Seeing the sites of Albany as if I was a tourist

Whenever friends come to visit, the highlights of Albany include the following favorites of mine: (see associated entries for more info)
Visiting the capitol building especially the famous million dollar staircase. Take a guided tour of the building or walk around yourself (though this may be hindered greatly since security is tighter).
See a sporting event and there are lots to choose from at college or semi-pro level.
See a play at the Capital Rep see web site http://www.capitalrep.org/ for their schedule of events.
Visit a museum such as the State Museum or the Institute of History and Arts. I have visited both many times (whenever I have guests) and even though the displays change, I always enjoy the museums since in addition to repeating "galleries", certain exhibits are added. (right now there is a special Beatles display at the Institute)
Take a walking tour of Albany to view the architecture of the various buildings such as the Egg, D & H station, Education building, and many churches.
Include time for dinner at a minimum of one fine dining establishment such as Jacks.
If possible, see a concert at the Pepsi Arena formerely known as the Knick Arena.
Finally, see season specific events such as Holiday Lights in Washington Park.

Quick Tips:

If you are a resident of Albany, I suggest that you plan a "vacation" in Albany. You can pretend you want to see all of the sights in case you move out of the area (my best sightseeing of Albany was in the 70’s when I moved away and didn’t think I would be returning) or prepare what you would show a guest visiting you.

Pick up the Thursday edition of the Times Union which lists the local happenings. You can access the paper on-line also.

Best Way To Get Around:

Yes there is public transportation that with more than twenty different routes, you can get where you want to go. However, I would always favor a car.

Jacks is one of my favorite downtown Albany restaurants for dinner. And since I have so many conflicts with competing interests in the evening, I have started to go to Jack’s for lunches -- about once a month.

The best place to sit in Jack’s is in one of the booths around the left side of the room. But you will need reservations in order to get one of those booths. Otherwise, you will probably be assigned to one of the other partial booths or a table in the middle. I personally do not like to sit in the table area since it is too noisy and the tables are way too crowded.

The food at Jack’s is very good. For lunch, I have two favorites. The one is lobster cakes, which consists of two good-sized cakes, rice, and "corn". I think you may also get a salad. And of course rolls are included. The cakes are not as good as lobster tail but then again the price of the cakes is considerably less. I like the lobster cakes so much that I order that selection just about every time (once a month). If I don’t order the lobster cakes, I order the salmon dish.

Once they know you at Jack’s, Brad will make a point of saying hi to you. However, all of the staff is friendly whether it is your first visit or if you are a regular. Jack’s is also special for me since that is the restaurant we picked to celebrate our wedding engagement --- almost 34 years ago. I know for a fact, the staff is willing to go the extra mile to honor special requests. Once I asked for diet soda to be put in a champagne glass so I could surprise my husband with a toast at our lunch celebrating our 30th year! The staff went to a nearby store and bought diet ginger ale since the only diet soda they had on hand was a cola, which wouldn’t look like champagne!

I would highly recommend Jack’s. Jack’s also participates in several discount programs (Aadvantage dining, Entertainment, and the Clipper magazine).

Lunch for two (including one beer, tax and tip but no desert) is about $25.

My all-time favorite restaurant for lunch is Savannahs. About two years ago I went to Savannahs for the first time and I have continued to go there at least once a month. At this point, I even have a table that I joke is "my table" and I get a little perturbed if I get there late and someone else has it. (Of course that table may be "their" table also).

The restaurant is fairly small so I suggest you get there before the 12:30 rush to ensure getting a table. The menu is not that extensive and yet I always have trouble deciding what to get since I have so many favorites. And my top favorite has changed in the two years. I used to order the lasagna just about each time. Then I tried the shrimp stir-fry. Now I seem to favor the chili burrito. The bottom line is that just about anything I have selected has been good.

Service is excellent at Savannahs, which is definitely a consideration when you have to get back to work. I haven’t tried the restaurant in the evening but I hear that the restaurant draws a good crowd in the evenings also (and there is music entertainment in the evening).

Lunch for two (including one beer, tax and tip but no desert) is about $25.

One of my friends from New Jersey vividly remembers when I tried to show her the famous million-dollar staircase. Even though I had lived in Albany for years, I didn’t know where it was located in the building and we couldn’t find it. The building has lots of corridors and several times we would stop and ask for "directions" to the staircase. Of course we were looking for lavishness and not a relatively dark staircase (with intricate carvings that we couldn’t really see). Finally we found out that we had found the staircase (many times over) and that it was called the million-dollar staircase because of all of the money spent. Just recently the staircase was back in the news. In the recent renovation of the capitol building, a skylight was opened up and now the staircase is more beautiful.

Take a guided tour of the building or walk around yourself (though this may be hindered greatly since security is tighter). My girlfriend (who I see once a year) and I laugh when we discuss our efforts to find the staircase. And I still remember one piece of trivia from a tour decades ago: all about the dome (or should I say lack of a dome)! And now with the age of the internet, you can take a visual tour of the capitol: http://assembly.state.ny.us/Tour/

The capitol has many interesting features such as beautiful architecture on the outside, the extremely high ceilings, the details on the walls and ceilings (including the carvings along the staircase), the flag room, the assembly room (where I sat in and received a first-hand education of the workings of the delegates) and more. And of course, in warm weather months, the protests on the lawn of the capitol are a sight to be seen. The lawn also is the site of the annual Christmas tree.

Albany may not have Broadway shows, but you can see plays at the Capital Rep and the actors are always very good quality. See http://www.capitalrep.org/ for their current schedule of events.

In the past, I especially have enjoyed the comedies such as various Neil Simon plays that have been held and the King over the Moon. I have seen some of the serious plays but I do not like them as well as the comedies (though the acting is excellent). In the past year we saw three of the plays. The best was Triple Expresso (best this year and maybe the best of all years) which was absolutely a riot. In fact the show was so well liked that the engagement was extended once and then brought back for another engagement (but it was held at a nearby location since the Capital Rep space was being used)!

You can buy tickets in a multiple of ways. You can purchase individual tickets (buy as you want to see a play) or buy a six-pack of tickets. The six-pack can be used for six performances for one person or six seats for one performance or any combination of six. Or you can subscribe where you get a set seat for each different performance. There are two main prices. The seats in the center are more expensive then the sides but even the sides have great views of the play. One final note: there are discounts for the first several performances of each engagement.

One recommendation concerning parking: Plan on parking on the street close to the theater and then walking to a nearby restaurant for dinner before the show! Then after dinner, you walk back (and burn off a few calories).