Category Archives: The Rest of the Food

After a lunch of Fish ‘n Chips at Bull’s Head Public House, a real style English pub we walked on down Main Street to the Julius Sturgis pretzel Bakery.  While no longer an active bakery it is the site of the first commercial pretzel bakery dating back to 1861.  Tours allow visitors to understand the history and to actually get a hands-on lesson in pretzel twisting.  Of course there is a gift shop and an opportunity to purchase pretzels.  Tom Sturgis Pretzels company in nearby Shillington, PA continues the family tradition.  This area of Pennsylvania is home to many pretzel companies.  The first annual Pretzel Fest was held last September in Reading and features a great number of bakers.  We were there!

Julius Sturgis Pretzels

Along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, CA you can’t miss this eye catching table and chairs. The West Coast correspondent had Bird Dogged this spot in past trips up the PCH and was excited to grab this image for the website.

Rosenthal Wine Tasting

As we continued north on US-17 from Jaws Resort Wear we came across the Golden Egg Pancake House in Surfside Beach, South Carolina.  The parking lot was packed but we were lucky and one car left just as we were getting ready to take this photo.

Golden Egg

While in Charleston we decided to make a trip to the Charleston Tea Plantation, a short trip away.  The Plantation is the only tea plantation in the US.  Quite an interesting visit to see how tea is harvested and dried.  While there we found this Big Thing.  Seems it was exhibited in Summerville before it was replaced with a larger version and found its way to the plantation.

Tea Plantation Sweet TeaTea Plantation Sweet Tea

On our way from Columbia to Charleston, after the eclipse, we stopped in Summerville, SC to get a photo of this Large Sweet Tea container.  On the way in to town we stopped at the Visitor Center.  We found about the Azalea Park which has walkways featuring a number of sculptures and azaleas and camellias in season, a nice park in a small town.  We also were recommended to a local treat, Eve’s Restaurant where we had great fried chicken lunches.  A real “local” place.  Oh, I forgot, the sweet tea image.  Here it is.

Summerville Sweet Tea

For Father’s Day, Ben and Nate gave me a visit to the NASCAR Pocono 400 racetrack.  Known among race fans as the “Tricky Triangle,” a 2 1/2 mile test of drivers skills.  We (Ben, Nate, the Chief Photographer and I) went to the time trials on Saturday before the race. Interesting and much different than watching a Sunday race.  Cars in and out of the pits working on set-ups, tires, etc.  During one of the breaks we walked around some of the booths and I saw this Big Idaho Potato.  (It was first spotted by Olivia, the niece of my Number One Fan, when she was in Idaho – check out the Bird Dog page.)

Pocono Potato

After our trip to York to see a Time 4 Three performance (which Deb gave me as a gift) we took a route home leading through Reading, PA.  In Skillington, near Reading I had researched a Big Pretzel.  It is located in front of the Tom Sturgis Pretzel Factory on Lancaster Pike.  Truly a great pretzel, too bad it was a Sunday and we couldn’t get in the retail store to buy some of these pretzels.

Tom Sturgis Pretzel Factory

We were running out of time to get this photo.  The house was sold, we were finalizing the move and knew about this chili out in front of Chili’s on 86th Street in Indianapolis.  Most Chili’s restaurants have this up high over the door.  Had to grab this before leaving town.

86th Street Chili’s

Spotted these Big Donuts hanging around the Dancing Donut Shop on 56th Street, east of College Ave in SoBro (South of Broad Ripple.)

The Dancing Donut

Any trip to the Chicago area is not complete without a stop on the way home at Fair Oaks Dairy. Offering a wide variety of cheese as well delicious ice cream, all made from milk that contains no hormones or antibiotics. Located at exit 220 on I-65 in Fair Oaks, Indiana it’s a great place to stop and grab a cone or milk shake. If you have children this is the place for you. This Big Milk Bottle doubles as a pseudo climbing wall. Go, you will like it!

Fair Oaks Dairy

Well, how do I begin. I was looking to find a source for good Eastern European pierogis on line when I ran across the Pieorgi Fest in Whiting, Indiana. After looking at the site I thought it looked like a lot of fun. Little did I know, what a big party if was for a small town. Three days of celebrating Eastern European heritage with an emphasis on Poland. You have to experience it for yourself, we watched the “International Polka Parade” and can say I’ve never watched a parade like this, you have to see for yourself. We also particiated in the Mr. Pierogi sing along on Saturday. What fun. Wished we lived closer!

Mr. Halupk

Mr. Pierogi

The 4th of July parade in Carmel would not be complete without a float from Bub’s Burgers, or in this case Bub’s Cafe serving breakfast and lunch. They’ve had a Big Burger in the past and now a Big Plate of Pancakes.

Bub’s Pancakes

Will that be Original or Extra Crispy? Nothing like a good bucket from the Colonel. It’s kind of amazing seeing these advertising signs at ground level. This bucket is at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati. We visited during a Fall Break jaunt. There were other Big Signs out in front of the entrance. Looks like a good place to visit if you are in to neon.

Cincinnati KFC

Matt and Erin’s wedding reception was at the American Visionary Art Museum. In the courtyard outside the entrance was this “Artsy Egg” which we spotted on the way into the museum. After a night of food and dance the celebration ended and I posed with this fancy egg.

Wedding Egg

On Saturday morning we were driving from Ocean City to Baltimore and spotted this Big Donut. Making a quick turn back we just had to get this this donut. It was hard to find a parking spot by this small bakery. It must be a family tradition to stop in and get a treat on the way back to Baltimore or DC. I’ve been off donuts for a while but maybe this would have been a place to get a good Boston Cream.

Maryland Donut

Tony’s Pizza is on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. This is not a small boardwalk pizza place, more of a pizza palace. I didn’t have time to take in a slice but I felt it would have pretty good. It was early and I made my way up to the deck on the second floor for this image. I would like any feedback on Tony’s Pizza if you have been here.

Tony’s Pizza

A trip to, or, in our case through Cincinatti, would not be complete without a stop at Jungle Jim’s International Market. It is a superstore unlike any other. With 1 1/2 acres of produce, 75,000 international grocery products and cigars from 70 countries, there is much to discover. At least that is what their web site says. These veggies were outside by the entrance from the back parking lot.

Jungle Jim’s Veggies

Carmel Indiana has an Art Fair downtown every year which is a nice way to spend a few hours and a few dollars. This year we were shopping for a couple of presents when lo and behold, out front of Old Town Tavern, was this big bottle of Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka. Turns out it is the renowned golfer Fuzzy Zoeller’s creation. It’s 5 times distilled and 10 times charcoal filtered. Of course, as you could expect the slogan is “Get Fuzzy!”

Fuzzy’s Vodka

This Big Coffee Pot is on US-30, the Lincoln Highway, in Bedford, PA. It was designed and built in 1927 by Bert Koontz to stand out front of his gas station. It served snacks and ice cream until 1937 when it became a restaurant and bar. There was once a Greyhound bus stop there providing plenty of customers. It was moved to it’s current spot in 2004.

Pennsylvania Coffee Pot