Peaches Prattlings











{April 19, 2024}   A new place and a meeting

Today was your average work day, it seemed to go on forever, was yours like that? I looked up, it was 12p, then I looked up and I thought it was 3p, nope, it was 1p, then 2p, what happened?! I was very busy, so that should mean the day flew by and I didn’t have enough time to get what I needed to done. Nope, it was weird. I didn’t quite make my deadline, but I got a lot done, go figure!

After work, take the pups for a walk, they got in their smells, found some potato-chippy worms to munch on, munched on some grass, I listened to a podcast, and that’s how it usually goes for us. Oh, we did meet some of the dogs in the neighborhood, we said hello to Charlie, the teeny poodle who definitely tries to defend and protect his property and his humans, Calvin, the black and white great dane, what a sweet and gentle doll baby, having a moment on the other dogs names, but they all did the doggie meet-n-greet, let’s sniff there, oh my!

Then PSM got home from work and we tried a new place on our Lebanon Valley Libations Trail, The Union Beer House. It is in a random place, nestled in between some car dealerships and other businesses, you almost drive by you. When you walk in, it’s very cool, they have beer coolers on the left, a lot of coolers, basically, a wall of coolers, these hold bottles by the six-pack for sale. Then on the right, there are shelves of wine, and a cooler with beer cans, I didn’t get over there to look if the cans were for sale in six packs as well. The last cooler had single bottles of beer, again, didn’t get over there to see if they were for sale individually.

At the counter you can order food and drink, on the left were all the taps and a proper bar. When I say proper bar, I just mean that you can sit or stand at the bar and gather, chat, congregate, which is the same as gather, right? In the middle, wide open space, they had tables and chairs for eating, they had a high top long bar along the window. Then as you wander, they have a video gambling room, that was different.

The food was ok, I’ll be honest, the only thing on the menu I could eat was veggie fried rice and an order of 5 mini spring rolls, I asked about a veggie burger, I was told they have a black bean burger, but it was spicy. Fried rice and spring rolls it is. PSM had fish and chips. The chips were good, we both liked them.

The place was crowded with friends, families, single folks, groups, couples. It had a good atmosphere of people enjoying themselves on a Friday night. Kitchen closes at 8p, brewery closes at 10p, welcome to Central PA!

We went because it’s on the Libations Trail, but it wasn’t a place I would go back to. I could see going if PSM wanted a beer or some friends wanted to go have a beer and hang out, but overall, not my first choice. I enjoyed the experience and I’m glad we tried something new, but it wasn’t for us. We really like to sit at the bar and talk to people. Oh well…

Now, the plus…we were only a 2 minute drive from the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club! Score! We got there a little before everyone was going up to the meeting, we just missed the home made carrot cake, bummer! D is a great baker! I really like everything I’ve tried!

Tonight the place was packed, not quite standing room only, but a lot of people! I think because the weather is getting nicer and rides are about to start happening, people were there to get more information. Tomorrow, I’m excited, we’re going to a bike blessing, not telling you much more because I want to tell you about it tomorrow!

I’m glad I ran into R when I was at White’s Harley Davidson and he told me about the club, and I’m glad we finally went to a meeting and joined. Everyone is very friendly and has welcomed us warmly and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone. And…excited to go on our first ride with them and see what everyone rides!

And on that note, I’m going to wish you a शुभ रात्रि (shub raatree) [good night in hindi].



Lebanon Valley is back with a new opportunity to explore. You went with us on the Lebanon Valley Java Journey and now…we are starting the Lebanon Valley Libations Trail! Yup, you guessed it, we went from coffee to booze!

And you also know me…two things I love…ha ha! Yeah right! They are both things that PSM loves, but I enjoy going along for the ride and…depending on where we are the libation…the more he drinks, the more stuff I get, a win-win, wouldn’t you say?!

There are 18 bars, breweries, and distilleries on the list. Some we’ve already been to because that is one thing I explore, new places to eat and drink, but this time, we get points for participating, no passport or mug to buy. The way it works is you download the pass, but this one is virtual, you don’t have to remember to bring it with you when you go somewhere, so that’s a plus! “Did you bring the passport?” “Crud, no, we need to go back and get it!” none of that! So.. you download the pass, when you go to one of the establishment you check in and enter the code and collect your points. You can put the points towards free stuff, some of the stuff you get at the bar itself and some you get might be mailed to you. Either way, free stuff, wahoo! Some places have discounts on food and merchandise while you’re there, score!

Some of the places we’ve already been to, and several of them we like, and some of them we don’t. We’re trying to decide if we go to those early and get them over with or leave them towards the end, but I don’t want to end on a negative for us, so…decisions, decisions. There wasn’t anything drastically wrong with them, they just weren’t the places for us, but…being slightly competitive, we’re going to do them all! We met someone last year who told us about the Lebanon Valley Libations Trail just as it was ending and gave us all the codes from the bars they went to, so we were able to get some free stuff, score! This time, we’re starting at the beginning and we’re going all the way!

And, just like last time, I’m going to share our experience with you, because if I didn’t, what type of friend would I be?! A few of the places I’m really excited about because they’ve been on my list of want to try for a while, score!

Tonight, we went to the first place, not the first place on the list, just the first place. PSM called me to ask me out to dinner, it’s been a beautiful day and turning into a beautiful evening. He rode the bike to work and said let’s meet somewhere! He didn’t want to go to one of the places close to the house we go to regularly, so we decided on the Blue Bird Inn. This is a place our realtor took us when we were house hunting and it seemed so much farther away! At the time we were in a hotel about 40/45 minutes from here, so it was. Now…it’s about 15 minutes from us, score!

The Blue Bird Inn was built in 1859 and renovated in 2009. It’s a classic pub, big indoor seating area, actually there are several rooms, a very nice bar, then an outdoor seating area that is actually indoors, if that makes sense, it’s all windows, but it’s not inside the main room. Then you go outside and there is an upper level deck with a bar and a lower level, no bar. The outside decks both have tables for outdoor seating, it’s quite nice.

The atmosphere is great, the staff is great, the ambiance is great, the drinks, from what I’ve been told, are great, and yes, the food is great. I’ve enjoyed all but one trip there, they have great vegan options for me, but this one time, I’m not sure if the chef was mad at my veggie burger, but it came out hockey puck style! Yup, beyond repair, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so! But…my broccoli was great that night, saving grace!

As I mentioned, they have vegan options for me, they make cauliflower wings, tasty, but even better, cauliflower steak! If you’ve never had it, don’t knock it until you try it! A cauliflower steak is when the cut the cauliflower in a thick piece and grill it, fry it, pan sear it, whatever you do with a steak, you do with a big slab of cauliflower, except put gravy on it, that would be weird, for me anyway, but if you want to try it that way, go for it!

It was a loverly evening, we sat, talked, drank, laughed, rounded out the meal with some very good bourbon bread pudding, I recommend it highly. Yeah, we’ll go back! After we ate, and talked, and laughed, and had a great time, it had started to get a little chilly, so back on the bikes we went, stopped for gas, and then, home sweet home.

And that was our first stop on the Lebanon Valley Libations Trail, not to worry, we have until June 15th, and you know us, we’ll do it! Maybe one here and there, another day maybe two or three, or more! Who knows! But you know I’ll tell you all about each one!

And now…I say to you…Buona notte (bwona nohteh) [good night in Italian].



et cetera