Friday Nights at the Catasauqua Amphitheatre

Two Friday nights ago we finally made to it one of the concerts in the Park.  We took Petey, our dog, for his first concert.  What a great night it was - weather wise, dog wise and friend wise.

The Catasauqua Amphitheater is situated at such a great spot at the bottom on the three dips - it's own natural arena.    It makes me wonder - are the three dips man made?  I know that the WPA Playground Project of 1935 was used to construct the pool and pool house, but what about the three dips?

Anyway - lets talk about the summer concert series - we went to hear the Toga Party Band.  They were fun - music was good.  Every Friday night from May 29 to September 4 there is a different band.  Take your blanket, some food and drinks and perhaps chairs and your night is complete.  Heck I even saw a table set up,

People were talking, some were dancing.  Children were running around playing.  It was a lot of family friendly fun.  I wasn't sure how Petey would be at his first concert.  We sat on the hill next to the walkway that leads down to the pool.  Boy, I forgot how steep that hill is.  My old lady knees had a hard time making their way down the hill, but we don't go down the hill far.  Petey is either very cute or scary depending how you view pitbulls - I was tickled when one boy asked if he could pet him - Petey loves it. And, better yet,  a Sunday School student of mine, Kylie and a friend stopped by for some hugs and kisses from Petey - Kylie has met Petey before,  Petey did growl at the band when the music started but he got use to it pretty quick.

We had plans to go last Friday night to see Steel Creek, but unfortunately some dog I know decided to put his head up some skunk butt, needless to say I didn't want anyone to pet Stinky Pete.  This week I have an Iron Pigs Game so I will miss James Supra Band, but I have a few more weekends left to get back to hear some more music.

I give Catasauqua a two thumbs up for their summer concert series.  If you are looking for something free and fun to do on a Friday night - check it out ....and that's Another day in Catasauqua.

It wasn't just Another Day in Catasauqua

I went for coffee this morning at WAWA in Whitehall - usually you go in and come back out and that's about it, this morning it reminded me the coffee shop that use to be in Catty.  Everyone was talking about the storm.  One person mentioned Coplay, another said - you should see Catty.  I was at work in Allentown when it all happened.  We had some heavy rain, but nothing like at home.  Parke called during the storm - he had heard glass crashing he went up to the third floor found one window smashed.  The hail started pelting the roof, he said the noise was deafening.  We have a cat that lives on the third floor affectionately called, Cat.  Cat virtually has no contact with us normally but she and Parke both stood there looking at the ceiling like, what the heck is going on.

Pine Street Bridge

I left work early - there were reports of street closures and a tree on the Pine Street Bridge - yes on the bridge.  I have been on that bridge in a storm and it is scary.  There are trees on each side and the tree tops bend over the top of the bridge in high winds.   I came home via Race Street - turned on to 14th and when I got the Sheckler School I was in awe - the trees in front of the school were all split in half - looked like they were literally ripped apart.  Going farther on 14th it looked like a Tree Bomb when off - leveling and breaking trees.  Crazy.  I turned onto Walnut Street only to find it closed.   Tried Bridge Court next - closed.  I went back out to Race Street and crossed my fingers and went up to Wood Street - clear - woo hoo - went up to Howertown Road to my house.  Oh my,  trees, leaves and people everywhere.  The PPL truck was parked at my house.

My 3rd Floor windows

Damage to my house consists of many window panes broken in my attic, my tomato garden looks like it was flattened and leaves everywhere.  Not bad, it could been worse and it was all over our town, Whitehall and Coplay.  It is weird turning on the Eyewitness News and hearing them mention Coplay and the size of the hail. The hail in Coplay was 1.75 inches in diameter. Wow.

The best video of the storm on Facebook is that of Ben Ferenchak - who was crazy enough to be out on his porch and taking video of the storm.  If you can check it out - please do.

Walnut Street - the reason I couldn't go home this way

This just in from Catasauqua - The Catasauqua Park was hit pretty bad during the storm yesterday. Officials are asking that you stay out of the Park for safety reasons until further notice. Also, the Pool will be closed and Park activities will be suspended until further notice.

I saw video of the park last night on facebook - lots of trees down - some on the playground equipment, some on the different courts, the one basketball court was covered with trees.

I am sure we will be cleaning this mess up for a while.  I know tonight I will be cleaning up my lawn.  Last night we had tickets for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, since we did not have electricity we decided to go to the game, even if it was just to eat and get a free t-shirt.  Turned out to be a good game so we did not get back home until 10:00 PM. I would say that only about half the people attended - our whole section was missing people.  I think a lot of people just stayed home.  

On my way to work this morning it was sad to see how many trees had to be cut down or how many huges branches were down just in my few blocks. I guess you will have this in a "Tree City" town.   It seems like we might of had more damage this time than we did with Hurricane Sandi or a least comparable.  This was quick, Hurricane Sandi was a whole long night.  Hurricane Sandi was wide spread - this was locked into Coplay, Whitehall and Catasauqua.  The Airport reported winds of 65 miles an hour.  

I haven't heard that anyone was hurt, just property, I think that is a good thing.  All in all it was a day to remember.  I am sure we will be talking about this storm for quite a while.  

Let's hope we don't have ..........Another Day in Catasauqua....like this one for a long, long time.