Swedish Meatballs at IKEA

Due to the cold, rainy weather, it was decided to spend the second part of our first day in Cincinnati somewhere inside. Walking around Grandma's Gardens wasn't too bad because it was in the low 60s, but it was drizzly and after a few hours out in that, we wanted to be somewhere warm. Kara and I had never been to an IKEA store, so the decision was unanimous to go there next.


While en route, we encountered some bumper-to-bumper traffic where we sat idling for quite some time. All of a sudden, a continual warning beep began to sound in our van, and Kara noticed the temperature gauge was all the way in the hot zone. We got off at the next exit and pulled into a gas station. I opened the hood and called Romie. He suggested we call AAA, but after sitting there for awhile, the gauge went right down and we figured it was due to sitting for a long time in traffic. We decided to go on to IKEA, which we did with no problems.

For those of you that are familiar with IKEA, you know how fun it can be to walk through the store and be amazed by the creativity and design genius behind so much of what they sell. And the fact that they can sell it for such reasonable prices make it even more enticing. If you aren't familiar with IKEA, their concept is:

"Provide functional, well-designed furniture at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. Create a better everyday life for the many people."

The first IKEA store opened in Sweden in 1958 and the company is now headquartered in The Netherlands. There are currently 296 stores in 36 countries and they are the world's largest furniture manufacturer.

Many IKEA stores also have restaurants that serve some typical Swedish foods. We had a late lunch/early supper while there and I had the Swedish meatballs. They were wonderful and the lingonberry sauce combined with the meatball sauce made them especially tasty. I wanted to try the almond cake, but they were out of it.


We all agreed that much of the furniture wouldn't hold up under many years of use, but it certainly was nice for the money and the design details were impressive.


We spent a lot of time in the organizational products area, as all three of us love that kind of thing. Kara bought some storage containers and I purchased some modern design metal hangers for use in our downstairs coat closet. Four of them were $1.99 on clearance.


I've been looking for a rug for our front porch that can withstand the weather and IKEA had just the thing! It was made of sisal and interwoven with spring green fibers and had a matching border all the way around. I plan to put it in the area where we have the porch swing and matching chair that my dad made for us.


When we decided to call it a day, it was pouring down rain and we were glad that our Homewood Suites room was just a short distance away. All in all, it was a good day and we were glad to relax and rest up for the big day on Monday, when we would attend the Cincinnati Flower Show.