At my age flowers scare me. ~George Burns

Friday,  February 26

Tomorrow is a big day.  For my mom.  It’s her birthday, and she is turning 89.  To mark the occasion, my sister and her husband have traveled here from Switzerland to help celebrate.

So if you see two people lurking around Lansdale with backpacks and binoculars, do not be alarmed!  I repeat, do not be alarmed!  They are merely Swiss bird watching enthusiasts.  Do not try and feed them, as our exotic diet does not appeal to them.  One is a vegetarian, and the other refuses to eat cheese.  Yes, someone from Switzerland who refuses to eat cheese.  Seems wrong somehow, no?

So what do you get an 89 year old for her birthday?  She has forbidden presents.  But flowers always work.  So I’m off to my favorite flower shop:  Chantilly Floral Boutique on West Main Street.

Chantilly Floral Boutique

Marcelene Cox once said, "Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires." Perhaps my sister and I should duke it out to see which one of us is facing the wrong way!

Chantilly is so much more than a flower shop, but I go there for the flowers.  Because they make amazing arrangements.  And my mother does love flowers.

Margie Booz

But I also go for another thing.  Margie Booz.  While her kids now run the business, Margie can almost always be found at the shop.  Margie is one of those people who you would love to kidnap and keep for yourself if it wasn’t illegal and downright creepy.  No. No kidnapping!  Margie needs to be shared with all of Lansdale.

Did you know that Margie was chosen this past holiday season to travel to Washington to help decorate the White House for Christmas?  Her talents put her in that elite group.  We are lucky to have her here in Lansdale, PA!

Margie has worked tirelessly in the past on various civic events like the Holiday House Tour.  If there were a Mrs. Lansdale award, Margie would win it.  We need more business owners and citizens like Margie Booz.

While her son Charles is usually found up at their Harleysville store, you can almost always find daughter Barbara at the Lansdale store.  The genes in the Booz family run deep – both Charles and Barbara are wonderful people, too.

Chantilly is so much more than flowers.  Perhaps things I’m not in the market for, but they do have a wonderful selection of woman’s fashion clothing and accessories, and lots of great jewelry.  If you haven’t been to Chantilly Floral Boutique, you’re missing out on one of the nicest stores in town.  Truly, if every store in Lansdale looked as good as Chantilly, both inside and out, we would have one of the most beautiful towns in Pennsylvania.

But I was here for flowers.  And remembered what Delta Burke once said.  "If you want to say it with flowers, remember that a single rose screams in your face: 'I'm cheap!"  So I got an arrangement.

So, stop into Chantilly and say hello to Margie.  But remember, no kidnapping!

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

Playing Post Office. And croquettes!

Thursday, February 25

I’m going to vent about a frustrating place in Lansdale where I spend money.  But wait!  Isn’t this supposed to be an upbeat blog about shopping in Lansdale?  To entice others to shop in Lansdale?  Shouldn’t I refrain from negativity?

Sometimes you gotta call it like you see it.

This is an airmail stamp.
Something the Lansdale Post Office
has been out of for weeks.

And the entity I’m about to complain about is one you hear a lot of gripes about.  All over the country.  The United States Post Office.

Now don’t take this to be a complaint about the people.  They are nice and hard working.  I’m complaining about the postal service itself.

You may remember a few weeks ago I was on some errands for my mom.  And she wanted air mail stamps.  And the post office was out of air mail stamps.  Well, she needs more.  This lady writes a lot of letters to overseas destinations, let me tell you!

The post office is still out of air mail stamps.

To me, that just seems silly.  Sure, you can cobble together two different denominations to make up the $1.20 postage.  But how hard can it be to provide the post offices with the items they need to sell?

I was, however, quite happy when I went into the post office, and there was no line.  No one waiting at all.  Perhaps a little less happy when I noticed there was no one behind the counter, either.  She eventually came back.

Does anyone remember the kid’s game – Post Office?  It involved kissing?  Why would anyone name a kissing game after the post office?  Most probably the most inefficient way to get kissed there is.

