There was a lot of news coverage in December (here, here, here, and here)about Brittany Nasser and her attempts to keep Last Vestige Music Store open on Broadway. As far as I know, there has been no follow up in any of the press on what's happening there. Ace blogger Danny D was on the case yesterday (read: I was meandering down Broadway and somehow noticed that the sign changed) and found out that Ms. Nasser is apparently doing OK and the place is now called Divinyl Revolution.
Brittany told me that things were going well but she can't accept credit cards just yet. I wanted to buy something just to support her efforts but I didn't have much cash on me. I intend to get back there in a day or two to hopefully find and purchase a rockabilly offering - perhaps something from the recently departed Dale Hawkins, who wrote and recorded "Susie Q" more than a decade before CCR covered it. Stop in, or at least check out Divinyl Revolution's Facebook Page and become a fan.
I have been searching since late Saturday to find out which restaurants were the Chowderfest winners. The Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau held a press conference at 9:00am today to announce the Chowderfest winners. Leigh Hornbeck of the T-U's Saratoga Seen blog has the winners' list here.
My fiance and I, along with some friends, attended the fundraiser for Haiti at Panza's Restaurant last night. Chefs from Panza's, Maestro's, Salty's, The Wishing Well, and Longfellows teamed up to provide a creative and certainly fantastic four-course meal obviously benefiting a great cause. The organizers, from the Love a Child Organization, ran a great event with nice entertainment and the board members from that organization who were in attendance displayed incredible passion and dedication to the victims of that devastating earthquake. The best news came near the end of the night when the organizers announced that more than $7,000 was raised from the dinner and that every last dime of it would be used for earthquake relief in Haiti. Congratulations to the Love a Child organizations and the owners and staffs of all of the participating restaurants who donated their time, space, talent, and food to a great event that I felt honored to be part of.
From the "I'm not sure if you really care but I'm going to tell you about it anyway" Department, I have a bit of trivia for you. Tom Petty (along with his band "The Heartbreakers) has recently released a new multiple disc set called "The Live Anthology" which has a large collection of live performances taken from his decades of touring. On the fourth disc, the song "Have Love Will Travel" was from his July 5th, 2002 concert at SPAC. I was at his 2006 SPAC show, which was great, but not his 2002 show. There, now you can sleep tonight.
Here's a coincidence, as I was writing this while listening to the Skidmore radio station WSPN 91.1(which BTW has a great eclectic mix of music), a Traveling Wilburys song came on. As you may recall, The Traveling Wilburys was a late 1980s band that included Tom Petty, as well as other great musicians such as Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Jeff Lynn, and Bob Dylan. They had some great music but sadly Roy Orbison passed away in December of 1988 just shortly after the release of their first album.
Well, there's my nearly useless bit of trivia for the day. Click here for a review of Tom Petty's "The Live Anthology"
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.
Track season is now officially over and with my less than brilliant betting, I singlehandedly brought NYRA back into profitability. I posted a few very fun Youtube links from the Woodward (I also went back and posted them on a previous entry of mine, so that is why you may have seen these videos twice on here) and I added a few more thoughts:
Here is the Woodward Stakes with Tom Durkin's passionate call:
Sam the Bugler's Call to Post/Billy Joel's "She's Always a Woman"
I appreciate MSG Plus dedicating at least an hour of each day to live Saratoga coverage. It was nice to tape and see when I got home (let's face it the OTB feed without any commentary doesn't quite cut it). I recently wrote about what a great job ESPN did on the Travers coverage, and while I can't expect the smaller MSG Plus to match that top quality production, they can still try to rise to the next level and improve it next year. One specific suggestion: Have the crowd noise overlay Tom Durkin's call when it's on TV - that alone can make the coverage that much more exciting. I'm a big crowd noise fan now that I experienced the crowd's roar for Rachel Alexandra on Saturday.
