Alex Eats Too Much June 2026 Roundup

Hold on to your butts! This is a longer post. I’m writing this month’s roundup on the Amtrak back from Richmond, Virginia. It’s a long trip by train, but I wanted to save money and try something different. June was one of the most rewarding months for me since I decided to take Alex Eats Too Much full time. I have spent much of June thinking about what I wanted to do next with this blog and Instagram. I finished out some posts and videos I had agreed to make. I still have a couple I need to finish. I had to put a pin in it because I was leaving for an 11 day trip to Washington DC, Richmond, and Williamsburg. This trip was all planned around the TBEX North America conference in Richmond, Virginia. It is one of their many conferences meant for travel creators to network, connect, learn, experience new places, and have fun. I am so glad I decided to attend. I’ll likely write a full blog post around that experience, but I will just touch on some of it below. The most important part is that after TBEX, I feel excited and rejuvenated about content creation, which is fantastic, since at the end of last month I was a little discouraged.

Here’s what I got into in June before my travels:

I spent a lot of time in Downtown Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Three Rivers Arts Festival. First, I was at Arts Landing, the festival’s new home at the corner of Penn Ave and 8^th Street, the evening before its start, to preview the new location and part of the new show from Squonk. I was down there a few more times to browse the art vendors and watch performances by Spin Doctors and Tabitha Meeks. I really love this new home for the arts festival with a permanent stage. I’m looking forward to more great events there.

I was invited to attend Babesburgh Bash in the North Shore. It is a women’s empowerment event with beer, local arts and food vendors owned by women and people of color, and health and fitness classes. I attended as an ally with friends and had a great time. I sampled a lot of great beers and got some Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos from Mobile Chef. I’d gladly attend Babeburgh Bash again.

I went camping for two nights in Ohio at Punderson State Park. I was humid and I left with a million bug bites. That said, I was so happy to just get away for a few days. I hiked and ate a bunch of meals made over an open flame.

I drove into Cleveland to see the Yankees beat up on the Guardians. It was a great game. It was also a very sunny game and I had such a sunburn at the end. Progressive Field is a really nice stadium. I never noticed their monument park before. I also loved their terrace area that was open to the public with some elevated food and beer options.

I was lucky enough to get invited last minute to the Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Bans Off Our Bodies gala at The Pennsylvanian. The event was to raise money and awareness for the organization. I was so fortunate to be in attendance because women’s health and reproductive rights is important. Too many people do not understand just how much Planned Parenthood does.

I was invited to attend the Beers of the Burgh Beer Festival at Carrie Furnace for the third year in a row. This year, there was a great selection of local beers and food, and I got to spend a lot of time with great friends. This is one of my favorite beer festivals because it showcases the great craft beer and beverage scene we have in the Pittsburgh area.

Another event I’m excited to be invited to every year is the Good Taste Pittsburgh Pizza Fest. This year was my fourth year in attendance. The event was at Hazelwood Brew House, featuring seven pizzerias and three breweries from Hazelwood Brew House. As always, I left full of pizza.

I finally had dinner at Balvanera in the Strip District. It is easily one of my favorite meals I’ve eaten this year. The highlights are definitely the steaks and the sausages. I got the Ancho Ribeye and the Chorizo Especial. The ribeye was cooked perfectly and was so tender. The sausages were loaded with flavor and a little spicy. I’m definitely going to have to do more dinners at Balvanera. We also ordered a bunch of apps like the tartare, jamon iberico, empanadas and octopus.

I spent three days in Washington DC.

Here are the highlights.

I stayed at The Watergate Hotel. I got an amazing deal through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. It is part of The Edit special hotels that provide lots of credits and extras for staying there. The room was pretty nice and the bed was so comfortable. They upgraded me to one with a balcony. The Kingbird restaurant at the hotel was really great for breakfast and I’m sure other meals would have been pretty good. The Top of the Gate rooftop bar was just fine for the views, but the food and drinks were very basic.
The Washington Memorial Reflecting Pool was covered in green algae when I was there. They had at least 10 people skimming it to remove algae. It was blueish where it was already skimmed.
I loved the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery the most of all the museums I visited. I would really like to learn portrait photography. I might need to convince friends to let me practice on them.
I ate at Zaytinya, the Mediterranean restaurant by Jose Andres. I was there with my aunt and uncle, and we got a bunch of small plates. I was really impressed.

I spent 5 days in Richmond, Virginia for the TBEX North America Travel Creators conference.

I’ll write a blog post about the conference, but here are the highlights of Richmond.

I ate at the classic and popular soul food restaurant Mama J’s in Jackson’s Ward. I got a traditional soul food meal of fried chicken, collards and mac & cheese. I really enjoyed it. They are known for fried catfish and I wish I could have eaten more.
I did a tour through TBEX and Visit Hanover County of Agriberry Farm, The Freckled Flower Farm and Thistledew Fold Farm. I saw and ate lots of berries. I made a pretty bouquet to keep in my hotel room all week, and I got to pet a highland cow.
I ate a fantastic meal Alewife, a restaurant focusing on sustainable seafood dishes. I got the Fried Clam Strips and the Skate Wing with Cucumber Salad. It was such a good meal. It was a little more expensive than I was planning, but worth it.
My favorite meal of the whole trip was at ZZQ Texas Craft BBQ in Scotts Addition. Everyone I told I was going there said it’s the best barbeque in Virginia. This was the best brisket I’ve eaten. So tender and juicy. I’m glad I got to this one.
The TBEX opening party was at Richmond Raceway. We got to see NASCAR stock cars run the track and sign the finish line.
I learned so much at TBEX about blogging and content. I have so many things to put into practice and a lot of continued learning. I met so many great people. I also won an award as part of an innovation pitch contest for Stay22. I won a cash prize and a ticket to a future TBEX, so I’ll be attending again.
I did a small two stop brewery crawl to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and The Veil Brewing Co. We got a free flight at Hardywood Park thanks to TBEX. They were pretty good. At The Veil Brewing Co, I got a hazy IPA and an imperial stout. I was ready for bed after those.

After Richmond, I went on a FAM Tour with other TBEX attendees hosted by Visit Williamsburg.

A FAM Tour is a familiarization tour usually hosted by the provider with the expectation the attendees will write about the location or sell the location to vacationers. We got to visit Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. Here are some highlights.

We stayed at the Rochambeau Roadside Inn. It is an old roadside hotel that was completely renovated and modernized, but retains some of its classic charm.
In Jamestown, we visited the Historic Jamestown site, where they are uncovering all the archeological finds of the Jamestown Settlement, the Jamestown Glasshouse, where they do colonial glassblowing demonstrations, and Jamestown Settlement Living Historical Museum, where there are recreations and interpreters of the Jamestown history.
We ate at Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant, a local favorite that has been open for over 30 years.
We did a Williamsburg Walking Tour that took us around Colonial Williamsburg. This tour taught us the history of Williamsburg and the preservation efforts.
We ate dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern, which is a colonial-experience dinner with interpreters who try to show what it was like to eat at a colonial boarding house.
We visited Yorktown, which was the site of the last battle of the American Revolution. We got breakfast at Mobjack Coffee Roasters, which is a business in a colonial building. We did a Steamer Coach tour of the Yorktown Battlefield with Yorktown & Co. We visited the American Revolution Museum of Yorktown.
Spent the evening at Busch Gardens Amusement Park.
Our final breakfast was takeout from The Bake Shop. My sandwich was huge and delicious.