75 Years Of Christmas Lights

Christmas Boulevard
Berwick, PA (2021)

The mile long stretch of Christmas lights and decorations on Market Street in Berwick have been on display every December for the past 75 years, and this is our 16th year in a row visiting them during the holiday season.

Some of the decorations on display at Christmas Boulevard date back to the 1950's, while others are new displays that are set to fit one of the themes they've decided to use for the year.  This year, the theme seemed to be movies, with displays that called back to It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, as well as a few displays for The Berwick Theater.

A Trio Of Festive Ice Cream

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
Hudsonville Ice Cream (2021)

These little Christmas tree cakes have been one of my favorite holiday snacks for as long as I can remember, so I was excited to see them turned into an ice cream flavor.  It's made from a vanilla cake flavored ice cream with pieces of pound cake pieces, green sprinkles and red frosting mixed in.  Not only was it delicious, but it was also pretty inexpensive.  When I see containers that are around the same size as Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's, I'm expecting a price tag of at least $5, but this was about two bucks at Wal-Mart.

Peppermint Bark
Haagen-Dazs (2021)
Speaking of Haagen-Dazs, I had to pick up a carton of Peppermint Bark for old times sake.  I really miss the days when I'd be able to get these for free because they've definitely gone up in price since the start of the pandemic.  I'm happy to say that it still tastes just as good as it did before Froneri purchased the Nestle/Dreyer's Ice Cream division.  Maybe one day, they'll bring back my all-time favorite ice cream, Banana Rum Jam.

Mad Minis Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches: Eggnog

Little Something Foods (2021)
I can't remember where I found these because I had been saving them in my freezer until it got a little closer to Christmas.  Mad Minis are about the same diameter as an Oreo cookie, but with a much thicker ice cream center compared to an Oreo cream center.  Even better, they're only 60 calories each!

These are an improvement on the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich concept in two ways.  The first is that they're bite sized, so someone on a diet is able to portion control a lot more effectively than they could with a full-sized ice cream snack.  Secondly, both the ice cream and the cookie are significantly better tasting than any of the Skinny Cow sandwiches that I've ever had.  They're very tasty!  It'd be cool to see something like this used as a garnish on an alcoholic eggnog beverage that's served after a holiday meal, sort of like a fruit wedge on the rim of the glass.

The Gingerbread Man Has A Kat

Kit Kat: Gingerbread Cookie
Hershey (2021)

I can't explain why this happens, but food and snack companies tend to release very similar seasonal flavors at the same time.  Case in point, both Pepsi and Hershey have both released a gingerbread flavored product, with Gingerbread Snap'd Mountain Dew and Gingerbread Cookie Kit Kat bars.  Pepsi and Hershey are two separate companies that have nothing to do with each other, and they've never released a gingerbread flavored version of one of their products that I ever remember seeing, but they've both come out with one for 2021, and they're not alone.  You'll find a bunch of new gingerbread flavored products in stores this year, and I suspect that most of them won't be returning in 2022 as each of these companies follows whatever they think next year's trend will be.

Unlike the Fruity Cereal, Apple Pie and Key Lime flavored Kit Kats that came out earlier this year, these seem to be available only in Fun Size form.  This is consistent with what Hershey has done with other limited edition Kit Kat bars that are associated with a holiday season, like the Witches Brew and Pumpkin Pie flavors that were in stores for Halloween.  If I'm being completely honest, I enjoyed all of those other flavors more than this one.  I don't think the Gingerbread Cookie ones are bad or anything, but I'd rather use gingerbread cookies as a Christmas decoration than as a flavor.

Santa Claus Is Back In Town

Every year since my dad was a kid (and probably for many years before), the local police, fire and ambulance department has a small nighttime parade with Santa, with little goodie bags for the kids who come out to say hello.  I still remember rushing to put on a coat over my pajamas to go outside with my family so we could wave to Santa, and it warms my heart to see that they've kept this tradition to this day.

A Frightening Festive Double Feature

Joe Bob Ruins Christmas
Shudder (2021)
The theme for this holiday special is gift giving.  One of the movies is Joe Bob's gift to Darcy, and the other is Darcy's gift to Joe Bob.  I'm holding out hope for Halloween III: Season Of The Witch.

