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Explore With Cassie

Lifestyle & travel blog finding the unusual out of the ordinary.

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  • Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage,  Latest News

    Christmas Pop-up Bar Tinsel Brings Season’s Gleam to Philadelphia

    December 2, 2023 /

    Tinsel is lit for Christmas 2023! “Oh, heart, let’s never grow too old To smile anew, when Christmas comes, At tassels red and tinsel thread …” ~ Nancy Byrd Turner Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Philadelphia’s beloved and popular Christmas pop-up bar is back! Tinsel came to sleigh on November 24th with its 2023 “Christmas Comedy” theme. In addition to lights galore and always outre displays and decorations, Tinsel is highlighting decades of tee-hees from fan-fav funny movies. Something I really look forward to at Tinsel each season is the specificity to detail in its overall production, decor and presentation. Be on the lookout for the little things. Check every…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Barnes Foundation Art Ball Showcases French Artist Suzanne Valadon

    April 4, 2022

    Fall in Love with Whistler in British Columbia, Canada in Autumn

    August 15, 2019

    What To Do in Saint Martin Island in the Caribbean Sea

    February 10, 2025
  • Day Trips,  Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Latest News

    PNC’s ‘LumiNature’ Winter Light Show Illuminates Philadelphia Zoo

    November 27, 2023 /

    “You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.”  ~ Oprah Winfrey Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Watts up, Philadelphia Zoo? A hellota (it’s a word, according to Urban Dictionary!) twinkling and sparkling that runs until Saturday, January 6 is watts up! Know this: If you’re planning to check out PNC’s return of LumiNature, a wintertime light show featuring more than a million lights across 16 illuminated zones, it is presented “with timed entrance tickets available every half hour from 5:00pm to 8:00pm with the experience closing at 9:00pm or 10:00pm depending on visit date. Pre-purchase your timed…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Prescott Pines Inn Gets Makeover, Adds Vino Prescott Wine Bar to Northern Arizona

    April 21, 2025

    Relax at the Low Key Westin Hotels & Resorts in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    February 3, 2025

    Get Your Wild West on and go Golfing at Rancho de Los Caballeros in Wickenburg, Arizona

    April 2, 2024
  • Explore with Cassie

    Philadelphia’s Inis Nua Theatre Company Showcases American Premiere of ‘Meet Me at Dawn’ by Zinnie Harris

    May 11, 2023 /

    Playbill cover and poster design are visually taut and arresting. “Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” — Vicki Harrison “Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.” — William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing “My life closed twice before its close; It yet remains to see If immortality unveil A third event to me, So huge, so hopeless to conceive As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell.”  — Emily Dickinson Story, photos by…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Musical Memphis, Tennessee Resurrecting into its Glory Days

    November 6, 2019

    Rejuvenate at Joseph Anthony Retreat Spa and Salon at Loews Philadelphia Hotel

    July 14, 2021

    HGTV’s The Scott Brother’s Hit Merriam Theater for “An All Out Party with 2,000 of Their Best Friends”

    September 6, 2017
  • Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage

    Philadelphia’s Christmas Pop-up Bar Tinsel Amps Up Watts, Tech and Decor

    December 31, 2022 /

    Tinsel’s swirly signage hangs from the Midtown Village building’s gingerbread-house exterior. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Tinsel is another word to describe anything as being cool or amazing (You are so Tinsel).” — Urban Dictionary Christmas, 2022 is a wrap. Time to recycle-toss the tree and pack-up those fragile ornaments until next year’s production. And speaking of productions, check out this account of my own ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas adventure! On the evening of November 21st, I made the scene at Tinsel, the wildly popular Christmas Pop-up bar owned and operated by Teddy Sourias of Craft Concepts Group, where Sourias and Kory Aversa of Aversa PR & Events were…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus Stages American Bandstand Themed Fall Ball

    January 10, 2018

    Explore Retro El Cortez Hotel and Casino on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada

    February 24, 2025

    Zarwin Baum’s Fashion Touchdown Raises over $130,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters

    January 25, 2017
  • Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage

    Fahoo Forays, Dahoo Dorays: Welcome U-ville, a Seussian Whoville at Philadelphia’s Uptown Beer Garden

