Pittsburgh New Park and Cigars

By Don Hopey. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Before a recent game at PNC Park, Neil Spada was waiting for his dad next to the muscular Honus Wagner bronze outside Gate A and talking about the classic design of the five-year old ball yard.

It gives the park an old feeling, like Forbes and Fenway, and reminds you it holds a history, baseball history," said the 18-year-old Mt. Lebanon resident. "But inside it provides the conveniences that people expect out of a ball park today. It's the best of both worlds.

On the 200 level there's luxury boxes and a wood-paneled, club-like setting where patrons can spend time shooting pool, eating fancy deserts, smoking cigars and sipping martinis in front of a plasma flat screen television without ever having to worry about inclement weather or spills caused by incoming foul balls.

...mixing the old with the new...

Green grass and history form baseball's new homes around the country

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In Old Town goto Morts Cigar Bar

Mort's Cigar Bar, 923 E. First.

This tiny brick building houses an extensive martini menu and a selection of fine cigars. Mort's features live music on its patio when the weather allows. The tunes include soul, blues and rock (nothing too hard), and the bar draws a range of ages.

...take a step back in time...

Wichita Eagle | 07/09/2006 | Destination: Old Town

technorati tags:Old, town, Morts, Cigar, bar, cigars

Cigar bar captures Latin flavor

BY LENNEICE DREW. The Miami Herald

Pillows of blue smoke hung in the air at the grand opening of Habana Cuba Cigar Lounge in Miami Lakes. Patrons enjoyed cigars from Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, food and drinks and dominoes.

Heads turned toward the smoldering smell of molasses, honey and tobacco leaves that floated through a Miami Lakes plaza.

More than 60 neighbors and friends grabbed a comfy seat, swayed to live Latin music and smoked stogies at the grand opening of Habana Cuba Cigar Lounge in Miami Lakes on June 24.

The new store holds a trademark for some of the cigars it carries in the Oliveros line. Store owners Rafael Nodal, Hank Bischoff and Julio Varela have created new blends such as Oliveros XL For Men, named for the strength of the tobacco leaves.

''For three generations, my family has grown tobacco,'' Nodal explains. "They played an essential role in the production of cigars. So, opening this lounge is what connects me to my ancestors.''

Today, Nodal and his partners run a tobacco factory in the Dominican Republic, where the Oliveros are produced. Tobacco produced for the Miami Lakes lounge is grown in Honduras, Nicaragua as well as the Dominican Republic.

...the old is new again...

MiamiHerald.com | 07/09/2006 | Cigar bar captures Latin flavor

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Open the doors to Cigars

Open one door at the Bridgeport Innovation Center and you'll find a warehouse full of beers from the Czech Republic; open another, and you might see stacks of toys, cigars, candied apples or managers of a construction company huddled over blueprints.

You could also say those doors open onto dreams, whether that's starting a new business or keeping one alive that is being threatened by the rising costs of rent in more expensive areas.

The Innovation Center opened in the mid-1980s in the red-brick factory buildings built in the early 1900s for the American Chain Co. at 955 Connecticut Ave. It's a business incubator, simply defined as a complex where rents are affordable and people have an opportunity to grow their businesses.

The Connecticut Post Online - ROOM TO GROW

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The Private Mens Club The Sanctum opened its doors

The Sanctum, a private men's club celebrating its 100th anniversary, let its guard down for the afternoon, welcoming more than 1,500 people taking a self-guided tour of some of the town's finest homes and landmarks, including First Congregational Church of Litchfield, the Litchfield Historical Society and the Tapping Reeve House and Law School.

A common misconception, Ebbs said, is that the club's members are nothing but a collection of stodgy, aging men sitting around smoking cigars, drinking and telling dull stories. The Thursday night dinner meetings are actually quite lively, Ebbs said, with lots of laughter and tales of the gossip of the day. Members play bridge on Wednesday nights and participate in a literary discussion on another night.Getting into the club isn't easy, as there is a waiting list. Seats open up when a member dies or resigns, an uncommon occurrence, Ebbs said.

"The Waterbury Connecticut Republican American Newspaper"

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