A great (& inexpensive) week in the Capital Region

The highlight of this mini vacation was celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary by visiting sites we used to visit when we were just married. When we visited Thatcher Park, someone else was celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary. They left a candle and a note as a gift for someone to take home. We took the candle home and plan to pass it on next year.

What can you do in the Albany area? First is sporting events either as a participant or as a spectator. I golf each week at Albany’s municipal golf course (called the New Course at Albany) and at a nearby public golf course (VanPatten). But my group always has a few road trips to other courses in the area such as Orchard Creek, Sagamore, and Colonie. I also play tennis and there are four major tennis clubs in the area and I play at them all.

The primary sporting arena for spectators is the Pepsi Arena, which was in the news recently for holding the Northeast Regional Finals for NCAA basketball (where Syracuse won and advanced to the Final Four and WON as most basketball players are well aware of). But in that same month (called March Madness) the Pepsi Arena also held MAAC tournaments, Sienna Games, wrestling matches, and hockey finals. The arena is home to three semi-professional teams: River Rats (hockey), Conquest (arena football), and Attack (Lacrosse). In addition, the Pepsi is home to many of Siena’s games. Click here for lots of more information about the teams.

Restaurants in the area may not be the five-star eateries available in other areas, but there are lots of favorites. There is a range from the inexpensive bar-pub places such as Across the Street Pub, or pizza places such as the Fountain, or great fish place such as Bob and Ron’s, or established places such as Jack’s. I am always on the lookout for new places to eat out.

Then there are the arts and entertainment aspect. If you view Albany’s special events site, you will see many local events (mostly free or if not free very inexpensive) including the Tulip Festival, the Alive at 5, the First Night, and others. There is also several theater productions such as Capital Rep. We always try to see several plays a year at Capital Rep. The actors are very professional and we always enjoy ourselves. And of course the Pepsi Arena has many concerts year-round. Many such as Elton John and Billy Joel, are sold out very quickly. I think the tickets to Bruce Springsteen were sold out in 45 minutes! The problem is not there is not enough to choose from but selecting what to see and what to omit.
Click here for information about special events.
Click here for lots of more information about the Pepsi Arena.

In addition there is lots of historical and museum type of places in Albany. The NY State museum is fantastic as well as Albany Institute of History and Arts.

One final note about the area: there are several recreational parks such as Washington Park, Lincoln Park, and our favorite,Thatcher Park. The parks are great for families!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

There is public transportation, but I have found it is not adequate for most events.

The Fountains is a great neighborhood bar and restaurant. It has great pizza, fantastic waitresses, and friendly atmosphere. Of interest is that it is a Cheers atmosphere and has always been even before Cheers became famous. Also a Cheers bar had opened two doors away and is now closed while the Fountains still lives on!

Instead of having the pizza, my usual, I ordered the lasagna this time. It was delicious and plenty to bring some home for another meal. I also ordered one of their specials for the evening: steamers.

I have been going to the Fountains for decades. In fact the one waitress usually remembers us. Originally the restaurant was located ½ block away and we were all surprised when we saw that the new location is identically set up as the last location. Imagine one long rectangle split down the middle. On one side is the long bar area crowded with patrons and on the other side is the dining area which is a series of two tables across with aisle in middle. Of course the tables, which normally seat four, get moved around to accommodate the bigger dining parties! There is also an area in the front for entertainment on some evenings. If there is no entertainment scheduled, a large table is brought in for more dining. There are also some video games in back.

There is really no "good" time to get there since it is always crowded. But luckily the waitresses are excellent and really hustle to serve you as fast as possible. The turnover is pretty quick so usually you don’t have to wait too long.

The cost for two was $32.

My wife and I frequently eat at the Across the Street Pub. I am not sure of how the restaurant was named, but it could be that it is nearby the SUNY college campus. Years ago, when my wife and I went to SUNY and New York had a lower drinking age, we were "regulars" there. We specifically picked out this place for dinner for this weekend. We were celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary and wanted to reminisce about all the good times we had, even if we didn’t have much money when we got married.

There are many plusses about this restaurant. One is that it has quite a few TVs, which was essential since we wanted to watch the Kentucky Derby. (We got married on Derby Day). Surprisingly the place was not crowded so we had our pick of location for watching the race! In fact the large seating area makes this place a popular spot for baseball teams. Years ago there were tables only in the room beyond the bar area. Many times we played "quarters" until the owners were upset that the shellac finish on the tables were being ruined and they put a stop to that popular drinking game! Now the place has been upgraded to include booths in half of the room! There are additional booths along one side of the large U-shape bar. The bar is always popular and the bartenders are very talkative.