Vintage post card

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

Mom’s second chore?  She needed a few bottles of white wine.  Because if you go visit my mom, you will be offered lots of food, and a nice glass of wine.  That’s the way she rolls.

Not overly fancy wine.  But good enough wine.  So a trip to the State Store in the Hillcrest Shopping Center.  Still not as good as the one on Valley Forge Road, but good enough for today’s purpose.

I did see an interesting display of something called Charmsoju.  $4.19 a bottle (375 ml).    The guy at the checkout says it sells like hotcakes.  But didn’t really know much about it.  So I looked it up – "Korea's most popular alcoholic beverage" and the top selling alcohol in the world,according to Wikipedia.  Might have to try a bottle!  Not for mom.  For me.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2

And then we get to the highlight of my Shopping Lansdale day.  I fulfilled my chicken croquette desire.

We had dinner for the first time at the KoffeeKorner on North Broad Street.  I was a little nervous, because I’m picky about my chicken croquettes.  I had high hopes, and didn’t want them to be dashed.

Simple dinner menu.  Ten items.  But I was there for just one.  The chicken croquettes.  The best deal is the full meal, which includes a soup or salad.  I had the French onion soup.  Hot, tasty, and covered in lots of cheese.  So far, so good.

Good, attentive service.  A light crowd (we were the only ones there when we got there).

And then dinner came.  A perfect plate of American comfort food.  Just like grandma would have served you in the sixties.  Bonus points for the fact that all of the food items came in separate dishes – a huge thing for folks who don’t like their foods to touch.

A bowl of mixed veggies on one side, and the required mashed potatoes and gravy on the other.  And the mashed potatoes had just a few small lumps in them – just like grandma’s – to let you know they were homemade.

But the proof is in the pudding.  Or in this case, the proof was in the chicken croquettes.  But that makes for a weird cliché.

Would the croquettes be croquetty?  And by that I mean they need to be cone shaped, have a crispy, deep-fried breaded crust, and have a perfectly seasoned, smooth, yet with a few chunks of chicken filling to let you know it was made with real chicken, and covered, but not swimming in chicken gravy.

And the verdict?  They were croquetty.  Up to my high standards croquetty.  Very good and satisfying croquetty.  Worth going to Koffee Korner for dinner croquetty.

Now if I could only convince Microsoft Word that croquetty is a word.  Enough with the squiggly red line!

So – go to the Koffee Korner for dinner!  It’s worth the trip for simple yet satisfying comfort food at great prices.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  3

So the recap:

THREE opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

To Go to Togo

Wednesday, February 24

Everyone has a little quirk in their brain.  Some of us have more than a few.  One of mine has to do with the words “to go.”  Every time I see that, I think it says “Togo.”  As in the county in West Africa.

And I think I know why.  First, we had dinner from Capasso’s 2 Go.  And the 2 Go part of the name got me thinking of Togo.  The country.  Because when I was in 4^th grade, we studied Africa.  And each kid had to pick a country to study.  And I picked Togo. 

I really dove into the project, and most probably knew more about Togo than any other kid in school.  I might just remember enough to beat you at a Togo trivia challenge today.

I promised myself in 4^th grade that one day, I would go to Togo.  Well, that promise has not yet been fulfilled – but I’m not dead yet!

Back to Lansdale.  So we had take-out cheesesteaks and fries from Capasso’s 2 Go.  And didn’t have to go to Togo to pick it up.  Because it’s on Main Street.  You may remember back on January 16^th when I first visited this place.  And promised to keep patronizing this new business.  Well, at least I have kept one promise!

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

But this really got me thinking.  We have so many places in town to get cheesesteaks from.  Not that it’s a bad thing!  I do love a good cheesesteak, as do many people.

