According to NBC Connecticut's article "Hops Not Hopping Anymore," Hops Restaurant and Brewery shut down after 10 years of business. Last Sunday was the business' last open day and closed shop after the doors shut for the night. Located in Newington on the Turnpike, a few friends of mine ranted and raved about Hops and I had just heard it closed.
Joe Piraneo, writer of the article, stated that "company officials and the local manager have not elaborated on the cause for the closure," and that calls have not been returned to NBC Connecticut concerning the regional manager. Employees had a short notice of the closure and sadly, Hops isn't the only place that has been closing. According to the article, Applebees closed as well, and Blockbuster is going to be closing shortly as well.
The reason I wanted to write about this is for the future of the Turnpike. Not to sound like a sap, but it's terrible to see businesses being closed because of recession reasons, I'm assuming, especially when so many people enjoy it. Just tonight at work people were talking about going to Hops to eat for our semi-annual dinner for my job, but that dream has been shot down. Hopefully too many other businesses don't meet the same fate.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Change of Pace
This is normally supposed to be a blog about businesses located on the Turnpike that aren't usually noticed, but a change of pace was needed when I noticed this man on the news - namely NBC Connecticut.
Martin Spelas, 70, approached a child at the age of 10 at the Walmart in Newington, CT. Since this is considered the Berlin Turnpike (this is the Walmart next to Staples in the huge parking lot with restaurants located in front of the spot with Walmart), I figured I'd talk about it quickly.
Spelas was said to be impersonating a cop, telling the boy to help him with a television. Luckily his mother was there, who was able to confront Spelas and called the cops. Spelas has been seeing a psychiatrist for roughly 15 years and has made mistakes in the past, it seems.
What makes me write about this, though? The safety of people who shop on the Turnpike. I know if I had a child who was being confronted by an older gentleman such as Spelas, I would want that man locked up for good, considering the circumstances he's in. He's been seeing a psychiatrist for years, which is no excuse to make an attempt to kidnap a child, or worse.
It strikes fear in most people and for me, I haven't heard much about pedophilia lately in the news (then again I don't follow it as deeply as I should locally.) When I saw this via Google Alerts, I just had to make a quick note of it.
Morale of the story? Be wary of your surroundings, because people like him are still out there.
Martin Spelas, 70, approached a child at the age of 10 at the Walmart in Newington, CT. Since this is considered the Berlin Turnpike (this is the Walmart next to Staples in the huge parking lot with restaurants located in front of the spot with Walmart), I figured I'd talk about it quickly.
Spelas was said to be impersonating a cop, telling the boy to help him with a television. Luckily his mother was there, who was able to confront Spelas and called the cops. Spelas has been seeing a psychiatrist for roughly 15 years and has made mistakes in the past, it seems.
What makes me write about this, though? The safety of people who shop on the Turnpike. I know if I had a child who was being confronted by an older gentleman such as Spelas, I would want that man locked up for good, considering the circumstances he's in. He's been seeing a psychiatrist for years, which is no excuse to make an attempt to kidnap a child, or worse.
It strikes fear in most people and for me, I haven't heard much about pedophilia lately in the news (then again I don't follow it as deeply as I should locally.) When I saw this via Google Alerts, I just had to make a quick note of it.
Morale of the story? Be wary of your surroundings, because people like him are still out there.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Late Night Bowler
Bowl-O-Rama, located at 2143 Berlin Turnpike in Newington, Connecticut, may look like any other bowling alley from the outside of the building to the inside. Long lanes, ten pins at the end of the lanes, vending machines – this place has it all. There’s just one twist when it comes to Bowl-O-Rama – it’s open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Who in their right minds would want to go bowling at 2 a.m. you might ask? Well, I’m one of them. There’s been many frequented nights that I’ve gone to Bowl-O-Rama later in the evening – be it 11 p.m., midnight, even 1 a.m., I’ve been there. It’s still as fun as would it be normally would be during the day, but depending on the evening, it could be busier than usual.
The couple of Friday and Saturday nights that I’ve been to Bowl-O-Rama has been quite busy, with either college students like me or just people who are out for the weekend to have a good time. There’s nothing different from the day time crowd to the night time crowd at this bowling alley except for the slight alcohol consumption during the evenings to early mornings. Hell, even some kids that are in their single digit years are there sometimes late at night. It's something that you just have to see.
The bowling alley itself is fairly nice – they have an assortment of vending machines to be ready for any kind of mood – ice cream, candy, soda, whatever. They also have a small food gathering inside the bowling alley as well, which allows for people to get chicken and other cooked snacks.
