Good Eats in Kentucky

I spent last night in Lexington last night, doing a hotel mystery shop. I love these mini-vacations - just a few miles out of town in a different part of the world. I managed to find a couple of interesting places to eat while I was away. I've no intention of trying to become one of the multitudinous restaurant-reviewer-wannabe bloggers, but I'm happy to share a good place or two in the hopes of a) supporting local restaurants and b) sharing my finds so others can have a good meal too!

Billy's BAR-B-Q was my stop for dinner on Friday night. I am not a big meat eater, but when I do eat meat, I like it to be barbecue. Personally, I'm not fond of what passes for barbecue in Cincinnati, which tends to be some sort of meat (which doesn't ever have to be near a flame) doused in a thick, sweet, syrupy sauce. I like my barbecue smoked, and if it's sauced at all, it should be light and vinegary and spicy. Think Carolina style barbecue. That's what I found at Billy's. I had the mutton barbecue sandwich - I had to. It's the only time I've seen mutton on a menu anywhere. I loved it, it was smoky, tender and the table sauce was the perfect sour and spicy accompaniment . I also tried the Kentucky burgoo (I also had to try that, with a blog named Cincinnati Burgoo) and it was great. Meat, meat and more meat, with a couple of lonely lima beans and cubes of potatoes. It had a slightly sour edge to it - I'll have to look up some recipes for burgoo to figure out what that might have been. For a side dish I ordered 'sliced tomato with cucumber dressing'. I felt a bit silly paying three dollars for a tomato, but it was such a treat to see a simple vegetable dish on a restaurant menu that I had to order it. It was delicious - but local summer tomatoes at the beginning of September are truly a great reason to live in the midwest. Billy's is fun. I loved the stuffed fish and boar's heads on the wall - even the plastic ones. Oh! I almost forgot to mention the beer! On tap they had a couple of locally brewed beers from Kentucky Ale, including one that is aged in former bourbon barrels. Sublime.

The place I'd chosen to have lunch on my way home on Saturday was closed for business - permanently from the look of the it. I'd already decided I was going to take Route 27 home instead of getting on the highway, and I knew I'd be able to find some food on the way, so I didn't fret much about that. Sure enough, as I was passing through Cynthiana, Kentucky, I saw a restaurant downtown that advertised "Since 1894". Any place that has been in business for 115 years must be doing something right, so I stopped into Biancke's. I was late for breakfast and early for lunch, so I was one of the only people in the place. For my lunch I ordered fried green tomatoes, corn pudding and the vegetable of the day, which was tiny baby potatoes roasted with garlic. I felt like I'd won the lottery with my choices - it was all so very good.

I think it's always a good idea to order the thing on the menu that you don't see every other place you go - that's probably the thing the restaurant gets really right. It worked for me this weekend in Kentucky.

Cedar Bog

I'm not sure how Cedar Bog managed to elude me all the years I've been hiking around Ohio, but it had until today. It's located just outside Urbana and it's largest calcareous bog (actually a fen) in Ohio. I learned from Sally, an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, that a bog is a geographic formation characterized by standing water while a fen is flushed at least periodically by fresh water and therefore the soil in a fen is richer in nutrients and less acidic than that found in bogs. Cedar Bog was formed when a retreating glacier left a shallow depression in the earth at the end of the last ice age. It is home to several species of plants and animals seldom found elsewhere in Ohio, including the Massasauga Rattlesnake and the endangered Spotted Turtle.

The preserve is protected by the Ohio Historical Society and there is a nearly mile long boardwalk winding through the fen. The plant life is spectacular and there were loads of wildflowers in bloom today, including Jack-in-the-Pulpit, White Trillium, Bent Trillium, Bishop's Cap, Wild Columbine, Golden Ragwort and Starry False Solomon's Seal. I'm already planning another trip in about four weeks when the Showy Lady's Slipper, one of our native orchids, will be in bloom.

The Grackles of the Riverwalk in San Antonio

I imagine even non-birders have to take note of the Riverwalk's resident grackles. They are large, noisy, brash, gregarious and at least at this time of year, have a night roost in the trees around the Riverwalk. They go by the common name of Great-Tailed Grackle and it's apt, given the way the males fan their long tails and flourish them in an attempt to impress a female grackle. When they're not busy wooing, they stroll about snatching fallen tortilla chips. The grackles have an impressive array of vocalizations and at night when they are settling down for bed it is a veritable cacophony in the trees above.