But is a proliferation of pizza joints, cheesesteak emporiums or Chinese restaurants going to be the thing that puts Lansdale on the map?  Now I’m not saying we should go full quirky – I’d sure miss pizza, cheesesteaks and Chinese food – but should we collectively wish that our town had more unique restaurants to visit?

Like a Togolese restaurant?

Well, that might be a stretch, even for Lansdale.  Togolese food might not suit our palates that well.  But their cuisine does sound interesting! (From Wikipedia):

Togolese style is often a combination of African, French and German influences.  The cuisine has many sauces and different types of pâté, many of which are made from eggplant, tomato, spinach and fish. The cuisine combines these foods with various types of meat and vegetables to create flavorful dishes. Roadside food stands sell foods such as groundnuts, omelettes, brochettes, corn-on-the-cob, and cooked prawns.

Additional foods and dishes include:

·         Agouti, known as ‘grasscutters’.

·         Baguette bread

·         Chili peppers are often used as a spice

·         Fufu is very common, and is made from peeled and boiled yams which are then pounded with a pestle until reaching a dough consistency.   Fufu is typically accompanied with sauces.

·         Select goat meat portions.

·         Koklo meme, grilled chicken with a chili sauce.

·         Kokonte is a pâté made from cassava.

·         Pâté, a commonly consumed cornmeal cake.

·         Peanuts

·         Riz sauce d’arachide, a rice dish made with groundnut sauce.

·         akume which is a solid food prepared from ground maize.

Fufu and Light Soup.  Looks good!

The Koklo meme sounds good, as does the Fufu.  And that one would be fun to order.  Go on.  Say it out loud.  It’s a fun word.  Almost as fun as Togo.  “I went to Togo and had fun eating fufu.”  Try saying that without smiling!

Anyway, my point is that we will become a magnet to visitors when they have something to visit that they cannot get at home.  People won’t flock to Lansdale for cheesesteaks.  But they do if they want Lebanese food, as The Oasis is a restaurant you won’t find in many places, but you find in Lansdale.

We are a wonderfully diverse area.  With people from all over.  Wouldn’t it be nice for Lansdale to be known as the international dining mecca of the Philadelphia region?

That way, I wouldn’t have to go to Togo for my fufu.

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

Stop making cracks!

Tuesday, February 23

I need you to stop making cracks.  I mean it.  I’m talking to YOU, windshield!

Yes, I got a lovely crack in my windshield.  Most probably from a rock kicked up by another vehicle.  And that small star quickly traveled north as you can see.

Not the end of the world, but something I’d rather not have to deal with. 

First call – the insurance company.  Am I even covered?  Good news!  I am – and it only has a $100 deductible!  I use State Farm.  The claims process could not be easier.  Quick, painless and on the phone.  While I did not get to talk to Jake from State Farm (who could forget him – “She sounds hideous!”), I did get a nice and friendly representative.

Now, I only have one place I want to go to get it fixed.  Old Forge Collision Center at 920 Walnut Street.  Because we have a history.  A long history.

Now I don’t want to sound like a bad driver, but I have had my car at Old Forge numerous times.  And my mother’s car.  And Ken’s car.  And the kid’s cars.  We’ve seen the inside of a body shop more times than you can shake a stick at. 

For me, I had a car that was a rear end magnet.  I got rear ended twice.  Totally not my fault.  I did back into a telephone pole once (and now know why they call it a “blind spot”).  That was just my bad luck car.

Ken, on the other hand, was on a mission to single-handedly reduce the deer population of Pennsylvania one deer at a time.  That is, until he managed to hit two deer in one accident.  I just can’t make this stuff up.

One of the kid’s cars got sideswiped by a hit and run drive on Cannon Avenue. 

Then there was my mother. 

While she still drove, she had her share of little mishaps.  And Old Forge always sent he car back to her shiny and new looking.

I’m now going to share a personal story that gets me choked up every time I think of it.  And it has to do with Old Forge Collision Center.

