Walking in Nemo

 The day after Nemo sort of hit our little city, I went on a walk with my friend Amanda to the park near our house to take a look at the snow. There were fewer photo opportunities than I had hoped for, but it was quite the workout climbing the hills of Prospect Park. 

 Except for a family with a few kids sledding down the hill near the entrance, the park was empty. We walked through the snow to the two overlooks in Prospect Park.

 The first overlook faces south. You can see the Albany skyline from here as well as South Troy. I didn't get a good picture of the skyline, but this photo above makes South Troy look like a quaint little town.

 The other overlook faces west and has views of Downtown Troy, and across the Hudson river. The bridge in the left side of the photo is the Congress Street Bridge that connects Downtown Troy to Watervliet. 

 We looped back around to the abandoned pool and tennis court area of the park and came across these unshoveled, unscaled stairs.

Walking through the park made me realize that I don't visit it enough and need to make more of an effort to take advantage of this place more often. It really is a hidden gem of our little city.

Our New Years Eve

We had a low key New Years Eve this year, just went downtown to the Charles Lucas Confectionery and grabbed a couple of drinks with two of our friends.

A couple glasses of prosecco hit the spot. And was a great way to end the year and start on my goal for 2013: No alcohol until at least Mike's birthday at the end of February. 

Charles Lucas Confectionery grand opening

 Friday night a much-anticipated new bar opened in our little city. We wanted to go check it out, and it looks like everyone else in town had the same idea. It was packed!

 The interior is very steampunkish - industrial era. My favorite touch was the subway tiles behind the bar spelling the name of our city.

For better (read: non-iphone) pictures, and a short history of the place, you should really read this article from All Over Albany. I'm so excited to finally have a classy place to go for drinks in Troy!

Uncle Sam's Grave

 Last weekend we went to Oakwood Cemetery in Troy NY to do research for Halloween part props, and found many super old gravestones.

 Did I mention that the Oakwood Cemetery is the resting place of the man that the character Uncle Sam was based on?

 Samuel Wilson, the inspiration for Uncle Sam was a meat packer from Troy NY.

 Oakwood Cemetery also has an incredible view...

...and an amazing groundskeeper's office. I wish I could live in this building, it's so beautiful. On the other side of this building you can see the same view as above, a great spot to watch sunsets.

Sometimes

Sometimes you just need to accept the fact that you bought a house on a ridiculous hill, sit back, and enjoy the amazing sunsets you can see from the middle of your street.

Scenes from the last Troy Flea of 2012

 My favorite building in Troy: The Rice Building

So long, Troy Flea! It was a pleasure hanging out with you almost every Saturday morning this summer!

Celebrating the First Day of Spring...

...with a post-work evening walk around the neighborhood.

life goes on

M and I were walking around Troy NY recently and came across this tag, which is so appropriate to us at this point in our lives.

It's my new motto. Whatever it is, it is only temporary. Good things will happen when things seem the most bleak.

LIFE GOES ON!! Exist

breakfast at manory's

m and i recently ventured to historic downtown troy to get some brunch at a local landmark: manory's. manory's has been around for almost 100 years, and when you step inside you feel like you are entering a classic diner.

i ordered the vegetable lover's breakfast burrito. it was delicious, full of eggs, vegetables, and cheese. i also ordered a grilled cinnamon roll (that i devoured before remembering to photograph...) but the cinnamon roll tasted more like a blueberry muffin and was served cold.

m's breakfast experience wasn't as super as mine. it started when his glass of water tasted like lemon, and the waitress had no idea why. that made him uneasy. he ordered his staple of 2 eggs overeasy with homefries, bacon, and pancakes. but manory's offers some pretty unique pancake choices, so m decided to try the reece's pieces pancakes. he thought the eggs and homefries were too bland, and complained that the bacon was oddly paper thin and flavorless. He said the bacon had the "melt in your mouth" consistancy of cotton candy when eaten. He also wasn't a fan of the pancakes because he thought the syrup the provided on the side was too watery and lacked flavor. The Reese's Pieces in the pancakes definitely gave them a more dry taste, so extra syrup would have been nice. I thought they were pretty damn tasty despite being on the dry side. 

so we were torn on our opinion of manory's. i thought it was pretty decent, m is looking forward to this experiment being over so that we can just get back to going to our regular diner.

lunch break walk about

 

i took a walk on my lunch break and came across this window display at the troy bike rescue.

 

the one building in troy that i absolutely ADORE.

where i spend my days