GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of May 28

by Adrienne Wilson on

You’ve probably been wondering what camp grounds we’ve been hiding away at with it being so quiet at times, but mind you we’re out there dirtying up the soles of our finest trekking shoes and reading blog after blog/paper after paper to bring you worldly goodies. So if you’ve missed them by chance here’s your opportunity to catch up with this week’s Gadling Take Five.

5. Dining in Newport, Kentucky – Hofbräuhaus:
I wouldn’t normally place a restaurant review in the Take Five, but this one seems worth a second mention. If you’re traveling anywhere around the Cincinnati, OH/Kentucky border, you’ll want to swing by the Hofbräahaus for incredible German fare and entertainment. Bring your entire posse.

4. Houseboating in the Emerald City:
Erik does a brief tid-bit on the splendors of houseboating in Seattle’s Lake Union area as mentioned in a Washington Post piece. If you’re on a search for alternative living situations this looks like a very cool one to consider. It’s like a vacation home that’s always home.

3. European Rock Festivals:
Like Neil, who blogs on how much he hates missing good European Rock Festivals, I too dislike knowing I’ve missed something incredibly rockin’ or that poor travel planning was the reason behind it. Thankfully Neil points out a great piece from the New York Times on the major European festivals so we can mark them on our calendars between museum visits.

2. Nesting of the Giant Leatherback Turtles, Grand Riviere, Trinidad:
Nature and wildlife lovers should stop whatever they’re doing right now to visit Karen’s Hidden Gems piece on the giant Leatherback turtles in Grand Riviere, Trinidad. With all the time I spent in TnT on my last two visits, I never had the chance to check out the turtles and it appears they’re a real treat. Don’t miss them on your own travels.

1. Ignoring the Critically Sick on Everest:
This post really stings and looking at the comments we can see how tough a decision it must be to leave someone dying on Everest. Erik discovered the story of a 34-year-old British climber who was critically sick, passed by 40 or so climbers and left to die in the Seattle Times. Ugh! If you’ve ever thought of climbing Everest you may want to read this piece – not to scare you, but to give you a little something extra to consider.

Amazing Pano

by Erik Olsen on

So many of the great panoramic photographs you see these days are wonderful open landscapes: mountain vistas or broad cityscapes. But this pano from inside a Seattle home (Steve’s House) is magnificent, and I really wanted to call attention to it. Just look at the amazing detail here, the vast assortment of oddness, of kitch. As someone who loves to shoot panoramics, this was inspirational. Makes me want to find some places around the city where there is so much up-close detail.

Hmmm…Jerky

by Erik Olsen on

So much news and feature writing these days is about current events. As someone who works in the media, I sometimes long for a nice thoughtful piece about the mundane, an examination into everyday things that pass under your nose (or into your mouth) but otherwise whose history escapes notice. You know those books that are called “The History of Everyday Things”? Those are great books. I love learning more about the paper clip, for example.

So what’s my point? Well, I have to tell you I was tickled to see this delightful little ode to one of my favorite foods of all time: Beef Jerky. It’s going to sound sexist, but I was surprised to see that this paean to dry meat was penned by a woman. I know I know, don’t get all fussy with me. Women like jerky, too. But it’s just always seemed like a cowboy thing to eat, like they do in Brokeback Mountain (no “I can’t quit you” jokes, please).

Anyway, we learn a lot of interesting stuff here. For example, did you know the “salted meat snack” industry generated more than $300 million in sales in the last year? That’s a lot of dessicated flesh. Of course you knew that jerky was given to us by the Indians, but died you know that one of its earliest forms, pemmican, consisted of dried meat mashed up with animal fat and berries? I thought not. All this talk about jerky is making me hungry, so go to the piece and give it a read, and excuse me while I head out to the local store to pick up a bag.

Hmmm, jerky.

Drew Carey to the World Cup

by Erik Olsen on

Really, so much of making it in life is just establishing yourself as a celebrity. Then it’s all downhill. Once you get famous, everyone wants a part of you and you get paid, yes PAID to do cool stuff. Bill Murray gets paid to go all over the world to go golfing. Why? Because he was in Caddyshack for goodness sakes. And because he’s an excellent golfer. Brajolina have their trip to Africa paid for by aid groups because they look so pretty together. And now, here’s Drew Carey, who’s show really wasn’t even that funny, going to Europe to report on the World Cup for the Travel Channel. Well, good for him. I suppose if anyone can help Americans understand soccer and represent the US overseas, it’s a wise-cracking, doughy white guy. But seriously, I’ll have to check this out. Good for Drew.

Dining in Newport, Kentucky – Hofbräuhaus

by Adrienne Wilson on

Once word gets out that I blog for a travel website people expect me to know all of thousand of the  Philippines islands by name, the capital city of Nauru (there isn’t one) or the ingredients of that strange gelatin found in a lot of European fare. Well let it be known it’s a pretty big world out there and a lot of information for one person to store, but I do my best to grab the bull by the horns when presented with a new and foreign opportunity. Such was the case when I stepped into a world of German cuisine at the Hofbräuhaus. I was nothing more than a tenderfoot. My taste buds long deprived from the splendors found in Bavarian dishes wanted more and my belly just felt as if it would pop. Wait, I just realized I’m getting far ahead of things here. I haven’t told you what I ordered.

When I stepped into the Newport, Kentucky’s Hofbräuhaus I hadn’t a clue what to expect. I was told there would be chicken dancing which semi-frightened me and my companions were all aghast that I had come so far in life without tasting good German food. I knew then I would have to do everything the German way that night – even beer which I usually don’t let pass my lips ever. When we started with beverage orders I requested the lightest brew possible and the smallest serving. I continued gazing over the menu lost and confused. What should I order? I saw a chicken sandwich on the menu, but common sense told me that certainly wasn’t German food. There was Schnitzel, Leberkäse, Bierwurst, Bratwurst, Grillwurst and Kasseler Rippchen. From what I could gather it was a lot of sausage and a lot of potatoes. I was clueless. Luckily 7 of the 12 of us dining that evening were real experts at this and had even dined at the original Hofbräuhaus in Munich.

They pointed me to the Sauerbraten – a roasted round of delicious marinated beef accompanied by red apple kraut, mashed potatoes and broccoli. I was humming with joy, but I still had to wait for my dish. In the meantime one of my pals ordered several appetizers for all the tenderfeet in the group to gain a full scale of what the cuisine is like. We sampled Fritierte Gurken (German fried pickles), Sauerkraut balls and something that reminded me of the cheesy goldfish snacks except they were kind of doughy and less cheesy. Before I could question my excuse for not having had so much of these scrumptious treats in the past my Saurbraten found its way into the center of my being. I dug in.

Oh, time for the chicken dance! I abandoned my seat and meal to take part in the chicken dancing business. I stretched my wings up high, flapped them around and wiggled down with the best of them until the live band started speeding things up. My rhythm got lost in laughter and I was having a ball of a time. Once dancing time was up I retreated from the dance floor back to the dinner table. The brief bit of dancing gave me enough energy to plough through the rest of my plate. As I cleaned up house my group smiled and cheered me on! I was a newbie no more.

The Hofbräuhaus is located in Northern Kentucky on the southern side of Cincinnati at 3rd & Saratoga at the Levee, Newport, KY 41071. Ph. 859.491.7200. Open daily from 11:00 A.M. Most dishes range from the $10-$30 price range. Excellent and friendly wait staff.