PA trip

I got back from a 2-week trip to Pennsylvania where I visited my 83-yr old mother (I'm now certifiably nuts), went to my 45th HS reunion (who were those old people with vaguely familiar names?), experienced humidity, rain, and Susquehanna River flooding, shot an AR-15 and a Colt .45 auto, took lots of photos, and ate the local delicacies.

I had over 100 steamed clams (at only $8/100).

Chowed down on a hoagie from Steph's Subs in Bloomsburg.

Ate a yummy Philly Steak at the Danville Fire Hall private club (only $3.50!).

Bought a couple of pounds of Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna (the only brand I ever consider because it's smoked for a couple of days instead of having smoke flavoring added). Check out their website.

Quaffed the entire line of Yuengling beers: I really liked their Porter and Lord Chesterfield's Ale.

Ate some of the local (not chain) pizzas.

Ate pounds of addictive Middleswarth barbecue chips (the best!).

Quaffed a couple of Catawissa Bottling's ginger beers (really good and peppery).

Brought home a two-liter bottle of Moxie.

Bought a jar of local blueberry honey and sorghum syrup.

Purchased a hunk of Grafton Village 4-yr aged Vermont sharp cheddar. Absolutely awesome. Buy some if you ever see it. Real buttery mouthfeel and it just melts in your mouth.

[Jenise]

Larry, you were doing it up right. Now tell me about Lebanon Bologna. Is that really dark in color and slightly vinegarry? I may remember the Oscar Meyer version from my childhood.

Larry,

You're pretty much after my own heart here . . .

Steph and I are great friends.... at least to the point where each time I've stopped in (starting with the Berrigan's days 20++ years back when she ran the joint before the recent split/move, etc.) she always stops long enough to chat for a few minutes - and now I'm only in the store when I get home for the holidays (or, occasional short summer trip). But, when I am in Bloomsburg, I'm usually there a minimum of 75% of the days when they are open. One of my favorite foods in the entire world.

Oh - and I got one of the first "Steph's" T-shirts allowed into the hands of a non-employee. Unfortunately, it was size M, and being at least an XL, I gave it to my mother to wear.

Ain't clams the best? Especially with drawn butter? I've even been able to enjoy some on the half shell . . . but that is only when I'm at the shore where my aunt and uncle lives (just north of Barnegat), and have no qualms about their quality. [in the past few years, the local Giant grocery store chain has offered mussels from somewhere - I presume farmed; rather small, but simply wonderful steamed in foil on the grill as the starter to an evening of grilled hunks of meat]

Haven't done the fire hall . . . will have to look into that. Used to do meals at the VFW in Bloomsburg, but that was in the early '70s. Not sure they still do food. My dad talks of cheap dinners at the Elks where his father was a member, and since then my two uncles are members, but they sorta stopped that when there became much more competition (and the Bloomsburg chapter had to spend a fortune just to try to keep up with the mansion they were in - they recently moved across from the business that my uncle owns, and my father manages).

I don't recall ever having Seltzer's before. At least it isn't a name that sticks in my mind. Kunzler's often. And lots of bologna rings from makers over towards Bangor and Easton area (my mother's side of the family).

Yuengling Lager is a personal favorite (not that I drink much beer). Especially when my uncle buys a quarter keg for his Christmas Party which means free beer for a number of days . . . another fave is Genny Cream, which I haven't had in a few years (only so much time/money - especially when you bring back at least two cases of wine to share with family and friends).

Get to Luigi's Pizza in Bloomsburg? I heard they were near (if not in) the high water at their 'new' (new since I moved away 20 years ago) location even further down Main Street. Another favorite pizza was Romeo's (which has closed); luckily the two May's Drive Ins nearby (just outside Bloom towards Danville and Berwick) has the same offerings (a different branch of same family). Not true traditional pizza by any stretch, but a flavor you remember from childhood. Great soft ice cream and chili hot dogs too.

