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US: Seattle, WA – Architecture of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture
The fantastical sheet metal walls of MoPop were designed by Frank Gehry. It is often quoted as looking like a smashed electric guitar. Gehry himself had made the comparison, “We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas.”
Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called “a fitting backdrop for the world’s largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia.” The outside of the building which features a fusion of textures and colors, including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a “shimmering purple haze,” has been declared “an apt representation of the American rock experience.
US: Orono, ME – Local Family Restaurant with Great Food, Great Prices…a Great Time
College students know pizza; a staple for them while living on or off campus. Over the years, this landmark for pizza in Maine, Pat’s Pizza, has become a favorite of University of Maine students offering delicious and affordable pizzas that won’t disappoint. In fact, with deep roots in the community, it has been said that an education at the University is not complete without a Pat’s Pizza.
Opened in 1931, and still churning out 700 pizzas a night, this 2nd generation family business (now with 19 locations) is famous in Maine. Step into over 50 years of history with this old time pizzeria, at their original location, with its original Formica counters and slate foot rests.
The thin, soft, light crust melts in your mouth, and the toppings are put on evenly so that there’s a taste in every bite. Made with freshest ingredients, 35 toppings like: specially made pepperoni, pine nuts, hot dog, kielbasa, zesty olives or eggplant, there is a pizza just for you! They even make gluten-free pizzas or double -dough pizzas.
The Pat’s Combo is the most popular pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and Cotto salami on it. Not to mention the mouth-watering calzones, spaghetti and meatballs, sub sandwiches, wraps, salads and a Maine favorite red skin hot dogs too. Wash it down with Pat’s own brand of sodas: strawberry, root beer, orange, grape, cream or Stan and Sandra’s favorite – raspberry Lime Rickey, or try the local Moxie brand, made in Maine.
Buon appetito!
Location: 11 Mill Street, Orono, ME 04473
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am – 12am, Sat-Sun 7am – 1am
Tel: 207-866-2111
patspizzaorono.com/
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitbangormaine.com
US: Richmond, VA – Buz and Ned’s Real Barbecue, a Richmond Tradition Since 1992
Some men are driven by a need for fame. Some men seek glory. Buz has always sought out the perfect barbecue. Not that par-boiled, mass-produced, liquid-smoke injected kind, either. Nothing but real barbecue will do. 
It took a NYC guy to literally work his way thru kitchens in BBQ havens in Texas, Kansas City, Memphis and Lexington KY, and then merge all that expertise with Ned’s 150- year old family recipe to perfect the art of the pit and his own scrumptious BBQ.
For the past 25 years, his ribs (baby back, spare or beef) have been a hit, there’s hearty Brunswick stew (chock full of corn, string beans, carrots, and potatoes), killer chili, Sandra’s favorite: beef brisket, and you-could-eat-alone sides of chunky smokey baked beans, cukes & onions, sweet potato fries and, of course, hush puppies. Wash ‘em down with root beer and Cheerwine.
On the last Monday of every month Buz and Ned’s is featuring Pig Pickin’ Mondays at their 8205 West Broad St. location only. The traditional, down-home, country PIG PICKIN’ starts at 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. (or earlier , ’til they run out of pig). It’s a first-come, first-serve, all-you-can-eat meal featuring an amazing 100% wood barbecued whole pig cooked slowly using only freshly-cut hickory log, served with Buz and Ned’s barbecue sauce on the side. The buffet will also include: hush puppies, freshly shredded cole slaw, sandwich rolls, three bean baked beans, sour cream red skinned potato salad and freshly-brewed iced tea.
With a whole-hog knowledge of ‘cue, meat-eaters will agree that Buz and Ned’s Real Barbecue is a Southern authority on smoke. Go on in and eat like a local.
Boulevard Location: 1119 North Blvd., Richmond, VA 23230 (Directions)
Hours: Sun-Thurs: 11am-9pm · Fri-Sat: 11am-10pm
Tel: 804-355-6055
West Broad Street Location: 8205 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23294 (Directions)
Hours: Sun-Thurs: 11am-10pm · Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm
Tel: 804-346-4227
buzandneds.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitrichmondva.com
Discover Parks (etc) in Canada for FREE
Celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by visiting the our home and native land. Parks Canada is offering all Canadians a FREE 2017 Discovery Pass so there will be no cost to visit any of their sites. You have the option of visiting 148 locations everywhere in the country. You probably think they’re all about national parks but Parks Canada is way more than that – their mandate includes marine conservation areas and national historic sites.
You could visit the wreck of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in Nunavut, view Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan in Kluane National park, ice fields in Jasper, our country’s birthplace within the fortifications of Quebec, Alexander Graham Bell’s inventions, walk amongst the flower pot rocks on the ocean floor in the Bay of Fundy, Haida Heritage sites, or even Anne of Green Gables‘ writer, Lucy Maude Montgomery’s house.
