Updates - Rehearsal time, booking rooms, food talk

Well all the wedding plans have been set. If you know you are going to the wedding, and haven't already, we STRONGLY encourage you to book your room at the Nittany Lion Inn sooner rather than later. While there are still lots of rooms with double beds for Friday and Saturday night, there are only a limited amount of king rooms left. You don't have to pay anything when you book, just a credit card number to guarantee the reservation.

Also, FYI for wedding party members and readers, we have scheduled the rehearsal for 5-6pm on Friday, August 7. The rehearsal dinner will be at our favorite restaurant in State College, Hi-Way Pizza at 6:30pm.

For those of you arriving in town on Friday evening, we plan to head out somewhere in State College after the rehearsal dinner. Jeff is trying to figure out where. We will keep you all posted. It won't be a late night for me, have to start getting hair and make-up done at 9am, yikes!

Our next big wedding task is the food tasting at the Nittany Lion Inn on April 4.

Here is what we are considering:

We get to choose 3 hors d'ouevres. Jeff wants pigs in a blanket and then we might go with petite chicken kabobs, and petite italian paninis.

For the salad, we are trying to decide between the mixed summer greens and the tomato mozzarella salad (that's what I want but Jeff doesn't like tomatoes).

The appetizer will most like be the signature crab cake.

For the entree we think we be having a chicken dish and a seafood dish, but aren't sure which ones yet. Hopefully the tasting will help with that.

And creamery ice cream is included, along with cake, for dessert. For those of you who haven't had creamery ice cream, its like you have died and gone to ice cream heaven. (Can you tell I like it just a little?)

Any suggestions, let us know! Also, if anyone is a vegetarian, let us know! We will keep you posted. We might be quiet for a while, most of the hard work is done. I can't believe its a little over 5 months away!

The honeymoon is booked!

All the wedding planning is finally done (well mostly) so it was time for me to start booking the honeymoon. We're heading to the Cayman Islands after the wedding. It's a bit of a risk because it's hurricane season, but we'll keep our fingers crossed (and we bought trip insurance).

On the Monday after the wedding we'll be flying (first class) to Grand Cayman via Miami. It cost me (literally) every single American Express Membership Rewards point I had, but you can't beat flying first class for free.

Then we are spending 2 days at the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman. The Ritz is right on Seven mile beach. We'll take a couple of days to relax and recuperate on the beach. Then, assuming I can get Gina to leave and my credit card hasn't caught on fire, we're heading to Little Cayman.

Here's a picture of the type of plane we'll be flying over to Little Cayman:



While in Little Cayman we'll be staying at the Little Cayman Beach Resort and SCUBA diving for 6 days. The diving in Little Cayman is supposed to be great so we're really looking forward to it (although Gina is probably looking forward to the Ritz a little more than the diving). We're staying in one of the ocean front rooms. The resort has just been refurnished after getting hit by hurricane Paloma last fall. So it should be very nice.

After a week in Little Cayman we fly back to Grand Cayman for another couple of days at the Ritz Carlton before heading home. It should be a nice mix of relaxing on the beach and SCUBA diving.

How do we get to State College???

A lot of our guests probably have the same question. How in the heck do I get to State College? Here are you answers.

By Air

The airport is actually know as the University Park airport. The airport code is SCE. Northwest, United, and US Air all have daily service to State College. The airport is pretty small so no worries about getting lost. The Nittany Lion Inn offers shuttle service to and from the airport. If you are staying at the NLI and flying into State College there really is no need to rent a car. There are tons of things to do and places to eat within walking distance of the hotel. But if you'd like you can rent a car at the airport.

Flying into the University Park airport can be expensive. It might be cheaper to try flying into (in order of distance from State College) Pittsburgh, Philly, or DC and renting a car for the drive. So make sure to check into those options before booking your flight.

Driving Directions

Just about everyone seems to have a GPS device these days so most of you probably don't need driving directions. But just in case here they are.

From the DC area:

Take I-270N to Fredrick. From there take I-70W to Breezewood, PA. Take the PA turnpike (this costs money) west (toward Pittsburgh). Take exit 146 Bedford (this is the first exit). Follow the signs to I-99 North. Stay on I-99 all the way to State College. You can then take Business 322 (Atherton Street) to the Nittany Lion Inn.

A few things that will save you time and/or money.

