Welcome to the Jungle!

Where can you feast on a lunch of fresh smoked salmon sushi under a giant, pink elephant head?  Where can you watch the enormous can of Campbell’s Soup enjoy a good time on a giant swing?  What other grocery brings shoppers in to shop, in a tour bus?  It can only be Jungle Jims!

Jungle Jim’s location is 5440 Dixie Highway (Route 4) in Fairfield, but going there feels like a shopping vacation!  Depending on where you live in the Greater Cincinnati area, it can be a bit of a drive.  From Milford or Eastgate,   it’s about 30 – 35 minutes.  From points in Mason, it will be perhaps 20 – 30 minutes.  If you live in the Hyde Park, Mt Lookout area, again, about 30 minutes.  But seriously. What else do you have to do on your day off? Laundry? Wash the floors? Nope….plan a trip to the Jungle.

The lively animated characters will entertain the kids, and the food selection will knock your socks off.  We can take a ½ hour just looking at the cheese selections. As Jungle Jim’s boasts over 1400 cheese selections in just the International Cheese section alone, before you even hit the deli, you can see why we get stalled! The bakery is just painful to enter if you have a sweet tooth.  So many dessert options. So little time.  There is an outstanding deli of course.  Select one or two of the overwhelming number of delicious prepared salads to enhance your main course.  There is a Natural Foods section, International Foods, and fresh Seafood.   You just have to go.

Soup on a swing? Why not!

We had our smoked salmon sushi lunch, and were treated to a complimentary taste of the hot cider.  We found the free samples of an outstanding fresh antipasto, and then tried the sample of whipped salmon mouse on a flat pretzel. Yes, if you are lucky, you can graze your way through the store.  Saturday and Sunday are the big sample days. 

There are more than just groceries here of course.  The Shasta store is fun. As in “She Hasta Have That”. Clever. If you have errands to run, there is a bank, post office and pharmacy to help check those chores off the list.  Be sure to check out the 2009 America’ Best Bathroom award winner.  I don’t generally recommend any particular locations “comfort station”.  Just trust me on this one.

There isn’t enough room here to discuss this place. I haven’t even mentioned the monorail, the humidor or the wine selection. Visit their site for all the latest information, including cooking school information and the online flyer of weekly specials.

More Cincinnati real estate information can be found at RealCincy.com

• Thomas & Friends – June 10 & 11, Bank of Kentucky Center, NKU
• Riverbend Music Center has a great line up for June:
June 4 – Coldplay, June 12 – Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, June 16 – Dave Matthews Band, June 19 – Brad Paisley, June 20 – 311, and June 27 – Oh yea, they’re back! It’s The New Kids on The Block.

• Milford Ohio Kicks off the Summer with the 47th Annual Frontier Days! June 4 – 7. The parade starts at 6:30 on Thursday June 4th. Enjoy Food, Games, Lawn Mower Races, Karaoke Contest and the Big Chicken Dinner. Check out the official Frontier Days site for more information!

• At the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend The Offspring play June 24
• Broadway Across America Presents “A Chorus Line” at the Aronoff Center through June 7
 
• Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra – June 18, Music Hall. Featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• Playhouse in the Park presents “Marry Me a Little” – Through June 14. In the Thompson Shelter house.  Songs by Stephen Sondheim. “What can you do on a Saturday night alone?” These and other meaningful questions answered comically and musically here!
• There is ALWAYS something happening at Jungle Jims! The following events aren’t necessarily “kid friendly”, but mom & dad need an afternoon off too!  Here are few things to check out:
June 19, 7 – 10 pm it’s Beerfest!  What true Cincinnatian, or soon to be Cincinnatian, would pass on the “native” refreshment?
June 13, France vs. USA. Wine Tasting 1 – 3 p.m.
June 20, “Rhone Style” Wine Tasting 1 – 3 p.m.
June 27, The “Not to Miss” Event….Battle of the Bands Wine Tasting Event! Ten of the Top Suppliers will be on Hand Vying for Your Vote as “The Best”
Be sure to check out www.junglejims.com for more information, times, reservations and costs.

