Hittin' It Back East

This time last year I flew out to visit Kyle when he was still working at Beaver Creek to see a two-night Brother's Keeper run with Dean Ween and Glenn McClelland (the guitarist and pianist from Ween) at a local bar in Vail called Shakedown Bar. The season was ending so Kyle was off the hook as a lift operator and we drove back cross country to Florida together. It's crazy how almost exactly one year ago we were taking the same route back east... dreaded I-70. The midwest is a long stretch of flat prairie land, tumbleweeds, and fearing that you're going to get pulled over. We drove about 14 hours and reached Columbia, MO where we crashed for a few hours at Kyle's aunt and uncle's (our same halfway point last year also). We were rejuvenated enough to make it a bit past Pittsburg, another 13 hour stretch.

In the morning, we went to check out New Hope, PA, which was another 4 hours. New Hope, PA is the birthplace of my favorite band, Ween. If you haven't heard of them, get on it!! I had already visited this town before, but it's so cool that I wanted to show Kyle around. We checked out all my favorite stores, starting with God Save the Qweens, in case I spent too much money in what is known as "Ween's official merchandiser." They have old Ween shirts, random Ween odds-n-ends, and the store specializes in punk clothing and real Doc Marten's. The lady who owns the store, known as Punky, is super awesome and really good friends with Gener (lead singer of Ween). I got a Ween iPod skin, that is probably the last one in existence because it fits my out-of-issue iPod Classic. I got a couple Ween patches too. We wandered through Type B Tie Dye Studios, that is owned by a couple Deadheads. They are terrific tie dyers and you can even dye your own shirt instead of just buying one! We browsed in some more shops that I can't remember the names of, but the whole Main Street is a super awesome place to walk through. I love New Hope so much, it's a town with so much spunk. They have a theater called Buck's County Playhouse, that puts on shows right off Main Street. I'd love to see something there.

Delaware Canal State Park trail.

The Delaware Canal State Park has a trial that runs right through New Hope along the canal. There is just so much to do! We decided to walk across the Lamberville-New Hope Bridge, where you cross over the Delaware River and the state line into New Jersey! We walked to another state! While we were crossing over the bridge, you'll never guess who we saw... Mickey Melchiondo a.k.a Dean Ween himself, fishing!! Deaner's other passion is fishing and he even runs a charter business called Mickey's Guide Service. We got our beer and spectated from the river bank. Pretty soon, it was time to go John and Peter's, the famous local bar that Ween was playing at before they made it big. In addition to Ween, so many amazing artist have played and continue to play at this tiny, personal venue. The second we walked in we saw Guy Heller (singer in the Dean Ween Group and Moistboyz) and he shared some of his hot chocolate with us. Wednesday night is definitely the night to go to JnP's, because they put on something called The Invitational where so many talented musicians perform. Deaner and Guy Heller play pretty much every Wednesday. Someone from the Spin Doctor's got up and played too. The cool part is that ANYONE can get up there and play! You just tell someone in charge what instrument you play or if you sing good and they'll do their best to get ya up there. We met a really nice couple and the guy, Dan, who has two bands (a Grateful Dead cover band and an original project, The Bansai Bills), got up and did a song with 'em! It was literally so cool, I couldn't even believe it was real. The night just kept getting better when a friend, Juhll, we met at the Shakedown Bar shows I mentioned in the beginning of this post and then later randomly ran into him at another show in New Jersey, called the bar and ordered us a round of drinks!! That's Ween family right there and I can't get enough of it. Ween fans are the best friends you could ever have. The Invitational was out of this world and it certainly won't be the last I attend... If you haven't made it to New Hope yet, put it on your to-do list!

John and Peter's is such a tiny, personable place.

Giant half pipe at FDR.