Here’s a challenge: See how many of their iconic red Adironack chairs you can find and Instagram them. If you want to drool – and – plan ahead, get copies of the National Geographic books Guide to the National Parks of Canada and Guide to the National Historic Sites of Canada.
Yes, you can camp, but you can also reserve a yurt, a goutte d’Ô which resembles a water droplet, a micro cube, large modern houses called oTENTiks or be one of the first to sleep in a hanging Cocoon in Cape Breton.
www.parkscanada.gc.ca
Tel: 888-773-8888
US: New York City, New York – Empire State Building Dressed for the 4th of July
The Empire State Building gets dressed up for different events. On the Fourth of July you can see her red white and blue colors from near and far all around New York City. One of the best vantage points to view the iconic panoramic view of the whole Manhattan skyline is driving along the Brooklyn Queens expressway. you don’t even mind sitting in traffic, since it allows for more time to ogle the view.
US: California Lemonade Chain – Healthy, Inexpensive & Delish
The California Lemonade chain has fabulously delicious, healthy, inexpensive, 
seasonal Southern California comfort food. You can choose a 3 or 2-plate meal for only $10. We love that pricing goes by portion size – you can get 1, 2, or 3 portions of each.
Start with the wildly creative salad bar (beets, tangerines, walnuts & onions or watermelon radish, ahi tuna & snap peas or Thai quinoa, cuke, red pepper, mango, peanuts & carrots). Sandwiches are called “right-sized” as they aren’t the gi-normous ones often found in US restaurants.
The hot section features some land and sea food (buttermilk chicken, red curry salmon, pot roast, BBQ brisket). Yes there are desserts and of course, as it’s name implies, 7 kinds of lemonade (ginger peach, blackberry thyme, cucumber mint) to wash it all down. Don’t skip the mac ‘n cheese (only $3.75) or the (yikes!) brussel sprouts.
This photo’s at LAX airport in the Delta departure lounge but there’s about a dozen of them all over LA. California. They also have a yummy cookbook.
Cosmos Tour: Prague Vienna Budapest – Halushka dumplings and Cimbalon
On the Cosmos Tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, the first optional excursion was a typical Slavic evening in the well-known U Marčanů restaurant, and included folk music with Bohemian, Moravian and Slovakian singing and dancing, plus gypsy music and dancing. The performers were fabulous at getting the audience involved, and great fun ensued. A musical instrument called a cimbalon was played; it’s a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across, and is played by striking two hammers against the strings.
Here’s a short video of the cimbalon in action:
The 3-course meal accompanied by unlimited drinks (wine/ beer/soft drinks) started with my favorite food of the whole trip – halushka , little dumpling bits topped with cheese and fried bacon (probably called bryndza) which is one of the the Slovak national dishes. Now we know why. The main course was pork on a skewer with delicate Lyonnaise potatoes, green beans and roasted potatoes.
Everyone ate and laughed and enjoyed the evening.
Cosmos Tour: Prague Vienna Budapest – Dinner in NH Hotel Prague
The first included meal in the Cosmos: Prague Vienna Budapest tour was an entree into the hearty meals to come. It started off with a beef broth with thin noodles and small tidbits of beef.
The main course was roasted pork in a flavorful beer gravy with a side of red cabbage and bread “dumplings”. These were new to most of the travelers. Rather than a round doughy ball which we expected, these were more like slices of rye bread sitting in the gravy – so easy to lap it up.
Dessert was a light tiramisu served in a tumbler. Good start!
Belgium: Museum of Immigration to the New World
When you hear the words “Ellis Island“, you think of the immigrants pouring in from Europe yearning for a new life. The flip side of the North American tale of immigration is now on display at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. The brand-new museum presents the experience of the over two million people who emigrated from Europe between 1873 and 1934 aboard the ships of the Belgian-American company Red Star Line.
Visitors of the Red Star Line Museum get a glimpse of what an immigrant’s journey was like – from the docks of Europe, across the churning waters of the Atlantic, to starting a whole new life in North America. You can read personal tales of present and past immigration as well as view the plates used on the ships, smell the scent of the disinfecting showers, and try your hands at a puzzle once used to assess newcomers’ intelligence. Anyone can search the genealogical database, or even add personal comments and family history.
Among them were famous passengers such as Albert Einstein and Golda Meir. The museum lets you trace their travel across the ocean. When you sing “God Bless America” or “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” you’re paying tribute to a Red Star Line immigrant named Israel Baline (better by his Americanized name, Irving Berlin). By the time of his death, his songwriting included 1,500 songs, 19 musicals and 18 feature films.