Pocono Talk

We had a surprise 3-4 inches over 2 weeks ago and our last substantial storm was over a month ago.  With the warm weather and rain the past couple of days any remaining snow we had has all melted.

I got all excited when this weather alert came in on Sunday – with our son home from school on Monday it would be a great day for a storm since he’d be home from school anyway.

…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 AM EST MONDAY…

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW… SLEET…AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

So I went to bed last night – checked out the window…nothing.  I got up a few times throughout the night and each time peeked outside expecting to at least see a flurry.  Nothing.

So I wake up this morning and see this:

…WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED…

THE TEMPERATURES HAVE RISEN OVERNIGHT AND THE PRECIPITATION ENDED. ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE A FEW SNOW SHOWERS THIS MORNING NO ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. THE ROADS MAY BE ICY IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTIES SO EXTREME CARE IS ADVISED THIS MORNING. THE TEMPERATURES WILL RISE INTO THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S TODAY.

It really makes me wonder about how meteorology works when it’s that off…

So no there is no snow.  If you’re looking to ski there is snow on the mountains of course, at least for now.  My husband and 6 year old went skiing at Alpine Mountain this past weekend with some friends and they said the conditions were great.  Today(Martin Luther King Day) unfortunately was warm and misting – it’s usually a big day for skiing but it was definitely not ideal weather conditions.

Knowing the Poconos we are bound to get quite a few storms still this season and probably some lingering snow into April, but for now there is none to be found.

With American Idol just starting up again for 2010 we have an alumni stopping by the Poconos tomorrow.  Friday January 15th, 2010 Season 4 contestant Bo Bice will be at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA.  Doors open at 7pm, the show starts at 8pm and tickets are available for $25.00.  You can get tickets online at www.shermantheater.com or stop by their location.

The Bartonsville Plaza on 611 is one of the newer retail spaces that has been built in the past couple of years.  The majority of the stores opened not too long ago with the most recent addition being Sonic.  There is already a Dunkin Donuts, Moe’s, Adam’s Jewelry, Verizon Wireless Center, Ichiban(hibachi), a pet store, GameStop and more.

Right behind Sonic there is a building being constructed and a sign went up recently showing that it will be an Advanced Auto Parts center.  Additional lanes have been added in front of that plaza up past the Lowes and Giant plazas near Interstate 80 and it has helped to alleviate some of the traffic.

If you are looking for great pizza in the Poconos be sure to stop by Capri Pizza in Cresco.  My husband and I stumbled across Capri’s about a year ago when we were talking with someone about good places to grab a Pizza.  It was suggested to us that we try Capri pizza in Cresco – I had heard the name mentioned before but in an unfortunate light.  Capri Pizza had been vandalized a few times during the “pizza wars” that were going on (another Pizza owner was going around sabotaging other Pizzarias in the area, it’s a long ugly unfortunate story.)  Luckily Capri survived and is in business and are also in the process of building another location to move to just up the street from where they’re currently located at.

They have one of the BEST tasting pizza’s around – I personally love their pizza and say they hands down have the best pizza in the Poconos.  The sauce is sweet and not what you’d expect, that combined with the cheese is really really good.  Like any pizza it’s going to be greasy, if you’re looking for a really good pizza try their steak & onion – mad oily but mmmm it’s like a cheesesteak…on a pizza.  They’re also really nice, polite and provide great service – which seems to be harder and harder to find in businesses today.

So if you’re looking for somewhere to pick up a pizza definitely try Capri’s.

What do you want to know?

Wow! I was out visiting some friends in the area, who took me to Capri Pizza, it was one of the best tasting pizzas I have ever had. Joe is the sweetest, and he was so nice and kind to my kids. I will definately be going back to Capri when I visit again!!!! Thanks Joe!!

October 12, 2009 by Mia in Cranford, NJ

Capri Pizza and Restaurant 5

Excellent Pizza!

Capri has the best pizza! It is delicious and my entire family loves it. The sauce and the cheese are very tasty. They treat you very well there, too. They almost always have somebody there to help carry the food out to my car. Their subs are good, too!

July 06, 2009 by Tara in Henryville, PA

Capri Pizza and Restaurant 5

Best Pizza in the Poconos

The Pizza is by far the best around. Also has a great variety of hot and cold sandwhiches.

December 20, 2006 by Anonymous

Google Review:

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=capri+pizza+cresco+pa&fb=1&gl=us&hq=capri+pizza&hnear=cresco+pa&cid=17484502769029256940

Great Pizza!?

