Lehigh Valley InSite

From Opening Night 2011

Saturday was the end of my summer. For me, it’s a little later than most. When I attend VeloFest at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, it’s the end of my trips to the Velodrome until next year. In my head, I equate the Velodrome with summer, so when it’s my last visit for the season it’s officially the end of my summer.

VeloFest was packed with people, bikes, food and beer. The rain stayed away, and although it was overcast there were no damp spirits. The crowd was full of both amateurs and professionals shopping in a “tent city” for deals. I, myself, just enjoy looking at the wares and the bikes; some new, some old, all with a story. If it sounds poetic, then so be it.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to spend a day showing off Lehigh Valley to a member of the media from Scranton, Christopher J. Hughes, who is also a close friend.

He was here to complement his story on the SWB Yankees. He’d been hearing about our beautiful Coca-Cola Park from me since it opened including the great atmosphere and the success of the IronPigs. The SWB Yankees are hoping to remedy some of their issues with their new stadium, scheduled to open for the 2013 season.

not-all-food-is-pictured

Recently, I invited some friends over to hang out. Easy enough, over they came. Done. Good times were had by all, but something was missing. We all wanted food, but no one wanted to go out and no one wanted to cook.

My solution: some of the best food you can get at a fair or festival in Lehigh Valley, Vince’s.

Marty Scratch Win

Last week, I took some reading I’ve been meaning to do and left the office a little early to work offsite.

That site just happened to be the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (or the Velodrome as I still refer to it), which last week was home to the US Masters Track National Championships.

Air Products and Chemicals

Innovation is alive and well in Lehigh Valley. Recently, I had the opportunity to see the ceremonial “flipping of the switch” for the brand new Air Products solar farm. The solar farm consists of 11,239 silicon thin-film panels on fifteen acres adjacent to their headquarters in Trexlertown, PA.

This is the largest silicon thin-film installation in the country. The installation is capable of producing 2 megawatts of renewable power and will cover as much as half of the power needs for the headquarters complex.

Clover Hill Winery

About a week ago my wife and I had a free night so we asked friends of ours Rob and Kathy to come experience Lehigh Valley. Since I know of this great website, discoverlehighvalley.com, (sorry shameless plug) I said I would handle the particulars.

We first set out to Clover Hill Vineyard & Winery for a few bottles on their patio.  From the second we got there the scenery, sounds and smells were sure to make this a relaxing few hours. We headed into the showroom for a quick tasting where we were met with a huge smile from Kari Skirp, one of the owners.

Valley Preferred Cycling Center

It’s a Friday night in Lehigh Valley and one of my favorite summer past times is ready to roll. This past Friday was opening night for the World Series of Bicycling at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

This is racing at its best. But before I get to the elite international competition, I should mention that the all-organic concessions are wonderful. My dinner that night was a turkey club wrap, fries and a Coke, which could be a staple of mine there throughout the summer (I do have season tickets).

MapNcompass

This past wednesday I finished a 10.5 hour hospitality and tourism certification program called “Destination Lehigh Valley,” which is conducted semi-annually by Northampton Community College (NCC) and Discover Lehigh Valley. The course is intended to provide new hires to the tourism industry with a greater understanding of the importance that superior customer service and hospitality have in our industry. With roughly 23,000 jobs in Lehigh Valley revolving around tourism, this course could really be beneficial for a lot of service industry businesses in Lehigh Valley.

David Schweiger, the director of the Hotel and Restaurant Management Program and Hospitality Career Institute at NCC (he might also hold the Guinness World Record for longest job title ever), conducted this certification in conjunction with Mike Stershic, President of Discover Lehigh Valley.

Carvel Ice Cream Cake

Ice cream has been on my mind since I saw the upcoming weather forecast for Lehigh Valley. In my opinion ice cream is a great compliment to any day with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

Since I have a lot of experience with ice cream in Lehigh Valley, I decided to share my 5 favorite shops (in no particular order):

My Hero Zero

Last night I met a hero.

As a member of the Lehigh Valley Arts Council I was invited to attend their annual membership reception held at Penn State Lehigh Valley’s beautiful campus in Center Valley. There were a lot of cool Lehigh Valley events I could have attended last night, but I’m so glad I picked this one.