An IMAX Movie Adventure

August 31, 2026 by Sara Denny in Personal, adventure

Apparently I am in a state where one of 40 theaters in the entire world are showing the 70mm film IMAX version of The Odyssey, so you know we had to do it.

Our tickets were purchased an entire month in advanced, it was the soonest we could get tickets and the showing was at 8 o’clock in the morning. Instead of risking potential traffic in the morning we opted for an overnight stay in a hotel where we watched the 1994 classic (?) Clifford, starring Martin Short while we ate our mediocre Wendy’s.

I woke up early enough to hit the breakfast buffet (my safe go to: plain bagel and those little packets of peanut butter) and to procure some coffee and we headed out.

I would like to give some kudos to this theater…it was BEAUTFUL. It was so colorful and fun, neon lights, patterned carpets, and even every toilet paper dispenser in the restroom was a different color that matched the confetti colored tiles. It was breathtaking. It was like stepping into 1996 and I was here for it.

While enjoying the sights we meandered down the deep hallway to watch the film. This is the 2nd time we’ve seen it, the first was in a decommissioned regular IMAX (big picture?) and we we surprised out how fast the film felt, at a nearly 3 hour runtime you would think we would be shifting in our seats for the movie to be done but each time we both could have sat there for probably another hour. This film envelops you and time just evaporates. Seeing it a second time I was really able to focus on some details and even notice some things that I missed the first time.

The theater was basically sold out at 8 in the morning and this theater of people locked in. Unfortunately the person next to me seemed to suffer from restless leg syndrome so my 70 mm IMAX experience also had a 4DX experience added to it for free. The dude was shaking my seat so bad but what am I going to do? He probably felt terrible.

After the film we got to take a bit of a detour behind the theater. They have a booth with windows where you can see the actual film, film case, and projectors used for the 70mm movie. It was so cool to see. They also had a poster where you could put a pin from where you were from to see The Odyssey in this format.

We took a photobooth photo to commemorate the occasion and then went on a tiny Grand Rapids adventure. We went to Rise (a vegan bakery!), several 2nd hand media stores, and I even got to see this crazy ass Castle apartment complex that one of my friends did a PowerPoint on and it felt famous to me. I also saw this really cool Potato Chip Ad but were were driving by so fast that I was only able to capture a blur as we drove by. It was such a fun Monday.

Pennsylvania. A Food Review Part 3

August 20, 2023 by Sara Denny in adventure

This has the vibes of where I was at in PA.

So I write here today another couple restaurants that I visited on my trip to Pennsylvania.

Oori a Korean Restaurant in Pottstown, PA. I got my tried and true: BiBimBap and it was delicious! I was surprised at the quality and taste in such a tiny town. I will say that I’ve had better kimchi, but I’m not sure if that is something made in house or something they buy, it could be a bit sharper.

I’d give Oori a 4/5. I need to ask more questions about their dairy free options because I’d want to try something different next time.

I made my way to downtown Pottstown (which is quite a bit different than the area of Pottstown that Oori is located at) to visit the iCreate Cafe. This was an entirely vegan restaurant, which is always a plus for me, since I know I won’t get dairy’d.

I ordered a smoothie, the Peanut Butter Dream Shake and I also ordered the Cheese Steak Panini. Both were delicious! The shake could be a little bit thicker but with an Almond Milk base, I expected it to be a little thin. I ordered my cheese steak with the black bean patty and was really pleased it wasn’t dry. I would order from here again but I wouldn’t go by myself.

The area is a little sketchy and I had a creeper hanging out by my car when I was coming back with my takeout order. Creepy enough where I walked on the opposite side of the road when I saw him coming down and taking his time once he saw me. I don’t fault the restaurant for this though! The atmosphere in the restaurant was very welcoming (if not a little warm, why is there not more AC in PA???) and the cook was super friendly while preparing my order. I’d get stuff from there again but maybe I’d bring a friend too! 3.5/5

This is what PA feels like. Except with death roads and rain.

Pennsylvania. A Food Review, Part Deux.

August 06, 2023 by Sara Denny in adventure

Part 2 of my culinary adventure. We travel to Allen Town, PA. Where I cross two restaurants off my list.

Chen Vegetarian. A vegan Chinese Restaurant. I love this concept. I find Chinese food pretty heavy feeling after eating it so finding a healthier lighter version using plant based foods is amazing. Luckily it was right along the main strip of Allen Town as I walked around a bit and shopped.

I got a carrot, apple, beet, and ginger juice and some steamed dumplings. I wish I would’ve taken a pic of the dumplings….the skins were bright green! They looked crazy. The juice was super refreshing as I had been traipsing around in the heat for quite a bit by the time I stopped. 8/10 would totally go again and get some takeout. Unfortunately I wouldn’t eat in the restaurant during the summer because like many places in PA…no Air Conditioning. It was so stuffy in there. The food was delicious though!

Takki Ramen! A little of the main beaten path in Allen Town but still easy to get to. I placed my take out order and waited in this cute little restaurant and enjoyed the ambiance. I got Karaage Chicken and Black Garlic Tonkatsu Ramen. 10/10 would eat there again. The chicken was spicy but the perfect amount where you wanted to keep eating it and the Ramen was beautifully packaged and traveled really well. Pork Belly is so good! A bonus…I got to eat someone’s leftovers for lunch the next day and got to eat the Sukiyaki Beef Udon. Also fantastic.

It was a bit of a heft to get to Allen Town but I’m glad I made the trek. I believe there was another restaurant over there I wanted to try but never got the chance so next time!

Pennsylvania. A Food Review, Part 1

July 23, 2023 by Sara Denny in adventure

Pennsylvania has become a large part of my life in the last few years, while I don’t live there I end up traveling there once a year, barring any pandemics. I usually don’t end up doing too much so I decided that this year was the Year of Restaurants.

I am dairy-free due to an allergy and this does make finding food and travel a little difficult sometimes. I’ve been doing a lot of Googling to try to figure out more restaurants and foods that I can eat at, which is hard in rural Pennsylvania.

So I Googled and made a list (mostly vegan restaurants, it’s just easier sometimes) and really worked into trying as many as I could on my trip.

In no particular order here are the first 2 restaurants I’m reviewing because these are the ones I have had before (and I forgot to take a picture of one!)

I can’t believe the Squarespace Image Library had this photo.

Wawa is a tried and true place I go to every time I’m in PA. It’s a Gas Station and Cafe essentially for those who don’t know. They have an easily accessible allergen menu (though they’ve updated it in a way that is not very user friendly in my opinion) and I can order with no worries about being dairy’d.

I rate Wawa a 9/10. There are many locations and you can order ahead of time. My Italian style sub I got was delicious and they had garlic knots I could eat. My only complaint is whenever I order ahead my order s never where it should be and it makes it confusing.

Rita’s Italian Ice! A beloved summertime snack. I’m so sad I can’t have the custard but the different and various flavors of ice makes up for it. I usually get a flight because I feel like one order of one flavor is almost too much of that flavor. A flight is perfect. So nice that I had it twice while I was there! The flavors I got were Cherry, Blue Berry, Cotton Candy, and Blue Raspberry.

10/10. Delicious and with many locations.

Bonus Content: I Bought a Travel Water Cup from Wawa (I’ve purchased two before, for hot drinks) and I have to say this is the best giant water cup I’ve bought for AWHILE. Also: Look how sexy it is just fitting into my water dispenser.