My wife and I stayed at the Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center in Bolivar, PA this last weekend. It’s actually located on the outskirts of Ligonier, PA. We were invited to a wedding that was to take place there, as well as the reception. It was nice to be able to stay at the same place where the wedding and reception was held. We were able to walk to wedding, and walk back to the room after the reception.
The rooms were very clean. Cleaner than most hotels I think. One of the first thinks we noticed was there was not a TV in the room. There were two double beds, another single bed, a desk, a table, night stand, etc. My complained that the beds were too hard, but I found them comfortable.
The bathroom was basic with a sink, bathtub/shower. Again, it was clean. Small soaps were provided, but no shampoos, lotions, etc that are often found in hotels. There were plenty of towels and wash clothes though.
We explored the site to see what else was there. I think the site is used largly for religeous type meetings and things. The walls are covered with religeous pictures. The rooms all seem to be dedicated to the memory of someone or other.
There were no TVs in the rooms, but there were two TV rooms with couches, games, and coffee makers. The TV’s were un cable, but the reception was fuzzy. Like that had a loose wire or something.
There was also a fitness room, though it was locked when we found it on Friday night. When I walked by on Saturday afternoon it was unlocked, and contained some nice workout equipment. There were a couple treadmills, an exercise bike, etc. But by this time I didn’t have time to workout. Too bad I hadn’t found it unlocked in the morning.
There was also a recreation room with a pool table and ping pong table. My wife and I played ping pong for a couple minutes but gave up when it became apparent that my wife could barely hit the ball, much less get back over the net.
The grounds were nice, with a small pond and fountain out back. There is also a small garden with a bench to sit and look out over the water.
The facility also has various meeting rooms. The reception was held in one of them.
There was a grassy area across the road that has a pavillion. There was a group having a BBQ over there when we got in Friday evening. We found out later that it was people from our group. If we had only known.
They list WiFi on their website as being located in the Library and Lobby Lounge. I didn’t know this at the the time though. I was able to connect to the wifi intermittently from our room. It was a very weak signal. I was able to logon, and check my email and stuff.
All in all, it seemed like a nice place, and I wouldn’t mind staying there again. I do wish they had TV’s in the rooms though.
The Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center is located at 140 Church Camp Trail, Bolivar, PA 15923. Their telephone is 724-238-3677.
My wife and I are in Ligonier, PA for a wedding. We spent the morning and early afternoon driving to Greensburg, Latrobe, and then back to Ligonier, visiting used book stores, thrift stores, and antique shops. After a busy morning, we were hungry and started looking around Ligonier for some place to eat.
Right in the center of downtown Ligonier is a roundabout that is named The Diamond. Not sure why. I am guessing someone thought it sounded nice. The roundabout itself is more oval shaped.
Tucked away in one the corners of the Diamond is a little cafe named Diamond Cafe. Clever name. They didn’t have a menu displayed outside or anything, but then none of the local restaurants seemed to. So we stopped inside to see what kind of food they had. We sat down at a table to peruse the menu. Pretty generic food offerings for a cafe. The breakfast meals sounded appealing. A couple eggs, toast, bacon, and maybe some hash browns might have hit the spot. But since it was afternoon, I am not sure they would have been offered. So I looked at some of the other items. I kind of decided to try the Bacon Cheeseburger. I thought it was kind of generic, but maybe it would be good. The menu also seemed to suggest that Elvis music is played on Sunday. Too bad we were there on a Saturday.
As we sat waiting for the waitress to come take our order, we checked the dining room. It was not particularly big. Maybe about 8 or 10 small tables. The decorations in the dining room were interesting. They have a large electric train that runs around the ceiling of the dining room. There is a large collection of post cards frames on the wall from all over the world. Are these places that the owners have visited maybe? There was a small sign saying they are not a fast food restaurant, and that all the stuff was made fresh, and thanking us for being patient. I saw a few 57′ Chevy’s and thought about my mom who used to collect them. One looked pretty old. Behind the counter I saw an old green shake machine, and decided that a milk shake could be really good.
Okay, enough about the atmosphere. You probably want to hear about the food. Well, I wish I could tell you. After about 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there watching the waitress come in and out of the dining room taking orders, and bringing food to other customers, she hadn’t even acknowledged that we were there. I even found myself timing how long it took the train to make it’s way around the dining room…about 50 seconds. I understand that this is not a fast food restaurant and that the food takes time to prepare. But you can’t even start preparing it until the orders are taken and given to the cooks. We got fed up with waiting, and being ignored, so we left and ate at the Ligonier Tavern. I am sure the food at the Ligonier Tavern was much better than what we would have gotten at the Diamond Cafe. And the service was very good, unlike here at the Diamond Cafe.
