Tag Archives: Virginia

Move over, pineapple pizza. It’s time for OCTOPUS PIZZA.

August 11, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

I am a man who is loathe to tamper with a classic. And every slice of pizza from Benny Marconi’s in Roanoke, Virginia is a damned artwork.

Still … they did not offer octopus as a topping. (I searched their website pretty thoroughly.) And then I realized that I had NEVER seen the most sublime of foods offered as a pizza topping.

Innovation built this country, and I have a flair for the culinary. So I went home and concocted the brilliance you see below.

Update — Damn. I just realized I wrote this whole post ignoring the potential for an “octupie” pun.

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Throwback Thursday: Wista-SHEER Sawce.

August 1, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Flashback to the early 1990’s. I worked the cafeteria at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. (It was a work-study program.) Southern kids would line up at the counter for me to serve them Worcestershire sauce, because they laughed at the way I pronounced it.

It’s “wista-SHEER sawce.” Years of seeing it passed around my New York Irish dinner table could not have misinformed me. It was the Southerners and their adorable “WAR-is-to-Shire” pronunciation that deserved laughter.

I’m glad we had this talk.

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Ikenberry Orchards!

July 27, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Daleville, Virginia. Look at the SIZE of those peaches!

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It’s a “Gathering” Gathering! (August 27th in Chantilly, VA)

July 25, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Hey, gang, I just wanted to help spread the word about Poets Anonymous’ August 27th launch event for the second annual Gathering poetry anthology. The event will take place at 7:30 at Courtyard Dulles Airport Chantilly, 3935 Centerview Drive, Chantilly VA 20151. (The door opens at 7.)

Admission is $5. You can purchase the book at the event, if you wish; preorder information is right here. The poets whose work will appear in the anthology have been invited to read their work (though I am sadly unable to attend due to a prior commitment.)

I hope you are all having a terrific summer. 🙂

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Sign outside downtown Roanoke restaurant: “NEAT DRESS REQUIRED.”

July 21, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

I don’t own ANY dresses.

Seriously, though — I actually stood there for a second pondering what sort of sort of slovenly dresses women had worn in order to prompt management to make the rule. (Was it a wild Saturday night?) Because I am slow on the uptake.

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Shine On, You Crazy Mountain.

July 7, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

One of those moments when clouds cast shadows over the valley while the mountain remains sunlit. It looks so surreal when that happens. (This picture doesn’t really do it justice.)

Roanoke, Virginia.