Cincinnati Quickie
Posted on June 8, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
I traveled to Cincinnati last month to play in the APP Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati. I saw that someone I knew from Oklahoma was listed in mixed doubles without a partner so I asked if I could play with them to try and earn my “golden ticket” to Nationals for mixed doubles. I already had my “golden ticket” for singles and women’s doubles so I really just wanted to play mixed. It was a quick a trip as it could ever be. I literally flew in to Cincinnati on Saturday, played on Sunday, and flew back home on Monday.
Brian dropped me off at the airport early on Saturday morning, May 13. I arrived in Cincinnati in the afternoon. Went to the hotel first to check in and then went to Sawyer Point Park (tournament venue) to watch the guys — Ryan Luelf and Eric Bunch — play. They played amazing the entire day. They went undefeated in the winner bracket and I honestly thought they would win the whole thing. However, they ended up losing to a team that they had already beaten in the championship match and finished in second place.
Here’s a picture of Caroline Luelf, Ryan’s wife.
Due to some rain delays throughout the day, the matches ran late into the evening. I think we were the last people to leave the park that night.
Here’s a podium pic of the guys. Ryan is on the left and Eric is on the right.
I’m glad that I didn’t have to play until the afternoon the next day so I could sleep in a little bit since we were there so late. I think Ryan and Caroline got to their Airbnb around midnight and then had to get up early the next morning because they were scheduled to play at 8 AM. I didn’t really end up sleeping in because I wanted to go to the park and watch their matches. I also need to get some feminine hygiene products (aka tampons) because shark week unexpectedly started early for me. I ended up taking an Uber to a Walgreens that I found on Google that (a) was in the same direction as the park, and (b) according to Google was open. Yes, I really did check. Unfortunately, Google let me down. The information online was outdated and the store turned out to be closed. It absolutely sucked for me because I paid money to Uber over there and they weren’t even open.
Instead of taking a chance on Ubering to another Walgreens that may or may not be open, I decided to call Brian to help me navigate the downtown area. I thought, surely there’s a Walgreens nearby that I could walk to. He couldn’t find anything. Anyway, I saw this young woman walking and asked her if there as any kind of convenience store nearby (because most convenience stores carry tampons) and she pointed me in the direction of a store which I never did find. Lucky for me, I came across a Marriott hotel. I’d stayed at many Marriotts before and they always have a stash of tampons. I went in the lobby and they were able to help me. They let me take as many tampons as I wanted so I didn’t even have to go to Walgreens anymore. LOL.
The Marriott wasn’t that far from the park so, rather than taking a car, I decided to just walk over there to save money. I walked by the Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds, and a few other sights. It actually worked out great.
I walked along the river that separates Ohio from Kentucky and followed the path to the park. It was a nice day for a walk and I actually quite enjoyed my little adventure.
Ran into Brendon Long at the tournament. He is an amazing pickleball player who I had seen on YouTube and Facebook livestreams several times. I met him for the first time at the US Open in Naples and it was a real treat to see him again at the Cincinnati tournament.
The tournament itself was fine but I didn’t get the results I’d hoped so I still don’t have my mixed doubles “golden ticket” — we are back to the drawing board. Eric is an excellent player but not having played together much prior was a disadvantage. I’m going to try to qualify again in Kansas City in a couple of months. Hopefully, I’ll get my “golden ticket” for mixed then.
Until next time, GNG.
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Roots Seasonal Cuisine
Posted on June 5, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Got to try a new restaurant in Lee’s Summit while in Kansas City for work last month. We got there just in time for the tail end of their happy hour (literally, I think it was ending in 5 minutes when we arrived).
Here are a couple of pictures of their drink menu.
We enjoyed some delicious appetizers and small plates with our cocktails.
We also got to try several desserts.
Everything was so good. I thought the drinks were great. The food was good. The desserts were amazing. It was tough to pick a favorite. Anyway, I will definitely go back for another visit next time I’m in the area. Until then, GNG.
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Wild Night in Rockwall
Posted on June 2, 2023 by Ching under Travel.
We had a wild night in Rockwall and it’s not what you think. Spring is known to bring a few thunderstorms through the area. Well, as luck would have it, a storm rolled through Rockwall while we were sleeping on Saturday night. Around 2 AM on Sunday morning, we were both startled by a loud crash. It literally sounded like someone had thrown a brick through the window. My immediate thought was someone was trying to break in. Of course, I screamed really loud because I’m a screamer. Brian, the take-charge guy that he is, goes “Don’t move!”
I had woken up Wes who was sleeping outside in the living room. He knocked on the door to see if we were okay and we were like, “One sec.” I like to sleep naked so I had to put clothes on first. Then the three of us got to work to figure out the damage and what to do next.
