Dig in With Graver: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

My summer vacation started, as summer vacations often do, with a piña colada.

Since I couldn’t afford a trip to the Bahamas, this tropical beverage was sipped at The Bohemian on the North Side.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Located in a former adult movie theater, the Golden Age Beer Co. taproom features Czech lagers, disco era-inspired cocktails, vinyl records, velvet paintings and a menu bursting with double entendres.

Plan your own sultry getaway to the ‘70s today!

I also visited the distant shores of New Kensington, where my buddies in the band TRUCKSTOP were performing at Preserving, a former church that’s now a record store/hard-core concert venue. This region sure knows how to repurpose its old buildings.

Before the show, I soaked up some Good Vibes West Coast IPA at Voodoo Brewing Company’s Ritz taproom.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

That was the extent of my travels, unless you count all the strolls I took through Allegheny Cemetery.

I was going to go see the new “Masters of the Universe” movie at a local theater and eat popcorn out of a bucket shaped like Skeletor’s head, but that kind of public activity was out of my price range, so I stayed home and stared at my 40-year-old Castle Grayskull playset for free.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

To be honest, the main objective of my staycation was sleep — and I have Fred Rogers to thank for helping me get there.

This insufferable insomniac is happy to report that “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” now has a dedicated YouTube channel. Globally launched on June 4, it features clips, compilations and full episodes from the 33-year run of the beloved children’s program.

Hearing that familiar voice wax poetic about the Crayola Crayon factory calmed my overactive brain like some sort of yinzer ASMR and whisked me off to Dreamland.

And that’s exactly where I wanted to be.