When my father was ill, my mother got into a small accident on a dark and rainy night.  But enough to put it out of use.  Off to Old Forge it went.   It was a very difficult time for our family, and having a car out of commission just made it worse.  The morning my father died, while waiting for a call from the funeral home, the phone rang.  It was Old Forge, telling me that my mother’s car was ready.  I spoke with him very quickly, telling him that my dad just died and I had to leave the line open for the funeral home (my mother does not have call waiting).

The car was ready, except that the guy that paints the pin stripes was on vacation.  It was just a few days before Christmas.  I could either pick the car up, or bring it back for the pin stripe, of leave it there until the man returned the next week.

With so much going on, we needed the car.  So I told him I would pick it up the next day. 

When I showed up to sign the paperwork, and get the car, I asked if I could make an appointment for after the new year to bring it back for the pinstripe.  He said that wouldn’t be necessary.  Hearing that my father had just died the day before, and wanting to make our lives easier, he had called in his worker from vacation just to do my mother’s car.  And then he handed me a sympathy card to give to my mother.

The card was a simple act of human kindness. Calling a worker in from vacation was a much greater act of kindness.  And I can tell you two things from this.  One, I still get choked up when I think about this over eight years later.  And two, the folks at Old Forge Collision Center are truly wonderful people.

They know how to fix cars.  They know how to treat people.  What a winning combination.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

This is more difficult than I thought it would be!

Saturday Sunday, Monday February 20 – 22

We all backslide.  Every one of us.  Whether it’s a diet, or quitting smoking – it’s difficult to toe the line at times.

And I backslid with my shopping odyssey.  It would be easy to say I just didn’t spend any money anywhere.  But that wouldn’t be true.  Because we spent money outside the borough.

Yes, that is a rather random insertion of the Toadies singing Backslider from 1994.  Good times.

So in a three day period we went 1 - 2 -3.  But it would have been nice to have been 3 - 2 - 1.



On Saturday, Ken needed his car washed.  And went to the Major Shine Car Wash on Allentown Road.  Just outside the borough.  So close, but so far.  And they do a really good job.  But there is a car wash in Lansdale.  So this was a missed opportunity.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

Next, we are going out with friends to a BYOB.  And these people know their wine.  So we go to the State Store on Valley Forge Road.  Again, so close, but so far.  Not in the borough.  But it is a “Fine Wind & Good Spitis” shop that just has such a better wine selection than the Soviet-era State Store in the borough.  Please fogive us.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

We need some cheese and crackers.  For our friends.  Before we go out to dinner.  So it’s off to Acme we go.  Not in the borough. 

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

And then we go to a great Italian BYOB.  In Harleysville.  Villa Vito.  A really, really good italian BYOB.  A restaurant that I would love to have here in Lansdale.  Because the more restaurants, the merrier.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

On Sunday, I didn't spend a dime.  Not one dime.  

Now Monday wasn’t that great of a day.  We had a big purchase.  A big, bulky purchase.  A gigantic cat scratching post.  Or, as some of you may call it, a sofa.

Our old livingroom sofa was seventeen years old.  Bought at the Strawbridge & Clothier furniture department in the Montgomery Mall old.  And had suffered through the claws of our cats.  And the sunlight coming through the windows that had faded half of it.  But it was the comfiest sofa I ever had.  A perfect napping sofa.  I am going to miss old green. 

Hopefully the new sofa is comfortable for napping.  I couldn’t really try that out in the store.  The fine folks at Raymour & Flanigan just wouldn’t leave me alone long enough to truly get a good 40 winks in the showroom.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

I did go to the Lansdale Borough Economic Development Committee meeting in the evening.  And we had a pretty good turnout.  With borough residents who had questions and coments.  Want to know whats going on in town?  Come to one of the many committee, commission, authority and council meetings.  They are informative, and often fun.

So, after that, my backsliding came to a halt.  Because we had dinner at the Lansdale Tavern.  French Dip with Swiss cheese.  I felt incredibly international.  Right here in Lansdale, PA.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

TWO needs not fulfilled by a Lansdale establishment.

