Fun in Saratoga

Saratoga was Las Vegas

I just got back from Las Vegas, which explains the lapse in entries in the past week.  As I was there looking at all the extravagance, including the gigantic hotel/casinos such as Caesar's Palace and The Venetian, it occurred to me that Saratoga Springs during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the Las Vegas of its day.  Both cities were/are places to go to unwind with gambling and other forms of debauchery, and both had enormous hotels built that were/are some of the largest in the world.  Finally, both cities are more than just locations, they were and are both a state of mind.  I guess the comparison is obvious, but it really hit me as I was in Vegas.  Food for thought.

 

Above:  The Grand Union Hotel, which was razed in the early 1950s.  Below: Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas strip. 

 

Downtown Borders offering free wi-fi

Finally catching up to many of their locally based competitors, Borders Book Stores is offering free wifi to customers in "virtually all" of their 500 locations this month.  I called the local Borders on Broadway and asked them if they were offering the Wifi yet, and the answer was that the Saratoga location does now have it. 

I am usually very comfortable at Uncommon Grounds, which has offered free Wifi for at least a couple of years, although it can get crowded there at times.  Perhaps the Borders offering will lighten up the crowds at our favorite bagel and coffee place, or at least give us an alternative should Uncommon Grounds get annoyingly crowded.  FYI Saratoga Coffee Traders also offers  
free wifi, and of course library cardholders can use the computers there and also bring their laptops to use the library's free wifi. I assume there are other downtown establishments where you can get on the internet with your laptop, but I am just not sure where.  It would be nice if the entire downtown area had free internet service - maybe that day will come.  One place we know doesn't have free wifi is of course Virgil's House, which disallows laptops, cell phones, and similar technology. OK, next time you see someone typing away at one of the downtown establishments, it just might be me posting an entry.  Enjoy the rest of your week.

Two Saratoga entries from the Times Union Table Hopping blog

The Table Hopping Blog is simply amazing in that it's writer, Steve Barnes, covers the restaurant and food scene not just in metro-Albany, but further and further out from the central part of the T-U's circulation area.  He does a good job covering Saratoga, as these two entries exemplify:

• $5 Maestro's entrees in November
• Reviewing the Irish Times In Saratoga

Three good posts on the Post-Star's Saratoga Snippets Blog

The Post-Star's Saratoga Snippets Blog doesn't get as much attention as the T-U's Saratoga Seen Blog, but it is a quality newspaper blog nonetheless.  I just noticed three interesting entries on there, one involved an aerial photograph of the track another was about the wayward moose who was at the Saratoga Track this past spring and recently showed up in Queensbury, and finally there was a third one about the new Local Living Guide discount book being available.  Great work Drew!

Thoroughbred Owners of California official enjoying visit to the Spa City

Blog entries like this simply make my day.  Mary Forney, who is the Director of Operations and editor of the quarterly magazine Owners' Circle for the Thoroughbred Owners of California, is in town for the International Simulcast Conference.  She also blogs about thoroughbred racing and she made two entries this week about about how she is enjoying her stay here in the Spa City, one on Monday and one yesterday.  I don't know how long she is here for or if she will continue blogging about her experiences, so you may want to check back on her blog if you enjoy reading about someone expressing such appreciation for Saratoga Springs and the Oklahoma Track. 

Added 10/16:  She made her third entry today here.

Numerous properties for sale along Union Avenue

I noticed last week that 73 Union Avenue, the beautiful pink house on the north side of the street about 3 buildings east of Court Street, is for sale. 

  

According to my "Hoofing It" book, a walking tour guide of Saratoga Springs published by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, 73 Union is a "High Victorian Gothic" which was built in 1883 for John M. Jones.  It's a unique, beautiful, and historic home, but with an asking price of $2.4 million, I would like to remind the owners that the economy is recovering from a recession and they aren't likely to get anywhere near that figure.  I don't know if they can get half of that.   

This listing got me realizing that there are 3 large homes/apartment buildings on Union Avenue for sale on Union Avenue and two condominiums also for sale.  All five properties are within site of each other along a short stretch of Union, as listed below:   

• 73 Union Avenue, discussed above.
• 72 Union, a large multi unit (pictured below) at the corner of Clark Street that I previously wrote about here.

• 84 Union Ave - a beautiful brick home (pictured below) which has a "For Sale" sign out front but is not listed in any MLS computer searches.  I don't know if there is an error or if it is perhaps not presently listed for some reason (perhaps the listing has expired?). I highly doubt that it sold, considering the high price they were asking and the current dearth of buyers at that price level.

