There was an ad for this place on the map from a campground we were staying at. There was no address listed, just a phone number. I tried to call them, but the cell service signal I was getting at the campground was too weak. I drove into town, and found another pizza place called Ina’s Pizzeria. But the girl at Ina’s said that it was too late for them to make me a pizza. They closed at 9pm, and it was currently 8:40pm. So I left. I drove through town looking to see what else was around. I tried calling Lombardo’s Pizzeria again, and thsi time I got them. I asked what time they closed. They said 9pm. I asked if they could still make me a pizza, and they said yes. I told them what I wanted and I got directions. I drove there. They are located just out of town to the west. I arrived at Lombardo’s Pizzeria. I waited for my pizza and I was out the door about 9pm. Why Ina’s couldn’t do it, I have no idea. Maybe they just didn’t want to. The pizza at Lombardo’s was excellent! I came back a couple more times for subs. Their subs were great also. The people who worked there were very friendly. Next time we are in this area, I will happily return to Lombardo’s Pizza Plus.
Lombardos Pizza Plus is located at 7845 State Hwy 5, Saint Johnsville, NY. Phone: 518-568-7111
We found the Grandma’s Kitchen restaurant listed on a map for the campground we were staying at St. Johnsville, NY. The ad mentioned breakfast, so we drove into town. There aren’t many restaurant choices in St. Johnsville unfortunately. It was 9am, and was going to be a warm day. But being only 9am, it wasn’t very warm yet. Still, we parked our car right in front of the restaurant so we could keep an eye on our dog in the car. Even though it wasn’t that warm out yet, the sun was still shining. We rolled all the windows down about halfway, and put a sunscreen under the windshield to help keep the car cool. I often take naps in my car like this during my noon lunch hour at work. The plan was to go in, order breakfast to go. We would be checking on the dog, and my wife would have likely walked the dog and given her water in the collapsible bowl that we always carry, while we waited for the food. We don’t like leaving the dog in the car very long. We walked into the Grandma’s Kitchen restaurant and almost immediately this chunky guy in a dirty shirt came out from the back carrying food and said gruffly “What you are doing is unsafe!” He was very rude about it. I think he might have been the owner or manager. I explained that we were planning to order breakfast to go. He then refused to serve us while the dog was in the car. I wish I had thought to say something like, hey if you are so concerned, you won’t mind us bringing the dog inside. I am guessing he would have said we couldn’t. I was just shocked about what a rude jerk this guy was. I didn’t even try explain any further about our plans and that the dog wouldn’t be in the car very long. The guy was such a jerk, that I didn’t want to eat there now anyway. I found out there was a McDonalds down the road. We drove there and went through the drive-through. Our dog Issa enjoyed bits of our breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. My wife and I are both dog people. We have both had dogs all our lives, and know how to take care of them. Our dog is a part of our family. But like I said, the guy was such a jerk, that I didn’t want to eat there anymore. If we come back to this area again, we will not be eating at Grandma’s Kitchen restaurant due to that jackass!
My wife and I were camping nearby. I told her I would go get a pizza. I drove into St. Johnsville and arrived at Ina’s Pizzeria about 8:40pm. I was told that they closed promptly at 9pm and couldn’t make me a pizza. Huh? How long does it take to make a pizza. I was not impressed! I left there, drove through town a bit to see what else was there. I found I had a weak cell phone signal now, which I didn’t seem to have at the campground, and called Lombardo’s Pizzeria for which I had a phone number, but no address. I asked what time they closed. They said 9pm. I asked if they could still make me a pizza, and they said yes. I told them what I wanted and I got directions. My pizza was done a little while after I got there, and I was out the door by 9pm. Apparently it doesn’t take that long to make a pizza. So I would love to tell you how the food at Ina’s Pizzeria is, but I can’t. All I can tell you they close promptly at 9pm and are apparently very slow at making pizzas. On the other hand, Lombardo’s Pizzeria makes a great pizza, and have a very friendly staff! They have very good subs too. Go to Lombardo’s Pizzeria instead. Lombardos Pizza Plus is located at 7845 State Hwy 5, Saint Johnsville, NY. Phone: 518-568-7111
On our recent trip to North Carolina, we found ourselves staying in Black Mountain, NC. While Orbitz said it was 20 miles away from our primary destination, it was actually a 55 mile drive. Anyway, we stayed in Black Mountain. We were looking for some place to eat. I read good reviews of a Mexican place, but being in North Carolina, I wasn’t in the mood for Mexican food. Maybe if I were in California or Arizona or some place like that. But being in North Carolina, we wanted to try the local food. We thought BBQ would be good. We both love good BBQ and enjoy trying different places around the country. I found several BBQ places in Black Mountain listed on the internet. The larger place was called Phil’s Bar-B-Que Pit. I read online reviews for Phil’s and they were mixed. From some of the descriptions, it reminded me of a place in the Adirondacks called Tail O’ the Pup, which wasn’t that good.