Going back to Sam the Bugler - Are there two Sam the Buglers? Three? That guy was everywhere this year! I saw him at Gaffney's when he sat in (well stood, actually) with a band (I think it was Big Medicine) for a few songs. He was great - it is good to hear him play something other than the call to post - he's gotta be sick of that by now even though it's made him a living. Then I saw him with the Bud Light girls in another bar, then playing in the parking lot of the Community Court Motel at about 8am (for reasons I don't know), then finally at at wedding at the Union Gables Bed and Breakfast on Labor Day weekend.
It was good to see NYRA do some special promoting for Rachel Alexandra's running in the Woodward. They've improved this year but still have a ways to go. I hope they scrap their current marketing plan and come up with something totally new next year.
My favorite Saratoga restaurants for track season, in no particular order, are: Springwater Inn, Maestro's, Siro's, Gaffney's, and PJ's Barbecue. Springwater because it's right near my home and the food, service, and prices are all excellent, Maestro's because you get a really great meal that wows you, Siro's because it is even better than Maestro's and knocks your socks off, Gaffney's because you get a very good meal with the best atmosphere (Gaffney's backyard with a band) when you sit on the patio, and PJ's because both the food is excellent and the 1950s sights and sounds put you in a fun mood.
Have I complained enough about the wet, gloomy, and low turnout at the Travers? One more time: that really sucked.
It was still a great season. Any season in Saratoga is great and I loved this track season.
OK, just 46 more weeks til track season 2010. Have a great week!
Wow this was a great weekend! The weather, the opening of several seasonal establishments, and the overall excitement with positive energy in the Spa City just put me in a great mood!
My girfriend and I went to Shanghai Grill on South Broadway Friday night. I am commenting on that visit in a separate posting.
We weren't the first customers at PJ's Barbecue on Saturday, but we did make it just a few hours into their 2009 season for a veggie burger some great rib dinners with all the trimmings. I'll start that low cholesterol diet some day. The T-U's Saratoga Seen had a nice entry today on the opening of PJ's.
I also made it up to the Oklahoma Race Track to check out the horses training. Again that just put me in a great mood. It's just over 3 months to track season - can you feel it?
I stopped into the Diamond Dance to see Doc Scanlon play Saturday night. The crowd was surprisingly sparse - usually these guys pack 'em in but not this night.
I got there late and my friends had already left and called to tell me they were drinking beer at the Harness Track. Doc Scanlon took a distant second to friends inviting me for beer so...out Nelson Avenue I went.
Finally on Sunday I went to Universal Preservation Hall for the a capppella concert/fundraiser which was well attended and really great. Congratulations to UPH for a successful and fun event!
Well it was not my intention to disappear off of here for 12 days, but I guess life happens. I can think of no better way to restart the blog posts than to talk about the fundraiser I attended along with my girlfriend and about 175 other people last night at Universal Preservation Hall.
The event, as previously reported on here, was called "Rust Rocks the Hall", and included the Rust Brothers Band, a fun and talented group that kept the crowd dancing the whole night. It was really a great party and I enjoyed meeting many of the guests and of course being a small part of the fundraising that will be used to continue repairs and renovations to that beautiful and historic building on Washington Street. It was a fun and successful night for a great cause!
Next up on the UPH schedule is an a cappela concert on April 19th. The Hall's web site has this information about the concert:
This event will feature performances by many local a cappella groups, such as the Bandersnatchers, Drastic Measures, Sonneteers and Accents. The groups will be performing at the first of a series of concerts being held at Universal Preservation Hall. A 50/50 raffle will be held with some excellent prizes! $10 tickets are available at the door (children 10 and under FREE) and all contributions will go towards the restoration and operation of UPH. Contact Mary Beth McGarrahan at the UPH office for reservations.
The Hall will also hold a raffle at Siro's on Kentucky Derby Day, which is May 2nd. I hope to be able to attend both events and continue to be a part of the Hall's future.
I mentioned in a previous post that I waited too long to make Valentines Day dinner reservations. I think the suffering economy made me think it wouldn't be such a big deal, but what was I thinking? I guess Valentines Day on a Saturday night made reservations fill up fast. Last year I was able to get reservations at Beekman Street Bistro maybe just a day before - and that's my favorite Saratoga restaurant.