Overall, Bowl-O-Rama is a great place to go on a Friday or Saturday night to freshen things up a bit, because let’s admit it: who doesn’t love bowling?
Who in their right minds would want to go bowling at 2 a.m. you might ask? Well, I’m one of them. There’s been many frequented nights that I’ve gone to Bowl-O-Rama later in the evening – be it 11 p.m., midnight, even 1 a.m., I’ve been there. It’s still as fun as would it be normally would be during the day, but depending on the evening, it could be busier than usual.
The couple of Friday and Saturday nights that I’ve been to Bowl-O-Rama has been quite busy, with either college students like me or just people who are out for the weekend to have a good time. There’s nothing different from the day time crowd to the night time crowd at this bowling alley except for the slight alcohol consumption during the evenings to early mornings. Hell, even some kids that are in their single digit years are there sometimes late at night. It's something that you just have to see.
The bowling alley itself is fairly nice – they have an assortment of vending machines to be ready for any kind of mood – ice cream, candy, soda, whatever. They also have a small food gathering inside the bowling alley as well, which allows for people to get chicken and other cooked snacks.
Overall, Bowl-O-Rama is a great place to go on a Friday or Saturday night to freshen things up a bit, because let’s admit it: who doesn’t love bowling?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Dream Dinners - The Perfect Solution
Dream Dinners – a quaint, family friendly food preparation operation. Located at 1400 Wilbur Cross Highway (the Berlin Turnpike for most local residents,) this secret franchise caught my eye. Hidden within Ridgeway Plaza on the Turnpike, someone with a keen eye will notice Dream Dinners. However, it’s not something most people should pass up, especially if they do not have time to prepare a full meal every evening.
Karen Morton and Pam Foss, owners of the Berlin Dream Dinners, allowed me to take a tour of the franchise. Walking into the operating room, I noticed an extreme cleanliness emanating from the wide open room. Everything had almost a “new” feeling to it and it felt as though no one had used any of the stations before me. Dream Dinners has spread just by word of mouth, according to Ms. Morton.
The goal of Dream Dinners is to prepare about a month’s worth of food within an hour or two, which is called a session. Sessions can be booked online, allowing singles, couples and friends to come by and preparing their food for the weeks to come. However, you’re not cooking your food and freezing it at Dream Dinners – you prepare the food, such as placing spices on the meat and setting other needs up so when you go home, you can throw the food in the oven or cook it on the stove. Every month has a new menu to freshen things up and allows diversity in the menu for everyone as well.
The November menu, for example, has chicken parmigiana with spaghetti, oven baked almond chicken, Greek island shrimp with pasta and mango glazed salmon. There are plenty of other choices to pick from (roughly 13) and they have symbols next to the names as well. For example, circles mean that the food option is to be grilled and the heart means that it’s heart healthy, which meets certain requirements with fat, cholesterol, etc. All foods have their nutritional facts alongside their names on the menu as well. For certain holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, they have their turkey specials and their side specials for the festive days. Considering those days can be quite hectic, Dream Dinners is smart to help out on holidays as well.
One thing to remember is that purchases must be made in either a three or six serving size. Prices change as follow, but it still beats going to the grocery store every week and spending way more than expected. Grocery shoppers on average spend $30 more per visit to the grocery store, which adds up. If there’s no time to cook between work and extracurricular activities, Dream Dinners is the way to save a life. As Ms. Morton put it, there have been customers who have had their lives change because of Dream Dinners. Altering the way someone eats and how they prepare meals is a great thing that everyone should look into.
"Dinners for Life” is a separate and new section of Dream Dinners – one for diabetics and their needs. Diabetes is a fast growing problem in the world, and Dream Dinners thought it would be beneficial if they could help diabetics find what they could eat as well.
If I ever had time issues with my life, or just couldn’t find enough time to prepare food at home every day, Dream Dinners is something I would look into. They have their regulars, their seasonal customers and their visitors as well. Even with the recession, Dream Dinners can help save more money by eating home effectively both money-wise and health-wise.
A work station promoting their Thanksgiving specials
Another work station
Dinners for Life promotion
Karen Morton and Pam Foss, owners of the Berlin Dream Dinners, allowed me to take a tour of the franchise. Walking into the operating room, I noticed an extreme cleanliness emanating from the wide open room. Everything had almost a “new” feeling to it and it felt as though no one had used any of the stations before me. Dream Dinners has spread just by word of mouth, according to Ms. Morton.