As far as food, you can’t go wrong. My favorites are wings, hot meatball parmagana sub sandwich, and one of many types of burgers. The food is always good, priced reasonable, and served promptly by friendly waitresses.

One caution: Parking may be tricky. Do NOT park on the street unless you want to find your car towed. If you don’t find a spot in the bar's parking lot, there is additional parking available at a nearby parking lot.

Cost for two was $27.

When we got married we didn’t have much money so we found activities that were free. Thatcher Park, a State operated public park, became our primary destination! This year we revisited the park to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary.

First stop is the overlook area where you can park free for an hour. Using the telescopes or just your eyes, you get to see the beautiful scenery. From this overlook you see the famous Helderbergs. We also always pick out the college campus (where we met 35 years ago) and Empire Plaza (since we both work for the State). In addition, there are other landmarks we pick out that we know such as the water tower. We always wonder about the huge industrial park but don’t know much about it. Finally there are some beautiful residences in the valley!

Then we began the ½ mile Indian Ladder Trail. We have taken the trail many times and it has changed greatly since our first trip over 30 years ago. There is more erosion so the trail is narrower. Many "cave" areas are now blocked for exploring and the areas we used to climb up the walls are not reachable. Also there are many more man-made steps and fences to assist you. In addition, there are also many more signs giving you more history of the trail spots, including the historical marker indicating the Tory Cave. But the bottom line is that the hike is still great. In fact the one waterfall reminded me that while Hawaii has spectacular waterfalls, we have a waterfall nearby and our waterfall costs nothing to see!

When we finished hiking the trail, you climb the manmade stairs and take the "high" path back to the overlook parking area. While taking the "high" trail back, you stop and again look at the mountains and valley.

There is one special item of interest for this trip. We were reminiscing about all of the times we went to Thatcher Park in our 33 years. At the end of the trail, someone left a candle for someone to take. The message left was "We left this for you to have a special moment together like we do after 14 years of marriage. Always remember each other." We took the candle and message and plan to keep for a year before we pass it on (with an amended message).

The park has many picnic areas (there is a charge to park in those lots) and the swimming pool area opens later in the season. Since the park had just opened two days prior (on May 1st), the park was not crowded at all.

Click here for some general info.
Click here for another peron’s photos from 2000.

Many residents of Albany may not appreciate all of the Special Events that the City of Albany is responsible for. But most are familiar with the Tulip festival. According to the City’s web site, this event is described as "One of Albany's oldest and most highly anticipated events . . . set in Albany's beautiful historic Washington Park." I am not sure that I agree with the anticipation part but I certainly do agree with the verbiage for Washington Park. Washington Park is a great asset for a city. It is large and has jogging areas, a beautiful Lakehouse, a stage outside with built-in steps for amphitheater seating.

For some, the highlight of the weeklong event was the crowning of the Tulip Queen at noon BUT for many, the highlight was the free concerts especially Blood Sweat and Tears with David Clayton-Thomas. There were three stages of entertainment. One stage was the permanent stage used for the Parkhouse plays in the summer. An advantage of this stage is that there are built-in seats in the amphitheater setting. However that area was not big enough for the main event. So a temporary stage was set up where thousands of people could sit on the grass or blankets or folding chairs to watch the concert. There were food vendors and booths for beverages but many brought coolers and camped out waiting for the concert to begin. Since we brought those carrying folding chairs, we were able to arrive later in the afternoon and still find a nice area to watch the concert. The concert officially started around 4:30 and they played for 1-½ hours!

In addition to the concerts, there were other entertainment such as clowns and face painting. In addition there were many booths set up to sell crafts, jewelry, etc. There was also plenty of family picnics. And on Saturday, the weather was great so some people were out throwing Frisbees. The festival begins Friday at noon with the traditional scrubbing of State St honoring Albany’s Dutch heritage.

One caution: Parking is a problem if you get there late Saturday afternoon. We parked about 1 mile away but on the positive side, we got some exercise walking to the Park.

Click here for Albany’s Special Events web site details the schedule, artists, entertainment, etc 55th year! . You can see the photo gallery from 2002; probably 2003 will be available soon.