled façade along a nondescript stretch of Dearborn’s Michigan Avenue drew my attention as I looked for the Arab American National Museum (AANM). The museum was one of the very few museums in the area I’d yet to visit, and a day that vacillated between rain and stifling humidity seemed like a perfect time to spend an afternoon exploring in air conditioned comfort behind the blue-tiled façade.

A multiculti stew of diverse populations call the Detroit area home, but at 30,000 strong, Dearborn Michigan’s Arab American population comprises approximately one third of that city’s total population of nearly 100,000, making it one of the largest concentrations of citizens of Arabic ancestry or ethnic origin in similarly sized U.S. cities.

It makes sense then, that Dearborn is the perfect home for the nation’s first museum dedicated to the history, culture and contributions of Arab Americans.

The AANM focuses on the story of the immigrant experience. It brings stories of the passage to America, families left behind and the struggles of embracing a new home to life with recorded oral histories and thoughtfully arranged displays. Displays featuring recreations of the stages where these immigrants’ lives played out offered a particularly intimate glimpse into their lives. I felt a voyeuristic jolt when I walked into displays resembling migrant workers’ quarters, a family kitchen, a university student's dorm or a doctor’s office, while learning the history of Arab Americans who lived and worked in such spaces.

Opened in 2005, the 38,500-square-foot museum features a grand Community Courtyard with a domed ceiling soaring three stories overhead, a large fountain and Arabic architectural details like ornately decorated display cases and intricately tiled walls. Even as the museum draws an estimated 50,000 visitors each year, numerous windows flooding the space with light, and the intimate tone of the stories told there, made the experience seem more warmly personal than other museums I’ve visited.

The AANM celebrates the diversity of an Arab American population drawn from more than 20 countries and a variety of religious, educational, work backgrounds and viewpoints, while displaying the population’s shared cultural heritage and history.

The museum also emphasizes the success stories of Arab Americans and their contributions to American society. I knew about the Arab American backgrounds of people like journalist Helen Thomas, comedian Danny Thomas, actor Jamie Farr and disc jockey/voice actor Casey Kasem (all who have strong Michigan or Ohio connections as well) , but the list of well-known Arab Americans held a few surprises for me, like Dick “King of the Surf Guitar” Dale.

Temporary exhibits the day I visited the museum included a display of work of abstract artist Sari Khoury and a collection of photos from Detroit’s Concert of Colors, an annual summer diversity music festival.

Visiting the museum proved to be a great way to learn about the rich tapestry of Arab American lives, culture and history, while beating the summer heat.

© Dominique King 2008

A day at Marblehead Lighthouse

2020 update reflects current park hours, gift shop information and updated links

 

It was Tuesday afternoon, and I was sitting on a rock along Lake Erie’s shore at Marblehead Lighthouse Park near Port Clinton, Ohio. Even though it was a sunny, summer day with plenty of people flocking to visit the Marblehead light, it was quiet enough to simply sit on my rocky perch and listen to myself think for an hour.

Kids climbed the huge rocks dotting Marblehead’s shore while couples enjoyed a few quiet moments together and one man did a little catch-and-release shore fishing. Even as Jet skis and pleasure boats cruised the lake, and a hazy view of Cedar Point amusement park revealed the muted outlines of the park’s tall roller coasters, the scene seemed much quieter than the hectic city at home.

The picturesque Marblehead Lighthouse is not only one of the most-photographed Lake Erie landmarks, but it is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the Great Lakes.

 

Marblehead Light, which began operating in 1822, has a fascinating history  dating from the 1820s when Revolutionary War vet Benajah Wolcott became the light’s first keeper until his death in 1832, when Benajah’s wife Rachel took over as keeper and became the first female light keeper on the Great Lakes.

Today, Ohio Department of Natural Resources owns Marblehead Lighthouse, while the U.S. Coast Guard operates and maintains its modern, automated beacon.

The Marblehead Light is within 150 miles of my home, making it a relatively easy day-trip destination. I’ve been to Marblehead many times, and photographed the tower at different times of the year, but I never had the opportunity to enter the light and ascend the 77 steps to the top of the tower until my recent weekday getaway.

I was thrilled to find volunteers registering visitors for 20-miniute tower tours during my recent visit and eagerly signed up for my chance to climb the tower and snap a few photos from a different vantage point.

Volunteers offer 20-minute tower tours 1:00 to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday from late May through the end of August and on the second Saturday of each month from June through October. Tours are free, but I tucked a couple of dollars into one of the numerous donation boxes dotting the park grounds that raise money for the light tower’s care and maintenance.

Our volunteer docent gathered the 2:20 tour group for a five-minute overview of the light’s history before ushering us to the tower and allowing us to climb the narrow spiral staircase to the top. The last few steps were a claustrophobic squeeze through a narrow porthole-type opening before releasing me through to the light’s platform and a panoramic view of Lake Erie.

Spending even a few minutes atop the tower, feeling the cool lake breeze and imagining the rugged yet beautiful view that keepers like the Wolcotts must have enjoyed in the fleeting moments of beauty between the constant round of lonely and difficult work required to keep the light running, gave me a new appreciation of their efforts. I’m also grateful to those who continue to preserve the light’s legacy so I can enjoy visiting it on a sunny summer day and enjoy a few quiet moments to myself.

2020 Addendum: The lighthouse is still there, and welcomes visitors to view the exterior of the lighthouse, but the Web site for the lighthouse notes that "Due to circumstances related to COVID-19, the park is open, but the buildings will be closed for the summer of 2020 season."

Check out the lighthouse site for the most current information about lighthouse hours and it's gift shop.

© Dominique King 2008 (updated 2020)