Alex Eats Too Much October 2026 Roundup

I traveled in October for my first and most exciting international partnership. October was a month in which I focused on a lot more travel and travel content. I spent the first weekend of the month working with the PA Wilds and the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau. In the middle of the month, I set off for a week to Nova Scotia to attend the Devour! Food Film Fest. Back in Pittsburgh, it was actually a pretty slow month. I didn’t go out to eat much in Pittsburgh. I went to a couple of events and a couple of concerts. That was about it. It was still a super busy month because of the travel.

One thing that will become more apparent on my blog and content is that there will be more travel content. There are so many people in Pittsburgh creating content for local restaurants, and sometimes I will be too. However, many of the places I’m traveling to do not have people creating content for them regularly. It gives me the opportunity to do something different and showcase different places.

Highlights:

I went to the Zippo Museum and Flagship Store in Bradford, PA. Zippo has been based in Bradford since the 1920s. They have an extensive catalog of Zippo lighters over the years, with different designs and partnerships. They have displays showing advertising campaigns and highlight their importance in pop culture and the military. The company is also home to Case knives and has many displays for those. They also have a massive store with all kinds of products. I only had an hour here, but I could have spent all morning reading all the displays.

While I was in the Pennsylvania Wilds, I stopped by the Kinzua Bridge State Park in the Allegheny National Forest to go out on the Skywalk. The Kinzua Bridge was once an engineering marvel affectionately known as the eighth wonder of the world and one of the tallest railroad bridges in the world. A tornado took it down in the early 2000s, leaving much of the bridge on the valley floor below. There is also a trail that wraps around the hillside down to the Kinzua Creek below the skywalk, a visitor center with an extensive display about the bridge, and the PA Wilds Gift Shop. The Kinzua Bridge Skywalk is currently under renovation, and the 2026 visiting season ended on October 31, 2026.

I did a tasting of Sonshine spirits at The Wilds Sonshine Factory. This is a distillery that trademarked Sonshine, a spirit made out of Sunflowers grown in the PA Wilds and distilled in the region. The spirits have a distinct flavor where you can notice the sunflower flavor on the back end. It’s a good replacement for vodka, but they also have multiple flavored varieties like moonshines and a whiskey. The property also has a giant education space about local PA Wilds agriculture, a display dedicated to the Black Cherry tree, which is a big export from the region, a gift shop and an event hall.

I spent two nights at the Kane Manor Inn, a historic mansion owned by General Thomas L. Kane that is now a Bed and Breakfast. The inn has multiple different types of sleeping quarters, multiple lounges for gathering, trails for hiking, and breakfast every morning. Guests can also request and pay for other services like a bonfire. Ben and Deb who now own the inn were fantastic people. Ben took me on several hikes in the area including Rimrock Overlook and the Knox and Kane Trail. They both also run Kane Outfitters, which sells and rents out bikes and e-bikes.

This year’s One Bite One Day, a best bites of Pittsburgh event benefiting One Day to Remember was bigger and better than ever. It is one of my favorite events every year. I get to try so many amazing bites and try great cocktails all for a good cause. This year the premier food tasting event was at Rockwell Park in the East End and it was a fantastic venue.  I had so many great bites this year I can’t even pick just one to say was my favorite. Each of these bites is paired with a craft cocktail. There is also a VIP bar with additional specialty drinks. One Day to Remember is a non-profit organization whose goal is to give families with a parent dealing with advanced-stage cancer the opportunity to make lasting, positive memories. One Day to Remember strives to provide a curated experience that is individualized for each family at no cost to them. Included in the special day, they send a professional photographer to capture the family activity and provide every family with a commemorative photobook. The One Bite One Day event is one of the premier food tasting events in Pittsburgh. I’m proud to attend this event every year and support One Day to Remember. If you would like to learn more about One Day to Remember, please visit their page

There is a new sandwich shop in the Pittsburgh South Hills, Badamo Family Grocery & Sandwich Shop, and this is a welcome addition to the Dormont Neighborhood. I checked it out today with Jeremy from Discover the Burgh, and I think we both left quite impressed. The new shop opened next door to the Badamo’s Pizza, which moved to Dormont a couple of years ago. The shop features products from Italy, fresh-made cold-case salads and marinated goodies, lots of grab-and-go items like meatballs and lasagna, and, of course, fresh-made sandwiches. I got the Heartbeat meatball sandwich and the Godmother (Italian Combo 2). Both were great. The meatballs are giant. I’m going to be going back there a lot for more sandwiches.

Pittsburgh has a new state-of-the-art concert venue, and I partnered with Citizens Live at The Wylie to check out the Vinyl Room, a premium lounge, followed by an evening of soulful R&B from the legendary 90s group Boyz II Men. The Vinyl Room is a premium lounge modeled after Japanese izakaya listening lounges and a tribute to the analog era. The Vinyl Room is a private bar available to Premium Experience members and as an upgrade to shows. They have Asian fusion-inspired food and beverages on the menu. There is a DJ spinning vinyl records. There’s a big vinyl record collection adorning the walls. I can’t wait to go back to Citizens Live at The Wylie for another show, and some bites to eat at the Vinyl Room.

I was hosted for the night at the Hyatt Regency – Pittsburgh International Airport. Originally, I was supposed to have a 6 AM flight for my Nova Scotia trip and I wanted to be close to the airport for fast departure. Well, that flight got canceled and I got to utilize a lot of the hotel a little longer. I was in a very nice 2 room suite with king sized bed. I got dinner and breakfast at the Bellfarm restaurant downstairs. I took the shuttle over to the airport terminal, and I am keeping my car in the hotel’s long-term lot at a rate of $15/day.

I made my way to Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada for Devour! The Food Film Fest in partnership with Tourism Nova Scotia. Devour! is the largest food film festival in the world. The festival has over 100 events, including feature films, short films, filmmaker Q&A sessions, chef workshops, educational panels, and plenty of lunches and dinners by high-profile chefs. I was there for a week to attend as much of the festival as possible, and there will be a longer blog post about this trip soon. This year’s theme was Devour the Sea, so it was heavy on seafood and fish. This was a perfect theme since Nova Scotia has a large seafood and fishing industry. Before the festival, I had only heard of one of the documentaries and one of the short films, and I wasn’t familiar with any of the chefs since they were mostly high profile in Canada. I got to see many great documentaries like How to Feed a Dictator, which won best in festival, Bucks Harbor, and Bite to Bite. I attended so many amazing galas where the chefs got to be innovative in creating dishes using fresh Nova Scotia Seafood and inspired by the films. I attended an amazing community lobster dinner. I went to a workshop where a chef carved a bluefin tuna that was only caught two days before. Wolfville was a great small town. There are only about 5,000 residents in the town and not much more than that in the surrounding areas. It is an agricultural region with lots of farms and wineries. I spent a lot of time visiting wineries, breweries and distilleries. I also took in a lot of the local scenery by visiting many overlooks and beaches. It was an incredible trip and I’m so grateful for that opportunity.

After returning to Pittsburgh, I attended a show at The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. Three bands were performing. Red Rabbit kicked off the evening. I felt they were kind of an acid rock band. They were pretty good. Next up was Century III, who are a garage rock/surf rock girl band. They are one of my local favorites. Ending the night was Labretta Suede & The Motel 6 are a bunch of crazy rock n’ rollers from New Zealand by way of NYC. They were awesome and earned a bunch of new fans, including myself.