On the Road + Cincinnati

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. We were on Spring Break during the third week of March, and it took a while to get back into the swing of things. My goal for every break from school is to take it easy and re-charge, but we were running around quite a bit. We saw relatives, and spent some time in Cincinnati, Ohio, then we were back in school. I felt a bit run down from all of the activities, and have had a hard time getting back to normal. I also have not been getting enough sleep lately. However, last night was probably the best sleep that I’ve had in a while… no one was sick, no one had bad dreams, no late night poker parties, and our special needs dog had no special requests for water or going outside in the middle of the night. Anyway, here is a little post about our trip to Cincinnati.

Little family road trips are great… but vegan family trips are phenomenal! This trip was all about food and sight seeing…. and more food. Our destination was Cincinnati. We chose Cincinnati because it is not too far from our home, and it would serve nicely as a little get away for spring break.

Before leaving, I packed a small suitcase of food. I had no idea what breakfast would be like on the road, so I made sure to pack our own breakfast and snacks (in addition I packed a hot water pot, small bowls, spoons, and a paring knife). The food included: instant oatmeal, peanut butter crackers, fruit, almond milk, peanut butter, applesauce squeezies, cacao, and tea. As it turned out, it was really nice to have all of this food with us. Our hotel did not have many vegan options for breakfast, and we were able to save some money just by eating a nice meal in our room every morning.

Park + Vine

1202 Main St.

Cincinnati, Oh 45202

(513) 721-7275

Our first stop on our trip was Park +Vine. I had heard about it from Will Travel For Vegan Food’s blog. It was described as an all vegan general store, and I just had to see it. I would describe the place as crunchy vegan heaven. I was in love… This store had just about everything that any crunchy vegan could ever want!… and more!

There was plenty of baby items from toys, to books, to smocks, to food, to cloth diapers. It really is well stocked in the coolest items for any crunchy mama (vegan or not). It made me almost want another baby… almost.

It was just really awesome walking around this store. Describing it as a general store is really appropriate because it carried most anything a home could need such as cleaning items, no VOC paint, gardening supplies, books, mama cloth, and make-up. In addition to the home items, they also had a great selection of vegan treats. Right now, I’m kicking myself for not snagging some of the Sweet & Sara rice crispy treats!!!

I think my favorite part of this shop was the little cafe. Everything that we ate was amazing. I had a barbecue tofu sandwich on rosemary foccacia and a side of potato salad. The cool thing about this sandwich is how the rosemary was so distinct, yet it paired so well with the barbecue. My husband had their ruben sandwich with their raw kale salad. The kale salad was really good, it had a nice sesame taste with large chunks of peppers for added flavor. This salad was so great that it has inspired me to make more raw kale dishes. It’s funny how one dish can just transform your tastes and desires to create new items at home. I love it when that happens!

While in Cincinnati, we went to a few other places to eat, but Park + Vine was by far my favorite. Maybe it was the feel of the place, or maybe it was the yummy food, but all I know is that we will be going back.

I would like to give a honorable mention to Melt Eclectic Cafe. I had an amazing veggie cheese steak sandwich there. The meat was made from seitan that they make in-house, and it’s topped with roasted peppers, onions, and their cheese sauce. I must also admit that the chili that I ordered for Laney was really good, too. The chili was, of course, Cinci-style, and I asked for their vegan cheese on the side. They also make their cheese in-house, and this sauce had a nice smokey noochy flavor (nooch = nutritional yeast). The chili and the added cheese sauce was such a wonderful combo that I finished Laney’s chili for her after she was full. I just couldn’t stop eating it. I did order dessert. It’s not something that I normally do when we’re out to eat, but I had to try their chocolate cupcake. It just looked too good to not try. I also wanted to see if they were as good as our own local vegan bakery, Pattycake Bakery. So, if you want to know the verdict…. YES!… It was delicious. It was actually perfect. The cake itself had a nice flavor, and it was moist, and not too sweet. While the frosting was just so creamy and chocolaty.