We stopped by Philadelphia so Kyle could skate FDR for a little bit. We were sooooo hungover though that it didn't last long. We decided to just hit it to Berlin, MD (Kyle's hometown), where we would be visiting family and friends. The couple days here were spent eatin' good, celebrating, and catching up with loved ones. On our first night, Kyle's mom, Gussie, treated us to a crab feast at Crab Alley's. I'm new with blue crabs, so I am slow picker, but I love the social aspect of it. It's less about eating and more about chatting when you have to work for that crab meat! Our friends, Devin and Summer, came too and I left with Summer so we could have a slumber party. It's the first night Kyle and I have been apart in a looooong time and it was... horrible!!!!! Just kidding, I think we both survived just fine. It was good to have a girl's night and catch up with my best friend. I'm sure Kyle felt the same way. The next day, we went and skated at Ocean Pines Skatepark. When we walked up some local kids ran up to Kyle calling him "fifty fifty dude..." he's literally famous to them. It's precious. Last time we were here, I was just starting to get roll-ins and this time I was dropping in the big bowl! It was super fun and I worked on pumping around the pockets. We went to Blacksmith Berlin for dinner, which is where I waitressed last summer. The chef/owner, Justine, who is also Kyle's neighbor, knows what she is doing when it comes to running a restaurant. She has opened another successful business in Rehoboth Beach called Planet X Cafe. The thing that makes Justine's food stand out (other than her amazingly creative dishes) is that she sources all her food locally. There is a chalkboard in the restaurant that lists where she got all her ingredients from the meat to the bread to the dairy products. It's hard to find a restaurant these days where you actually KNOW where your food is coming from. If you go to Blacksmith, you're in luck because Summer is a waitress there!! She's the best server around, but ya better tip her good. ;) Later we went to Berlin's local craft brewery, Burley Oak. All the beers have funny names like "Just The Tip" or "Afternoon Delight." Burley Oak has such a cool atmosphere: they've got the ring game, board games, a vinyl night, and tons of good live musicians playing. We went to check out a band called the Pete Bozick Trio, who were doing covers of Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock. It was freaking awesome!! Saturday morning we went into Ocean City to make our rounds saying hello to everyone. We ate lunch at Malia's Cafe, which is owned by one of Kyle's friend's parents. We went on the right day because we saw everybody!! It was poppin' and the sandwiches we got were to die for. Malia's is super colorful, with a Hawaiian vibe... definitely a great lunch spot. The tropical decor gets you in the mood to go to beach and you're in luck because the ocean's right there! We stopped by Layton's on 92nd Street, where Kyle has worked for the past 6 summers. Everyone there is like family, they even know me after I spent a summer stopping in to say hello to Kyle while he was working. This place is always packed 'cause the breakfast is so good, so we just said a quick hello to everyone and let them get back to work.

We went to say hello to our friend, Tron, who started a skate company called Get Gnarly. Get Gnarly's the only skate shop in Ocean City. Tron hooked Kyle up with a board for a great price, just like he always does. Tron is the nicest dude and has the coolest gear in his shop. All his boards and t-shirts have such genius stuff printed on them. If you're in the area and you like to skate, go support this awesome local company! On the way out, we stopped by Kyle's MiMu and PopPop's to visit for a little. His MiMu has been keeping up with blog and was delighted that we stopped by. Back in Berlin, they were gearing up for the one year anniversary celebration of America's Coolest Small Town.

Main Street partyin' to Kelly Bell Band.

Last year on April 18th, Berlin was voted America's Coolest Small Town, so to keep up the camaraderie they are going to have a celebration every year. Berlin really does deserve this title, too. I have fallen in love with this town. Everything from the people to the small town vibes are on point. It's truly a community. They have events like bath tub racing and art strolls. You don't find that stuff in every town, that's for sure. April 18th is also Kyle's sister, Shannon's birthday! So we were celebrating many things at once. They closed off Main Street and had a band come from Baltimore called the Kelly Bell Band. They were super funky. After all the festivities ended, we had a fire in Kyle's magical backyard with the Washington Street gang + more. It was a perfect way to end our stay.

First ping pong game of the spring! It's party time on Washington Street.