So if you are ever in Ligonier, PA looking for someplace to eat, I can’t recommend the Diamond Cafe.
If you do want to check them out, they are located at 109 W Main St, Ligonier, PA 15658. (724) 238-3111
I have lived in the Rochester area for over 13 years now. I have eaten Dinosaur BBQ many times, but I have never actually gone there for a sit down meal. Often I will eat leftovers from catered meeting at work. Sometimes I would stop in and get a couple pulled pork sandwiches to go. I stopped doing this when the nearby parking garage changed their evening and weekend rates from 45 cents an hour, to a flat fee of $4. It just seemed like a rip off to pay $4 to park for 20 minutes so I could get food.
Anyway, my niece was in town, and we decided to take her downtown to Dinosaur BBQ. It was during the day, so the parking fee wasn’t a problem. Fortunatly there was room in the parking. I was concerned they might be full.
They were pretty busy, but there was an open table, and we were quickly seated. The walls are covered with license plates, and move posters.
There were a ton of BBQ choices. I ordered the pulled pork and rib combo. My wife order a sampler which had chicken, pork, and beef. My niece ordered some kind of portabello mushroom sandwich.
Our food came after abit. I thought the pulled pork would be on a sandwich, but it wasn’t. It was good anyway. The ribs were great. I sampled my wife chicken, and beef, and they were good. Everything was very good. I have always enjoyed Dinosaur’s macaroni salad. And today was no exception. One thing I miss however with the salt potatoes. Apparently they don’t do them everyday in the restaurant. They do them for the catered stuff though.
While not the greatest BBQ I have ever had, Dinosaur BBQ ranks in the top 3 or 4 at least.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is located at 99 Court Street, Rochester, NY 14604. Phone 585-325-7090.
They also have a location in Syracuse, NY, but I have never visited that location.
We were staying at a place called Uncle Howie’s General Store. They serve some food such as pizza, but I asked about any good restaurants in the area. They said there was one about 20 minutes in one direction, and another about 20 in the other direction. They also mentioned one that we should avoid. The Oxbow Inn was one of the restaurants they suggested. And since it was in the direction of a place we were going to visit, we chose it.
The Oxbow Inn was very easy to find. The parking lot was packed, but we found a spot to park. We went inside, and got our name on a waiting list. The girl said it would just be a few minutes (actually it closer to 10 or 15 minutes). We waited in the bar area. The place was filled with many local people, as well as many seasonal visitors. Signs on the walls of the bar area advertised a raffle for a rifle, a fishing tournament, and bingo down at the fire hall. Another sign on the wall said to file a complaint, press the red button…which was strategically placed in the trigger of a miniature bear trap.
After a bit, we were seated. We were given the specials. I decided to order one of the specials which was scallops and linguine in a heavy cream sauce. My wife ordered the sesame chicken. Along with our meals, we also got the soup and salad bar. I got some of the potato/garlic soup which was very good, and reminiscent of clam chowder. We both got salads.
Then our entrees came. The bowl that mine came in was huge. I ate the scallops first, and they were very good. Then I began to eat the linguine. It was also very good. The heavy cream sauce was like an alfredo sauce, but thinner. My wife’s sesame chicken was also very good. It came with rice and veggies.
I was full long before finishing my entrée. My wife too was filled up. They had some wonderful looking desserts, but we were full.
The Oxbow Inn is located on Route 8 near Piseco, NY 12139. Phone: 518-548-7551.
Dick’s is a classic restaurant in the Seattle area. I can’t remember when I first ate there, but it was a long time ago. When I was in my late teens, my friends and I would go there and order 3 Dick’s Deluxe burgers and a shake each.
Whenever I get back to town, I try to visit one of the Dick’s Drive In locations. There are five of them:
Wallingford, 111 N.E. 45th St. 2
Capitol Hill, 115 Broadway Ave. East 3
Ballard, 9208 Holman Road N.W. 4
Lake City, 12325 30th Ave. N.E. 5
Queen Ann, 500 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Today my wife and I visited the Wallingford area. I am not as young as I used to be, so I only ordered two of the Dick’s Deluxe burgers, and of course a chocolate shake. The burgers tasted slightly different than I remembered, but were still very good. The shakes are great.
If you are ever in the Seattle area and looking for someplace quick to eat, check out any the Dick’s Drive In locations.