I always preferred the plain Middleswarth, but tolerated the bbq. My favorite local potato chip is Gibbles. Cooked in lard, and simply exquisite.

I think their Birch and Root beers are some of their (Catawissa Bottling's) best known offerings, but I'll have to remember to try the ginger. Sounds like the Blenheim ginger ale we get down here. I like a lot of their other flavors, and the fact that they still use real sugar in a some of their bottlings. A-treat from Allentown is another brand that has memories of visits to mom's family since I was only a few days old (although I doubt they let me drink any A-treat till I was a bit older ;-) ).

Used to be a farm upland from Orangeville that made their own preserves and jams (a lot from their own fruit sources; they also bought in) in small batches when the fruit was in season. My favorite was their blueberry preserves, and my father's was their seeded black raspberry. Boston Farms was the name. Shame they quit (or, sold out).

Some local made goodies now are true sauerkraut in the late Nov. thru Dec. time period, Koch's Turkey (they are nearer Amish country) and one personal favorite, 'Pasties' from the Mr. Pastie folks in Pen Argyl, PA (amongst the items already covered). It amazes me that so many childhood favorites remain available. It is good to see that with many more 'diverse' choices today that people continue to do business with 'their favorites.'

We occasionally get Grafton down here at one of our small stores. And, you are correct... the 4-year old is incredible. The other offerings are also good, but the 4-year version is yummy.

Hope no one you knew was affected by the flooding. Luckily, no one in my family was too affected. A little bit of water in the basement of my uncle's house (he's next to the Bloomsburg Park and High School down by the river, but on reasonably high ground); his business which was flooded during Agnes in '72 was about 2ft from peak water (my father manages the business); my aunt and uncle who board race horses at the fairgrounds had to move them (at first, not in a rush, but shortly thereafter it became urgent because of flooding with Fishing Creek) and they got some run-off rainwater in their basement/barn where they live (but not from floodwaters). My dad was without water for a number of days. He was happy he had held onto his elderly "sun shower" he had in the '70s... otherwise, my family was spared.

One horrible outcome of the flooding was the loss of West Paden bridge, one 'half' of one of two twin covered bridges in the United States. Built in 1884, and restored a few times over the years (heck, they just finished repairing East Paden bridge after Ivan flooding damage, and a tree that fell into it November 2003, and fixed up the area with more picnic areas and such - all to the tune of $400,000 in mostly local and state monies - the re-dedication was this May of 2006!) Lots of info on the twin bridges and other area covered bridges that suffered damage is located here.

Thanks for running me through memory lane (both past and more current).

Oh - btw, the original Berrigans is still open just a few doors down (I stopped once 'in disguise' - still the same but they sorta seemed distracted although not terribly busy), but for most locals, Steph's is the one to support.

Mike

Jenise,

Not to take over for Larry, but since I've eaten pounds and pounds of Lebanon bologna in my lifetime...

You're pretty much on it. Tends to be rather spicy and maybe just a slight vinegary aspect to it, but rather smoky when done properly. A kinda 'grainy' sort of thing as it isn't made like the regular bologna you're likely to find in the store... Sorta made more like the 'Genoa Supreme Salami' I find in my Fresh Market store... not all ground to nothingness and then formed.

I'm also partial to German Bologna - very similar to regular beef bologna but a different flavor mix - not as spicy as Lebanon bologna, but more flavor (IMO) than regular beef bologna (or, whatever version bologna that folks like Oscar Meyer does).

Here's link to the Seltzer folks. I'll be looking in our local grocery store for them as they say we've got access down here to some of their goodies... maybe under different labels than Seltzers.

Seltzers Bologna

Thanks,

Mike

I got back from a 2-week trip to Pennsylvania where I visited my 83-yr old mother (I'm now certifiably nuts), went to my 45th HS reunion (who were those old people with vaguely familiar names?), experienced humidity, rain, and Susquehanna River flooding, shot an AR-15 and a Colt .45 auto, took lots of photos, and ate the local delicacies.

I had over 100 steamed clams (at only $8/100).

