You may wonder why a blog that focuses on Real Estate and supporting local would feature a chain restaurant, but not only is The Capital Grille a small chain with only 58 locations across the entire country, it is unlike any other chain I've ever experienced.  While most chains focus on quantity and consistency, The Capital Grille focuses on quality and experience, making it worthy of the #worththedrive seal of approval.  Hubs was introduced to The Capital Grille by a client several years ago and fell in love with the food, the service and the atmosphere.  He took me there for our next anniversary, and it quickly became our "special occasion" destination.  Over the years, we have celebrated birthdays and anniversaries with The Capital Grille and they always find a way to make it special.  They even send Hubs an email reminder to schedule our celebrations.  We enjoy exceptional service, a card and confetti adorn the table and there's alwaysa little something...

When Hubs and I sold our last house we were going through a major life transition.  He was starting a new job with a mix of travel, time in the office and work from home.  His direct supervisor worked out of the Chicago office, so we thought Hubs would be spending a lot of time in that area.  We were weighing the pros and cons of being close to family versus close to work and trying to figure out just how much time Hubs would have to spend away from home.  Because of this and the fact that I can work from anywhere, we decided to go ahead and sell our home and live in our (very large and quite comfortable) camper while we figured out his next steps.   We had planned to live in the camper for a few months while we figured out Hub's new work/travel situation, but couple the work transition with our VERY specific house wishlist and it took us nearly a year to get into our new home.  It was a fantastic experience and I'm so glad we did it, but let me tell y...

My parents may not be as adventurous of eaters as Hubs and I are, but when they tell you a place is good, you can bet it's going to be yummy.  And when they tell you it's good food AND good wine, you can bet Hubs and I are going to check it out! Last week my mom texted my sister and I that Holtkamp Winery in Sunman, Indiana was serving brick oven pizza and hosting live entertainment on Sunday and wanting to know if we all wanted to meet there for the afternoon.  The response was a resounding yes and I'm so glad we went!  The pizza and wine were delicious, the weather was beautiful and the music was fun and upbeat without being too loud.  It made for a perfect Sunday afternoon and I can't wait to go back. Holtkamp Winery opened in 2013, a full 11 years after Doug Holtkamp started making wine independently.  He teamed up with Jeff McCann, who had over 35 years of experience in wine making and grape growing, and the two have become a great team making even greater ...

With a (mild) wheat allergy, pizza has to be really  good for me to be willing to deal with the inevitable side effects, but Strong's Brick Oven Pizzeria is totally worth it.  There are a lot of good pizza places in Batesville, many of which offer gluten free (no, I'm not gluten free, but gluten free means wheat free) options.  I'm sure there are some I haven't tried yet that may rival Strong's, but at this point, when I'm willing to deal with the wheat headache, Strong's is the best and most worth it I've ever had. I do try to eat local, but having grown up in Bright, Indiana, I will always consider Lawrenceburg to be local, no matter where I live.  Because of that and the fact that Strong's is locally owned, it's an "eating local" favorite for my family, and definitely worth the drive! Bonus - because Strong's has four Greater Cincinnati locations, no matter where you are, you're not too far from a Strong's to consid...

I try to feature restaurants that I believe are #worththedrive no matter where in the Greater Cincinnati area you're from but with the current social distancing and more people cooking and eating at home, I thought now was the time to go a different direction. Who among us hasn't watched Cheers (oops, my age is showing!) and wanted that special place where everyone knows your name?  Would you believe I have that at a butcher's shop?  I grew up going to Stehlin's with my parents and to this day I think it's the best around. There are some very good meat markets closer to home, including a really good one right here in Batesville, but no one's smoked meats and sauerkraut compare to Stehlin's Meat Market on Colerain Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I know I'm a bit biased because of my experience, but everyone I have sent to Stehlin's says the same thing, so I'm thinking I may be right on this one. Stehlin's Meat Market started as a meat wa...

Having lived in small town Indiana my whole life, I'm used to the only delivery options being pizza places.  Imagine my delight when Batesville ToGo opened and we can now get Skyline, Izzy's at Hillcrest, The Sherman and...wait for it... Big Four Cafe delivered! Admittedly, in this time of social distancing, I have not yet talked to the owner but I can't imagine they would mind a little free promotion.  Unfortunately this means that my information and my pictures are a both lacking, but I did get a little background when I talked to the owners of Big Four Cafe. Batesville ToGo is owned by the same family that owns The Cell Guy.  Arriving home from work particularly late one night, The Cell Guy had no desire to cook, but also no interest in the delivery options available at that time (hello, pizza).  He realized that Batesville had a lot of wonderful restaurant options, but no way to get those options delivered to his home, and the idea for Batesville ToGo...

In these times of uncertainty and social distancing, my usual lighthearted tone feels a little flip and disrespectful.  That said, we're hearing about Coronavirus everywhere  and I don't need to be one more person reminding you to wash your hands.  What I will do, though, is take this opportunity to talk about community. Real Estate is a social industry.  We bring in business by getting our name out there, building relationships and earning trust.  Our clients become friends, our friends become family and everyone becomes a potential client.  We go to local businesses.  We forge partnerships.  We blog about those businesses and they share our blog for a type of cross promotion.  We have a deep respect for small businesses, because we are one. I have been working with Susan Knabe of Haus & Home , an online magazine, for several weeks now to get my Feature Friday posts published with their magazine.  It has been a long, educational...