There was another place close to our motel called State Street BBQ that had almost no online reviews. We decided to try it. We walked over from our motel. It was 7pm on a Friday night, and they closed at 7:30pm which I thought was kind of early. But most of the stores in Black Mountain were already closed. I only saw one person working there, but there might have been more in the back. She was very nice. I asked what she recommended and she said the beef brisket. So I got the beef brisket. My wife got the chicken. Plus we also got two sides. I got the potato salad and the baked beans. My wife got the greens. The food came quickly. They also included hushpuppies. The meat was not already covered in BBQ sauce, but there were several different types of BBQ sauce in squeeze bottles on the table. We tried them all and they were all delicious. The potato salad was great, and the baked beans were good. The meat was excellent with the different BBQ sauces. I wasn’t brave enough to try the greens as I don’t like most dark green type vegetables. The hushpuppies were good. I even ate my wife’s as she is not a fan of hushpuppies. The prices were reasonable. And they offer both Coke and Pepsi products which was nice. I would definitely eat here again if we ever get back to this area.
State Street BBQ is located at 400 E State St # C, Black Mountain, NC 28711. Their phone number is 828-664-1446.
I booked a white water rafting trip, and wanted to take pictures and possibly video. On previous raft trips, I bought those plastic encased disposable film cameras. They worked, but tended to take crappy pictures. And with the cost of the camera and developing, they really aren’t that cheap. And then if I wanted to post the pictures on Facebook or something, I would have to scan the prints. Digital is much better!
I actually have an underwater case for my older Nikon Coolpix camera, but it is kind of bulky, and maybe overkill for a raft trip. I started researching, and found Dicapac underwater camera cases. They are soft plastic cases that you slide to camera into. I had a case like this years ago, and it wasn’t designed very well. I used it on a river tubing trip in Belize. The lens had to push the plastic out, and it caused the lens on my camera to get jammed. But the Dicapac was designed much better. It has a rigid part for the lens to expand into, so the lens won’t get jammed. There are different models of the Dicapac bags and I did some googling to figure out which model I needed. I planned to use my Samsung camera as it was older and if it got damaged, I wouldn’t be heart broken. I found that the model I needed was the Dicapac WP-410. I went ahead and ordered one. It came quickly. The concept is simple. It’s like a thick vinyl zip-lock bag with a thing for the lens to extend in. I unscrewed the lens cover, and opened the zip-lock part of the bag. I slid the camera inside, and lined the lens up with the lens opening. I turned the camera on, and it extended the lens. I saw it was going to be a bit long for the bag’s lens appendage. But it came with a little spacer ring. I removed the camera from the bag, inserted and positioned the spacer ring, and reinserted the camera. Perfect! I reinstalled the lens cover. The camera was a little difficult to operate through the bag, but was mostly doable. The knob on the top of the Samsung to change modes was nearly impossible to turn though. It would be fine if I only wanted to take pictures, or only wanted to take video. I decided to try my Casio Exilim camera in the bag. I found this bag was also to recommended bag for that camera as well. It slid in much easier than the Samsung as it is a smaller camera. But the buttons on the Exilim would be mush easier to use. I sealed the ziplock part of the bag, rolled it up, and fastened the Velcro. I snapped some test shots. They turned out pretty good. There as a little bit of lens cover part of the bag visible in some of the test shots. I didn’t do a full blown water proof test as I wasn’t going to be using it under water this trip. Or at least I didn’t plan to.
I took my Exilim in the bag on the raft trip. One problem I had was the camera sliding around inside the bag. So each time I wanted to take a shot, I had to slide it into position to line of the lens with the bag’s lens appendage. If I didn’t get it quite lined up, and the lens was obstructed from coming out, I would get an error. I just needed to turn the camera off, and try again. I think if I have used the big Samsung camera, it wouldn’t have slid around so much inside the bag. Other than that, camera was easy to use. The shots mostly came out great. There were some water drops visible in some of the pictures where they had splashed onto the lens cover. This wouldn’t have been an issue if I was filming under water. The corners of some of the pictures show the edges of the lens cover. But overall I am very happy with the Dicapac bag! It is way nicer than the cheap disposable underwater cameras. And I can reuse it in the future. The more I use it, the more economical it will be over the disposable cameras. And the quality is was better!