Jan 15, 2008

Best local pizza place in Barrett. The place is run by very friendly people who do their utmost to provide excellent customer service with a smile. My only complaint…I wish they would expand their menu to include other typical pizza …?

thepoconos.com/sp?aff=1&wId=45503

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes – No

Yahoo Reviews

http://local.yahoo.com/info-38579343-capri-s-pizza-cresco?tab=reviews#reviews

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

by PoconoMommy

07/06/2009

Excellent pizza! My family loves their pizza- the sauce and cheese are very tasty. They are always very friendly there and on several occasions, they have brought the food to the car for me. The subs there are good as well. I highly recommend this place.

by Mary

07/17/2008

Whenever I travel to the area, I make sure to stop at Capri’s for their excellent pizza! Great food! Best pizza in the Pocono’s, in my opinion.

by localady

11/24/2007

pretty good pizza for this area, somtimes they are a little heavy handed with the salt but nicew friendly people.

by Amanda

10/27/2007

Their chicken parm sandwiches are so good! Their pizza is really good too.

I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holiday season so far, I know it’s a slight relief now that the majority of the hustle and bustle is over with.  Although for those of us with kids we know the real relaxation begins when they’re back in school! My oldest son started Kindergarten this year – he went from 1/2 day school every other day in preschool his first year to full day classes (9-3) for his second year of preschool.  This year though he started Kindergarten and hops on the bus at 8:30am and doesn’t get home until 4:30pm.  For a 6 year old that’s a LONG day so he is welcoming this break from school and we’re happy to have him home.  I give it another day or two until the novelty of being at home during the day wears off and he’s begging to go back to the constant activities of school and hanging out with his friends.

The notion of full day Kindergarten took me by surprise at first.  Our son had never been in daycare and although I feel like we prepared him for school a bit by sending him to preschool it still seemed like a long day.  For me, Kindergarten was a few hours, mostly learning letters and doing activities, boy have times changed.  My son’s biggest complaint was the lack of free time “play time” they get and how much “learning” is involved.  Computer class, Social Studies, Math…they all seem like really ‘big kid’ classes and I wasn’t sure how he would handle all of the extra work..especially homework(that was a fun concept to explain).  All in all though he’s adjusted really well, I am more then impressed with how much he has learned, especially with reading.  He’s able to read and spell words that are quite impressive – the days of being able to spell out “ice cream” to my husband are now long past though.

Not every Kindergarten in the Poconos is full day classes, our son is also on the “old” side of his class, just missing the cut off date for the previous year by a week, so if you’re looking to send your little one off to school be sure to do your homework.  Some of the schools give you the option of full or half day depending on how many kids they have, and the ability levels that your child has.  Full day Kindergarten is a newer thing in the area, my sons school only started doing it last year, it was a learning curve at first but he seems to have settled into the full day adjustment just fine.

A few things that have helped:

1) Lots of sleep.   We pushed his bedtime back from 8:00 to 7:30, sometimes 7:00.  He also takes the occasional nap when he gets home, we just make sure he doesn’t sleep too much so he’s ready for bed.

2) A snack.  Although getting of the bus at 4:30 and eating dinner at 5-5:30 doesn’t seem like much time for a snack, giving him something to eat – even the ’start’ of dinner(a roll, salad,  veggies) that he would be eating anyway takes that “edge” off.

3) Preparation.  We make sure homework is done and lunch/snacks, coat, gloves, etc. are all laid out the night prior as well as his outfit for the next day – it avoids that morning rush/confusion.

Times are changing, to me school seems a lot more challenging then it was ‘back in the day’ but at the same time the output from it – the learning, abilities and skills that result from it seem well worth it.  If you’re getting ready to send your little one off next year be sure to get them acclimated now.  Their sleep schedule, structured routines, tours of the school…all of it can be done far in advance to make the process as smooth as possible.

*These are not properties I own, just ones I came across – if you’re looking for a Pocono Rental be sure to check them out!*

Enjoy the sounds of trickling water over the rocks on the back deck of our private Cabin on the Creek at Arrowhead Lake in the Poconos. We are located just 15 min. from Jack Frost/Big Boulder ski resort in the resort community of Arrowhead lake.

Well, we missed what could have been a really big snowstorm for our area and escaped with just a few inches across the Poconos.  About 2-5 inches fell across the region leaving a fresh coat of white powder, but nothing more then a typical storm and definitely not anything to write home about.