Brian and I put shoes on before tackling the clean up so we didn’t step on any broken glass pieces. Wes went to grab the vacuum cleaner and also started looking for supplies to help us cover the window (scissors, trash bags, tape, etc.). The entire time Saki was nowhere to be found. She jumped off the bed and hid in the closet when she heard me scream. She was completely terrified and would not come out. When we were done with clean up, I went in the closet to get her and she was still shaking. It took me a good 20 minutes to get her to come out and come back to bed with us. I’d never seen her this scared since her first 4th of July as a puppy.
Here are some pictures of the broken window.
Brian picking up the bigger pieces of glass before we ran the vacuum..
After we got the glass picked up, he went outside to take some pics and it was this tree limb that caused the damage.
The window got pretty banged up..
We couldn’t find any tape. Wes did find these little sticker dots that people use to put prices on yard sale items so we used it to stick trash bag plastic on the blinds to keep water from getting inside (in case it rained some more).
This is Brian trying to comfort Saki so she would come out of the closet.
The poor girl was absolutely terrified. Saki hid in the furthest corner of the closet in the dark the entire time we were cleaning up. We looked everywhere for her when we were done and, when we finally found her, she refused to come out.
We eventually got her to calm down and the three of us went back to bed. But it was short-lived. Even though it wasn’t raining, it was still super windy outside and the rusting of the leaves and the trash bag on the window was freaking her out. She eventually hopped of the bed and ran back in the closet to hide. We tried to get her to come out again but she would not and, it’s like 3 AM-ish at this point, we really wanted to go back to sleep so we ended up just moving her dog bed into the closet (it’s a pretty big walk-in closet) so that she could sleep in it.
Everyone on the other side of the house slept through the commotion so they didn’t even know the ordeal that we went through in the middle of the night (or, I guess, that morning). We told the Sagers about it when they got up. Here’s a picture of Molly trying to get Saki to come out.
We got some better pictures of the storm damage in the daylight.
We think this is where the broken tree limb came from..
It was so wild. We’d never even experienced anything like this at home. But then, I guess, there aren’t any big, mature trees in our neighborhood so something like this isn’t likely to happen. We all survived and no one was hurt and Saki seems fine now. She is such a jittery dog. It probably won’t take long for something to happen that scares her again. Here’s hoping not. Until next time, GNG.
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Charlie’s Burgers & Street Tacos
Posted on June 1, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Tried a hip joint in downtown Rockwall that came highly recommended. Verdict? Food is pretty good but the street tacos are a little expensive.
Molly was not very happy about her tiny $7 street taco but she was happy about double-fisting the beers.
I think this is their version of elote. Tasty but a little too runny for me.
The chicharones had a kick but great with the elote which I kind of used as a dip to tone it down. Probably not very spicy to a normal person but it tasted spicy to me.
These food pics aren’t the best but you get the idea. There was a good selection of burgers, tacos, and craft beer.
The restaurant is tiny. We got very lucky that there was a big enough table that could accommodate our group.
Obligatory group photo (clockwise starting with Brian and me): Wes Horton (aka Paddletek‘s Pickleball Wes), Molly Sager, Casey Dominguez, Marie (Casey’s friend – I didn’t get her last name), Cory Sager, and Michael Harris (main man and pickleball pro at our Chicken N Pickle).
Charlie’s menus, in case you want to scope it out in advance of going.
Until next time, GNG.
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Bella Napoli Italian
Posted on May 31, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
When we went to Siren Rock on the first night, we drove by this Italian restaurant that had pretty good Yelp reviews so we decided to check it out the next night. Little did we know they served absolutely no alcohol whatsoever. We saw a BYOB sign on the door as we were walking in, which we thought was weird, but we were already committed so went in anyway.
Here are some pictures of dinner that night…
This is Cory’s very saucy entree. It actually matches his saucy personality.
I’m glad we weren’t discouraged by the sign and went in anyway because the food was actually pretty good. Also, if you see beer in the background, it’s because Cory and Michael ended up going to the convenience store next door to buy some to drink with their dinner.
Brian and I had way more food than we could eat so we ended up taking most of it back to the Airbnb. It worked out well because our friend Deana’s matches ran super late. They were playing almost until 10 pm and most places were closed at that point (except for fast food) so at least she and Kali had food to eat for dinner when they got home.
I really liked the food here. It was good, reasonably priced, and the portions were super generous. The restaurant is not ideal if you must have some alcoholic beverages with dinner. That’s pretty much the biggest downside but I’m not sure if it was just the weekend we were there or if they had just recently opened and didn’t have their liquor license yet or what. There is a bar area inside the restaurant so I’m assuming they plan to serve alcohol at some point. I think definitely worth checking out when you’re in the area. Maybe if we play this tournament (or another tournament in the area) again next year or later this year I’ll have to pay them another visit to see if anything has changed on the booze front. I’ll post an update if that happens. Until then, GNG.
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