She Who Travels

Normally, St. Patrick's Day is not a day of celebration for me.  1) I'm not Irish; 2) I'm not a party person.  This year, however, St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday and my husband found a great entertainment combination for us. It started with a stay at the Sands Bethlehem Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA.  We have been here a few times before for different events.  This weekend we came for the comedy of Dave Attell and Jeff Ross, who were playing at the Event Center.  The past few times we have attended concerts at the Sands, we have chosen to stay at the hotel.  It's convenient and allows us to attend our event as well as enjoy other activities the resort has to offer.  The hotel is not cheap-the room costs about $220 a night.  However, it is a beautiful room with many amenities, very comfortable, and easily accessible to the Event Center, casino, shops and restaurants.  The next time we stay here (which will be in the summer) I will take ...

Last week our supper club met again.  The location this time was Paddy's, which is located at 210 W. Liberty Street in Charles Town, WV.  We had a slightly larger party this time and Paddy's was a good place for it.  On a Friday night there was a nice supper crowd and the bar seemed popular no matter what time it was. Speaking of bars, Paddy's has a nice selection of drinks.  Our waitress carried a cheat sheet of sorts with all sorts of mixed drinks selections.  There were some specials written on the chalk board near the bar and as we were in an Irish named establishment, I went with an appropriately named Irish drink.  The Irish shillelaigh was a mixture of Irish whiskey, gin, rum, peach schnapps, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This baby may look small, but it packed a punch!  It was good when I let it water down a bit.  This drink was $7.95 and a lot of the special drinks were similiarly priced. I ordered an appetizer of fried pickles t...

My friend started a supper club this year, in that, every month, she chooses a restaurant in the area and invites friends from her various walks of life to have dinner together.  It's a fun way to meet new people and try new places. This past month she chose a Mexican restaurant in Winchester, VA.  Taqueria Guadalajara is located at 1181 Front Royal Pike or, for locals, south on 522 past Costco and the Holiday Inn on the left.  It's nestled in a quasi residential area. The menu is very affordable-I think the most expensive entree was $12.  The drink menu is quite extensive, offering mixed drinks as well as wine and beer. There is a nice little bar as you enter the establishment. While we were waiting to order, the server brought us an interesting basket of chips and salsa. The chips were multi colored, very crispy and very good.  The salsa was good too-a little on the spicy side, fair warning. We all ordered drinks.  My friend ordered sangria whic...

This past weekend, my family traveled down to National Harbor in Washington D.C.  For the past couple of years my younger son has attended MAGFEST at the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center (music and gaming convention) and this year, my daughter went with him.  Since both kids would be down there for the day and it's a bit of a drive from our house, my husband looked for things to do in the area.  Jim Gaffigan just happened to be playing the theater at the brand spankin' new MGM casino, so we got tickets for that and figured we would spend some time checking the place out. The new complex has been open for about a month.  There was a lot of hoopla leading up to its opening.  An ad campaign stating that the entertainment complex was "monumental" ran on tv and the internet.  World class shows and dining, plus an incredible hotel and casino-what's not to like? We first tried to park in the large parking garage.  On our first go aroun...