THREE needs met outside the borough when I could have stayed here.

Let’s see what today brings!

And the trophy goes to . . .

Friday, February 19

What a busy day Friday was.  Because it was Ken's Poker Night.  Now this is not just a poker night.  This is a group of five men who have been playing poker for twenty-seven years.  Rotating from house to house.  And tonight, it was our house.

Accountants playing poker.  This was not staged.

Now these five friends all used to work together.  As accountants.  Five accountants playing poker.  For twenty-seven years.

Needless to say, I am finding something else to do tonight!  It's not that I don't like them - they are wonderful people.  They are like family.  But when they get together, they talk their own special language.  They can laugh uproariously at a joke when someone just says one word.  Because they have heard the joke for twenty-seven years.

"Pencil!" says someone.  All five crack up.  That's what twenty-seven years together will do.  Again, I will be going elsewhere this evening.

Ken, to his credit, is on board with this Lansdale Shopping year.  And he vowed to source his food and drink here in the borough.  A recap of the evening:

Chips, pretzels and American Cheese from Giuliano's Deli on North Chestnut Street.  Why go to a supermarket when you can park right by the door, run in and get what you need?  And what is a poker night without chips and pretzels.  And American Cheese.  For the record, that was for the sandwiches.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1


And what sandwiches they were!  Pulled pork or pulled chicken from Uncle Greg's Smokin' BBQ on North Cannon Avenue.  Plus potato salad and coleslaw.  And rolls.  Amazing rolls.  This is a crowd pleaser that is sure to perk up any party.  Plus, someone else makes it for you!  Best BBQ around, hands down.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2



Of course, there is beer at Poker Night.  Lots of beer. Beer that came from Lansdale Beverage on St. Elmo Street.  That drive-through emporium of beer.Nothing fancy for these guys.  A case of Yuengling and a case of Coors Light.  Because the fancy stuff comes next.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  3


For twenty-seven years, the host has been providing a specialty beer.  Something odd, rare, unusual or special.  And, as accountants, they have a spreadsheet for it.  They really do.  And tonight's specialty beer was all about the theme of Shopping Lansdale.  Because it was a growler of Lansdale Lager from Round Guys Brewing Company on Wood Street.  What's a growler?  A 32 or 64 ounce bottle filled with your choice of beer straight from the tap.  Perfect for a party.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  4


Wings.  Poker and wings go together like, well, poker and wings.  And some of the best wings in town (and a good bang for you buck) is at Main Street Pizza.  A side note - perfect mix of the wing part vs. the part that looks like a tiny drum stick.  Because people like one or the other.  Not usually both.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  5


You cannot have a poker party without a break for dessert.  And tonight's dessert came from Corropolese Bakery on South Broad Street.  Boston Cream Pie.  And cookies, because it turns out that Ken has no restraint at all when in a bakery.  

Lansdale Shopping Score:  6


So a good time was had by all.  And it was definitively proven that you can throw one hell of a good poker party with all of the food and drink sourced right here in Lansdale Borough.


The only thing that made the night better, was that Ken won the annual Bluff Cup trophy.

That was for his poker playing skills.  Not his catering skills.  But he deserves to get a trophy for that, too.

Yes.  They keep spreadsheets to see who wins.  In ever category.
Including the specialty beer.  Accountants.

So the recap:

SIX opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

You Can Take it to the Bank

Wednesday, February 17

"You can take it to the bank" is an idiom well known in the English language.  It means you are able to depend on the truthfulness of a statement: it is not counterfeit or bogus.

There are a lot of things you can take to a bank in Lansdale.  Unless you are like me, and take them to a Credit Union.



I bank at the Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union on South Broad Street.  Which was a fine coincidence, because the Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union was going to be the recipient of Lansdale's Economic Development Committee Business of the Month Award later in the day.

Dan Sokil of The Reporter memorializing the event

Councilwoman Carrie Hawkins Charlton delivered the award, and outlined many reasons they Merck Sharp & Dohme was worthy of the award.  They are extremely community focused, and donate money, time and effort to many local charities.