• Kevin Pollack – June 18 & 20 Special Engagement! Funny Bone Comedy Club. Newport on the Levee
• “Junk in the Trunk” Sale in Lebanon. June 6. Interfaith Hospitality Network of Warren County Hosts at Lebanon Jr. High. Call 934-5250 for more information
• Pack up the Family and head to a Reds Game. Buy the $5 “Cheap Seats” for an economical night out. There isn’t a bad seat in the place! June 5 – 7 the Reds hot the Chicago Cubs. June 16 – 21, there’s a 6 day home stretch. The Reds host the Atlanta Braves & the Chicago White Socks. Let’s see if they can stay in the run for 1st place!
• June is a big month for church and school festival fundraisers. Link to Local12.com for a complete list.

More Cincinnati real estate information can be found at RealCincy.com

The Christmas Tree on Fountain Square has officially been lit, ushering in the Holiday Season. There are some really fun things to do in December. Shows, productions, shopping! So much to do! So, pick out a couple of favorites, and enjoy!

• Stomp – December 2 – 7, Aronoff Center, P & G Hall – Bring your Little Drummer Boys ( & Drummer Girls) to a celebration of percussion and rhythm. We saw this show a few years back. I dare you to not go home and start beating on the table with butter knives.
• Alice in Wonderland – December 3 – Jan. 4, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati
• Comedian Brian Regan – December 4, Taft Theatre. This guy is funny. Should be a great show.
• St Nick Arrives at Mainstrasse! December 6 – A German Tradition!
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – December 5 – 7 & 13, Taft Theatre
• 3 Doors Down – December 19, US Bank Arena
• Cincinnati Pops – December 12, Music Hall
• Redsfest – December 12 – 13, Duke Energy Convention Center
• The Nutcracker – December 12 – 27, Aronoff Center, P & G Hall. A Christmas Favorite!
• UC vs. XU Crosstown Shootout! – December 13, Fifth Third Arena.  Go Cats!
• A Christmas Carol – December 15 – 30, Playhouse in the Park. 
• Santa’s Water Wonderland – Through Jan. 3, Newport Aquarium.
• Cincinnati’s Jewish Holiday Traditions – December 21 – 22, Cincinnati Museum Center
• Twelfth Night – December 5 – Jan. 4, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Love, Cross-dressing, Mistaken Identity. Could be fun!
• Trains. Trains. We all Love Trains – December 29 – 30, Cincinnati Museum Center
• Monty Python’s Spamalot – December 30 – Jan. 4, Aronoff Center. Flying Cows. Killer Rabbits. Yikes!

More Cincinnati real estate information can be found at RealCincy.com

November fun in Cincinnati

I love this time of year. I really enjoy  the cool, crisp fall relief from summer’s heat.  Of course, there’s Thanksgiving. A great excuse to have both pumpkin AND pecan pie for dessert. I believe, officially, calories do not count that day.
There is plenty to do to keep busy. There are some Great Productions for Date Night this month!
It’s time for Early Birds to start their holiday shopping.  Not me. I work better under pressure, and I‘m big on last minute bargains. In the meantime, check out a few of these events!
• “A Reporter’s Life” with local favorite Jim Knippenberg, November 10,  Cincinnati Museum Center
• Election Day! November 4… You know the rules: If you don’t vote, you can’t complain!
• Holiday Craft Show,  November 1 – 2 , Eastgate Mall, 15+ Vendors, Benefits American Heart Association “Go Red for Women”
• Taste of the World Wine & Beer Festival. November 8, Newport Aquarium  Newport
• PNC Festival of Lights, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, November 28 – January 4
• The Greater Cincinnati Holiday Market, Northern KY Convention Center , November 15 – 16
• The Eagles, November 18 at US Bank Arena
• Radio City Christmas Spectacular , November 28 – 30 US Bank Arena
• “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,  College-Conservatory of Music, UC November 20 – 23
• “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”  Playhouse in the Park, Eden Park. We are Definitely seeing this one!! Go see it through December 31st. 
• “The Wizard of Oz” Aronoff Center  November 11 – 23 as part of the Broadway series 
• Turkey Bowl, November 25, Fountain Square, Downtown. Yep…Just how it sounds. Bowling with frozen turkeys…on ice. Ya’ gotta love it.
• “Love Song”, Playhouse in the Park, Eden Park. We saw this one. Through November. Definitely Quirky…but we liked it.
• November 27  Happy Thanksgiving!
• Light Up the Square!  November 28, Fountain Square, Downtown Cincinnati

More Cincinnati real estate information can be found at RealCincy.com