Good Taste Pittsburgh, Saturday, 11/7/09

[MJKNEeley]

For those of you who have gone previously: do you think this is worth a 2 hr trip? Remembering the price of gas and food / such along the way....I saw that there were free samples and Qs given out but are they good enough to justify this one??? I know I could convince somebody to go with me to split gas, but that's giving up a day too....
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[AJSN]

I live a bit past Akron on the way to Cleveland - So I have the same question as MJKN since its a bit over 2 hrs for me :)

I drove down there for an awesome deal on a fridge

[pittsburgh24]

Well, neeky, tranquilmama and I went last year. I got a ton of free stuff (15 2 liters of soda, loaves of bread and rolls, etc.). Tranquil won a ham. They fed us all day long and there was free wine tasting (that one didn't interest me). There were a ton of q's and doodads given out too.

Now, I screwed up last year and left @ 1 1/2 hours before it closed. Neeky and tranquil loaded up on full jars of spaghetti sauce and other items. Since it was a one day event, they gave away all of their display items.

[jen276here]

I just ordered my tickets! I will be the one with the baby! lol - I am always the one with the baby!

[MJKNEeley]

So to get a ton of freebies to make this worth the trip, do you have to be kind of "pushy?" That's not quite the word I am looking for (and I am definitely not inferring that you guys are!!!) but I can't think of how best to explain it! Can you get a lot if you are in between timid and pushy?! I have 3 kids that I would be leaving at home with DH and probably carpooling w/ some friends and friend's friends. Sorry. Can you tell this is a big decision for me?! LOL

[jen276here]

Originally Posted by MJKNEeley So to get a ton of freebies to make this worth the trip, do you have to be kind of "pushy?" That's not quite the word I am looking for (and I am definitely not inferring that you guys are!!!) but I can't think of how best to explain it! Can you get a lot if you are in between timid and pushy?! I have 3 kids that I would be leaving at home with DH and probably carpooling w/ some friends and friend's friends. Sorry. Can you tell this is a big decision for me?! LOL

This will be my first time here, but I've been to expo's before and you do not typically need to be pushy. In fact most vendors are shoving things at you. If you do need to be pushy, no worries, just meet up with me!

[MJKNEeley]

We'll all have to wear bright orange HCW colored shirts!

[FunnyFace]

This is sounding more and more tempting all the time especially if they just shove things at you without one needing to be forward. I still have the memory of not getting that free yardstick at the County Fair. lol

Do we need a cart or wheeled suitcase? Will those of us that live far away need coolers and ice? Thank you to all that have shared and are sharing information and those that were bold enough to ask specific questions to get me even more interested.

[MJKNEeley]

Since the weather decided to get chilly on us, I started to think of autumn, which brought me to this thread. I thought I would give it a little bump so we can start thinking again if we are going or not.

Also, it doesn't look like FunnyFace got her answer about needing a cart / suitcase / cooler....

Hope you all have a great day!

[pittsburgh24]

a wheeled tote (or stroller) wouldn't hurt LOL (remembers carrying an 8 pack of 2 liters to the car). A cooler in the car might not be a bad idea - I think they gave little boxes of milk out. I can't remember having anything that was refrigerated. Tranquil didn't actually take the ham home with her (they mailed her a free coupon).

It's a long day there, especially if you want to wait until they close so you can get more stuff (I left an hour before neeky and tranquil but, I still had a trunk full LOL). It's not extremely large (the expo) but, we were able to keep busy or find someplace to sit. You can also leave and come back (they'll stamp your hand) if you want to do some shopping - perhaps at GE LOL. Parking was free - you won't need to buy lunch since they had plenty of hot and cold food there.

My favorite was the smiley cookies - my 19 yr old (as of yesterday) nephew loves them so I wound up with about a dozen for him - undecorated of course LOL. They had a huge amount of them there with the icing on them and they had icing there for the kids to decorate them. They would hold them for them until they dried too.

I'm hoping that they have the chicken stock people there (can't remember their name). They sell the boxes of stock. I was able to get a few of the vegetable stock boxes (the small ones) for .50 ea and wished I could have gotten more - I throw one in my homemade soups and it really kicks up the flavor of the broth. I saw them in SNS (the boxes) and they were selling them for $1.99 ea.

Arnold gave out a ton of freebies - loaves of bread, those flat sandwich breads and coupons. Lots of bags of chips (individual size) too (great for lunch boxes). There are a lot of things to eat - not too large of a portion but, you can go back as many times as you want. There are also food demos which are always fun to watch and they give you time to relax.

Oh, did I forget to mention that they had samples of wine? You can also buy bottles. I don't drink but, that was a pretty popular spot.

Lots of stands had contests or wheels (one had a slot machine but, the kids were NOT allowed to pull the handle).

I'm hoping they get more vendors but, even if they don't, there were still plenty of free things IMO.