Remember when...
Revisiting Albany was somewhat surreal. Everything looked the same, but it seemed as if I was riding/walking through a museum. None of it seemed as if I used to walk, eat, sleep and party there. First off, I was a bit confused as to how to get to Central/Wolf from Washington Ave. Then I got on Central and saw all these old but familiar places. Didn't seem too long ago, yet it was over 2.5 years ago. Mike and I researched an inexpensive, but clean place to stay and it was located on Central, past Wolf. On our way to the hotel, I mentioned that we should try Butcher Block while we're up here and ironically, the hotel ended up being right behind it. Funny, since in our years at Albany we never went to Butcher Block, nor did we know exactly where it was located. So it was meant to be. We checked in, relaxed for a bit and then went to Target to get some travel size toiletries. Target + their selection of travel size toiletries = awesome time. I was in miniature stuff heaven. Mike had to literally pull me away. Somehow we spent an obscene amount on that stuff, but I justified it. On our way back to the hotel we made a beer run, and of course reminisced about the times when the girls went on beer runs and how everyone took advantage of Sandy's hookup.
Later that nite we walked over to Butcher Block and had a wonderful meal, well worth the trip. We were pleasantly surprised about their salad bar and I enjoyed their raisin bread. Mike ordered this steak encrusted with gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts and prosciutto and I ordered the prime rib. Both amazing. Went great with our carafe of red. And I still don't know how this occurred, but we ended up ordering this brownie sundae which came out in this huge goblet. I think I may have grown an extra stomach that night cuz I honestly don't know how I was able to eat any of it...but I did. It's all the other customers' faults cuz if we hadn't seen their desserts, we wouldn't have ordered one. We actually had a separate check for it cuz we changed our mind after getting our initial check.
Initially we were going to go to Bogies and T's just for old times sake, but we ended up laying on our bed and digesting. We were like two old timers, it was sad. The next morning we checked out and had to drive around albany in the nasty albany-like weather. Driving downtown and seeing the Branch was weird. It looks smaller. dunno why. We ended up at Bombers for lunch. Holy crap, it's changed, menu-wise. They have this whole wings section with all sorts of different flavors and they also have a 2nd floor bar specializing in unique beers on tap and tequila. We ordered our respective tacos and split tequila wings. They were marinated in all sorts of diff spices and lots of garlic and they were so delish. It was more than enough food.
After lunch we headed over to the campus. Looked around for UPD, found them on Dutch. Everything looked the same. It was different though. Saw Mike's old windows. Oh, memories. Got to the campus center. Again, it looked like a museum. Burger king is still there, but the cafeteria section has couches and sitting areas added to it, and it's all WiFi. Ritazza is still there, but they have Au Bon Pain, Sbarros, a kick ass giant Zepps, some healthy food place and CeeCees has a diff name and looks all chic in there. This pissed me off. They're getting all good now that I'm not there. Stupids. After that we headed over to Crossgates for some holiday shopping. Funny how I remembered it, yet forgot where the stores were. Very bizarre shopping experience.
A nostalgic trek up to Albany...I miss it now.
Later that nite we walked over to Butcher Block and had a wonderful meal, well worth the trip. We were pleasantly surprised about their salad bar and I enjoyed their raisin bread. Mike ordered this steak encrusted with gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts and prosciutto and I ordered the prime rib. Both amazing. Went great with our carafe of red. And I still don't know how this occurred, but we ended up ordering this brownie sundae which came out in this huge goblet. I think I may have grown an extra stomach that night cuz I honestly don't know how I was able to eat any of it...but I did. It's all the other customers' faults cuz if we hadn't seen their desserts, we wouldn't have ordered one. We actually had a separate check for it cuz we changed our mind after getting our initial check.
Initially we were going to go to Bogies and T's just for old times sake, but we ended up laying on our bed and digesting. We were like two old timers, it was sad. The next morning we checked out and had to drive around albany in the nasty albany-like weather. Driving downtown and seeing the Branch was weird. It looks smaller. dunno why. We ended up at Bombers for lunch. Holy crap, it's changed, menu-wise. They have this whole wings section with all sorts of different flavors and they also have a 2nd floor bar specializing in unique beers on tap and tequila. We ordered our respective tacos and split tequila wings. They were marinated in all sorts of diff spices and lots of garlic and they were so delish. It was more than enough food.
After lunch we headed over to the campus. Looked around for UPD, found them on Dutch. Everything looked the same. It was different though. Saw Mike's old windows. Oh, memories. Got to the campus center. Again, it looked like a museum. Burger king is still there, but the cafeteria section has couches and sitting areas added to it, and it's all WiFi. Ritazza is still there, but they have Au Bon Pain, Sbarros, a kick ass giant Zepps, some healthy food place and CeeCees has a diff name and looks all chic in there. This pissed me off. They're getting all good now that I'm not there. Stupids. After that we headed over to Crossgates for some holiday shopping. Funny how I remembered it, yet forgot where the stores were. Very bizarre shopping experience.
A nostalgic trek up to Albany...I miss it now.