Lehigh Valley InSite

Event Center VIP Suites

Some of my colleagues and I had the opportunity to tour the all new Sands® Bethlehem Event Center last week. The venue is sure to impress.

Without giving too much away, the color and décor leads to the upscale feel that I’m sure they were going after.

Sugars Stage & Spirits

I can’t even count how many times I’ve written a post about a cool local pub in Lehigh Valley only to follow with “I wish this place was in my neighborhood.” Well, after years of my beloved local pub, the Klecknersville Hotel being shuttered, Kim Kerstetter came to the rescue and re-opened the old stone structure as Sugars Stage & Spirits (658 Point Phillips Rd, Bath, PA 18014) Thanks, Kim!

Some changes were made to the interior, such as the much needed kitchen expansion and subsequent move of the pool table to another room. The furnishings and art work are way funkier that the old K-ville hotel, too, but you just can’t take the history out of an old building like this one. It still has the “neighborhood watering-hole” vibe, like on “Cheers”.

Sushi at Ichiban

My old college roommates and I couldn’t wait to get together for a girls only weekend, so I immediately jumped into planning mode. Being close to nightlife, shopping, and food were a must, and since I’m getting familiar with Lehigh Valley, why not bring it to Bethlehem?

The Comfort Suites Bethlehem seemed like the best option, and thanks to their help, we had a great suite with two queen beds, a sitting area, and a fridge and microwave (thank goodness, because I am the queen of leftovers). It was spacious, our beds were comfortable, and the front desk attendants were more than welcoming. Just a little tip: the hotel has hot breakfast, allows furry friends, and has a free shuttle to Sands Casino.

Tesla @ The Peak

If you’re a fan of Tesla you’ll definitely know the rest. This hair-metal band from Sacramento, CA invaded Penn’s Peak just over a week ago and I wasn’t going to miss it. Thanks to some long time friends, I found myself with some great tickets. My wife and I, along with a few buddies (Raven, Kratzke and Hec, told them I’d give them a shout out), found ourselves a driver and hit the highway for a night at “The Peak.” It had been quite a long hiatus since I was at the mountain, in fact it was for a wedding (I’m happy to report the couple is still married and doing well).

The acoustic show was fabulous as they played a few songs off their current album, Twisted Wires, and a ton of songs from their catalog over the years, like Modern Day Cowboy, Hang Tough and the all too familiar Signs … to name a few. The venue is a great place to see a show and the capacity crowd of almost 1,500 wasn’t disappointed as these guys really rocked this night. I’ve had the luxury to see them about 10 times over the years and I would put this show up against any. From the venue – to the crowd – to the friends I shared the evening with, it was a great night all around. The best part was having that designated driver for the trip back into Lehigh Valley.

Laughing until I cry

This past Saturday was my roommates birthday, and what Valley based activity did she want to do? Go to the comedy club, so to Wise Crackers Comedy Club we went. For those of you who don’t know about Wise Crackers, it’s located in the Ramada Allentown/Whitehall. What? Where’s the Ramada? It’s behind Best Buy, on Route 145, in most cases you take the jug handle to get to it.

The MC was pretty funny, a dry humor which is right up my alley. Laurence Mullaney was one of the openers, he was pretty good, cracked a few funnies. The best was, of course, the headliner, Mike Eagan. He had me laughing so hard that I let out my hearty, loud, belly laugh several times. It’s tough to get me to laugh like that; I try to keep it for a private setting, like the comfort of my own home while watching Christmas Vacation or another funny flick.

Best of 2011

I’m not sure about you, but if I had my druthers I would probably spend New Year’s Eve at home and would be fast asleep by midnight. This year was different though in Lehigh Valley. There were major events taking place in the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Events that even made the major papers including the Peep drop at 5:15 p.m., mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. That’s a huge kudos to Lehigh Valley’s cities and attractions.

 This year I chose to attend the largest of the events that were being held, Allentown’s 250th Anniversary “Bells will be Ringing” Inaugural Gala. The event took place at the Holiday Inn in downtown Allentown. There were about 200 people in attendance for a night of food, libations, dancing AND an outdoor celebration that included the dropping of a faux Liberty Bell, ice carvings, fire dancers, horse drawn carriage rides, music performances and more. Allentown will be hosting events throughout the entire year to promote its semiquincentennial. To find a full list you can visit www.Allentown250.com.

Prime Steak House

This past week, the staff here at Discover Lehigh Valley went out for our annual holiday party. The location chosen was Prime Steak House in Bethlehem, a steakhouse with a very inviting atmosphere and some delicious cuts of meat. Since we were dining at Prime, I had to go with the prime rib … medium rare, of course. It broke my heart to see a few of my coworkers ordering their steaks well and medium well, but apparently they prefer to have the flavor cooked out of their steaks!

We were able to enjoy a delicious meal with plenty of laughs and stories to be told. It’s truly special to work somewhere where my coworkers and I can have a great time and enjoy each other’s company, especially out of the office and after hours.

Ugly Sweater

It’s that time of year folks, the time of cheer, the hustle and bustle of shopping, exchanging presents with friends and family….and looking at some folks only to smile and say “what the heck are they wearing?!” Yes, it’s time for ugly holiday sweaters! To help celebrate the holiday season and give people a night off from shopping and the hysteria, I host an Annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Bar Crawl.

This year was my second time hosting the annual ugly holiday sweater bar crawl (I know it’s a mouth full). This amazing event takes place on SouthSide Bethlehem where several of us frolic through the streets in what are sure to be the most hideous tops you’ve seen in a while.

Penn's Peak

Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight baby! That’s what I did at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, just north of Lehigh Valley.

It was Elektrik Company’s Boogie to the Disco Show, a first time at the Peak and hopefully not their last. The band had nine members in all and each one was dressed to play the part of getting their disco groove on.

#SoMeT

This past week, my colleague Ryan Hogan and I went down to Tunica, Mississippi for Social Media Tourism Symposium, a gathering of travel writers, techies and twitterers.

Social Media Tourism Symposium, or #SoMeT for short, is a conference that focuses on the use of social media in the tourism industry. The sessions showed us ways we could improve our presence on twitter, YouTube, flickr, facebook and other social media sites. It’s going to be difficult for future trips to live up to the level of information, networking and all-around fun that this conference provided us.