Chowed down on a hoagie from Steph's Subs in Bloomsburg.

Ate a yummy Philly Steak at the Danville Fire Hall private club (only $3.50!).

Bought a couple of pounds of Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna (the only brand I ever consider because it's smoked for a couple of days instead of having smoke flavoring added). Check out their website.

Quaffed the entire line of Yuengling beers: I really liked their Porter and Lord Chesterfield's Ale.

Ate some of the local (not chain) pizzas.

Ate pounds of addictive Middleswarth barbecue chips (the best!).

Quaffed a couple of Catawissa Bottling's ginger beers (really good and peppery).

Brought home a two-liter bottle of Moxie.

Bought a jar of local blueberry honey and sorghum syrup.

Purchased a hunk of Grafton Village 4-yr aged Vermont sharp cheddar. Absolutely awesome. Buy some if you ever see it. Real buttery mouthfeel and it just melts in your mouth.

Sounds like a road trip I would have loved.

Larry,

Sounds like a great trip.

So PA is into Moxie, too? I thought that was an exclusively northern New England phenomenon.

Thanks for the tip about Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna. Lebanon Bologna is my all-time favorite cold cut meat, so I'm eager to check theirs out.

RE: shot "a Colt .45 auto"--I thought Colt only made firearms, not cars.

-Paul W.

Mike: Sounds like you're really familiar with Bloomsburg. It's a really attractive town (the only town in Pennsylvania!), but the traffic engineering? drives me crazy. Every intersection, including alleys, has a 4-way stop, except for those intersections that have only three streets. They have a 3-way stop. Which means you kinda row your car to get anywhere.

Then every red light has a sign that says "No turn on red" hidden up in the glare of the traffic light so you might not see it at night.

My mother's house is only a block from the Susquehanna River, but it's on a hill, so it never gets flooded. However, our garage in the back had water licking at it. My brother zoomed in as soon as there were flood warnings and hauled out his VWs he had stored in there. Some predictions were saying the flood crest was going to be 5 feet higher than the 1972 Hurricane Agnes floods (my brother then used a boat to get into the garage), but everyone more or less lucked out. I left on Wednesday, Jun 28. Lucky for me. Later that day, and until the following Monday, there was no water and the Red Cross had to deliver water and food.

As a matter of fact, it WAS Luigi's Pizza that I ate at three times. The owner says he's tired of the 100+ hr weeks, so he's going to retire in the next couple of years and just manage it.

My mother and I ate pizza at May's (who are celebrating their 50th anniversary) and I also had a shrimp basket.

In Danville, my brother brought home a couple of pizza from the Original Italian Pizza place. They looked and tasted like the iconic Charlie's pizzas in Bloomsburg from decades ago that people still talk about.

Concerning the Lebanon bologna, it does have a vinegary taste. I really do think Seltzer's is the best. I read the ingredient list on Kunzler's and it said, "smoke flavoring added." Seltzer's does real smoking.

The Catawissa bottling plant is not too far from my wife's original home. In addition to Moxie and ginger beer, they also bottle birch beer et al.
Catawissa also has an abandoned shirt factory where my wife got her first job out of high school. She was the one who stuck those myriad pins in Arrow shirts. Now she's an MBA, CPA and doesn't need to wrap her fingertips in bandages.

And if there had been a Dodge Colt automatic on the premises, I would've shot it up with the Colt .45.

Larry,

Thought we had briefly covered Bloomsburg a few years back on the old FLDG...

I was born in Bloomsburg; lived there for about 6 years before my parents divorced, then I moved to Mifflinville (other side of Susquehanna between Bloom and Berwick).

My grandfather was mayor of the town in the 50s (somewhat ceremonial, but as they do run town government some real duties).

My grandfather started the printing business that my uncle owns and my dad manages. My uncle for a number of years was on the town council, but he didn't care to become mayor (which many folks say he could have easily).

