Lehigh Valley InSite

When asked what we do here at Discover Lehigh Valley I often answer, “We sell fun”. That’s over simplification, but you get the idea. We want everyone to know all the cool things there are to see and do in our great region.

Others who are charged with sharing their knowledge of the area are the fine folks at our PennDot Keystone Welcome Centers. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of escorting Kathy and Abeda on a “mini-familiarization” tour and duplicated the tour on Friday for Anne, April, Johnnie and Chris.

The Championship

The Championship is set.

Emerging from the left side of the bracket is 02 Lehigh Valley IronPigs and their opponent from the right side of the bracket is 01 Musikfest.

Both teams are family fun, summertime activities and as such had high expectations coming into the Lunacy.

Final Four

And there were four, the Final Four.

Lehigh Valley Lunacy, which began March 1st with 64 participants is now down to four teams playing in semi-final matchups to get to the Championship!

We Love Lehigh Valley

Dear Lehigh Valley,

Happy Valentine’s Day! We love living here and we wanted to share some of our most favorite things about you on this day of romance. So, sit back, relax and we hope you enjoy!

cupcake bowl1

Sometimes things just roll the right way and you get lucky in life. That happened to me just last week as I was chosen to be one of the four official judges (there was also the “People’s Choice Awards”) to cast my vote on the “Best Frosting,” “Best Cake,” “Best Decoration,” and “Best Overall Combo” at the Inaugural ArtsQuest™ Cupcake Bowl. I do have a background in judging food competitions and competing in cake decorating contests, and I have a degree from the Culinary Institute of America which kind of gives me the chops to judge this event, but I have never done cupcakes before. I’m also a super huge fan of Cupcake Wars, well anything on the Food Network or Cooking Channel for that matter.

So, the morning of December 29, I prepped my stomach with a banana and water and headed to ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks along with 425 others, to this sold-out event. There were 15 Lehigh Valley bakeries that participated with some entering three selections. All-in-all there were 39 cupcakes to try! Ahhhh … bliss AND sugar high AND then crash AND burn.

Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me A fine piece of jewelry from Cleo’s Gallery.

Ok, you get the idea. I’m not going to make you read the whole song, so here is my Twelve Days of Lehigh Valley gifts I’d like to receive boiled down for your reading pleasure …

Christmas Steins at Christkindlmarkt

My family doesn’t mess around when it comes to Christmas. Every square inch of my parent’s house in Mountoursville, Pa  is transformed into Christmas-land. Obviously we go with the basics; some lights on the outside of the house, tree decked out to the nines in the living room, but then we take it the extra mile.

We have not just one, but three trees (one with regular ornaments, one with all snowmen, and one with mice). Christmas plates get swapped out with the normal every day ones. We have a living room full of Santas. German Nutcrackers line the stairs. A dining room overflows with snowmen. Kitchen cabinets are topped with a collection of holiday Coca-Cola bottles.

25 Days of Lehigh Valley Giveaways

25 Days of Lehigh Valley Giveaways will run from today, November 30, through Christmas Eve.

Every day at around Noon, we will be posting a giveaway from a Lehigh Valley business or attraction on Facebook. We’ll ask a question along with that post and will then pick a winner from those who commented.

Please be sure to check our Facebook page every day because if you do not claim your prize within 24 hours it will be sent back to Santa’s workshop. Or just given to a new winner.

Below is a list of all the prizes we will be giving away in no particular order.

And we did.

There were plenty of options this year at Musikfest. There always are. Throughout the ‘fest we’ve documented our travels starting with this great video of the Slicked Up 9′s playing at the Musikfest Cafe opening night.

We also hit up the Young the Giant show, not a bad way to start the festing, and we weren’t done yet.

Boston at Musikfest 2012

They say that songs and scents are among the most powerful ways to conjure reminiscence. Sunday night’s Boston concert at Sands SteelStacks did just that for me. Sitting there among the packed audience under the stars on that sultry summer night, with the smell of Musikfest goodies and beer wafting into my nostrils and Boston belting out their songs just as they did in 1977, sent me right back to high school.

The group members juxtaposed old and new as several new additions complemented some original artists, but the sounds were authentic and the energy outstanding.