Saratoga Springs - balloons, pizza, coffee, and more

More thoughts and follow-up from the past several days:

• I went to the Adirondack Balloon Festival up near Glens Falls on Saturday.  I had never went before and was really excited to go, but unfortunately the winds and then rain caused the cancellation of the Saturday evening and Sunday events.  The most I got to see was a few balloons that were stood up and filled with air - and even that was difficult for the few crews that tried it.  I sure wish I would have seen all 90 go up as scheduled but Mother Nature had different ideas.  The Glens Falls Post Star has the story and a great picture here plus I added a few pictures below from the time I was there.

• I once commented on here how the pizza slices at Inferno Pizza seemed dried out when I went there.  I am happy to report that I had a very good pizza from there Saturday night - I guess there's a big difference when you order a whole pie and it's fresh, as opposed to slices which could have been cooked hours ago.  I still think Marino's is the best in the Spa City but they inexplicably close at 9PM on Saturdays, so I went with Inferno which turned out to be pretty damn good.
• I was on Broadway a while back and I found out that the Ever After store at 372 Broadway was closing.   The boutique offered clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, hand bags, plus gift ware. I guess seeing some of our downtown stores close is not unexpected - but you hate to see it anyway.  No word on whether any new business will go in that space right away.

• It seems like Uncommon Grounds is the place to be for coffee, light food, and free wi-fi.  Occasionally I like to experience a change of pace and go to Saratoga Coffee Traders across and down the street near Bruegger's Bagels.  

Saratoga Coffee Traders is not as spacious as Uncommon Grounds, but their coffee is good and they offer some nice options including wraps and salads.

• Remember the Epiphany Theater?  It was a Theater Company based, at least for a time, on a big old building on Regent Street between Union Avenue and Spring Street.  I was going past the building the other day and I noticed it was for rent.  Then, on the subject of unique and old buildings for rent, I noticed a church annex building on Washington Street near Universal Preservation Hall that was also available. Interesting if nothing else.

 

• Speaking of Universal Preservation Hall, the organization refurbishing that beautiful building on Washington Street is holding a unique fundraiser this coming weekend when they will host the Phinney Design Group Tour of Homes. From the UPH web site: "The tour will feature five beautiful homes in the Saratoga area, all designed by PDG. This event will take place on Saturday October 3rd and Sunday October 4th from noon - 5pm.  On Sunday, there will be a reception at UPH from 5:30 to 8pm."  Tickets are just $35.00 - which is very inexpensive considering the usual price of Saratoga Springs fundraisers - and the tour sounds great and Universal Preservation Hall is of course a great cause.  I unfortunately will likely be out of town.  To find out more, click here. 
• Credit below goes to the Putnam Wine Shop on Broadway for some clever marketing, as evidenced below.

• The YMCA of Saratoga is adding some much needed parking to the Saratoga Springs (West Avenue) branch.  This is a good move, because there have been times when I've gone there at maybe 5 or 6pm and there was virtually no available parking.  By my very rough estimate it appears that there may be about 60 new spaces available when the construction is completed.  I love the Saratoga Y!

 

• Sushi Thai Garden is so consistently good.  My girlfriend and I ate there Friday night and we really enjoyed our meals - they always deliver great food and great service.
• I see 38 High Rock Condos has a sales office at 425 Broadway.  I'd hate to see any empty places on Broadway so it's good to see them filling a location, although I noticed the upper floors of that old building sure look like they've been empty for a long time. 

• I went to the Saratoga Farmers Market on Saturday.  It seems like my weekends are missing something if I don't get to the market - it's such an upbeat experience.  Apples, apple cider, pumpkins, and many other autumn treats were in abundance.  I mentioned to one of the workers how extra lively it was there on Saturday and she pointed to the band and said "they're very good and they just lift the whole place up".  I never thought to get the band's name, but they were playing a Johnny Cash song at the time so they instantly got a thumbs up from me. 
• It's always good to see building owners taking care of the beautiful old buildings in Saratoga.  I took this picture of a worker repairing the exterior of Saratoga Arms Hotel on Broadway. 

• I'll end this by telling you to go to the Bread Basket Bakery on Spring Street and get one of their shortbread cookies.  They sucked me in with a free sample and I had to buy one for myself then bought another one for my girlfriend.  So good!  Maybe that great taste is from what seems like the entire stick of butter in each cookie - and I of course say that with admiration.  Have a great week.

Comments

[Mr. Sunshine]

IMHO, Inferno is not very good and Sushi Thai is the most underspiced Thai place I've ever been to. I wish we had some authenticity--or at least big city flavor--in our ethnic restaurants in town. Re the Y, someone is going to be killed if they do not put a blinker at the intersection of YMCA Drive and West Ave.!

[Dan]

Well I still told you I would give Pizza on Broadway a shot and I plan to. Pizza in Saratoga overall isn't great (although I still want to try Village Pizza in West Galway I believe) so maybe my expectations have been lowered. It was still pretty good and Inferno does have a bit of a following in the Albany area. I haven't been to that many Thai places (FTR - Shanghai Grill was awful when I went there in the Spring) so I can't comment on what the spice level should be, but Sushi Thai is doing something right b/c they are busy quite often. I just enjoy it there. Thanks for writing.

[Mr. Sunshine]

I too am a huge Marino's fan!