Guest Post: Meet Louisville (and Loueyville!)

Melissa, er, Lou blogs over at My Loueyville and I just love her. Cincinnati is a wonderful city, but we’ve also got two other wonderful cities – Louisville and Lexington – around or under 2 hours drive south. I have ties to Louisville, I admit, as my brother-in-law just graduated from UofL, I went to school at Kentucky Wesleyan (where I swear everyone was from Louisville), and I don’t know if I’ve ever missed a Kentucky Derby in my life. I’m thrilled that Lou decided to guest post for me here at Wine-Girl!

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I’ve been a proud Louisvillager and self-proclaimed cheerleader for the city for almost four years now.  And one of the many, many things I love about this city is its proximity to Cincinnati.  I relish my quarterly weekend trips to Cincy to avail myself of some of the luxuries that my corner of the midwest doesn’t possess.  I’m an IKEA fiend, but I go as much for the meatballs as for the home decor.  I’m a recent convert to Trader Joe’s– as a single person, I am bonkers for their frozen food entrees.  And if there’s a prettier bar in the entire region than the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, I haven’t seen it.

That being said, I sure hope you Cincinnatians take advantage of your proximity to my fair city.  There’s no better time to make your way upriver to our neck of the woods than summer.  And some of the best reasons to visit are free or cheap as heck.

Image by Fleur-Design Photography under a CC license

I’m a 4th generation Red Sox fan, but now that I’ve moved here, I’ve embraced your Reds as my secondary team.  And if you have even a passing love of the Reds, you need to get down here to a Louisville Bats game to see some of your future stars at work.  Last year, Homer Bailey was my favorite “boy of summer,” and now he’s pitching down your way almost full time.  This year, the star to watch is Aroldis Chapman… you may want to watch him because, at least right now, the Reds’ $30M man seems to be falling apart a bit. But the best reason to hit Slugger Field to see a Bats game is that it is, hands down, the cheapest fun this city has to offer.  As little as $7 gets you inside (watch for deals, like a AAA discount) — I rarely ever sit in an actual seat as the park features abundant picnic tables with great views. Beer is about $4.50, but again, keep your eye open for deals — happy hours can reduce that down to $1-$3. And there’s more than hot dogs and nachos for food.  The stand under the Jumbotron sells pork chop and ribeye sandwiches as well as really excellent grilled corn on the cob. Slugger Field is also a gorgeous place to watch a sunset over the river.

If you’re lucky like I am and enjoy summers off, the best free fun the city has to offer during the summer is Waterfront Wednesdays, the last Wednesday of every month from April-September.  Waterfront Wednesdays is a free concert at Waterfront Park sponsored by public radio station WFPK. Every WW features three acts, most of them nationally known — this month (June 30) features Carney (fronted by Reeve Carney, who will next appear in the Julie Taymor-directed Spiderman musical on Broadway), Sonos, and Joshua James.  Feel free to bring a picnic, but no outside alcohol is allowed.  That’s no big deal because the WW stands feature great beers and a full bar at reasonable prices.  It’s spitting distance from Slugger Field, so in addition to good beer and great music, you’re treated to the same gorgeous riverfront sunset.  Waterfront Wednesdays are like my birthday and Christmas rolled into one, six times a year.

Big news recently in the ‘Ville is that our own 21c Hotel has announced intentions to expand to 15 more cities, starting with Bentonville, Arkansas — home of Walmart HQ.  (Weird, I know.) Cincinnati is going to get one too.  While it isn’t cheap to either stay at or eat at our most beautiful and interesting hotel (but it is so-o-o-o worth it!), it is absolutely free to check out 21c’s contemporary art museum.  Conde Nast Traveller’s #1 US hotel is way at the top of the list of things that make me proud to be a Louisvillager.  If it’s possible to have a crush on a business, I have a raging crush on 21c. (Check out my blog post about my 21c love.)

Image by ellenm1 via a CC license

We are an art-loving city, and this year we landed the Glass Arts Society annual conference, and so lots of our downtown galleries and museums feature some really beautiful and groundbreaking glass arts.  The conference is June 10-12, but most of the exhibits will last all summer long.  And the best time to take advantage of all those exhibits is on the first Friday of every month, during our First Friday Gallery Hop.  This art show/street fair is totally free, including parking and trolley transportation during the event. The Gallery Hop goes from 5pm-11pm, and most of the participating galleries and museums offer snacks and drinks — some even offer wine and beer tastings.

This just scratches the surface of all the fabulous things that Louisville has to offer this summer.  I like to believe that whenever I fill my cooler at Trader Joe’s, another Cincinnatian gets his/her wings to fly to Louisville.  Of course for more goings-on in Louisville, you can check out my blog, Loueyville.  Other stellar Louisville blogs include, Consuming Louisville, and for music lovers, Backseat Sandbar.
Hope to see y’all downriver soon!

Be Our Guest

By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to San Diego … then Pennsylvania … then DC … then Walla Walla and Seattle. Hopefully while we’re in Seattle and Walla Walla, we’ll get some posts in from the Wine Bloggers Conference. No promises though.

However, so that you still get information on a regular basis, I’ve lined up a group of guest bloggers. They’ve already given me their posts (so that I don’t have any surprises) and they are scheduled and ready to go. For the times Kevin and I are gone, you’ll be hearing from our friends and colleagues, both locally and in other exciting cities.

I hope you enjoy their insight! They’ll be bringing you different perspectives based on their locations, jobs, and interests.

You’ll be hearing from

• Nancy Bentley, part owner of Ripley, Ohio’s Kinkead Ridge winery
• “Lou”, blogger from our neighboring city of Louisville
• Jen Rizzo, foodie, graphic designer, and San Francisco transplant
• Amy Storer-Scalia, publisher of Cincy Chic
• David Lazarus, local wine shop owner
• Jay Erisman, wine & spirits extraordinaire from The Party Source

Kevin will also be chiming in while I’m on the business portion of the trips.

