Chi-ca-go, Chi-ca-go—that toddlin’ town is more accessible than ever! That’s via Ultimate Air Shuttle out of CVG (Greater Cincinnati) and Lunken airports. As of July, Ultimate Air began offering ten flights per week to Chicago’s Midway airport, five from CVG and five from Lunken.
If you travel and have not yet had occasion to use Ultimate Air Shuttle, you may be in for a wonderful surprise. You may think you’d choke at the price of round-trip VIP jet service to places such as New York/New Jersey, Charlotte, or Chicago, as noted in the lead to this feature. That’s the surprise, and it’s a pleasant one, price-wise.

There are several reasons why it makes good economic sense to choose Ultimate Air Shuttle over flying commercial with one of the “big” carriers when flying to those cities and back again. Time management and convenience are at the top of the list of reasons. Arrive at any of the Ultimate Air Shuttle’s facilities only 15 minutes ahead of takeoff—not two hours ahead. Enjoy free parking only steps from Ultimate Air’s facilities. No long lines to haltingly thread your way through, no belts or shoes to remove, and no mad dashes through the airport because you were stalled behind an unexpectedly large crowd at a security checkpoint.

Another factor involves a”added” costs, since you face none of those “hidden” costs of flying commercial. What about bags? At Ultimate Air, your bags fly free, and that includes those golf clubs or that canister with the tradeshow booth graphics in it. You don’t have to get a tape measure and see if the bag’s dimensions total 62 inches or any other crazy “gotcha” stipulation.

Snacks on the flight? Yes, and again, free: and this includes everything, from muffins with coffee and juice in the morning, to a cheese/meat plate and beer or wine on the flight home. Beats the stuffing out of a small cup of soda over ice and a few pretzels or peanuts, doesn’t it?

Plus, the flight attendant wants to be of service and provide for your comfort and satisfaction while in flight. And if you arrive early at your departure point, the Ultimate Air lounge features plush couches, free coffee, newspapers and more, all focused on providing comfort and relaxation for the busy business traveler.

So, what the flying public has in Ultimate Air Shuttle is VIP service with none of the hassle or cost add-ons of flying commercial. During October through November 26, the fare is $399 for round-trip Chicago flights out of CVG. That fare price includes free parking at CVG, no baggage fees, all applicable taxes and transportation fees, and free in-flight snacks and drinks.

Along with expanded service to Chicago, Ultimate Air recently added Friday service to Charlotte, North Carolina. The new additions are part of an expansion that includes another Mercedes van to accommodate Ultimate Air passengers who park at Lunken or CVG, and utilize both airports for their departures and arrivals.

For Rick Pawlak, managing director of Ultimate Air Shuttle, based in Cincinnati, the formula for success is a simple one. “We provide exceptional customer service to those who choose to fly with us and we save our customers time,” he said.
Ultimate Air Shuttle offers the flying public VIP jet service with convenience, time management, and amenities that set the carrier apart from the commercial industry, all at an affordable cost. Try Ultimate Air Shuttle, and we at Key magazine are betting you’ll never want to fly commercial again. See more at www.ultimateairshuttle.com.

CiTiRAMA is to established in-city neighborhoods what HOMERAMA® is to those more suburban, semi-rural areas—a collection of homes that showcase what is new and exciting for the urban dweller. Cincinnati’s bi-annual CiTiRAMA is at Witherby Meadows in College Hill, September 13-21.

CiTiRAMA Cincinnati-style is a bit more than these kinds of events have proven to be in other metro areas around the country, according to Dan Dressman, an official of the local Homebuilders Association. “This marks our 12th continuous event in partnership with the City of Cincinnati,” he said. “That’s the longest continuous streak by far of any city in the United States.”

CiTiRAMA in Cincinnati is held every two years, for the most part (back to back a few times since its inception), and has been a feature of the area since the mid 1990s. This years homes range in price from $239,000 – $289,000.

There is an attractive wild card for purchasers, dealt by the City of Cincinnati. The homebuyers receive a real estate tax abatement of 10, 12 or 15 years, depending on the home purchased. The land on which the home sits is taxed, but the improvement—the home value—is not taxed. This abatement can be as much as $78,000 in tax savings over the life of the arrangement, and it’s transferrable if the home is sold prior to expiration of the deal. The standard home receives a10-year abatement; a more easily accessible home obtains a 12-year deal; and a LEED energy-environment designed home gains the 15-year tax break.

“There has been a resurgence in urban living all across the country in recent years,” Dressman stated. “Our event gives people the opportunity to experience or get an idea of new-home ownership in an urban setting. And the city has been very aggressive in creating tax incentives to get people to relocate in the city. It’s a program that works for everybody.”

A prime reason for visiting this years’ CiTiRAMA is to see what is new: new in home construction, new in appliances and systems supporting the home, new in decorating and colors in vogue. “Each CiTiRAMA helps us show prospective homebuyers what the latest features and trends are in the new homebuilding market,” said Dressman.

In addition, there is a more important goal shared by homebuilders and the City. “We want to reintroduce people to urban lifestyles. Sometimes neighborhoods may be in decline and an infusion of new homes can help elevate them. That happened with our first CiTiRAMA in the Betts-Longworth area,” he said. In other cases, the new homes simply give people a reason for looking at an area they would not have considered if the CiTiRAMA experience did not encourage them to take a look.

