Ted's Montana Grill

Ted’s Montana Grill is a relatively new restaurant chain owned by Ted Turner. There are about 50 locations in 18 states. I ate at the one in Kansas City, Kansas.

Ted’s boasts about two things – fresh ingredients and eco-friendly. Our waitress informed us that there are no microwaves at Ted’s and no freezers (except for the ice cream). Everything is freshly prepared. The restaurant also uses recycled paper for its menus and no plastic – not even the straws.

There are basically three meats to choose from at Ted’s – beef, chicken and bison. They also have a couple of fish entrees. You can choose from almost 20 ways to get a burger – beef or bison – and about 15 ways to get a chicken sandwich. They also offer bison and beef steaks.

As an appetizer, I opted for the chili fries. Homemade fries covered with bison chili, cheese and dried jalapenos. They were very tasty and also very filling.

Because of the filling appetizer, I was tempted to opt for just a soup and salad for dinner, but my eyes got the better of me and convinced me to order the 7 oz. fillet. It was very tender and flavorful and came with a vegetable and potato. I opted for squash casserole, which I did not care for, and a sweet potato.

I was too stuffed for desert, although the waitress tempted me with strawberry shortcake.

My beverage of choice throughout the meal was freshly squeezed lemonade. Delicious.

Overall, pretty good food, but in my opinion nothing that really separates it from other steakhouses.

2007 Corvette

Taking a page from the most recent issue of Conde Nast, where they included a review of a Cadillac in conjunction with a story about a driving tour through the Alps , I’ll add my insights into the 2007 Corvette, which I had the privilege of driving for about 90 minutes recently.

Opting for a more scenic drive from the Cincinnati area to Indianapolis versus an all interstate route, gave me the opportunity to put the car through some paces on some narrow two-lane highways. The car has power. Of course it does, it’s a Corvette. What it also has is a lot of grip. I put the car through some 30-35 mph curves at 65-70 mph, and the car hardly felt bothered by it one bit. It sailed through the turns with ease. The unobtrusive heads-up display on the windshield allowed me to monitor both my speed and the number of g’s (never much above 0.2) while keeping my eye on the road.

Of course, you don’t get into a Corvette expecting to have the roominess of a sedan, but there’s really no extra room at all. If it won’t fit in the center console, it needs to go in the small trunk. My one “complaint” if you will. The Corvette seemed fairly noisy, especially on the highway – granted it was a convertible, but it still seemed a bit too loud.

All in all, it was a great drive, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

St. Petersburg, Florida

I've made three trips to St. Petersburg recently on business and have decided I'm definitely going back on vacation. In late March/early April, the sun always seems to be shining in St. Pete. Temps have been in the 70s, and the humidity hasn't been as unbearable as later in the year. The St. Pete area has several of the states top-rated beaches, and it's less than two hours from Disney World.

My hotel stays have always been at the Radisson on Roosevelt Boulevard. While it's not really within walking distance of anything, it's less than a five-minute drive to several restaurants, and it's about 20 minutes from downtown St. Pete. The Radisson features large rooms with two sets of doors to increase the feeling of privacy. During my last stay, I was right next to a reception hall with a wedding reception. The front desk staff graciously helped me move to a room on a higher floor.