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Senin, 02 Januari 2012

Ushering in the New Year

Many cities in the United States have different customs for ringing in the new year. Dropping something from a great height to the sound of a countdown is one of the most popular traditions. In Bethlehem, we have the annual dropping of the Peep.

Peeps are a marshmallow confection made by Just Born, a family owned company located in Bethlehem. Although they make many different shapes and colors of this candy, the most popular is the yellow chick. It was a giant model of that particular Peep which was dropped from a crane at Steel Stacks on December 31, as part of Peeps Fest.

Pictured: blast furnaces lit up in holiday colors

Pictured: Peep in front of Levitt Pavilion, and Peep suspended from crane

Pictured: descending Peep

Pictured: fireworks display
Because Peeps Fest is a family-centric celebration, the dropping of the peep took place at 5:15pm, followed by a short fireworks display. It was a great reminder that people of all ages can have fun on New Year's Eve, even if they can't stay up to watch the dropping of the ball in Times Square.

Minggu, 25 Desember 2011

Christmas at the Exner House

The tradition I enjoy most this time of year, other than spending time with family and friends, is decorating the Christmas tree. Some of the decorations on my tree are handmade. Some ornaments are gifts from people I knew long ago. One is brand new this year. All of them have special meanings.

Pictured: tree during the day

Pictured: closeup of tree during the day

Pictured: cross stitched Mickey Mouse

Pictured: cross stitched Minnie Mouse

Pictured: cross stitched Donald Duck

Pictured: newest ornament, acquired on Wheeling trip in November

Pictured: tree in the afternoon
Merry Christmas, from my house to yours! I hope whatever you do to celebrate, you enjoy this time of year.

Sabtu, 24 Desember 2011

Christmas City Village, Bethlehem PA

Because Christkindlmarkt was moved to South Bethlehem this year, there was an opening for another holiday-centric market in the downtown area. This led to the establishment of the first ever Christmas City Village located on Main Street, behind the historic Sun Inn.

The market is smaller than Christkindlmarkt, but there's enough variety to make shopping there interesting. As usual, Jay and I mostly bought food items. I was tempted to buy some wonderful potpourri that smelled strongly of oranges, but didn't for fear that it would annoy Jay's allergies in some way.

Pictured: entrance to Christmas City Village

Pictured: greenery for sale

Pictured: pottery display

Pictured: potpourri vendor

Pictured: yummy treats for purchase

Pictured: back view of the Sun Inn museum
I have to wonder what the market would have looked like earlier in the month and on a less cold and dreary day. The space is big enough to handle a large crowd of people. Hopefully, they'll have even more vendors there next year.

Jumat, 23 Desember 2011

Modern Version of a Farmer's General Store

When I heard that The Sands was adding a mall to their casino in Bethlehem, I didn't think I'd be excited about the choice of stores. I was wrong. One of my favorite shops from The Quarter in Atlantic City's Tropicana now has a Bethlehem location, and I couldn't be happier!

The shop is The Old Farmer's Almanac General Store. They have an online store, but it lacks the joy of seeing how beautifully displayed the items are in the physical store.

I got caught taking photographs by an employee. I thought he might ask me to stop, but he offered to pose for me, instead. Thanks, Eugene! All of the employees were equally as nice and helpful. That makes going to the shop an even better experience. I know I'll be sure to visit there every time I go to The Sands.

Sabtu, 10 Desember 2011

2011 Christmas Vacation, Day 3: Pittsburgh, PA

The final day of our trip was the drive home from Wheeling, WV by way of Pittsburgh, PA. We had a three hour tour of Pittsburgh, but unfortunately it was raining, so we didn't get very many decent pictures of the city's sites.

By the time we stopped for lunch, the rain had stopped. Our best photographs are of the area where we spent our afternoon, PPG Place. Resembling a castle, PPG Place is a series of six buildings that are easily the most beautiful modern buildings in the city.

Pictured: tree and skating rink at PPG Place

Pictured: gingerbread house display at PPG Place
One of the PPG buildings had a food court, so that's where we headed for our lunch. It was very crowded, so we went for a vendor that didn't have a super long line. Jay and I both ended up having pizza from Sbarro. As usual, Jay's pizza had a lot of meat, and mine was a white pizza with fresh tomatoes.

Pictured: white pizza with spinach and tomatoes
After lunch, we went to a different PPG building in the complex. The Wintergarden was decorated for the holidays with a huge tree, a train display with more gingerbread houses and the annual "Spirits of Giving Around The World" exhibit. The exhibit consists of life sized figures representing the spirit of the holidays in various countries throughout the world.

Pictured: figure of St Stephen (Ireland)

Pictured: tree with train and gingerbread houses display
Jay and I tried walking around outside a little, but it was cold and very windy, so all we did was walk around the building before coming back inside. I'd love to visit the city again when it's warmer and more dry. I always imagined Pittsburgh being a dirty, run down city, but it's actually a lot nicer than I expected. It's a very culturally diverse city with many interesting places to explore.

The rest of our drive home was fairly relaxing. We watched a DVD of Elf on the bus before stopping at Bob Evans in Carlisle, PA for supper. I was still feeling fairly full from lunch, so I had a small cup of beef vegetable soup for supper. It was a welcome change from the buffet suppers of the previous two days.

This was the second bus trip Jay and I took with Transbridge in 2011. I have to say that I enjoy traveling with them very much. Their prices are reasonable, they have great tour guides and drivers, the tours are well planned and, while they seem geared toward an older traveler, they have enough activity to keep younger travelers well occupied. I hope to go on another one of their trips in 2012.