No matter what your reason for attending, this years’ CiTiRAMA is waiting to show you it’s stuff. Food, snacks and beverages will be available. See you there!

Bar maven got her start stealing olives at cocktail parties

The first thing you’ll likely notice about the vivacious Molly Wellmann is that she loves cocktails and bars and mixing drinks and people socializing over spirits, preferably concocted from her rich imagination.

In Greater Cincinnati, Molly Wellmann is bar tender/owner par excellence. She owns several bars where the focus is entirely on adult beverages. In fact, she has turned the BYOB standard on its head, encouraging BYOF (bring your own food) in some of her drinking establishments.

She got her start in the bar biz at a tender age, she laughs. “As kids, my cousins and I used to go around at our family’s adult parties and steal the olives out of the martinis, so that’s where I got my start.

Now, more than a decade later, her favorite cocktail is a slightly dirty Beefeater martini on the rocks, made with two bar spoons of vermouth, two bar spoons of olive juice, and three olives. “It’s my family’s drink, for generations, and it’s just an excellent martini,” she stated.

Her love of those gin-soaked olives led to a career as a “mixologist,” studying spirits and cocktails and flavors that meld well in making mixed drinks.

Today, Wellmann owns, or has a stake, in four locations where the focus is adult beverages. Neon’s in Over the Rhine is known as OTR’s back patio. A huge courtyard with umbrella tables and chairs, grills and the like, where even your dog is welcome, as long as the pooch is a sociable type. Along with the bar, you’ll find an extensive selection of craft beers on tap, many of them local and of excellent quality.

Also in OTR is Japp’s since 1879, on Main at 12th Street. “Japp’s since 1879 is a great place to meet and socialize and just have fun,” she said.

Another of Wellmann’s establishments is the Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar, at 629 Main Street in Mainstrasse Village, in Covington (three minutes from downtown Cincinnati’s Fountain Square). As one might imagine, this bar celebrates whiskey, offering more than 350 varieties of American whiskey products, including rye whiskey, white dog whiskey and moonshine-type spirits.

Soon, Wellmann will open Myrtle’s Pub House, her newest bar, located at Woodburn and Myrtle in East Walnut Hills. “Myrtle’s is going to be a place where people in this area can gather and socialize—a neighborhood bar where everybody’s welcome. We’re looking forward to being a gathering place and Myrtle’s is just the perfect location,” she said.

All Wellmann’s bars have a friendly atmosphere, in part because of the personnel.

Every 63 years or so, a new barbecue sauce comes along that’s worthy of the Montgomery Inn pedigree.  That newcomer is Chipotle Barbecue Sauce from Montgomery Inn, a spicier version of the original taste profile—which has been licked off the ends of millions of fingers since 1951.

For visitors to Greater Cincinnati who may not know, Montgomery Inn is THE place for BBQ ribs in these parts.  In fact, people the likes of Bob Hope, America’s internationally known comedian, was so fond of ribs from Montgomery Inn, he made free TV commercials for the ribs, promoting them far and wide.  No surprise that celebrities, dignitaries, sports figures and even presidents of the United States have made Montgomery Inn a must-visit in order to enjoy the famous ribs whenever they came to town.

So now, a new sauce has been “invented” by the Montgomery Inn family, and the chipotle version spices up everything.  The original sauce was the personal creation of Matula Gregory, matriarch of Montgomery Inn’s fantastic success.  Husband Ted, later known as The Ribs King, ran a bar back in 1951, and asked his wife to cook up some ribs for him and a few of his buddies one night.  That’s how things started—everybody loved them, and that sauce!  “That sauce is great!” was the consensus of all who tried it.

In the family tradition born of that time and place, Tom Gregory, son of Matula and Ted, created the new version in the kitchens of Montgomery Inn.  He did it the hard way, through trial and error, using only quality, natural ingredients.  The new sauce is billed as a perfect marriage of the original’s sweet and spicy flavor, combined with the warm heat of smoked jalapeno peppers.

“We’re always listening to our patrons,” said Montgomery Inn VP Evan Andrews, “They’ve told us they’d like a spicier option.  So we put a lot of care into the new sauce. In staying true to our values, this new sauce contains no artificial flavors and the first ingredient is tomatoes, not water or corn syrup.  Just like the original.”

You can enjoy the new chipotle sauce at any of the Montgomery Inn locations, on ribs, chicken and more.  Also, the sauce is bottled for purchase and use at home.  Ask at the restaurant, or find Montgomery Inn sauces in regional Kroger and Remke markets.  The sauce is available for shipment worldwide at www.cincyfavorites.com.  And lest you might wonder who would do that, in 2013, Montgomery Inn sauce was recognized as one of the top mail order items ever, topping 30 million bottles shipped worldwide.

About Montgomery Inn: Famous for ribs, the first Montgomery Inn opened in 1951, and has since grown to include locations in downtown Cincinnati, Fort Mitchell, KY, Dublin, OH, and the original in Montgomery, OH.  It has been named one of the top 10 BBQ restaurants in the United States.  A long list of celebs have stopped in over the years, including Eric Clapton, Bill Cosby, Tommy LaSorda, James Brown, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Andre Agassi, and every U.S. president since Gerald Ford.