Lehigh Valley InSite

Ribbon-Cutting

This morning I was among a large crowd of people celebrating the official grand opening of the Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce’s Office and Visitor Center. For years the chamber operated without a space of their own. Laura Long, the Chamber Executive used space in her house and her car as an office but her Board of Directors decided it was time for “bricks and mortar”.

That’s when the law of attraction kicked in. Not only did they find an empty space, they found a fabulous space, the old Bixler’s Jewelry store in the Lehigh Valley Mall parking lot. Visibility couldn’t be better; it is at the intersection of Rt. 22 and MacArthur Road, a gateway to Lehigh Valley.

GeoCaching

After a long hard day of relaxing, my girlfriend and I decided to lace up our sneakers and go geocaching for a little bit. It’s always fun to do in the valley, something you can do on a whim, for a small amount of time or the entire day.

I understand that you’re probably wondering what geocaching is, in the wise words of Kate it’s an adult scavenger hunt. A proper definition would be “Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.”

Blueberry Festival

Summer time in Lehigh Valley means one thing, the beginning of festival season.  The festival lineup has grown over the past few years and now includes some great events including Musikfest, Kutztown Folk Festival and The Great Allentown Fair.

The summer is also highlighted by Historic Bethlehem Partnership’s Blueberry Festival at Burnside Plantation.

London 2012

Although a few soccer games have been played, the Olympics don’t truly start until after the opening ceremonies. Those take place, this Friday Night at 7:30. So in honor of the Olympics, I’d like to share with you a list of those Olympians with Lehigh Valley ties.

Bobby Lea (USA) – Track Cycling – Last year’s World Series of Bicycling Rider of the Year and a fan favorite at our very own Valley Preferred Cycling Center. He’ll be looking for gold in the Omnium.

Cat-on-a-Hot-Tin-Roof

The husband and I headed out for a date night, a rare occasion since we have a 3-year-old at home. That darn baby had a sleepover at Nana’s so we had a night to paint the town.

We headed out to the Copperhead Grill in Center Valley for dinner before Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s production of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Not So Lonesome Losers

Have you heard about the lonesome loser, beaten by the queen of hearts every time? As these lyrics belted out from the Little River Band’s front man Wayne Nelson, I couldn’t help but think these are far from “loser” seats. In actuality seats three through eight in section 600 might be the best seats I’ve had for a show in a long time. If you haven’t made your way to the Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest™ Center at SteelStacks™ yet, I suggest you get there soon and see for yourself.

Much Ado About Nothing

Last Friday night my friend Linda and I packed a bottle of wine and headed to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival to catch “Much Ado About Nothing”. The annual festival, held on the campus of DeSales University, is top quality professional theater right here in Lehigh Valley. I try to attend at least one show every year but I wish I could see them all.

Normally I start the evening watching the “On The Green” musical performance but a light drizzle gave those musicians a night off. We decided to pick up a quick dinner from the Shakespeare Café rather than packing our own picnic basket and were just as entertained by chatting with the volunteers staffing the tent.

07.12.12-Jr-Nationals-Day-2-488x293

The Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Trexlertown, also know as The Velodrome or T-town, has hosted many huge events. World Cups, Olympic trials, World Championships, National Championships and other various major international events.

Last week, they played host to the 2012 USA Cycling Juniors Track National Championships. If you missed it, shame on you!

BounceU Birthday Party

ME: “Rosie, what kind of birthday party would you like?”

ROSIE: “A Dora Bouncy Party!!!”

ME: “huh?”

I’m generally new to this birthday party thing, so I asked some other Moms at her school what Rosie meant?!? They told me the place to go in Lehigh Valley for a BOUNCY party was BOUNCE U!

Team Leader

Lehigh Valley is a great place to live, work, raise a family, and … become a leader. You see, each year Leadership Lehigh Valley chooses a class of up and coming eager business men and woman to help transform our community.

I happened to attend the graduation dinner and award’s ceremony for the Class of 2012 a couple of weeks ago at ArtsQuests’s SteelStacks. The venue was the perfect location, the food was excellent and the service was the best I’ve had there to date. Jeffrey Parks, President of ArtsQuest, was the keynote speaker and with his background and leadership skills this was the perfect choice for a great graduation speech to this class.