Nighttime Cheeseburgers At a Roadside Diner

Manheim Diner
Route 61 - Schuylkill Haven, PA

There are few things in life that make me happier than randomly finding a roadside diner when I'm hungry, especially when it's one that I've never been to before.  That's exactly what happened this past Sunday night on the way home from Koziar's Christmas Village.

I couldn't find any information about when the Manheim Diner first opened.  However, it's either been around for many years, or they did an incredible job of making a new place look and feel like a vintage diner.  Look at all that glorious neon!

The dining room has stools and a counter where you can eat.  There's also plenty of tables and booths, and a kitchy 50's feel.  It's a very bright and cheerful atmosphere.

 

They had a Reuben on the menu, and those are just about my favorite thing in the world to eat, but I'm a sucker for anything that stands out as unique to that restaurant, even if it's just the name.  That was the case with the Manheim Burger - a double bacon cheeseburger with sauteed onions.

I'm sure that most diners in America have something similar to this, but the fact that this one is named after the restaurant made me want to try it.  I'm very glad I did, because it was one of the tastiest cheeseburgers I've ever eaten.  It reminded me of all of the reasons that I seek out a small diner over any other type of restaurant.  They just don't make 'em like this in any other setting.

So Many Lights

Koziar's Christmas Village
Bernville, PA
I've heard of Koziar's Christmas Village before, but this past weekend was my first visit.  It's a display of Christmas lights and decorations at the old Spring Lake Dairy Farm every year since 1948.  In the years since it began, it has grown to a display of approximately a half million lights and dozens of buildings and festive exhibits.  In 2015, it was named by the ABA as one of the top 100 group destinations in North America.

 

Koziar's Christmas Village opens on the first Saturday of November every year.  They're open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next two weeks after that, and they're open every day (including holidays) from Thanksgiving night to New Year's Day.

 

Traffic was at a stand-still in two directions for well over a mile leading up to the property, and there was a huge line of cars for most of the time that we were there.  The ride wasn't so bad.  It was a pretty drive, and there are far worse things than sitting in a warm car listening to Christmas music.  However, the crowd inside the place was massive, and it was a little challenging to get around without bumping into people.  It was still a lot of fun, but it definitely would have been better if you could stop for a few minutes and enjoy the display without a Bloomsburg Fair-sized crowd that seems to be bearing down on you at all times.

 

One thing I will definitely give this place credit for is their affordable prices.  Admission is $12 on non-peak days and $17 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  There are souvenir shops and concession buildings throughout the grounds, and everything I found was less expensive than I was expecting.  One stand sold chocolate chip cookies, soft pretzels and hot cocoa for a dollar each.  In a world where prices are skyrocketing, that is more than reasonable.

They were selling Clear Toy lollipops for a couple bucks in the first snack shop that we came across.  My grandfather used to put these in my Christmas stocking every year when I was a kid.  Every year, he would tell me that he used to get them when he was little, but they didn't have a plastic wrapper in his day, so the fuzz from the stocking would stick to the lollipop.  I swear, there's not a day that goes by where something doesn't spark a happy memory of my grandfather.  He was a good man.

I could have taken a thousand pictures and still captured only a small fraction of the lights, decorations and displays.  There were so many different things, and far too many people to try to take more than just a few pictures.  Between the size of the crowd and the insane amount of displays, I did feel a little overwhelmed by this place, but I'll definitely come back in the future and I'd recommend it highly to others, but pick a weekday to head down.

The Most Important Election Of Our Lifetime

Pennsylvania can get a little weird sometimes.  Once in a while, the Commonwealth comes up with something that surprises me, despite the fact that I've lived here for most of my life.  Case in point: this sign that I spotted on the way to Kosiar's Christmas Village.

This not only suggests that an election is being held for school lunch choice, but that a special interest group called Citizens For Immune Boosting Nutrition are actively campaigning for voters to support whole milk in this election.

I'd like to think that there's a group of lactose intolerant protesters on the other side of town chanting "hey hey, ho ho, this moo cow milk has got to go".

Colonel Snowman

Christmas Bucket

Kentucky Fried Chicken (2021)
There are festive chicken buckets at KFC this year, so of course I had to take pictures of it.  It wasn't easy, because a certain fuzzy little friend of mine was very interested in getting his paws on some of the chicken inside.

Harvey did get a little bit of chicken to snack on (minus the coating), which made him a very happy dog.