Plus, they have a Cow Plop every year.  Where you place money on where a cow is going to, well, plop.  Her stuff.  Don't make me spell this out!  You know what I mean.  With proceeds going to charity.  The money, not the plop.

One thing I love about Merck Sharpe and Dohme is that it has a small town old fashioned bank vibe to it.  They understand that you are the customer, and they treat you right.

And they have lollipops.  Now I have to tell you that every time I see the basket of lollipops, two things happen.  First, I think about when I was a kid and would go to the bank with my mom.  And I would always get a lollipop.  Second, I think about that song by the Chordettes.  You know the one.  Lollipop.  And how I can never get it out of my head for the rest of the day.  Here it is, so you can have the same excruciating pain of this song invading every moment of your day.  You're welcome.




What is my takeaway from this?  The Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union is a lot like Lansdale itself.  It reminds us of great times past, but puts a modern spin on things.  It fits in with Lansdale perfectly.

Do you think only people who work at Merck can bank here?  I never worked for Merck.  Just about any company can sign up to be a member.  Mine did.  And if yours isn't, you should get them to.  It's free and easy.

It also made me think about how generation after generation always complains about the music of the current generation.  "Oh, those kids today!  They listen to such garbage!"

I kind of thought that when I stumbled upon the lyrics to Lil' Wayne's version of Lollipop.  I can't print them here.  I won't even link to them.  This is a family blog.  Go Google it yourself.  Because that Lil' Wayne has a big old mouth on him!

But there I am, sounding old.  Because we listened to a song with these lyrics:

Lollipop lollipop
Oh lolli lolli lolli
Lollipop lollipop
Oh lolli lolli lolli
Lollipop lollipop
Oh lolli lolli lolli
Lollipop (pop)

(repeat)

I mean, really!  I think America's love affair with mind altering substances started a lot sooner than we thought it did.

Anyway!  Congratulations to Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union for their Business of the Month award.  It is well deserved.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

Now, just a few moments to talk about an unsuccessful Lansdale shopping trip.  I needed a toy.  For a five year old.  A specific toy, because this boy is into Minions.  Big time.

Now I believe they have a toy section at Big Lots, but most probably not the robust selection I would need, because this five year old has a lot of Minions.  I needed to find one he didn't have.  So it's off to Toys R Us in neighboring Montgomery Township.  Where they have lots of Minions.

I settled on a Tumblin' Stuart.  The one with one eye.  When you press his head, he speaks in Minionese.  He tumbles.  He gets back up.  And, once in a while, when getting up, he farts.

This, of course, sends one five year old and four adults into paroxysms of laughter every time Stuart does this. Every time.  We, as adults, are hysterically laughing at a farting toy.

Let me tell you.  I'm 54 years old.  I have been known to fart when getting up.  And no one thinks it's hysterically funny.  No one.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

ONE need not fulfilled by a Lansdale establishment.

Let’s see what today brings!

It’s a miracle! I wished for chicken croquettes, AND IT HAPPENED!!

Tuesday, February 16

I’m a firm believer that everyone in the world gets one wish answered.  Just one.  So be careful of what you wish for, because you don’t want to blow it on wishing for Justin Bieber to make another album.

Yesterday, I had wished that Lansdale had a restaurant that had chicken croquettes on the menu.

Today, it happened.

To start the story, roll the clock back to breakfast time.  We wanted breakfast sandwiches.  And someone to serve them to us.  So Ken suggested the Koffee Korner on North Broad Street – in the old Music Hall Block building.  I hadn’t been there in a long, long time.

Why, I don’t know.  It’s great.  It’s a throwback to another era.  A simple eatery with friendly service.  A place you can see the kitchen from the dining room.  Neat, old pictures hanging around. And prices that can’t be beat.

$3.50 for a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich.  A buck for a cup of coffee. AND it comes with hash browns.  Hash brown that I’m going to vote the best hash browns in Lansdale.

