One should not go to Ohio without visiting Jungle Jims. The first clue you get that you are somewhere unusual is the giant anaconda swallowing the life size monorail. The giraffes are cool too. Another clue was the tour guide in the Jungle hat leading a group of tourists from Indiana through the wine vault while I presented my line of wines. All the wines were standing out as fabulous which is a rarity. Wines are funny. They always taste different in every state. If I am on a multi-state trip, the Cabernet may be the star in one state and the Pinot Noir in the next. But, not this time. The tour group was peering through the wine cellar glass wondering if I was real. I was standing between rows of $1000.00 per bottle Cabernet's. I was smiling holding a bottle of $25.00 per bottle Stratton Lummis 05 Cab. I was wondering if I was real too. I moved which caused two tourists to jump.
Jungle Jims is filled with all sorts of oddities. Robin Hood stands above Sherwood Forest. A life size Trix Rabbit plays with a Lucky Charms Leprechaun. The place is huge. Imagine two massive warehouses’ filled with thousands of aisles and shelves. No pallets. There are numerous fish tanks, a 2000 pound hunk of cheese, King Louie’s actual throne (not a gold chair but the place he went when nature called), a replica of the Statue of Liberty, separate rooms dedicated to the food of different countries, and endless rows of just about everything. There really is a Jungle Jim, but do not call him Jim. His friends call him Jungle. I am told he started by selling cantaloupes out the back of his pickup truck. He is my kind of guy. I am lover of Horatio Alger stories.
That night we had our first wine dinner at Honey’s. The owner and staff were great. The dinner was impressive. That’s when I got invited to Chillicothe, almost bought a beardie puppy, heard why my last incentive was a dismal failure from Stacey, met Joe who use to date Heidi who mistakenly threatened to fight Dearkiller, all of which happened before we even got to dessert.