Hometown of John Waters Does Not Disappoint in its Quirkiness

I rarely write travelogue pieces, but a September 2014 2-day trip to John Water’s hometown of Baltimore warrants this for the oddities and wonders encountered. My daughter and I took a BoltBus from NYC to Baltimore in mid-September, heading to the Natural Products Expo East. It was with a little trepidation that I booked the bus trip – the reviews on Bolt, Peter Pan, Greyhound, and Megabus leave you wishing you had a fast Porsche instead. In retrospect, glad we didn’t take a Megabus – quite a few accidents in the last months. Hopping in a cab near my daughter’s West Village apartment, we got snarled up in Chelsea traffic along 10th Avenue. We finally made it to the rather odd location for our journey – 33rd Street between 11 and 12th Avenues. The bus trip there was not half as bad as some of the Yelp reviews, but nevertheless, I found myself wondering how the heck anyone over 5” 3” could possibly fit his or her legs into this cramped space. We mainly listened to our iPods and I found myself fascinated looking straight into the faces of truck drivers who were at my eye level for the first time, trying to snap photos of them at the right moment. The highlight was crossing the pretty Delaware River, as I summoned images of George Washington doing so in 1776, or to be more accurate, the painting by Emauel Leutze depicting this valiant event.

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Natural Products Expo East 2014 Highlights

My daughter has been wanting to go to this show ever since we attended the spectacular Expo West show in Anaheim in March 2012. The Baltimore show is much smaller, but nevertheless, a lot of fun and exhausting. I concentrated my efforts on finding unique companies that might need my marketing communications services, as well as looking for artisanal potato chips and honey. I also was determined to pick up some samples of Vitamin D and goat soap. Admittedly, potato chips and honey have always been two of my favorite indulgences, I was recently diagnosed with a low Vitamin D level, and I have been on a goat product kick for a while. I was delighted to find the Original Saratoga Chips booth, especially when I saw the Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar Chips. I am always on the lookout for unique flavors in kettle chips. Rachelle Boff and Keith Snovely were very nice and gave me a full size bag of the original chips. This is indeed America’s original kettle chip with a fascinating history dating back to 1853. I hope they expand and start selling these delicious chips in the Midwest. This chip gets my vote for the best of show in this category. Second place goes to One Potato Two Potato for their kettle chips and cute name.

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