    December 31, 2022 /

    Bright Lights, Big City:  Uptown Beer Garden presented its seasonal U-Ville in homage to the Seussian Whoville. Between the radiant white of a clear conscience and the coal black of a conscience sullied by sin lie many shades of gray – where most of us live our lives. Not perfect but not beyond redemption. ~~ Leslie Pinckney Hill “People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” ~~ Audrey Hepburn Story, photos by Sharon Kozden On the evening of November 16th, I Ubered into the City to celebrate the unveiling of Uptown Beer Garden’s holiday creation, U-ville … a name whose…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Concord, California Offers Country Cool Coastal Vibes in Small City Setting

    October 3, 2018

    CiderFest Brought Hardcore Fun to Woodford Mansion in Philly’s Fairmount Park

    December 30, 2023

    East Coast Hollywood: Philadelphia Film Society Screens Oscar Awards at Prince Theater

    June 13, 2018
  • Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage,  Latest News

    Uptown Beer Garden Mutates Upside Down for Spooky Season with ‘Stranger Things’ Theme

    October 23, 2022 /

    “People don’t spend their lives trying to get a look at what’s behind the curtain. They like the curtain. It provides them stability, comfort, definition.” ~~~ Murray Bauman, Stranger Things   Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Actually, Murray, I beg to differ with your above-referenced statements about “the curtain.” I liked getting a look at what’s behind it … at least I did on the evening of September 28th … when Aversa PR and Craft Concepts Group welcomed media to a preview party like none other at Uptown Beer Garden‘s Stranger Things-themed pop-up bar. Greetings from Hawkins, Indiana. Wish you were here! Perhaps if I had watched Netflix TV’s Stranger…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Christmas Pop-up Bar Tinsel Brings Season’s Gleam to Philadelphia

    December 2, 2023

    Get Shredded with Bouldering and Top Rope Climbing at Philadelphia Rock Gym

    January 31, 2018
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    September 14, 2023
  • Destinations,  Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage,  Latest News

    Piazza Pod Park Opens in Philly’s Northern Liberties, BEBOT Towers Over Fun-for-All Hot Spot

    June 19, 2019 /

    Piazza Pod Park in Northern Liberties is officially open. Robot Bebot looms large. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Remember when the now infamous Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot Gritty arrived on the scene in late 2018? Gritty, he of the bugged-out eyes and shaggy orange fur recently made room for the new kid on the block-one Bebot, an imposing but welcoming robot from Burning Man that towers over the Post Brothers’ latest creative use of community space (dubbed Piazza Pod Park) in Northern Liberties. The Mod Pod. I remember that television show. Tee. At 33 feet high and weighing in at 13,000 pounds, Bebot’s jolly wave greeted the public on June 8th’s grand…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Visit the Eccentric Fonthill Castle Built Out of Cement and Trash in Bucks County, PA

    July 25, 2018

    Hudson Valley Gains Hip, Hamptons Style Hotel The Time Nyack in Upstate New York

    August 14, 2017

    Enjoy a Desert Oasis and Waterfall at Revamped Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona

    December 9, 2024
  • Entertainment,  Explore with Cassie,  Food & Beverage,  Latest News

    Philly Restaurant and Bar BLUME Blooms at VIP Preview Party

    June 5, 2019 /

    Photos, story by Sharon Kozden Growing restaurant mogul Teddy Sourias and Craft Concepts Group unveiled Blume, their latest restaurant and bar concept during a VIP preview bash on a warm April evening. Located in Rittenhouse on the former site of Cinder, Copper & Lace, Blume drew crowds eager to pose before its window’s larger-than-life, Peter Max-like colorful butterfly decal. Inside, a ceiling covered in plants and bearing the establishment’s name twice as nice and in lights hovers over a relaxing banquette seating area. Between décor design elements (don’t miss the wall of realistic roses!), that are both whimsical and sophisticated, Blume is Philly’s summertime hot spot to be, sipping cocktails,…

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    Sharon Kozden

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    Award-Winning Treno Pizza Bar Features Fantastic Pig Roast in Westmont, NJ

    October 2, 2018

    Step Inside Philadelphia’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Fishtown

    December 19, 2018

    Behind the Scenes with P.J. Whelihan’s at WIP Wing Bowl 2017

    March 14, 2017

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