1. I-99 now goes all the way to State College. This was just completed this past fall. Most GPS devices don't have this update. They will want you to get off of I-99 around Tyrone and get onto US-220. Don't do this! It's much faster to stay on I-99.
2. You can avoid the PA turnpike if you want. This will save you some money (the tolls just went up recently). In Breezewood take US-30 West. This will eventually hit I-99 (go north on I-99) and it will take you State College. This takes about 10 minutes longer, but will save you some money.
3. If you are leaving from the actual city your GPS and/or Google Maps might suggest you take I-95 to I-83 to 322. I wouldn't go that way. I think it's much faster to take directions above and avoid Baltimore and Harrisburg.
   

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From Pittsburgh

Take I-376 E to US-22 E to I-99 N to State College. Then take Business 322 to the NLI. As noted above in the directions from DC I-99 now goes all the way to State College. If you have a GPS it will probably want you to get off on US-220 around Tyrone. Stay on I-99 N. It will be much faster. Here are the Google directions:


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From Meadville

Take I-79 S to I-80 East. Take exit 123 (Woodland US-322). Take 322 East. I think you can now get onto I-99 N around Port Matilda (I haven't made the drive from Meadville to State College in years). Take I-99 to Business 322 to the NLI. Here are the Google directions:


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From Philly

Well I only made this drive once and I just did what the nice voice of my GPS said to do. So here is the best I can do:



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Relief - we have an officiant!

Well I have to admit - this was touch and go for a little while. For a couple of weeks Jeff and I were in limbo with the Penn State Catholic Center. After waiting weeks for a call back, we found out late last week that a Catholic wedding ceremony at Penn State was not possible. So....back to the drawing board. Because I work for the federal government, where things move at a snail's pace sometimes, I was able to shut the door to my office and call random ministers. It turns out that 99.9% of the ministers in the State College area take vacation the first week of August. Luckily, Jeff and I found the .01% that doesn't. So we have an officiant. He is very nice, graduated PSU in 1979 (when I was just 2 years old). And he is even willing to come up on Friday for a rehearsal. Phew! I am letting out a big sigh of relief. Now on to the fun stuff - food, cake, and flowers! :)

State College Restaurants

Since most of our guests will be coming from out of town, Gina and I thought it would be a good idea to list some restaurants in the area.

Breakfast

• The Nittany Lion Inn servers breakfast in their restaurant. You can't get much easier than that.
• The Waffle Shop - This place is a staple for all Penn State students and Alumni. Prepare for the greatest breakfast you've ever had. They have lots more than just waffles. The fresh squeezed OJ is awesome. There are 3 locations. 364 East College Ave.,1610 West College Ave., and 1229 North Atherton St. In my opinion the best one is the downtown location (364 E. College Ave.). It's walk able from the NLI, but it's about 20 minutes. The North Atherton location is a short drive from the hotel. Oh, one more thing. It is CHEAP.
  
• Perkins - To my family and friends from western PA Perkins is no big deal. But we don't have then in Virginia. The breakfast here is great. Gina suggests you try the cinnamon rolls. The address is 1661 S Atherton St.

Lunch/Dinner

• Baby's Burgers and Shakes - This is a 50's style diner. They have great burgers and shakes (which is probably good since it's in the name). They were actually in a Visa commercial in the 90s because "They don't take American Express." And if you need another reason to try this place out my brother, Marc, worked here while he was attending PSU. The address is 131 S Garner St.
• The Diner - Another Penn State tradition. This the home of the world famous grilled stickey's. The address is 126 W. College Ave.
• The Corner Room - This is another of my favorites in State College. It's traditional American food. If you eat here try to get one of the window booths. You can watch all the people walking up and down College avenue as you eat. Located at the corner of W. College Ave. and S. Allen Street.
• The Deli - Casual American food. It's more than just deli style food. They have an enormous menu which includes quite a few healthy options. 113 Hiester St.
• Hi-Way Pizza - Our favorite place to eat in State College. They have lots of options besides pizza. Gina suggests you try the vodka sauce. 1688 North Atherton St.
• The Tavern - One of State College's more upscale restaurants the Tavern specializes in seafood and steaks. 220 E. College Ave.
• Faccia Luna - Our DC friends will recognize the name. Yes, this is the same chain that you will find in Clarendon and Alexandria. This was actually the second location they opened. It's upscale Italian. 1229 S Atherton St.

Dessert

• The Creamery - No list of places to eat in State College would complete without the Creamery. Stop in here after dinner for the best ice cream you've ever had. But don't eat too much because we'll have Creamery ice cream at the reception! A note for my fellow Penn State Alumni: The Creamery has moved since we graduated. It's up Curtin Rd. towards East Halls from it's old location.

Here's a map with all of the above suggestions.

Save the dates have been sent!

The Save the Dates are in the mail - courtesy of the GAO mail room. So keep a look out for them and let us know if you have any questions. We are getting really excited, its about 6 months away!