This Blog Runs On Dunkin'

I'm giddy this morning. Why? It's simple and completely dorky. I've been tweeting with my current crushes @DunkinDonuts and @DCDunkin. Yes my search for Pumpkin Ground Coffee has led to some most wonderful tweets via the social media savvy folks at Dunkin'. The highlight? When I tweeted this pic of my at-home DD stock...

I received this tweet response...

And it doesn't get any truer than that. Just check out all the receipts from the 5 Dunkins between Baltimore and Syracuse. Then there's this...

That's right. The search for Dunkin' pumpkin grounds has now been named, by Dunkin, the 'GPC Mission'. My Dunkin'-obsessed parents will be so proud.  And please remember I'm always open to Dunkin' deliveries. I like my Pumpkin coffee with a little cream, no sweeteners.

Back To The Big Orange

It's hard to believe I hadn't been up to Syracuse since my graduation in May 2004. That all changed this weekend! On a whim I decided to make the most of a regularly scheduled 3-day weekend (thanks to Redskins playing Monday Night Football) by conquering a few of the '30 by 30'. I convinced (again, quite easily) my girl Liz to come along. Since we planned it very last minute (like, Thursday) there was minimal expectationy pressure and more room for spontaneous fun. My goals for the trip were simple. 1) Go to the Toledo-Syracuse game and 2) Eat at Dinosaur BBQ. Anything else would be icing on the orange cake. 

We left around 11am on Friday. If you factor in the usual morning trip to Dunkin we really got on the road closer to 11:15. It literally rained the entire way up to Syracuse. Figures, right? The frequently monsoon-esque rains led to a few extra pit stops. They turned out to be quite entertaining pit stops, including a Halloween themed bathroom in a Hess gas station (pictured) and my 1st ever M-T-O at Sheetz (for me, not Liz, she doesn't do carbs). We finally rolled into Syracuse around 5:45 on Friday evening. A bit long for my liking but understandable considering it rained, hard, the entire drive. We drove straight to Dino and let me tell you it was freaking amazing. I'll do a separate post for Dino but yeah it was ridiculously great and lived up to everything I remember. From there we hit up the Wegmans (not sure anyone other than Rochester-native Liz could love Weggies more than me) for some Genesee Cream Ale and then basically called it a night. Kickoff for Toledo-Syracuse was 12pm so we started Saturday with another trip to Wegmans (shopping list included Dinosaur BBQ sauce and chocolate chip cookies), a trip to Dunkin, a stop by my old Syracuse house (pictured), a t-shirt purchase on Marshall Street (2 for $15, score!) and a stroll to the Dome. We bought tickets from a nice dude outside. $20 total for 2 tickets. Can't beat that. In some ways it was kinda weird being back in the dome for the first time in 8 years, but in other ways it was kinda comfortable like I never left. Game was a blast (helped that we won)! We ended the Syracuse adventure with a walk into Newhouse 3 (which was just a dream last time I was there), a quick trip by my favorite professor's office (too bad she wasn't in town, but I did leave a note) and then we hit the road. Less than 24 hours in the big orange but had a blast and was ready to call it a mini road trip. 

Turns out there was one last ridiculously fun surprise waiting for us. While stopped in a Dunkin/Citgo in Cortland, Liz found Dunkin Ground Pumpkin (pictured). I'm convinced this is counterfeit coffee considering we frequent lots of Dunkin and have never ever seen the Pumpkin flavored grounds. Just had some though and it is delicious so whatever it is and for whatever reason it's only in 1 Dunkin in the world, I'll take it. The drive home was a very easy 5 hours. And now I can cross Syracuse football, Dinosaur, and road trip off my '30 by 30'. I'll call that a very successful 32 hours. 

1st In-Person Look at Newhouse 3

A Bathroom. In a Hess gas station.

O-R-A-N-G-E

My Jr/Sr Year House. 708!

Found: Dunkin Pumpkin Grounds in Cortland, NY

Last Dunkin' Diner Standing

Did you know that Dunkin' Donuts Diners exist? Ones with table service and waitresses and real sit-down breakfast, lunch & dinner food? Well, it's true that they do! And from what I've been told the last one standing is the one right here near Palm Beach. It's been here since 1962. There were some in the New England area but I believe they all closed many years ago (feel free to email me if I'm wrong!). I've been hearing about this Dunkin' Diner from my folks for years but for whatever reason I hadn't gone... until this morning. Yeah, it's as awesome as you'd expect. It's cheap ($5.99 for eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns) and for $1.89 you get all the Dunkin' coffee you want (including flavors) PLUS they give you a fresh cup 'o coffee to go. C'mon Dunkin' lovin' peeps, does it get any better?

The Sign At the Last Dunkin' Diner

The Breakfast Menu

Unlimited Coffee in Vintage DD Mugs