Lehigh Valley InSite

Arts Ovation Lunch

This past Thursday I had the pleasure of attending Allentown Arts Commission’s 24th annual Arts Ovation Awards Luncheon held at the Holiday Inn Center City Allentown. The arts hold a prominent place in Lehigh Valley culture and collectively make our job promoting the region that much easier.

I was glad to see the program insert listed all past recipients. This year’s honorees join an impressive “who’s-who” list in Lehigh Valley’s art world. The ballroom was packed with those happy to applaud the 2012 winners and their contributions. Entertained was provided by Dieruff High School’s Jazz Band and Civic Theatre.

Dinosaurs Alive

Last week, a few of us from Discover Lehigh Valley got a chance to tour the newest exhibit at Dorney Park: Dinosaurs Alive! I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but no matter how ready I was, I still think it would have totally blown my mind when I saw these dinosaurs up close.

The entrance reminded me of a scene from Jurassic Park, with the entrance gated off right next to their iconic roller coaster, Steel Force. Dinosaurs Alive! consists of 30 life-size dinosaurs, each of which has information listed detailing where they came from and fun facts about their diet and habitat. Some of the stations even had interactive outlines of the dinosaur complete with buttons that would move the corresponding body part, depending on what you pushed.

workout station

This week I started a new kind of blog post. My goal was for a “Where in the World is Waldo” type of guessing game. I posted a picture (see main picture) of a Lehigh Valleylocation and gave a few clues to help you out. My two clues from this week were:

1. This workout station is within a short walking distance of a multitude of colors and sweet fragrances come summertime.

Cali Burrito

Cali Burrito is located on Hamilton Boulevard, just down from Dorney Park, across from the (now closed) Burger King. With an extensive menu of Mexican delight it’s hard to think of a better place to go in the Valley.

With that said, here are the top five things to get at Cali Burrito. You’ll notice that they’re not all food items…

Opening Night - The Late Innings

Opening Night - The Late Innings

Last week, I had a Lehigh Valley baseball lover’s dream week. I was at our beloved Coca-Cola Park four days last week. I don’t think weeks get any better than that (at least not for a baseball fan). Oh, and did I mention that the IronPigs are 2-0 on the season, very much the same start I had in attending games to start last season.

Shop!

This past Saturday my sister and I decided to have a girl’s day/night in the valley. I suckered her into running a few errands first, like food shopping. After that we were supposed to go to the gym together, but while in the car she said “do you want to skip the gym and go to the mall instead?” Without skipping a beat I shouted YES! Good thing my apartment is on the way to the mall because we pretty much played ding dong ditch with the groceries.

Warning: for inquiring minds or shopping extraordinaires who are reading this, I added visuals to sooth your thoughts of “I wonder what *insert item* she chose or was looking at?”

Cask Beer Festival

This past Saturday, I attended the Great Allentown Brew Works Cask Beer Festival with my brother / fellow beer aficionado, Bill. There were about 30 limited edition cask varieties available, many of which were brewed especially for this event. I’d estimate that there were a few hundred people enjoying the samples, and we had some great conversations with other beer lovers and home brewers from Lehigh Valley.

Allentown Brew Works did a great job involving local Pennsylvania breweries, including Weyerbacher, Victory, Yards, Prism and SlyFox, among other notable breweries from across the country. If I had to decide my favorite cask conditioned ale, I’d have to say it was definitely the Scotch Ale from Bethlehem Brew Works. I think…

Antique Toy & Collectible Show

This past weekend, the magical world of toys came to Lehigh Valley. This world is unlike any other and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Antique Toy & Collectible Show was held at Merchants Square Mall and it was wonderful. I got to see toys from my childhood, which made me feel old, and then I saw toys from my fathers and grandfather’s childhoods and that made me feel young.

There weren’t just toys either, there were albums and costumes (Mr. Peanut pictured in the Gallery and an Iron Man suit as well), there where parts for old toy cars and kits and parts for track cars.

Ann Elizabeth Schlegel

As I’ve mentioned in the past, an informal group of downtown Allentown workers get together for happy hour every “First Monday.” March’s gathering was held at Sangria, conveniently located on the first floor of our office building.

I could tell you about the complimentary hors d’ oeuvres served (which were delicious) or the drink specials (including sangria), but I’d rather talk about the two special invited guests, Ann Elizabeth Schlegel and Adam Motto.

City of Allentown Trash Cans

The main mission of this blog is to talk about our local experiences in Lehigh Valley to benefit the tourism industry and to spread the word about the exciting things our region has to offer. Whether it’s a play we’ve seen, a restaurant we’ve dined at, a quaint shop where we found that unique gift for that special someone, or an adventure we had at one of Lehigh Valley’s many attractions … you’ll pretty much read about it on our blog. But, for this post, I needed to reflect on tourism in general in Lehigh Valley.

Here’s the scoop on tourism in our region: