Our Autumn Road Trip Part 1: Pittsburgh and Akron

We've just returned from a whirlwind tour that took us through Pittsburgh, Akron, Cleveland and Buffalo and what an amazing time it was! We managed to shoot upcoming episodes at six different locations, met wonderful people and had experiences we'll never forget. You never know what will happen when you hit the road. This time we were very, very fortunate. Here is a little travelogue of our first two stops, Pittsburgh and Akron.

Pittsburgh:

The morning we started out was not promising. Torrential rain, road work and traffic made for a nerve wracking first couple of hours on the road. The rain eventually let up and we were able to relax a little and take in the sights.

If I'm smiling that means the rain has stopped.

We stayed at the Hotel Indigo, in the area known as East Liberty, and it was gorgeous. I loved our room. The view left a little to be desired, but I kind of enjoyed the juxtaposition.

The hotel had a vague "old Hollywood" theme happening, which I loved. I would stay there again in a second. It also happened to be within walking distance of a Primanti Bros., so we got our fix of huge, overstuffed sandwiches.

There's just no way to do this neatly.

That night we dropped in our master mixologist friend Lucky at Acacia, where he works his liquid magic. A number of lovely libations were consumed (thank heavens for Uber!).

The next day we shot an episode at Hidden Harbor, a fabulous tiki bar with a touch of modern inspiration. They were so kind to us and shared recipes for three of their cocktails! It's truly a beautiful place and we were delighted that our friend Paul could join us for a couple of rounds.

The ladies room. Hysterical! 

Of course, we'd be forced to turn in our record collector cards if we didn't visit Jerry's Records. Happily, Jerry's was easy walking distance from Hidden Harbor, so we were able to drop in after our shoot, then return to Hidden Harbor later for more tiki goodness!

    

Akron:

Akron was a quick stop for us, but we had such a good time that we stayed far longer than we'd originally intended! We shot an episode at the fabulous Tiki Underground, opened earlier this year by Sean and Jessie Coffey. They're wonderful hosts and Tiki Underground is gorgeous, with delicious food and drinks and, among more upscale selections, an impressive collection of Old Man Beer:

Old Man Beer connoisseur Paul ordered a Hamm's. 

 

Thank you so much to Sean and Jessie, Tim, Carol, Julie, John and Elaine for showing us a great time in Akron! We will be back!

Up next: Cleveland, Buffalo and the bizarre drive home.

A Visit To My Beloved California

I grew up in Southern California and anyone who talks to me for more than 30 seconds knows that I plan to move back there as soon as it's feasible with job situations and all of that kind of stuff. So any chance to visit makes me very happy. We just returned from VidCon, a three-day convention at the Anaheim Convention Center for anyone who loves online video, from studio heads to content creators to fans who are there to see their favorite stars. We were on the "Creator" track, so we saw lots of panel discussions, met many fabulous folks and learned tons.

I wonder how many of us posted pix in this exact spot on Instagram?

Of course, one can only sit through so many panel discussions before fatigue sets in...

Panel discussion fatigue

So we managed to squeeze in fun trips to the recently reopened Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown LA, many drinks at Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel, and of course a Disneyland day. Disneyland is in my top three of favorite places on earth, so I'm always in heaven there. And we shot video for two episodes of the show, including one at the fabulous, Elvis-themed Azteca Restaurant and Lounge in Garden Grove, AND for the short horror film we're making! We also managed to see wonderful friends for breakfasts, lunches and Dole Whips. So we were very busy, but we loved every minute of it! Well, not every minute. I lost my phone, which was a bit disturbing. But that was a mere blip on an otherwise fabulous trip!

Clifton's Cafeteria

The first of many drinks at Trader Sam's

The fabulous Azteca Restaurant & Lounge

Posters from Elvis films at Azteca

Next up: San Diego in August!

Ready To Hit The Road!

If there's one thing I love as much as having a few lovely libations, it's traveling! In my ideal world at least half of our episodes would be done on the road and we're working to make that a reality. In fact, we're hitting the road next week, for our first road trip episode of the season! We'll be visiting Washington, DC and environs, starting with Tiki Thirstday, a weekly event at the House of Foong Lin in Chevy Chase, Maryland! If you're in the area we'd love to see you for tropical libations and fabulous food! Here's a link to the Facebook event page with all the particulars. We can't wait!

A Visit to Philadelphia

Over the weekend we took a desperately needed overnight trip to Philadelphia and it turned out to be just what the doctor ordered! It sounded like a lot of fun when we originally signed on for it, but as we got busier and busier and the nightmare of our powder room redo got worse and worse we began to have second thoughts. However, we'd arranged to shoot our next episode there, so we pulled ourselves together and made the trip and were really glad we did!

We began at Reading Terminal Market, which is chock full of fabulous little eateries and merchants. It can be overwhelming, due to the crowds, but we gamely got in line at DiNic's, which we'd seen on TV was named as having the best sandwich in America - their roast pork.  We got one with hot peppers and broccoli rabe and it was really great.  We followed that up with a Whoopie Pie from the Flying Monkey Bakery, which was also fabulous.  We were even ushered into seats by our friend Jeff, who'd organized the trip, which was nice after a long car ride.  We shot some video and headed off the The Yachtsman, the tiki "dive bar" which was the centerpiece of the day.

The Yachtsman is celebrating their first anniversary and we were fortunate to be able to shoot there. They've done a lot with their little space, including a fabulous hidden space called the Pineapple Room, whose lighting scheme I plan to steal. The drinks I tried were amazing and I'm happy that we'll be sharing one tomorrow on our new episode! A huge thank you to our friend Jeff Westlake for organizing the event! If you're in the DC area, be sure to check out his Tiki Thirstday nights for great drinks, food and company!

After that we walked over to Joe's Steaks & Soda Shop for cheesesteaks and pizza fries, which were perfect after a few tropical libations.  It was a very meaty day, but so good!

We spent the night with our friends Beth (a.k.a. Mod Betty, from the fabulous Retro Roadmap blog) and Cliff in their adorable home about a half hour outside the city.  We also got to see their fantastic, newly restored vintage travel trailer, which made me very envious!  They were wonderful hosts and can't thank them enough for their hospitality.  We capped off the visit with breakfast Sunday at The Fisherman, a local eatery/time capsule that we've now been to twice and highly enjoyed both times. Order the scrapple!

Here are a few shots from the weekend. Can't wait to return!

The Yachtsman, Philadelphia

Two yachtsmen at The Yachtsman. I'm not sure I trust them at the helm!

The Fisherman, Phoenixville, PA

The Fisherman is ready for Christmas!