Lehigh Valley InSite

Photo Credit: http://www.erikaliodice.com/

My idea of a perfect concert is seeing an act I love at an intimate venue that’s close by with plenty of parking, all for an affordable price. In other words: a pipe dream. Seeing an act I love usually requires battling traffic to get to Philly or Manhattan, paying an obscene amount to park, and contending with large crowds.

So when I learned that one of my favorite singers, Ingrid Michaelson, was performing right here in Lehigh Valley at Muhlenberg College for $20 per ticket, I couldn’t purchase mine fast enough. On the way to the show last Sunday, however, doubt started to set in. Were we substituting traffic jams and expensive parking for an evening surrounded by drunken college kids?

Lehigh Beats Duke

This past Friday night, lightning stuck for the second time in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Just hours after Norfolk State stuns Missouri to become just the 5th 15th seed in NCAA history to upset a #2 seed, Lehigh finished off Duke to make it 6 times. And Lehigh Valley went crazy.

Here’s a little history lesson: you know of the two most recent 15 over 2′s, but the others are Hampton over Iowa State in 2001, Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997, Santa Clara over Arizona in 1993, and the first time it happened was Richmond over Syracuse in 1991.

SnowBall-2012

Having been born and raised in Lehigh Valley for 43 years, and working for Discover Lehigh Valley for the last 13 years, I’ve been awarded the opportunity to explore quite a few attractions and attend many events. At this point it’s not too often that I can say I did something for a first time in Lehigh Valley; however that was not the case this past Saturday night. For this particular night, that holds true for the location AND the event itself, which is even rarer. So, where’d I go you ask? I attended the 23rd Anniversary Small Business Council of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Snow Ball 2012.

This was not your typical monthly mixer by any means. This year, the event took place at University Center at DeSales University, Center Valley. This was a new venue for the event and one of the buildings I had never been to before. As we pulled into the enormous campus there were luminaries that lined the roads to direct the traffic which was a nice touch being that there are so many buildings on campus.

Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce

This blog post is hot off the press. I just got back to the office from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting & Awards. I haven’t seen so many suits in a room since…well, last year’s event. Let’s just say it would make many a dry cleaner smile. Lunch is served but that’s not the reason local business leaders pile into Stabler Arena every year. It’s all about the networking.

With almost 1,000 people in attendance it is amazing how few people are new faces, maybe that’s because I’ve been going to this Election Day event for nine years. After much coaxing by the chamber staff, eventually everyone takes their seats and digs in to their boxed lunch to see what “culinary delights” are inside. Like I said, the lunch isn’t why we go.

Hamlet - 3

Most people, whether fans of Shakespeare or not, are familiar with this renowned opening line of the soliloquy presented by a distraught Hamlet reckoning the meaning of life. Its delivery by actor Justin Adams of The Acting Company at last night’s rendition of the play had the audience members on the edge of their seats.

In all, it’s no surprise the cast of Hamlet received a standing ovation after its performance on the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Main Stage in the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. The applause can be attributed as much to their stellar acting as to an audience showing appreciation that national-caliber thespians make Lehigh Valley home for nearly two months each summer.

Pride & Prejudice

Oh that Mr. Darcy! The most “abhorrent, repulsive, vulgar, rude, man in all of Hertfordshire” invaded Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival last night, much to my delight.

Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have the greatest love story ever written. This production, which started it’s run last night, captured the essence of one of my favorite novels. The quick pace of the play was especially focused on the humor of Jane Austin’s writing, which was so refreshing.

AtBarneyLive

The lights dim. Small children wait in anticipation. Then it happens. You hear this:

“I love you. You love me. We’re a happy family….”  It’s BARNEY LIVE!!!!!!

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

Last Friday night I took my mom to The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University. It was her first time, and she couldn’t believe that we have such high quality talent and a wonderful venue to view performances right in here in Lehigh Valley. Me on the other hand … I’m a veteran to the festival and I look forward to going each year. The hardest part for me is deciding which performance to see!

Typically my show nights start with dinner. I normally pack a dinner and a bottle of wine and sit on the lawn outside the theatre and listen to the music and improv performances. This year the weather was a little iffy so we decided to dine at Melt at The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. It also happened to be my mom’s first time there … she doesn’t get out too much. She will definitely be heading back to Melt soon!

South Pacific

I often wondered why I love musicals so much, and Saturday night I figured it out. Unlike movies with a good plot and great acting, concerts with wonderful music and powerful singing, or performances by nimble dance ensembles, musicals are a combination of all three. When done well, they are unforgettable.

Case in point, South Pacific … the quintessential musical (you’re probably humming “Some Enchanted Evening” right now, aren’t you?).

Lost River Caverns

Call me old fashioned, or stubborn even, but I don’t have air conditioning…not in my car or in my 100 year-old apartment. And since I have yet to reach millionaire status, I haven’t gotten around to installing a pool in my apartment either. So when summer comes each year, I look for fun and affordable things to do to beat the heat. One way I recently found is to take a trip to Lost River Caverns in Hellertown, and at 52° all year it’s perfect for cooling down in the sweltering heat.

Lost River Caverns is a series of beautiful underground chambers in a cave that descends 100 feet below the earth’s surface. Over the course of roughly 250,000 years, water slowly dissolved the limestone, forming winding caverns and leaving behind stalactites, stalagmites and picturesque crystal formations in its wake. Lost River Caverns is named for the “lost river” that flows through it, which is aptly named since the origin and destination of the river remain a mystery (They’ve made several unsuccessful attempts at getting to the bottom of it, including sending out 150 ping pong balls with their name and phone number on them).