We once again began our morning driving through the New York countryside to just outside of Albany. This time, Lauren went past Cracker Barrel to the smaller Denny's on the end of the road. They're a basic no-frills diner-style eatery, with local photos and murals on the walls.
Their specialty is their "slams," eggs, meat, and potatoes or pancakes. I considered the Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes, but decided on more fiber with the Heart 9-Grain, along with bacon, a bowl of grapes, strawberries, and bananas, and eggs over easy. Lauren had country-fried steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon. The pancakes were a little dry but tasty and even crunchy, due to the grains. They could have cooked the limp bacon more, but the eggs were done quite well. Lauren said she enjoyed her steak, too.
Once again drove a half-hour to Wolf Road, but went a few blocks down from Crossgates to Colonie Center. Colonie dates to the mid-60's and is the oldest of the malls we visit in Lauren's area, but you'd never know from the way it looks now. Extensive remodeling about a decade ago left it attractive inside and out. The exterior has Art Deco influences, especially around Regal Cinema. The interior has wrought iron railings, big soft chairs, and a huge stone fireplace on the first floor.
They were also insanely busy when we got there. Apparently, there was a cosmetics convention there today. Tables selling makeup of all kinds lined the ground level. There's also the simple fact that the weather was lousy. It was cold, cloudy, and windy. Most kids in the area probably didn't have much else to do (and some grownups might not have, either).
Our first stop was the massive L.L Bean, which is right as you enter near Whole Foods Market. I didn't see anything I wanted here. Considered a yellow t-shirt, but I have lots of those. Lauren bought a nice button-down green and pink plaid shirt.
We peeked around at Go! Calenders and Toys and FYE, but found nothing there. I poked around in Barnes & Noble for a while. Came up with An Old-Fashioned Girl, one of the Louisa May Alcott books I haven't read, and the second book in the Record Shop Mysteries series A Fatal Groove. Lauren bought a pretty green and purple robe for her mother from Boscov's. Their collectibles shop, Heroes Hideout, is closing. We dodged eager boys and toy collectors, but found nothing we wanted.
Pier Arcade is upstairs. It's much smaller than Round 1 or Dave & Buster's, or even the arcade at the Big Event in Cherry Hill. Not only was it a pain to buy the card (turns out the machines were offline, which explains the money only thing at Dave & Buster's yesterday as well), but half the games were off or broken. Those that did work didn't really give you much in the way of tickets. I played that giant Pac Man game, Pac-Mania as part of a Namco collection, skee ball, and a unique gun game that let you shoot real water at cartoon-y on-screen zombies. Barely got 500 points. As Lauren pointed out, it was a big rip-off.
Macy's proved to be far more interesting. Lauren picked up yellow plaid pants for work and two sweater dresses. I found a black cardigan on the clearance rack with a lovely rose print. (There was a version with a purple and magenta flower print, but I liked the larger roses better.) Listed as $34, it came up to ten dollars cheaper.
Nordstrom Rack is on the end of the second floor, across from what used to be the Christmas Tree Shoppes. No luck there, for either of us. I just didn't see anything I liked, and they don't have much in the way of plus sizes. We did much better at Boscov's. She bought blouses and a dress for work. I found a really cute Powerpuff Girls t-shirt in the Junior Plus section on sale. I didn't get anything at Box Lunch, but she picked up Winnie the Pooh shirts for herself and her parents.
The Gift Emporium was a large store near L.L Bean that sold collectibles, statues of animals, clothes from exotic parts of the world, and stuffed animals. I found an adorable Beanie Baby bat named Ophelia to go with my Halloween bat collection. She bought a Beanie Baby Christmas gnome and a lavender dress. Five Below was really busy, but she found fluffy lounging pants, and I picked up a Hello Kitty figure for the daughter of a friend of mine.
By 5 PM, the rain that threatened all morning had finally arrived. It showered a little as Lauren drove further down Wolf Road, but it was nothing like it could have been...or like the heavy thunderstorms Oaklyn is supposed to be getting this weekend. As I twice pointed out, I'd picked the right week to come up here.
Ruth Chris Steakhouse is a brand-new and very modern restaurant on the other end of Wolf Road. It's also very expensive and very, very popular. The hostess at the door said their dining area was booked months in advance! We got a table in their lounge area, near the bar. I had intended to treat Lauren here for her 20th anniversary at the bank where she works, but I was shocked by their prices. One steak could cost up to $140. For once, the seafood was cheaper. Lauren had creamy spiral macaroni and cheese with creamed spinach. I had braised Brussels sprouts with crab cakes. It was all very good, though I do wish the crab cake plate came with one more cake for what it cost.
The rain picked up as Lauren drove us home, though it never got heavy. It was actually starting to calm down a bit as she made her way down the road to her house. It ended shortly after we got in, and to my knowledge, hasn't rained since.
We ended the night on YouTube after I took a shower with today's Match Game Saturday Classics marathon. Charles Nelson Reilly was in the spotlight tonight. Charles started out on the same week as Brett, Betty White, and Bert Convy in 1973. He was so busy with other commitments, though, he didn't become a regular until late in '73. Those commitments, including directing plays and operas, tended to keep him away more often than Richard or Brett as well.
When he was there, he had some of the funniest moments of the entire series. He loved nothing more than to prolong the suspense, which he did most famously when reading the answer for sweet contestant Janet Finn that would make her the all-time champ at that point. He returned from his months-long absence on Broadway by "dropping in" via wires and a stuffed bird. Charles once switched seats with Scoey Mitchilll, claiming they'd changed lives and races as well. He and Brett dressed as cowboys and sang back-up for Bill Anderson when he performed a song for Debralee Scott on the last episode of a memorable week in 1976.
He had some great moments in syndication and night-time shows, too. On one PM episode, he stood next to the Star Wheel to see if his answer would come up, and tore off his name when it didn't. Another one had him giving his toupee to a balding young man. By far his funniest syndicated episode had him taking over for Gene when he heckled Gene one time too many and found himself taking over as host and reading several questions.
Get to know everyone's favorite fussy theater star in this hilarious marathon!
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