There are also large numbers of white-winged doves, pigeons, mallards and house sparrows living off the leavings of huge numbers of tourists. The umbrellas which shade nearly every outdoor table along the Riverwalk are not just there to protect from sun and rain. I'm by no means a germ-phobe, but I'm quite glad I packed a purse-size bottle of hand sanitizer on this trip. Every unprotected outdoor surface bears evidence of the abundance of bird life in the area.

Here's a ten second video of a male great-tailed grackle bathing in a fountain at the San Antonio Botanical Garden:

San Antonio's Riverwalk

San Antonio's Riverwalk is a tourist attraction done right. Descending a flight of stairs from street level leads you into two and a half mile series of pathways that border the small green San Antonio River, which is plied by flatboats filled with laughing people. There are only two methods of transportation on the Riverwalk - your feet and the boats. The Riverwalk is lined with more restaurants and hotels than I could count, interspersed with splashing fountains, arched foot bridges and ancient bald cyprus trees. The Riverwalk is also famous for its music scene and there is no shortage of places to kick back with a cocktail while listening to live jazz.

The Riverwalk was designed by a young architect by the name of Robert H.H. Hugman in 1929. His plan was not put into action until 1939 however, when the WPA undertook construction. It was completed only two years later, concluding with the first annual Fiesta River Parade, featuring floats that actually float.

Bad blogger

I've been terribly remiss at updating my blog the past couple of days. I can only blame the fact that I'm getting ready to go out of town for a few days. That and the fact that my brother came into town from Atlanta and we've been hanging out. We took the kids down to the Cincinnati Museum Center today to see the BODIES exhibit, which was both fascinating and gruesome. Then there was a quick trip to the Carew Tower and after that on to the Knotty Pine on the Bayou for dinner. This time tomorrow night I should be in San Antonio.

Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod

Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

It's not the greatest photo in the world, I know. Back in the old days, before I carried a digital camera on all my hikes I used to carry several field guides in case I came across a bird/tree/flower/mushroom I didn't know. It made for a very heavy pack. Now I take pictures of the things and identify them later. Sometimes much later. I took this photo last October and have just now got around to looking it up. As best I can tell, this is a Blue-stemmed Goldenrod (Solidago caesia). I found it growing in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore park (which is a lovely place) and there was a lot of it around at that time of year.

In other news I had my yearly performance evaluation at work today. It was all very positive; there were about a dozen anonymous comments from various co-workers singing my praises and saying how much they like working with me. I'm going to file them away and pull them out on those days when I feeling all blue and unlovable.

White-necked Jacobin

White-necked Jacobin
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

This is one of the photos I scanned today, taken at Asa Wright Nature Center some eleven years ago.

I just checked the comments page and it got an award! OK, it's a Flickr group award and there's no money or anything, but it's the first award I ever got on Flickr. Wheee!

Ramps

Clean Ramps
Originally uploaded by dano272

There's a native American seasonal delicacy I've not had the pleasure of trying yet - ramps. Ramps are a member of the onion family and occur throughout much of the Appalachian Mountains. Their potency is legendary; one meal of ramps is supposed to linger for days, the odor emanating from the skin of the consumer. I'm willing to take that chance. There are many ramp festivals held in the spring across the Appalachians. It looks like the nearest one to Cincinnati is held in Richwood, West Virginia. The town hosts the Feast of the Ramson each April. I may not make it this year but it's now on my list of places to visit and things to do. In the meantime I'm going to keep an eye out for ramps on my hikes. A college professor of mine told me they do occur in Ohio, but they are scarce. I have a notion of a place to check next month; I'll have to study some photos to be sure I get the identification right. Although I imagine the smell will be a dead giveaway.

Maplets

I recieved a nice little map book from the Department of Transportation in the mail today. It is a booklet of national scenic byways and "All-American Roads" and it contains small maps and descriptions of beautiful and/or interesting roadways in nearly every state of the union. They are available free of charge at Byways.org and are just the right size for a glove box.

Road Trip!

I just finished reading a Gourmet Magazine article on the Warther Museum and Knife Factory. They still grind their high-carbon steel knives by hand, just as they have for four generations. I think the knives are gorgeous and since they are located in Ohio, I've added it to my list of destinations for 2008. I can always use another good kitchen knife or two. I'm planning a visit to Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania in the fall and Dover would be as good a stopping place as any on the way home, even if it is a bit out of the way.