⚾Our Staff’s Must-Know Travel Tips - The ‘Neil Edition’
Neil Stein, Executive Director & Family
Come along on this summer weekend adventure with Neil Stein and his family. Neil has been with Tour Lake County for 6 years and has lived in Lake County, OH since 2008 years with his wife and two children.
Friday Night Family Eats
We have a great boss that lets us get out of work at 3 PM on Fridays, so we get a little head start on the weekend. My family admittedly goes out to eat far too often, but with so many great restaurants at our disposal there’s never a lack of options.
Some of the Friday night spots my family loves are:
El Taco Macho in Painesville Township (part of the Taco Trail)🌮
Ordering delivery or carryout from Longo’s Pizza in Mentor (trust me, you’ll want to get the hand-breaded chicken tenders!)🍗
⚾Our favorite Friday night option during the spring and summer is to catch a Lake County Captains game in Eastlake. Nothing like spending a fun night at the ballpark with the family to forget about the stresses of the week!
🏈 During high school football season our go-to, Friday night pre-game dinner is Happy Moose Bar & Grill in Mentor which is a locally owned sports bar with a fun atmosphere, terrific staff, great draft beer selection and, hands down, the best Buffalo Chicken Dip.🥘
Saturday on the Go!
Saturdays are all over the map for me and my family as my grown-up (well, almost grown - they’re college aged) kids are always on-the-go. 🚗
When the kids are home🤞 we love going to Holden Arboretum together (we’re members!) or visiting ANY of the other local parks. If we’re staying closer to home we’ll hit up either Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve, Mentor Lagoons or Veteran’s Park. 🐦
🌳If we want to venture out for a little drive, we’ll go to Chapin Forest Reservation in Kirtland, followed by a stop at the Kirtland Creamery, or Chagrin River Park in Willoughby.🍦
🎶When the kids are off with their friends my wife and I love listening to live music and like to combine dinner with live music. We frequent Ridgewood Kitchen & Spirits in Concord Township which has a smaller menu but everything on it is delicious including my favorite their RW Short Ribs. Recently we’ve been checking out the music scene at the Tricky Tortoise craft brewery in downtown Willougby which opened in the space formerly occupied by Willoughby Brewing Company. Tricky Tortoise brews their own craft beers (I personally love the Hey Bobby! Lager🍺) and their handmade giant pretzel appetizer with beer cheese dip is amazing!
Wine Away, It’s Sunday Funday
🍷While Sundays are often for relaxing at home, my wife and I find that there’s no better way to relax than spending Sunday afternoons sipping a glass of wine while sitting in the vineyard of one of the wineries of the Grand River Valley. While my wife is a creature of habit and would be happy going to the same couple wineries over and over again, I force her out of her comfort zone and we visit almost ALL of the 30 wineries at some point during the year.
🍇We typically start with a meal and a drink at Laurentia Vineyard and Winery (we’re wine club members here), Stonegait Winery, or Baci Winery and then we’ll almost always go visit a second winery for a second glass of wine.
🌅Our mood almost always dictates where we go next and we’ll rotate between Debonne Vineyards, Cask 307, M Cellars, Harpersfield Vineyard and Laurello Vineyards. We also love checking out some of the special events at Grand River Cellars and there’s nothing like watching the sunset while having a glass of wine on the patio at Vincent William Wine which is a new winery situated directly on Lake Erie🌊