On Thursday I called Springwater Bistro, Limoncella, Longfellows, Beekman Street Bistro, and I'm sure two or three others. They all were either booked or only had very early (5:00pm) or very late seatings (9:30pm). Chianti, Forno Bistro, and the Old Bryan Inn advised they don't accept reservations and seated people on a first come basis. I was starting to get worried as I called each place so when Tiznow told me they had 8:30 seating available I jumped at it.
Tiznow didn't come close to cracking my top 5 choices, or top 10 for that matter. It seems like the place has no buzz about it - no ardent fans like many other Saratoga restaurants have, which told me that it was at best average. With that being said, beggars aren't choosers and I have never been there for dinner so I'm always happy to try new places.
The wine list at Tiznow is modest and for that matter so is the menu, which also is not too adventurous, but my girlfriend's eyes lit up when the waiter mentioned the short rib special and I decided to go with the shrimp and prosciutto entree. We shared the calamari appetizer, lightly breaded with an excellent Caribbean lime dipping sauce. The calamari itself was cooked perfectly and the sauce was different - that was the best calamari I have had in years. The short ribs and the mushroom risotto was excellent, my shrimp dish with jazzmine rice was good but didn't blow me away. The service was pretty good considering how busy they were - those people were running. I would say that Tiznow surpassed my expectations and I would go there again - at least for the calamari!
My girlfriend had come in town from her downstate job on Saturday, so I knew with all that traveling (she had to go back on Sunday) we would likely miss all of the Dance Flurry. That was a shame because I had a full house of friends staying with me that were attending it.
I was pleasantly surprised to see we had the time (and energy) to hit at least a small part of it - and a good part of it. We walked in just in time to go to the Zydeco Dance Party in one of the Hilton ballrooms. They had a great band - C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band, and they played a long and energetic set. The nice thing about Zydeco is that you can dance virtually any style to it - at least that's the conclusion I came to. While we only made that one event, I was glad we made that much considering our time limitations. I posted a video from one of C.J. Chenier's prior gigs below. The camera work and sound are less than ideal, but the video gives you at least an idea of how upbeat, fun, and uniquely American Zydeco music can be. All in all it was a great weekend in Saratoga Springs and certainly unlike one you can have anywhere else.
Well, the Saratoga Season starts tomorrow and that of course is great. It came so fast - I can't believe summer is really half over. Hope to see everyone this weekend.
I ran a 5K along a trail at the Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park's Camp Saratoga last Monday. It was easily the most rugged 5K I ever ran - but it was also the best. It was really challenging with all the roots, mud, and most significantly the steep hills. I enjoyed it and they had a little party afterwards, of which I posted a picture of below.
This is a great run, and if you're a local runner then I encourage you to go to one of the upcoming races (July 28, August 4, and August 18th). Don't worry if you're not in top shape - there were people with times well into the 40 minute plus range, so the words "fun run" definitely applied. You can find more information about them here.
The next night I went with a few friend to PJ's Barbecue on Route 9 off of exit 13. The barbecue is always great there, but Tuesdays are extra special there because Tuesday's are "Classic Car Bar-B-Cruis-in" dates, where, on a clear evening, the lot is loaded with classic cars from the 30's right up to the early 70's. I say a "clear" evening because at the first sign of a cloud these guys, who I'm convinced love their cars more than their kids, are hightailing it for the garage and the lot is empty. Check out some of these great machines from a bygone era below:
Like I said, PJ's is always fun and the owner, AKA "PJ the DJ", spends his night spinning great 50s tunes from his DJ booth (pictured below) and his days cooking up great barbecue. If you are free any night of the week, but especially on Tuesday evenings, stop at PJ's for some great food or at least a loganberry. Also, if you do make it on a Tuesday evening, don't forget to check out the 50s house.
Save the Victoria Pool Society Save The Victoria Pool Society was formed in June 2003 to restore, maintain and preserve the Historic Victoria Pool at Saratoga Spa State Park.
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