So as we’re sitting there, we see a notice that the Koffee Korner will now be open for dinner.  In fact, it has been for about two weeks.  And what’s on the menu?  CHICKEN CROQUETTES!!

$10.50 with a soup or salad.  I am so there.  From yesterday’s comments, I know there are a  lot of chicken croquette aficionados in town – so let’s set up a Croquette Night Out!  At the Koffee Korner.

And maybe we can figure out the cryptic slogan at the bottom of the dinner menu:  Dinner Menu Items Also Available For Dinner!

I could have wished for world peace, or the end to hunger.  Well, in a way I did.  Because my hunger will be ended one day soon with Lansdale Chicken Croquettes at the Koffee Korner.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

Our next stop was to get some beer.  Unlike most states where beer is a supermarket item, we Pennsylvanians have to go to a beer distributor.  Or a bar. 

And we have a great beer distributor in Lansdale.  Because it’s a drive through beer distributor!  No parking.  No getting out of your car.  Just pull in, roll down the window, and tell the beer concierge what you want.  Pop the trunk, or have them put it in the back seat.  It couldn’t be easier.

Great selection.  And they cater to lazy people like me.  What a perfect combination.

How many places can say they have a drive through beer distributor?  Nowhere around here that I can think of.  It’s quirky convenience that can’t be beat.  Enter on St. Elmo Street, just down from the Lansdale Post Office.  Exit on Pellette Street.  Bonus points for anyone who actually knew that was called Pellette Street.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2

So, today’s score:

TWO opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

On Twofer Tuesday we have a Multiple Monday

I did something yesterday that I've done many, many times before.  But for the first time ever, I did it twice in one day.

Who knew that would be so much fun?

I ate at the Lansdale Tavern twice in one day.



Now I didn't plan on doing that.  It just happened.  I knew I was going to have lunch there.  Some former clients and now good friends wanted to meet and talk about business.  And the Lansdale Tavern is a great place for that.  Great lunch food and a relaxed atmosphere.  We sat for hours, and never felt pressured to leave.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

Interesting to note that the Lansdale Tavern has been nominated in three categories for the 2016 Montco Happening Best of Montco List:

• Best Burger
• Best Wings
• Best Bartender - Jim

Go ahead and click the links above and give them a vote!

Later in the day, I knew I had an Economic Development Committee meeting at borough hall.  It's always the third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m.

Until it isn't.

I thought something might be up as I pulled into the parking lot.  First off, I was the only car there.  Second, the building was dark.

Presidents Day!  That's right.  The borough offices were closed because of Presidents Day.  And the Economic Development Committee meeting will take place next Monday at 6:30 p.m.  Hope to see you there.

So what to do with my new free evening.  Dinner.

So I called Ken and asked where he wanted to go.  But used the accumulating snow that was on the roads to convince him to stay in the borough.  His choice of venue?  The Lansdale Tavern.

Now that didn't bother me at all.  The menu there is varied enough that I can eat something completely different for lunch and dinner.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2

But as you may have noticed.  We've had some repeats on of Lansdale dining choices.  And three-peats, and four-peats.  Partially because we are creatures of habit.  But also because there are not a ton of moderately priced sit-down restaurants in town.

Now we have a lot of favorite places to eat in the areas around Lansdale.  I'm sure you do, too.  Places to get a good dinner at a fair price.  Meatloaf.  Sirloin steak.  Stuffed flounder.  Chicken croquettes.

Some of our go-to places:

• Pumpernick's on Rt 309 in Montgomeryville.
• Zoto's on Rt. 309 in Hatfield.
• The American Star Diner on Welsh Road in Montgomery Township

You know - classic American fare.  Not a chain restaurant.  Not a budget breaker.

And how I wish a full-menued American-style restaurant would come to our borough.

I'm going to call this my Chicken Croquette Quest.  Where can I find one of my favorite meals, and a staple of Americana cuisine, in Lansdale?  The Chicken Croquette.