Merry Christmas From City Hall

Hazleton City Hall
North Church Street - Hazleton, PA

The Crown Jewel Of The Embassy

Jimmy Rave
1982 - 2021

On October 2nd 2005, I attended my first Ring Of Honor show. It was held at the PA National Guard Armory in Philadelphia.  ROH was something that I had heard of for a few years, but I had never been to a show before that, or even seen a full match from one of their shows.  YouTube had just come into existence about six months earlier, so the only exposure I had to their product was a few grainy video highlight clips of their wrestlers.

The draw that brought me to this show was the main event.  Japanese wrestling legend Kenta Kobashi had come to North America for the first time in his career that Fall, and the October 2nd show was just his third match ever in the United States.  However, while Mr. Kobashi may have been the factor that motivated me to buy my first ROH ticket, the rest of the talent roster is what kept me coming back

The third match of that night featured two guys who I had never heard of back in 2005 - Matt Sydal and the leader of a group called The Embassy, Jimmy Rave.  It didn't take me too long to sort out who was playing the role of the villain in their match.

ROH fans had adopted the practice of wrestling fans in Japan by throwing colored streamers in the ring during the entrance of the good guys.  They generally didn't throw anything for the villains, but Jimmy Rave was the exception to the rule.  As soon as he set foot in the ring, streaming rolls of toilet paper came flying at him from all directions.  When this happened, Jimmy lost his mind with anger and screamed at the fans until his face was as red as a stop sign while catching rolls of toilet paper out of the air and firing them back at the audience.  I had never seen any wrestler/fan reaction for a heel entrance to the ring come anywhere close to his, before or since.  He played the role perfectly!

He wrestled at most of the ROH shows that I had been to in the years that followed, and he never failed to get a big reaction from the fans.  I had heard that he signed with TNA Wrestling right around the same time that I went back to college and, consequently, had to cut back on going to shows.  I didn't watch TNA, and my free time and spare cash in those days were pretty limited, so I lost touch with Jimmy's career progress and with professional wrestling in general for a few years.

Jimmy spent much of the past decade touring with independent promotions.  Things sadly took a turn for the worse last November.  In a post on Twitter, Jimmy announced his retirement due to an infection which resulted in the amputation of most of his left arm.  Unfortunately, it did not end there, as the infection had spread to both of his legs.  He shared this message on Twitter just seven weeks ago:

This morning, I learned that Jimmy Rave, whose real name is James Michael Guffey, passed away on Sunday night.  He was only 39 years old.

He Just Made The International Sign Of The Donut

Mars Attacks
Warner Bros (1996)

One of the wackiest big budget movies that ever came out of Hollywood premiered in theaters nationwide 25 years ago today.  This Tim Burton sci-fi/comedy classic features an impressive cast of talent that few movies can match, including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J Fox, Natalie Portman, Pam Grier, Christina Applegate, Jack Black, Tom Jones, and Jim Brown, among many others.

I missed out on seeing this during its initial run in theaters, but they showed the trailer a bunch of times at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater this past summer, so I'm holding out hope that the invasion will hit the drive-in screen sometime in 2022.

The movie is based on a set of trading cards from 1962 that were produced and sold by baseball card manufacturer, Topps.  Imgur user DarnNiceGuy has lived up to his username by uploading high quality images of the font and back of all 55 cards in the series.  Click here to go back to the early 60's and see the artwork and the story that inspired one of the wackiest motion pictures of all time.

What A Ride You Took Us On

Anne Rice
1941 - 2021

"I’m not the spirit of any age.  I’m at odds with everything and always have been." 

Louis de Pointe du Lac 

Interview With The Vampire (1976)

The world has lost a truly creative mind.  Thank you, Ms. Rice, for sharing your stories with us.

A Rocky Deal On A Hoagie

The Balboa
South Philly Steak & Fries - Bethlehem, PA

The food court at the Wind Creek Bethlehem casino has a cheesesteak restaurant that I've been to before, but I don't think that this was on the menu at the time.  The Balboa is a cheesesteak that's topped with bacon, mushrooms and cheez whiz.

It wasn't bad, but it was very overpriced.  The meal, which included the sandwich, a small tray of fries and a medium soda, was almost $20 bucks, and the sandwich barely had any bacon or mushrooms.  You could definitely make something much better at home for a lot less money.