Tuesday - Back from Buffalo

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I've been busy but I'm catching up. I've got plenty of photos to post but I'll only do a few at a time.

I took a short roadtrip to Buffalo NY with Hudson, one of my adult children. We left from Chappaqua on Thursday morning and got back Sunday evening.

My car is a 2004 Saab 9-3 Turbo. Despite its age, it has only 100 thousand miles driven, so it’s young for its years. The only real issue is with the audio system and that is a story I don’t want to get into now.

Of course, I took a lot of photos, of course I chatted with people, and we drove around quite a bit, just looking. Buffalo has changed and is changing, possibly for the the better. The last time I was there the East Side, especially the ghetto, looked terrible. There were abandoned homes, wrecked cars, trash filled lawns and such everywhere. Since then, the abandoned homes have been razed, the wrecks towed and where there were ruined houses there are now mowed lawns.

Some of the empty and desolate industrial lots where the ruins of factories and warehouses could be seen behind razor wire topped cyclone fences across a field of high weeds, have been removed. Now there is an empty field or new construction – not necessarily attractive but less of an eyesore than before. The former air of despair and abandonment is no more.

Hudson noted that the city seemed more provincial than the Brooklyn, where they live - actually they said less cosmopolitan - but I pointed out that Brooklyn has nearly 10 times as many people, and that for a smallish city, Buffalo does okay.

One thing Buffalo has is interesting local foods. Buffalo chicken wings are nationally known. Less known are the roast beef on kummelweck sandwiches, and Texas red hots. On Saturday afternoon, we drove to Tonawanda to eat at Ted's Red Hots on Sheridan Drive. It's not far from where my late friend, John Farrell lived.

Texas red hots are the Buffalo/Erie County version of hot dogs. They are good enough that former residents visiting from out of town, such as myself and the family pictured, will make a side trip to eat some. The place is popular: witness the line of people getting their orders.

The staff is friendly and so are the customers. After all, how can you be miserable when you are about to eat a terrific locally produced hot dog with fixings?

The woman in the Buffalo State sweatshirt is a teacher of special needs kids in the Buffalo school system. She seems like a very special person herself. Her sister was just a little shy about my taking her photo.

                                        

Permalink: https://kayester.blogspot.com/2021/09/tuesday-back-from-buffalo.html