Stay tuned!

So, today’s score:

TWO opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!

Valentine's Day at the supermarket

Sunday, February 14

Valentine's Day is special to a lot of people.  And I saw this at the supermarket.

Today, the only money I spent was at the supermarket.  And not in Lansdale.  Because we don't have a supermarket..  I was up in Green Lane, so I stopped by Henning's Market in Harleysville on the way home.

What the heck is this?

I love shopping on a day when the market is full of men who might otherwise not see the inside of a supermarket.  The cluelessness is truly outstanding.  Men who have promised to make their sweetie a special meal.  And then wander around the market wondering why they can't find breadcrumbs in the bakery.  Or asking the stock boy if he knows how to bake a potato.

I do have to admit, I felt a bit clueless in the produce section.  Because Henning's had a fruit?  vegetable? on a display that I had never seen before.  Pictured here.  Please help me, because I have never seen anything like this before in my life.

Now mind you, it was the only one there.  Sitting all by itself near other produce items I could easily identify.  There was no sign and no price tag,.  There was no label on it.

It looked eerily like Audrey II at the beginning of Little Shop of Horrors.  You know, before it started wanting human blood and eating people.

I almost bought it just for fun, but was a little freaked out that I would wake up and find it gnawing my foot off.

Truly not wanting to become like Seymour Krelborn in the movie, I passed up on owning what might turn out to be the seed pod of some intergalactic monster.

So if anyone out there knows what this really, is, please let me know.  So I can sleep easy knowing that an alien invasion has not startled at a local supermarket.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

But we're here to talk about shopping in Lansdale!  It's just hard to do that when the only shopping I did was in a supermarket.

We used to have quite a few supermarkets.  Before they turned into the super-sized food emporiums of today.

Here's one reason we don't have a supermarket.  We don't have enough room.  Enough room on a busy street.  Enough room on a busy street with extra room for tons of parking. Enough room on a busy street with extra room for tons of parking and all of the space needed for the stores that now need to go along with a supermarket.

Because supermarkets have turned into the biggest box of the big box stores.

Think about the supermarkets that we Lansdale residents shop at.  Here's a map:


View Lansdale Area Supermarkets in a full screen map

So what do we learn from this?  Supermarkets have to have more than groceries.  They need cafes nowadays.  Flower shops.  Banks.  Prepared food sections.  They need acres and acres of parking spaces.

They need to be on a busy road.

Now we have a busy road.  State Route 63, which is known as Main Street in our borough.  We just don't have a parcel of land big enough.  Clemens market did have something close when it was in the Hillcrest shopping center.  But the store space and parking lot turned out to be just too small for the design of a modern supermarket.

Let's also look at what supermarkets need today.  They need to be attached to or adjacent to a strip of other stores.  It's a symbiotic relationship like remora fish and great white sharks.  One feeds off the other and they both benefit from the relationship.

Again, Clemens and the Hillcrest center had that.  But just not big enough by today's standards.

Let's also look at the Acme just outside of the northwest end of the borough.  Enough room for a large (but not as large as newer supermarkets) market.   Decent amount of parking.  But no room for the ancillary stores that people now seem to want with their supermarkets.  And I think that's why the Acme seems to be suffering a bit.

So what's your thought?  Do we just suck it up and live with the fact that we are a town without a supermarket?  Do we just keep on spending our grocery money in other municipalities?

Or do we go completely outside of the box and find a developer that wants to turn the Madison Lot into a mixed use mecca - a parking garage topped with a supermarket and other stores.  Perhaps apartments or condos over that.

Armies travel on their stomachs.  So do towns.  I'd love to see a supermarket in the heart of our town.  One we could both drive and walk to.  Out of all the Madison Lot proposals I've seen, I haven't seen one like this.

And I would like to.

So, today’s score:

ONE needs not fulfilled by a Lansdale establishment.

Let’s see what today brings!