Recently in Review Category

Love the Cone

By MT on August 27, 2010 10:10 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks

I've lived in Cincinnati most of my life and I finally made it to The Cone in West Chester. I've driven by the distinctive ice cream cone shaped building many times, but when I'm actually in the mood for ice cream, The Cone always seemed too out of the way. But, tonight after dinner in the Union Centre area we decided to make a trip over.

It was a busy night at The Cone with a large gathering of people enjoying ice cream at the outdoor tables. After looking at the extensive menu of sundaes and dipped cones, I opted for something simple, a large cone with a vanilla/strawberry swirl.

This is the best tasting soft serve ice cream that I've had in Cincinnati. The strawberry was much more natural tasting than what you would expect for soft serve. It even had little specks of strawberry in it! My expectations for soft serve are pretty low because in my experience, it's served out of convenience rather than taste.

But, even though the ice cream was great, the large cone is still a little more ice cream than what I needed. I got taken in by the .50 cent up sell from the small.

The dipped cones came in all sorts of interesting colors. We saw a girl eating a dipped cone with electric blue "magic" shell. It's a favorite of the kids, but a nightmare for clothing and car seats.

If you're in West Chester, definitely stop by the The Cone. I know that I'll by stopping by again in the future.

Cabana on the River

By MT on August 18, 2010 1:42 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks

With the weather being cooler now, if you're looking for a nice outdoor spot to grab some food and beer, I recommend the Cabana on the River.

The Cabana on the River is west of downtown Cincinnati- about a 15- 20 minute drive along the Ohio River. It was a popular spot the night we visited in May.

It has a fun vibe, starting with the artificial palm trees sprouting up near the parking lot.

The restaurant is quite large with both a covered indoor area and a large outdoor deck. The indoor area is covered, but still feels very open. Lots of large long tables that are perfect for large groups.

The downside to being outdoors is that is that people can and did smoke anywhere in the place.

There was quite a long wait for an outdoor table that night we went so we staved off our hunger with a soft pretzel that we ordered at the bar.

It is definitely worth the wait for a table on the deck. There's a great view of the Ohio River from the deck. It's very peaceful this far from the city with trees lining the river. The only reminder that you're near a large city is the occasional barge that floats by.

This was by far the best outdoor seating I've had in Cincinnati.

This is the insanely large Certified Angus Beef chuck burger. I asked the waitress and she said it was 3/4 of a pound of meat. For size, note the iPhone next to it.

The burger was so large, I ended up tossing a few scraps to the cat that came to visit us while we were eating.

After several leisurely enjoyable hours we left, finding the trees had turned to neon. We'll definitely be back, not so much for the food which is adequate, but for the atmosphere and the view.

Sanyo Eneloop Mobile USB Booster for iPhone Review

By MT on November 4, 2009 12:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks

When traveling with my iPhone 3GS, I find myself using up battery charge much more quickly than while at home. Whether it's the use of the GPS, entertaining myself browsing the web, playing games, or watching movies, I am always worried about whether I'll have enough charge to make it through the rest of the day.

The Sanyo Eneloop Mobile Booster is a compact and inexpensive solution to my traveling battery issues. The Eneloop Mobile Booster is a 5000mAH Li-Ion battery pack that can recharge your iPhone 3GS a whopping four times!

I used it during my recent trip to Europe and it worked extremely well. I used my iPhone for nearly the entire flight back as there was no personal entertainment system. The Eneloop Mobile Booster kept the phone completely charged the whole time. You just plug in your iPhone USB cable into it and your ready to go. With this, you never have to worry about finding a plug at the airport again. I highly recommend it

Right now, the Sanyo eneloop Mobile USB Booster for iPhone is being sold at Amazon for only $38.95. I think this is an amazing deal for something that anyone who travels with their iPhone shouldn't be without.

UPDATE Feb. 10, 2010: It looks like Sanyo discontinued this particular Eneloop charger. As an alternative you might try the ImaxPower IMP500 External Backup Battery 5000mAh white which has the same amount of charge as the Eneloop or the massive ImaxPower IMP880 iTouch External Backup Battery 8800mAh.