We live in central New Jersey which is a great place to be if you love Baseball.  Between New York and Philly we have a lot of options to see some great games.  Not to mention all the minor league teams that are also fantastic and I highly recommend you check them out.  The tickets are cheap, games are competitive and it’s always nice to support your local team.

My parents are huge New York Mets fans and they usually make the trek into Flushing, NY a few times a year to catch some games.  Since we are actually closer to Philly it does make a nice afternoon to head over to Citizens Bank Park and check out a Phillies game every so often.  We had taken our daughter Hanna to a Mets game when she was less than one year old, but she was now almost two and thought it would be fun to see a game with the entire family.

We headed into the stadium early to try and get some lunch prior to the game.  We got a table at a place called Harry the K’s Broadcast Bar & Grille.  This is a very popular spot to eat so we were lucky to get a table with such a large group.  As soon as the menu came I noticed something that only appears once in a while especially down in the states.  We are originally from Canada and this dish is served up almost everywhere (even McDonald’s).  Poutine, for those of you that don’t know it is a French-Canadian dish that basically is french fries, coverage with a rich brown gravy and cheese curds.  Basically a heart attach waiting to happen but damn is it good.  Harry The K’s had their own version available which had the usually ingredients but was also topped with crumbled bacon pieces.  How could I resist.

We finished our meals which consisted of cheese steaks (hey we’re in Philly), and burgers.  By this time the crowd was starting to pile into the stadium so we headed to our seats.  It was a beautiful day for a game and the Phillies were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I had found out a few years ago that many baseball stadiums have penny machines.  Some stadiums really do a great job of having new designs each year which are updated with new players, or even recent milestones.  I had gone to a Phillies game in 2013 and got the penny designs then but was going to use this opportunity to see if there were new designs for 2014.  Never wanting to seem to anxious I wanted until about the 3rd inning before heading out to look around.  The machines are almost always inside or near the main gift shop.  By the time I made it to the store I had to squeeze my way through a massive number of people trying on jerseys and hats.  Finally by the checkout area I found the penny machine which was in the exact same spot as last year.  I was disappointed to see that the designs hadn’t change.  But being the glutton for pressed pennies that I am I pressed a new set anyways (never hurts to have extras).

All four designs pressed very nicely and looked great on the shiny pennies I had brought.  I liked these designs and think they are pretty creative:  Fightin’ Phils, Catch the Phillies Phever, #1 Fan and the Philly Phanatic.

The game was great, not so much for the Phillies but the L.A. Dodgers starting pitcher Josh Beckett ended up throwing a no-hitter which was amazing to watch.  I don’t think Hanna was overly excited by the game but she loved the Crab Fries (Thin crinkle cut fries with Old Bay Seasoning).

We’ll be back next year and hopefully there will be some new pennies to add to the collection.

I decided to take my wife away for a nice romantic weekend to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.  They have some fantastic resorts in the middle of nowhere that really allow you to just get away from it all and relax.  With our daughter Hanna quickly approaching the “terrible two” we thought it would be nice to spend some time together just the two of us.  Not to mention that grandma is always looking for an excuse to spend more time with Hanna.

Little did my wife know (although by now she must always know) I found there was a new penny machine located in a place called Great Wolf Lodge.  I’d never heard of this place before, but their website listed numerous locations across the country and best of all each resort includes an indoor / outdoor water park.  As much as the kid inside me would have loved to spend out weekend at this resort we ended up just stopping by to visit and check this place out.

First of all wow, it was huge and the theme was amazing.  There were fuzzy characters roaming around and interacting with all the children and some adults that were young at heart.  We strolled through the reception area just overwhelmed by all the little details we were seeing, and eventually headed into a large gift shop.  Just like any other resort gift shop there were tons of items for sale.  T-shirts, hats, license plate frames and plenty of candy to keep the kids hyper enough to spend the entire day splashing down water slides.

Right outside the gift shop we came face to face with a huge viewing window that allowed us to look upon the water park.  There was a wave pool, sprinklers, and slides that started inside, went outside and then ended back inside the building.  We stood there open mouthed as we watched all the different activities going on.

After the initial amazement wore off I started to remember my primary reason for wanting to visit, there was a penny machine somewhere in this place.  I was worried that it may end up being located in an area that was only available to resort guests and was about to ask a staff member when I heard a familiar sound.  The repeated clink, clink, clink of a penny machine being cranked.  It was close by and my radar starting going wild.  My wife rolled her eyes as my head perked up like a Meerkat on the alert as I started moving towards the source of the sound.  Along one of the outside walls of the gift shop I saw it.  I hadn’t seen it due to our extended trip through the gift shop originally.  The kids that were using it when I first heard the magical sound were done and I quickly jumped to the machine and pressed my pennies.

 The designs came out great.  I always like when these resorts list their location on the designs which help make them more unique and distinguishable from their other locations.  The machine had four designs: Wiley Green Wolf, MagicQuest Dragon, Pocono Mountain Skiers, and Rachel Wolf.

This place was definitely a fun side trip.  Luckily we are only a few hours away and will be back to check this resort out as actual guests.  I heard murmurings of an indoor mini-golf course and need to know more about the MagicQuest that had kids running around with wands in hand.  The pennies were great and was the cheapest souvenir I picked up that day, and will make a great addition to my collection.