The week of May 16th was pretty calm since I knew the weekend was going to be so crazy busy. Friday during the day I spent in Ashtabula at some of the local wineries, Saturday during the day we had lunch at the Downtown Willoughby Rib Burnoff and Saturday night was my friend’s bachelorette party at Hilarities.
I love days spent out at the wineries and I wish I did it more often. Sometimes I feel like people really focus on Cleveland and the west side but forget about all the wonderful food and entertainment the east side has to offer. We had lunch at Laurentia Vineyard. In my opinion they have some of the best food out of all the wineries. We then stopped at Stonegait Winery and grabbed a wine sampler and spent some time on their outside patio since it had finally warmed up and was a little less windy. Stonegait always smells so good and I wish I would have had room for some pizza or cheesy breadsticks.
We still needed dessert so a stop at Hundley was next. Hundley has some great wine and a beautiful space but my favorite thing here is there brownies. Let me start by saying I do not really eat a lot of chocolate but every time I am out at the wineries I stop here for brownies. It is a must.
Our last stop of the day was at my favorite winery Cask307. I love their outdoor patio and they have one of my favorite wines, a Bourbon Chardonnay. If you haven’t been out to the wineries ever or in a while I highly suggest it. It is always such a relaxing day and I love all the different options on top of all the other places to stop at while your out there.
Saturday during the day we grabbed lunch at the Downtown Willoughby Rib Burn Off. I enjoy when Willoughby puts on events like this and it’s nice to have the different options that you might not always have in the area. We walked the main strip and there were many local Willoughby establishments that had ribs as well as a couple other options. We decided to try BGs Old Time BBQ. We grab a half rack of ribs and the pulled pork with Mac and cheese, coleslaw and baked beans. We tried all the different bbq sauces offered and they were all pretty good. The ribs were cooked with a good char and the pulled pork was really tender. The coleslaw was creamy and the veggies used in it tasted really fresh. I really liked that the baked beans used black beans as well. I felt like it really added to the flavor. The Mac and cheese was a little on the dry side but it was okay.
Saturday night I closed out my busy two days at my friends bachelorette party. We had so much fun celebrating her and her soon to be marriage. We made a stop at Wonder Bar on East 4th for some drinks. They have lights that they can add to drinks so we had to order a couple. The lights are such a cool touch. Just an FYI if you are looking for mock tails even though they are getting more popular, we were told Wonder Bar doesn’t have any on their menu. We had a couple non drinkers in our group and that would have been a nice addition.
We attended dinner and a show at Hilarities. I have to admit I had never been here before and I have been missing out for sure. The show was so funny and interactive and the food was good considering they were cooking for a big group. If you haven’t been to a comedy show at Hilarities I would look into it and will be looking to return soon.
Such a great weekend, at some of my favorite places and some new places, with some amazing friends. When your looking for something different to do remember Ashtabula and all that county has to offer. It’s not too far from downtown and the perfect day or weekend get away. I’m excited to spend more time out there and try some of their other restaurants.