 
 

• A condominium at 56 Union - another beautiful brick building pictured below right.
• An office condominium at 48 Union, the stately white building with bold pillars in the front (picture below).

I believe all of the homes listed were once Skidmore College buildings before they moved to their present North Broadway location. There are also some properties for sale to the east of this cluster of properties, including the large home that is apparently a Bed and Breakfast at 203 Union Avenue, and a couple of small condos at 125 Union Avenue and 115 Union Avenue.  Well I hope the owners get some interest in these properties, all which are special in their own ways. 

Daily Racing Form comments on NYRA's expansion of the Saratoga meet

Steven Christ of the Daily Racing Form wrote a commentary of NYRA's expansion of the Saratoga meet that I thought was interesting and balanced. You can read that piece here.

54 Phila nearing completion of exterior work

The yellow wrap on the building that will soon be The Lofts at 54 Phila is mostly gone, signs are in the windows advertising commercial retail leasing, and the building is now mostly covered with brick, giving an observer a pretty good idea what the building will look like when completed.  The building won't be beautiful, but in my opinion it will be a nice looking building mostly because the bricks and the design blend in nicely with other downtown buildings within sight of this one at Phila and Henry Streets.  Hey it could have looked like the original proposal for the expanded City Center, and just in case you forgot what an esthetic catastrophe that would have been, take a look. 

  
Sure it's not the Adelphi, but what new building is?  In my opinion 54 Phila is a nice looking building that any other upstate city would be grateful for in its downtown area.  Anyway, I took some pictures last week of The Lofts at 54 Phila to update you as to how it's coming along. 

 
Above: the Lofts at 54 Phila as seen from Spring Street.  Note the new addition on the Bread Basket Bakery in the foreground.  That is a walk-in freezer below that new patio.  Below: The rear of the building as seen from Spring and Henry Streets.

 

  
Above:  The front and side of the building, as seen from Phila and Henry Streets.  Below:  As seen from the outdoor upper patio of The Irish Times. 

 

Wow! NYRA announces that the Saratoga Race Course season will be extended by 4 more days.

I have mixed feelings about this one.  Regardless of how I feel about the actual decision, the method in which the decision was made, namely without any input by stakeholders and apparently only internal decisionmaking by NYRA, just feels wrong.  The skinny:  NYRA has announced that starting in 2010 the racing season will be extended by 4 more days, for a total of 40 days and 7 weekends, and it will start on the Friday before what used to be the traditional Wednesday start. For 2010 that will be Friday July 23rd.  It just feels sudden and not well thought out. 

The Times Union Talking Horses Blog has the full release as well as comments written by a number of people, including yours truly. 

Spa City Cupcakes to close doors October 11th

First Liberty Bell Cheesesteaks breaks my heart, now this.  Spa City Cupcakes has announced on its web site and Facebook page that the business would be closing for good on October 11th.  I guess this shouldn't be a big surprise - track season is over, the economy is bad, and Spa City Cupcakes has an awfully narrowly focused product line with nearby competition from Mrs. London's, Putnam Street Market, and Uncommon Grounds, just to name a few. I commented a last month that Spa City Cupcakes had a good product, "but not necessarily enough to make me go out of my way to spend somewhere around $2.50 to get one".  Unfortunately, others apparently agreed and I noticed when I was in there a few weeks ago that things looked awfully quiet. 

I give the owners credit for lasting more than a year in that out-of-the-way downstairs location in the Downstreet Marketplace on Broadway.  For the record, the web site gives the official reason for closing as follows: "We enjoyed our time easing the cupcake cravings of Saratogians, but we are moving on to focus our attention on our own little cupcake, our almost 1-year-old son Atticus." The web site also is reporting that another similar type business will soon be filling the same place.  "If you are in need of a cupcake fix, have no fear! A new cupcake lady will be taking our spot. Bettie's Cakes, A Cupcakery Cafe, will be opening at our location on November 6. For information on this great new offering visit Bettie's Cakes at www.bettiescakes.com or:

Email: [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter: @bettiescakes
Become a fan on Facebook: Bettie's Cakes - A Cupcakery Cafe"

Ahhh, the entrepeneurial spirit in the Spa City is so vibrant no matter what the odds.  I wish Bettie luck in her new venture.