The goal of Dream Dinners is to prepare about a month’s worth of food within an hour or two, which is called a session. Sessions can be booked online, allowing singles, couples and friends to come by and preparing their food for the weeks to come. However, you’re not cooking your food and freezing it at Dream Dinners – you prepare the food, such as placing spices on the meat and setting other needs up so when you go home, you can throw the food in the oven or cook it on the stove. Every month has a new menu to freshen things up and allows diversity in the menu for everyone as well.
The November menu, for example, has chicken parmigiana with spaghetti, oven baked almond chicken, Greek island shrimp with pasta and mango glazed salmon. There are plenty of other choices to pick from (roughly 13) and they have symbols next to the names as well. For example, circles mean that the food option is to be grilled and the heart means that it’s heart healthy, which meets certain requirements with fat, cholesterol, etc. All foods have their nutritional facts alongside their names on the menu as well. For certain holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, they have their turkey specials and their side specials for the festive days. Considering those days can be quite hectic, Dream Dinners is smart to help out on holidays as well.
One thing to remember is that purchases must be made in either a three or six serving size. Prices change as follow, but it still beats going to the grocery store every week and spending way more than expected. Grocery shoppers on average spend $30 more per visit to the grocery store, which adds up. If there’s no time to cook between work and extracurricular activities, Dream Dinners is the way to save a life. As Ms. Morton put it, there have been customers who have had their lives change because of Dream Dinners. Altering the way someone eats and how they prepare meals is a great thing that everyone should look into.
"Dinners for Life” is a separate and new section of Dream Dinners – one for diabetics and their needs. Diabetes is a fast growing problem in the world, and Dream Dinners thought it would be beneficial if they could help diabetics find what they could eat as well.
If I ever had time issues with my life, or just couldn’t find enough time to prepare food at home every day, Dream Dinners is something I would look into. They have their regulars, their seasonal customers and their visitors as well. Even with the recession, Dream Dinners can help save more money by eating home effectively both money-wise and health-wise.
A work station promoting their Thanksgiving specials
Another work station
Dinners for Life promotion
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Laser Quest
Laser Quest in Newington, Connecticut, is something that almost all people need to experience. Located at 3005 Berlin Turnpike, this game station for most teens and some adults has been a building block for most laser tag arenas.
Justin Gooley, manager of Laser Quest, gave me a lot of information to absorb as I talked to him today. He noted that LQ (Laser Quest shortened) opened on November 13, 1998. Seeing as how it’s been almost ten years, LQ has really gone a bit of a ways. From the days of DDR, when that was the latest craze, to changes in games in the lobby and changes of the business, LQ has built around what people have enjoyed.
“On Friday and Saturday we average about 500 people each night,” Gooley went on to say. Being that those two days are the prime days for business, that’s a hefty amount of people for the thought that it can get packed in the lobby and inside the shooting room really quick. Being a patron of a Friday or Saturday night at LQ, I can vouch for the congestion that is considered a weekend night there.
The average age group that goes into LQ is around 13-20, and seeing as how any kids under thirteen years old may be a little risky for safety reasons (ledges, dark areas, and hard guns for a few matters), I would understand why the age group is what it is. Over the age of twenty, it may still be fun (seeing as how I’m 20 and I would still enjoy playing there) but there are definitely more factors that would prevent them from going.
As Gooley listed on what LQ had to offer, he noted that “we have holiday parties at Laser Quest, with the most upcoming one being Halloween.” For some holidays (namely Halloween and Christmas, to list a few) LQ has special parties where everyone can “play all day for $25,” according to Gooley. For Halloween, there can be a kid’s costume party, and for Christmas, there’s a tree set up with decorations to give it the feeling of the real holiday there.
Back when LQ first started, the original price per game was roughly $6, Gooley tried to recall. The membership has always been the same price at $25, and with that, people can reap many different benefits as listed on the website here. If you’re not a member at LQ, you can still experience different types of games such as a 30 minute ironman match, where you’re put against a lot of different people with a little twist of no cool downs like in a regular match. A regular match can go up to 25-30 minutes as well, but that’s with the briefing in the beginning of the match included, so it cuts the game down to about 15 minutes.
Gooley also stated that “there are more competitors today,” which resulted in little bit of drop in popularity at Laser Quest. Gooley mentioned that birthday parties lately have also been bringing less people, but they’re still getting through this recession. However, since LQ has been strong for roughly 10 years already, I doubt that they’ll have any trouble getting out of a rut most businesses are dealing with in this day and age.
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