After my move to Mifflinville, would often spend a lot of Friday nights and sometimes Saturday with my grandparents, which helped to make up some for my father's absence (he was in town trying to run his new business he started, so didn't make as much time as we all would have liked; but I don't hold any of that against him as the times we did spend together remain some of my favorite memories - like cooking out at the now half-destroyed Twin Covered Bridges).

In the early years (70s), used to walk the few blocks from their house to Main Street just to get around. The earliest years were spent getting candy and such at Hoppie's. Went to school there through 2nd grade and then the move.

So, yup, lots of connections and knowledge of the area.

Oh - traffic engineering. You should have tried to go through town on Rt 11 (same Rt 11 that happens to be the main drag here in Knoxville!) before the state spent like $100,000.00 to try to better coordinate the traffic lights. But, the biggest idiocy that was perpetrated on the townsfolk has to be 5th Street from East Street (Rt 11 at the NE part of town) to Market Street where the Elementary School sits. Some genius thought if they put "cut outs" with tall curbs 4/5 the depth of the area you would park your car along the road that it would help to "slow traffic." What it has become is a traffic hazard if you're not paying attention as it is easy (based on the tire marks) to plow into one of these abutments (not to mention the loss of street parking that the town needs - especially during the fair!). Oh well.

You learn the short cuts and round-abouts to avoid the majority of traffic lights and stop signs.

Your mom must not be too far from my aunt/uncle, and where my grandparents moved after their original house just got to be too much for them... they're on 12th street.

You were right about the forecasts... was following it from here... NOAA has terrific websites that post their warning messages, and have a nifty image of the Susquehanna from NY to Danville that lists/updates the gague readings of like 5 or 6 places along the river. So, I could see the readings within 15-20 minutes of their getting into the NOAA system, and of course the written warnings. My dad gave up the main night (Wed?, or was it Thurs?), thinking that the shop (business) was going to be flooded more than the 18 inches they got with Agnes.

Only occasional trips to Catawissa - more so for getting fresh Cherries from the folks with all the orchards (Creasy?).

OK, enough memory lane. Good times of course.

But one question... what is Moxie? I don't recall that name/beverage(?). I looked over their website (and got the history), but it doesn't describe the flavor. I'll have to give it a try (I love that they still bottle some of their sodas in glass, and some are available by the keg!). I'll have to ask how long a keg will survive if kept under cool & pressure... (as if I need more sugar in my life).

Thanks,

Mike

With my memory, we could've talked about Bloomsburg last week and I wouldn't necessarily remember.

Yeah, 5th Street is an abomination. I think they call them "bulb-outs." Most people hate them. And the front page news in the pitiful Morning Press Enterprise, which has virtually no national or international news, was about some guy who decided to put a 2 or 3 ft plywood purple Barney in the bulbout in front of his house. The powers threatened to fine him, etc., etc., for having it in town property ("if he did it, everyone would"). He resisted for a while; some people would periodically tear it out and throw it on his front yard; after days of pressure and by the time I left, he said he would move it around just to keep people guessing.

Moxie tastes like an adult root beer. It has an earthy, medicinal edge to it. Its name is in our lexicon: "He's got lots of Moxie!" I believe they now have a diet style, too. It's bottled in glass, plastic and aluminum.

[James Roscoe]

Larry, you were doing it up right. Now tell me about Lebanon Bologna. Is that really dark in color and slightly vinegarry? I may remember the Oscar Meyer version from my childhood.

Jenise, is this a serious question? Don't they have Lebanon Baloney out on the west coast? Do you get Dietz and Watson deli meats out there? They've gone national since I was a kid. It's a step up from Oscar Mayer. Serve it rolled up with some cream cheese. It's a guilty pleasure. Maybe you had to grow up in Philly.

I love Lebanon Bologna. It's probably my favourite cold cut of all. Yes, it is dark in colour and slightly vinegary to my taste; it has a definite tangy element.

I followed the link provided by Mike Connor above, and was very happy to discover that the brand that I buy at the deli counter is indeed Seltzer's.