Thanks, and “see” you in July!

Cheers!
Michelle

Your Requests for Key West?

As I mentioned, a week or so ago I did a coast-to-coast run of the country, from Seattle to Orlando. April doesn’t look much better for staying home, as my business is taking me to Baltimore, West Virginia, and Miami.

I have no complaints at all about Miami. In fact, I’m taking the Miami trip (starting this Thursday) and extending it into a couple of quiet days in Key West. Now, while Key West does have wine bars, it’s not exactly known for its wine. Is there anything in particular  that you, my readers, would like me to hunt down while I’m in the southernmost place in our country? Anything Key-West-related that you’d like me to write about? Let me know in the comments (or via email, of course).

Cheers!

Traveling with Wine: Single Bottles (part 2)

Yesterday I talked about getting a case of wine to and from (usually from) one location to another. Today let’s talk about the slightly more common practice of getting just a couple of bottles from place to place, without having them shatter in your suitcase.

Remember, wine (and corkscrews) have to be checked luggage, so you need to find a way to pad your bottles. Make sure they aren’t on the edges of your suitcase (where other bags can bang into them) and are well padded on all sides.

• T-shirts and socks. Wrap your wine in a plastic bag and then wrap it up in t-shirts, pajamas, and/or socks. The plastic is to semi-protect your clothing if the bottle does break. When we first started checking wine, this was our de facto way of getting it places (usually getting it home).  Between the two of us, Kevin and I have brought back a case this way from California.
• Wine skins. Honestly, wine skins are sort of hard to find if you’re not a winery. I’ve been trying to find a way to sell them myself, branded as Wine-Girl, but the manufacturer makes it very hard. Kevin and I love wine skins, but they are a one-time deal. Once you double-seal that package, you cannot re-use it. In the past, I’ve duct taped the thing closed, so that I could use it again, but that’s really not all that effective. Our Flickr slideshow on Wine Skins:
• Wine diapers. I positively hate the name of this product, but it really does work. Back in the autumn, I was sent several Wine Diapers and I’m still using them.  They are plastic bags with several layers of padding inside. Wine diapers seal with a ziplock, so they are re-usable. I’ve been able to get about 4-5 trips out of each wine diaper. So far, nothing has broken or spilled, so I can’t attest to how well it protects your clothing if there is breakage, but so far it protects the wine.
  YouTube Video on the Wine Diaper:

Finally, keep the weight in mind. I use a luggage scale when I travel. Wine definitely adds to the weight of my suitcase. Just remember that it matters when you show up at the airport and you’re suddenly at 50.5 lbs, and Delta wants to charge you for Excess Weight.

With all this hassle, is it worth it? Personally, yes. Whether I’ve discovered new wine I want to share back at home or I’m just trying to have a bottle in my hotel room over several nights, I can’t imagine not traveling with wine.

Full disclosure: The Wine Diaper folks sent me the
wine diapers at no charge.
Suitcase image used under Creative Commons from Paul Lowry.

Traveling with Wine: A Full Case (part 1)

Last week I had this amazing business trip that took me from Cincinnati to Seattle, Washington. I landed back in Cincinnati for 4 hours and then headed out to Orlando, Florida, where I also visited Sarasota and Tampa.

Crazy, right? I love travel, but that was even a lot for me. However, it looks like crazy is the norm for me on about an every-other-month basis this year. I’m okay with that (Medallion status, here I come), but it does require me to always travel with wine. After all, I’ll get more work done if I’m not in the hotel bar and chances are, I’ll bring better wine with me anyway.

First off, I always travel with a corkscrew. Even if the bottle I bring is a screwtop, you can still find at least one – at the moment there are two – corkscrews in my makeup bag. You just never know when you might need a corkscrew to function as it should or to stand in for a bottle opener.

Traveling with wine – and corkscrews – does require checking luggage, which can cost around $25/bag on Delta. On trips where I can actually get away with just a carry-on, I have to eschew the wine. The last thing I want to do is treat the TSA to a free bottle, and your corkscrew? That’s a weapon, apparently. I had one taken away from me once, when I forgot it was in my carry-on.

The TSA does have rules for checking alcohol, and it’s worth mentioning.

Please note, you can’t take alcoholic beverages with more than 70% alcohol content (140 proof), including 95% grain alcohol and 150 proof rum, in your checked luggage.

You may take up to five liters of alcohol with alcohol content between 24% and 70% per person as checked luggage if it’s packaged in a sealable bottle or flask.

As for packing your wine, there are several different routes you can take, assuming you’re not investing in a wine-specific suitcase. If you’re bringing back a case, you’ve got a couple of options:

• Buy a box and packing from a winery (they sell them cheap) and take it to the local shipping company that will ship it. For instance, there’s a UPS store in Healdsburg and another in Napa that specialize in shipping wine. Both will provide the packaging, although it’s cheaper if you do it yourself.
• Buy a box and packing and check it as luggage. We did this when we returned home from Arizona. We’d been much more taken by the Arizona wine industry than we’d expected and ended up with a mixed case. We bought a box and packing from Page Spring Cellars and checked it on our flight home. I’ve read that people have mixed results with this, but our box arrived safe and sound in Cincinnati.
• If you’re buying a case from one winery, you can see if the winery can ship it home to you. Wine shipping laws vary by state and are notoriously difficult, but sometimes when you purchase the wines in person, it opens up a few loopholes.

Tomorrow I’ll give you a few options that are more appropriate for traveling with less than 12 bottles at a time.

Airplane photo used under a Creative Commons
license from Flickr user Kossy@FINEDAYS