For most of us it was a very iffy storm – the predictions were initially 4-8 inches then upped to 6 to 12.  The radar showed precipitation over the area from early on Saturday – yet there was no snow falling.  There was supposedly really dry air that was preventing the snow from falling and if it had moved out earlier we would have gotten those larger numbers expected.  It wasn’t until about 5pm that the snow actually started to reach the ground and by that point the storm was already pulling out to sea and moving away.

I am disappointed – I’ll admit it.  For all the fussing I do about snow, how it can be an inconvenience, shoveling is a pain…I still love a good winter storm with nice snow accumulations.  As I headed out last night to shovel what little snow had fallen there it was…that Winter Magic.  The air was cold but crisp and the snow was light and fluffy and glistened from the nearby lights.  Our Christmas lights shone through the snow covered bushes and the only sound you could hear was the powdery snow as it hit the ground.  It is a truly magical experience that calm that a snow storm brings to the outdoors.  There are no cars, no animals, no bugs, no planes…it is the quietest that nature gets and everything seems to slow down and stop all at once.

We might have missed it this time, but it’s inevitable that there is more snow in the near future.  The next wave of snow is expected Christmas day, hopefully it will be enough for a dusting to give that true “White Christmas” with snow actually falling on Christmas, but not enough to effect travel plans.  Until then it is bound to be a mad shopping rush this week, take your time on the roads as they will still be icy – Route 611 is bound to be JAM PACKED this week – find alternatives if you can or you’ll find yourself spending the majority of the time sitting in traffic not shopping.

The initial call was to be on watch from 6am Saturday to 6am Sunday, that has changed from some snow Sat(which we got maybe an inch) to tapering off around lunch time on Sunday.  The track has greatly changed and predicted amounts have gone up and back down but currently it has only really been snowing for about 3 hours and we have about 2 inches total.  At around 1pm it was really coming down and within 15 minutes the ground was completely covered but then the storm “stalled out” until about 5 pm when snow started really falling again.

It is yet to be seen what the morning will bring, it looks like a couple of inches overnight but for the most part it looks like the Poconos was lucky  enough to avoid most of it.  Although I am sure that the ski resorts would have loved the additional snow, with it being so close to Christmas and so many people still needing to get shopping done we ended up with the best of both worlds.  Enough snow to have a fresh coat and snow covering the ground for Christmas, but not enough to really cause any major problems.

Tomorrow afternoon the snow will have stopped, and the roads should be clear enough to continue about Christmas shopping, heading to church or get to any parties you need to.  We’ll update you on the final totals tomorrow, I’m hoping for at least a few more inches of snow!

It is just before 1pm on Saturday December 19th and the snow is just starting to fall.  Even now the snow seems to be falling with a lot more intensity then it normally does.  This isn’t a “slow” snowfall, it is definitely falling with a purpose.  Ever since the cold front came in earlier this week the ground has been frozen solid which means that any snow that falls is definitely going to12″ stick and accumulate.

Right now the “Winter Storm Warning” projections are still at 4-8 inches of snow for the Poconos.  The weather “prediction” maps are showing us well within the 6-12 inch range with Philadelphia in the 12+ inch range.

Last night there was the rush and bustle associated not only with getting ready for a big storm, but also for trying to get some last minute Christmas shopping in before the snow hits.  Although this storm has the potential to drop a lot of snow in the Poconos, we have gotten ‘punked’ in the past and only ended up with a few inches.  But if the start of this storm is any indicator of what is expected to come, then it looks like it’s shaping up to be more then just a normal storm.

If you have to go out today or tomorrow morning just be cautious, the wind is going to make it more difficult to see then usual and the roads can be dangerous until they get plowed.  If you are off the main roads be especially cautious – do not pull over on the side of the road unless you need to – if you need to stop be sure to pull into a parking lot, driveway, etc.  There are many areas that have drainage ditches/holes that are bound to be covered in snow and you definitely do not want to get stuck in them.

I passed by the Red Lobster in Bartonsville today(although they list it as Stroudsburg on www.RedLobster.com)  and saw the above sign posted outside.  So to all those wondering, the Red Lobster in the Poconos is opening on January 18th, 2010.  The next closest Red Lobster I believe is down in the Whitehall/Allentown area or up in Scranton.

Red Lobster
3588 RT. 611
Stroudsburg, PA 18360
(570) 421-2743