Selasa, 06 Desember 2011

2011 Christmas Vacation, Day 2 (afternoon/evening): Centre Market, Good Zoo and Light Show

Our afternoon started with lunch at Wheeling's Centre Market. To get to the restaurant area, we passed through an exhibit of paintings, pottery and other artwork created by local artists. We decided to keep lunch simple, knowing that we were having another buffet supper.

Pictured: entrance to the Centre Market

Pictured: Wisconsin cheese soup, egg salad sandwich
After our bus tour of the city of Wheeling, we stopped at the Festival of Lights Christmas Shop, for yet another chance to buy holiday themed souvenirs. I had to resist the temptation to load up on new ornaments for my Christmas tree.

We also visited Good Zoo, a small zoo created by the Good family in honor of their son who died from leukemia. We were supposed to see a laser light show in the afternoon, but we had to come back later for it because it wasn't working. Instead, we saw the zoo's train display and visited with the zoo animals.

Pictured: Good Zoo photograph booth

Pictured: railroad display's steel mill
After finishing up at the zoo, we went back to the lodge for our supper. Once again, the food was very good, but there was way too much of it. The only regret I had after supper was having two desserts. One would have been enough.

Pictured: beef stew, squash, rice, pasta salad, vegetable lasagne

Pictured: pumpkin cake, key lime pie
Our evening ended with a trip back to Good Zoo to see the laser light show, followed by the famous Wheeling Winter Festival of Lights. The displays were very impressive. My personal favorite was the dinosaurs.

Pictured: dinosaur light display
It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun. Definitely worth the trip from eastern Pennsylvania to West Virginia to see the lights.

Sabtu, 03 Desember 2011

2011 Christmas Vacation, Day 2 (morning): Oglebay Park

Day 2 of our Wheeling WV trip was spent touring Oglebay Park and the city of Wheeling. We also went to the Good Zoo and saw the Winter Festival of Lights show. Since I have so many pictures to share, I'm breaking Day 2 into two posts: one for the morning and the other for the rest of the day.

We began our day with a buffet breakfast. Buffets are a great place to overeat, and I'm especially likely to do that at breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day!

Pictured: scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, cinnamon bun, fried apples
What I didn't photograph was the second plate of food, consisting of two small blueberry pancakes and syrup. Having eaten all of that, Jay and I decided to go for a walk around the property before our tour group was scheduled to meet. Almost as soon as we left the parking lot, we saw deer. There were five deer in the small herd that approached us. They aren't afraid of people, since they're protected on the property.

Pictured: Jay taking a photograph of a deer
After our walk, we met up with the rest of our tour group for visits to the various buildings on the property: the Carriage Glass House and museum, the greenhouse complex, the gourmet food shop and the Mansion Museum.

Pictured: stained glass in the Carriage House

Pictured: Christmas display in the gourmet food shop

Pictured: looking down into the greenhouse complex

Pictured: Sharon and the 4'10" Sweeney punchbowl
One of my favorite pictures is the photograph of me standing next to the Sweeney punchbowl in the glass museum. The Sweeney brothers were well known glass makers in the 19th century, and this was their most famous piece. It once stood on Michael Sweeney's grave, but has been moved indoors to protect it from vandalism.

Rabu, 30 November 2011

2011 Christmas Vacation, Day 1: Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, WV

I haven't posted for the last few days because I was away from home. Jay and I like to take a short holiday-centered vacation at the end of the year. Two years ago, we went to Atlantic City for a Christmas show. Last year, we went to Hershey Park. This year, we went to the Winter Festival of Lights at Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling, WV.

Pictured: view from our balcony at Oglebay

Pictured: decorated hallway on the way to lobby
The resort looked beautiful with all kinds of Christmas displays in almost every corner of the common areas. The rustic lodge is no doubt lovely in all of the other seasons, but I can't imagine it looking more festive at any other time of the year. My personal favorite area was the hallway we passed through to go from the guest rooms to the restaurants and main lobby.

Pictured: dining area before guests arrived
The room where we ate our first supper was made to look like a winter scene, with trees decorated in blue, silver and white. Our meal was served buffet style, with way too many delicious choices. I tried my best to limit myself, but I know I ate way more than I should have, especially given that supper was after 6pm.

Pictured: pot roast, dinner roll with butter, potatoes, baked pasta, green beans, carrots, potato salad

Pictured: brownie and peanut butter pie, cake with pineapple
After we finished eating, we were entertained by singer and piano player Ron Retzer. He was accompanied by his guitar player, Kelly.

The two musicians performed both Christmas music and a few of their favorite classic rock songs, much to the delight of their audience. After their show was over, Jay and I went back to our room for the evening. We decided to go to sleep early so we could spend time exploring before our tour started in the morning.

Minggu, 20 November 2011

Christkindlmarkt, Bethlehem PA

I went to Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem for the first and only time a few years ago with my best friend. Unfortunately, it was held in an area that was prone to flooding from the nearby Monacacy Creek. When we were there, everything was damp and cold, and very dark inside the tents. I didn't feel at all inspired to return.

This year, the market was moved to the ArtsQuest campus, so Jay and I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad we did. Everything was better! The inside of the tents was warm, clean and well lit, and having a big inside area for eating and entertainment made it much more welcoming.

Pictured: outside of the tents

Pictured: decorated aisle within vendor tent

Pictured: vendor selling official Christmas City goods

Pictured: pastries for sale

Pictured: food vendors

Pictured: krainerwurst sandwich, German potato salad, sauerkraut

Pictured: performance by the Paula Scott Duo
Jay and I spent a couple hours at Christkindlmarkt. We walked through the two tents, ate lunch while listening to the Paula Scott Duo perform, walked outside to see the ice sculpting and glassblowing and finished up by buying a few items from various crafters. We now have an edible birdhouse, pumpkin bread, a small blueberry pie and a box of mulling spices.

It's beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas now!