Family fun daytrip to Put-in-Bay

Lots happening with our fam this month, but we squeezed in a fun day trip to Put-in-Bay thanks to Miller Ferry. I haven't been to PIB in years and Phil had never been so it was a great chance to experience it as a foursome.

Family selfie at the Put-in-Bay Butterfly House

It's just shy of a two-hour commute for us to catch the ferry and we hopped on the noon one just minutes after getting our tickets. The kids loved riding with the cars and staked out a spot by a porthole to catch all of the action.

Best spot in the house...err ferry

Once on the island, we borrowed a four-seater golf cart from Island Bike & Cart Rental -- something I had never done before on the island. The kids had a blast "driving" and we rigged our stroller up on the back.

• Since we were running out the clock against the nap time fairy, we stuck to just a few activities: 
• Lunch at Mr. Ed's (Such a different experience with kids! ;) They loved the live music)
• Fishing at the Aquatic Visitors Center where kids fish for free with poles, bait, life jackets, etc. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday during the summer)
• The Butterfly House, which hosts 900 butterflies, including 50 different species
• Ice cream and coffee at the Chocolate Cafe

Our first-time fisherman!

Had we had more time, we might have explored Perry's Cave or the Fort aMAZE'n maze, but we packed in what we could before taking the 4:30 p.m. ferry back. Thankfully, nap time during drive time was not a problem:

I think D's entire preschool knows that we were on an island and drove a golf cart, so the trip definitely made an impression! 

I was compensated with ferry passes and a golf cart during my trip to Put-in-Bay. All opinions are my own.

Props to Cleveland's dining scene

Finding good spots to eat out is always one of my quests when I travel. If you're headed to Cleveland, my hometown, here's a list of hot spots for comfort food mentioned in USA Today from my favorite travel writer. For more deets on Cleveland dining, check out reviews from my friend Michele at Cleveland Foodie.

I’ve been to two of the five reviewed restaurants in the USA Today article just this week. Last night, I went to Melt, one of the restaurants featured in the article, to score the April special: Corny Beast: a corndog version of grilled cheese. Delish! (The photo above is of my favorite monthly special of all time: the Mac n Cheese Melt.) On Tuesday, I had a fantastic roasted red pepper soup at L’Albatros.

Turns out Melt will be opening a second location in Cleveland Heights in the Fall. Can't wait!

How to score March Madness tickets

Lots of our peeps have been asking how we got tix to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament this year, so here's a quick tutorial. Warning: if you want to buy tix at face value, you need to start planning NOW.

At the conclusion of the 2008 Final Four, I used this site to track which cities hosted rounds for 2009 (the link now includes the 2010 tourney sites) since the list of cities changes every year. I decided to try to get seats for U of Dayton first and second rounds, so I stalked the university's site until it began accepting applications for 2009 (a couple weeks after the tournament ended).

Yes, you have to apply. Last year there was a $10 application fee. FYI, the greedy NCAA charges your credit card immediately for the full value of the tickets, despite the fact that I didn't find out till July that we actually were going to get tix, and we didn't actually know where our seats were till we got tix in hand about three weeks ago.

Incidentally the NCAA is being sued in a class-action suit for charging a non-refundable application fee and charging credit cards immediately, so maybe I'll eventually get my $10 back. :)

We were a little bummed that our seats weren't in the lower level, but they've provided great views, and we've since realized that a lot of the lower seats are reserved for schools. We've been sitting above the Louisville section of fans, which has been fun.

Oh, regarding our hotel this weekend, I saved up hotel points and cashed in rewards in exchange for a room (I booked last July when I knew for sure we'd get tix. Some hotels were already full). We've been using up our stash of restaurant gift cards from Christmas for our meals, so this weekend has been pretty recession-proof.

P.S. I did all of my ticket-scouring activity behind Phil's back since I gave him our tix as a surprise Christmas gift. It is a MIRACLE that I didn't spill the beans.

OSU Heartbreaker

Phil and I watched some amazing games yesterday, but our basketball bliss ended on a sour note after a sloppy Ohio State loss in double OT to Siena. We weren't the only ones bummed out because there was a sea of Bucks fans throughout the arena, which contributed to lots of tired, crabby drivers in the parking cluster $%*# after the game.

Despite the loss, the energy of the crowd was great! During the high points, the O-H-I-O wave circulated around the arena multiple times. At the low points, disgruntled fans kept shouting, "Give it to Mullins! He's 7-ft. That's really tall!"

There also were massive amounts of Louisville fans, which is why we were really hoping for a U of L and OSU showdown tomorrow. Oh well. Now I can cheer unconflicted for Louisville. :)

The Pitt game was really fun because of the almost upset of a #1 seed. Although we both have Pitt in our final four, we cheered for ETSU since they were the underdog.

In general, all the games have been fairly close, with the exception of the second half of Louisville/Morehead when U of L pulled away. And, Cleveland State crushed Wake Forest! Go Vikings! Thanks to everyone who kept texting me updates.

This morning, we're lounging at our hotel and then will head to Columbus later to meet up with some friends. Tomorrow, Pitt plays at 2:50 p.m. and Louisville plays at 5:20 p.m., meaning we won't get home till really late Sunday/Monday.

P.S. One of the best parts of seeing the games in-person - no lie - is watching all the guys wait in massive lines for the men's room while I breeze in and out of the ladies' room in no time. Where else could this possibly happen???

March Madness in Dayton

It's been so long that I've posted that I actually forgot my Blogger log-in this morning. Work's been insane, so I didn't even post when I had a work day trip to St. Louis last month. But, I'm back!

Phil and I are in Dayton for our first March Madness experience. Today we'll see four games: Louisville (my fave!), Ohio State (yay!), Pitt and Tennessee. All great teams. Sunday, we'll see two games featuring today's winners. If it's Louisville vs. Ohio State, I'll be faced with a real cheering conundrum and probs will clap for every play.

Last year, I had an amazing climb to victory (3rd place) in my office's March Madness pool. My first round picks all tanked, but I made up points big time because all the teams I picked were in the final four and I picked Kansas as the winner.

This year, my first round picks are still in the toilet (I picked a lot of upsets), so we'll see if I have the same luck. If not, I'll still be talking about last year's money grab for YEARS.