PSoTD

This time, the U.S. Postal Service Kiosk. I wonder what will happen with this space - it has a slab for something more than parking.

I use inkJETS Printing for various business and other printing projects, and am very happy with their work. They've opened up a shirt printing business as well, and I wanted to give them a plug. They're in the Carlisle Pike in the strip mall behind the Five Guys.

The Ninth Annual Country Classic, with events for runners, joggers, walkers, and cyclists, takes place on May 3, 2008, in Washington Borough.

We had dinner at Carley's in Harrisburg last night to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Very good, we really enjoyed the asparagus in brandy and cream sauce, we'll return. But they do need to fill out the details on their web site.

Weather-wise we couldn't have asked for a nice evening to be walking around downtown Harrisburg...

It's likely to become a popular topic of discussion for the near future.

An accident this morning in Cumberland County is causing headaches along the Carlisle Pike. Around 9:15am a dump truck and a tanker truck carrying fuel collided in front of the Cumberland Valley School District Complex. As a precaution, the district's administration building was evacuated, but students at the high school are not in any danger. Classes are going on as scheduled, but there will be no outdoor activity.

According to John Bruetsch, the Cumberland County Public Information Officer, the tanker was carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel. At this time they are not sure how much of it spilled into a nearby storm drain. Both hazmat crews and members of the Department of Environmental Protection are at the scene to do soil samples and water testing.

The Carlisle Pike is closed from Rich Valley Road to Locust Point. Cleanup is expected to last several hours.

Another shot of a mall, slowly losing stores...

It's bad when the parking lot has plenty of room for trucks.

You see these signs all over the Pike...

Local guy makes the blogs! What's next for Bruce Barclay? Courtesy of Talking Points Memo.

What is the deal with this property on the Carlisle Pike? It's been vacant for a long, long time - how come?

No, not for any sport - for Haar's Drive-In in Dillsburg.

We've become fans.

Slowly emptying.

Our neighborhood is over 40 years old in many parts (including the part where we live) and many of the trees in various yards were planted when the development was being built. We have a beautiful neighborhood of mature trees, plenty of summer shade, plenty of fall color, lots of raking...

And what seems to me to be a growing woodpecker population. I've always heard them around here, but as we wait at the bus stop, you can listen to their working signatures from various points in the neighborhood. At this time of year, most of the trees still appear dormant, so it may take a while to find the sickly oak or maple that is being worked upon, but there are a growing number of "feeding" trees for the woodpeckers. Tree cullers are going to be an even more common site in our neighborhood this summer...

BTW, we have 9 species of woodpeckers that either live year-round in Pennsylvania or visit the state in winter.

Finally got around to visiting our new casino up at Penn National last week and came away with mixed impressions.

The Good

Traffic was no problem and parking is free and easy. There's a parking garage attached to the casino with only a short walk to an entrance.

The horseracing experience has been upgraded. The set-up is similar to the old Penn National without the second and third floors and the grandstand seating. The Mountainview Terrace Restaurant occupies the lowest level, then box seats and finally an area at the top with concessions, tables and betting windows. I'm not sure but it appears you may need to go down through the casino to get trackside. They've also added a Simulcast Theater.

Tough for me to judge the slots. I'd find more entertainment value in tossing quarters off the Walnut Street bridge. But they have plenty of them - although I didn't see some of the most popular machines I've seen in Vegas like "Price is Right". They have an automated $10 Blackjack kiosk game that seats about 15 which was always full. There is also small section of video poker games in the back of the casino which I do like to play.

The entire facility was clean and well-lit.

The Not So Good

Their design consultant ripped them off. The Hollywood theme is cheesy and unimaginative. It basically consists of large movie poster billboards around the place - mostly for recent B movies - and some fancy lighting. The lounge showpiece is a large sky screen over the stage but it seemed kind of pointless to me. They are booking local acts but the music experience is antiseptic with recording music cutting off the bands if they play past their allotted time. Not a place to go for music.

The Bad

Hollywood Casino advertises six restaurants but only two offer table service. One of those is the expensive Mountainview Terrace Dining Room which serves a limited menu and is geared to horseplayers. The other is the Hollywood Skybox Sports Bar. Moderately priced pub menu but since it's the only sit-down restaurant, it fills up fast when the casino is busy. The other four are not much more than glorified concession stands. Place your order and take a number. Very disappointing.

Service in general was average to below. Tough to get a drink in the casino. The bartenders in the lounge were slow and I was never approached by a cocktail waitress in my limited slot time. Not as bad up in the race area but the beers are 4.00 there as opposed to 2.50 at the OTB's.

Also this is not an "Under 21"-friendly place. They can get into the horseracing area upstairs but they are not allowed on the casino floor. Unless your children are fascinated watching degenerates gamble on horses, I would advise against bringing the kids.

Conclusion

Even though it's far from what it could have been, you'll probably still have a good time at the Casino (especially if you are lucky enough to win some money) simply because it's a different kind of experience for the area.

Just remember... bet with your head not over it!