Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Ohio! Put-in-Bay:Proving That There's Squid in Lake Erie @ The Keys Put in Bay

To help transport you in to vacay mode: Beach Boys
Kokomo
What is summer without a week long vacation to get some sun damage? This sun damage was brought to you by the wonderful state of Ohio. Yes! You read that right. O.H.I.O! I decided to tag along with The Great Dane for a trip to Put-in-Bay, OH. It's an island on it's own, needing a quick hop on a ferry to get to it. Think of it as the  smaller version of Lake Geneva, or for you East Coast folks, the smaller version of the Hamptons with a splash of Jersey Shore. It's about a 2 mile stretch from end to end, and according to the census, population 138! Ok, enough with the faqs, and on to the fun! 

Arriving late in the afternoon, it was clear that we had to catch up on some fun and hydration. Fast forward to the dehydration of the morning after. I think the first words out of my mouth was "water," followed by "ice cream." Armed with my sunglasses, we started our foot journey in the direction of ice cream. A long the way I spotted this... The Keys

It's kinda hard to pass up a waterside restaurant bursting with colorful umbrellas. Brunch before ice cream it is!

Unsure of my capacity to ingest real food, and knowing that the next meal time is just around the corner, we decided to split the nosh.


Island Calamari: I wasn't expecting much from this, since I was well aware that I'm floating on Lake Erie, and not the ocean. To my surprise, the calamari was fresh, not chewy, perfectly seasoned coating, and not greasy at all! It was flavorful enough that the pineapple chili sauce was just an added bonus. My mouth is craving the crunch as I write this! How come this calamari tasted 200x fresher than the calamari I had in Seattle, when the ocean is right there?! I guess there's squid in Lake Erie. Ha!

                       


Grouper Reuben: Laying in between grilled marbled rye was the sweet symphony of the grilled grouper, coleslaw, swiss cheese, swiss chili tartar, and GUACAMOLE! My ailment was screaming for the health benefits of guac. The combination was nice and hearty, that I almost forgot I was eating fish. Another fresh catch! Oh and the fries... TGD vetoed sweet potato fries,  so we kept it normy. I'm not one to finish off fries, but they were seasoned so well, I could not help myself. The seasoning had great balance of salty and a hint of pepper spice? Now I'm wondering how epic the sweet potato fries would have been.

The tropical themed meal was complimented by this view. I said I wanted water, and water was what I got.  How come I'm still so thirsty? Well done Ohio! I actually felt like I was in Florida.

Ok, on to my next request...ICE CREAM!!!