Yesterday I wrote about our adventure at Saratoga Race Course. Since horse racing is the sport of kings, it should come as no surprise that lodgings in Saratoga during racing season cost a king's ransom. We saved a bunch of money by staying in Lake George, 30 minutes north of Saratoga. Lake George is like most family resort towns - souvenir shops, miniature golf, and soft serve stands. One might call it call it mini Gatlinburg.
The next leg of our trip was Niagara Falls. Again, we found the hotel prices high at our destination. The TripAdvisor reviews were only average, even for what appeared to be the nicer properties. Our solution was to stay in Buffalo, New York, sixteen miles south of the falls. We couldn't have been happier with that decision. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Buffalo. The hotel was clean, the staff was friendly, and the parking was free.
Besides saving some coin, we got to see Buffalo, and Buffalo is cool. It was a miserable place in 1990, but by 2010 Forbes rated it the 10th best place to raise a family in the United States. Downtown is a nice looking blend of beautiful old buildings and sleek modern designs. Every place we saw (and we drove around during an afternoon) was clean, really clean. The weather was perfect. Buffalo has sunny, dry summers with just enough rain to keep the grass green. The breezes off Lake Erie keep summer temperatures just right.
You can't leave Buffalo without going to the Anchor Bar for some Buffalo wings.
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| Frank and Teressa Bellissimo established the Anchor Bar in 1935. It is located at 1047 Main Street. Teressa created the famous wing recipe in 1964. Today, the bar is owned by Edith Bellissimo, Teressa's daughter-in-law, and Ivano Toscani. |
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| "Teressa" presents a plate of wings to customers. There are some seafaring references, but by and large the decor consists of motorcycles, license plates from everywhere, framed newspaper clippings about the bar, and photographs of various politicians and celebrities who have visited the establishment. |
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| Mike chowing down on his order of wings. I opted for the Buffalo style chicken breast sandwich. |
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| You can't leave without a shirt. |
I used to go to Buffalo every August I had an uncle there also one in Tonawanda. I remember we would go to the falls in the evening. I also spent my Honeymoon on the Canadian side of the falls. If you ever get the chance you need to see the falls in the winter when they are frozen. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. We can put that on the vacation list.
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