Our first stop was the Denny's next-door to Cracker Barrel just outside of Albany. They're a pretty standard diner, which is probably why there aren't too many in my area. We have plenty of real diners. I considered the Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes, but finally decided they were too rich and had Hearty 9-Grain Pancakes with sausage, bacon, and a bowl of strawberries, grapes, and bananas. Lauren had a Southwestern Benny (eggs Benedict). Oh, yum. The pancakes were delicious, just the right combination of sweet and flavorful.
We emerged from Denny's in a light shower. It grew heavier as Lauren drove us to the Crossgates Mall down the street from Denny's. Once we parked, she grabbed her umbrella, I pulled up the hood of my blue sweatshirt, and we hurried for the nearest entrance in front of JC Penney's.
Our first stop at Crossgates was their big Old Navy. Lauren bought a really nice tan sweater vest with turquoise and orange stripes running on it for her dad. I found a quilted coral pink metallic holder for my laptop when I travel that only came out to $5, despite being listed for $9.99. This time, neither of us got anything at Hot Topic, and all the Nintendo 64 and Switch games Lauren wanted at Jay St. Video Games were too expensive.
Dave and Buster's is pretty much the same deal as Round 1, with a sports bar instead of a bowling alley. Once again, I spent an hour running from skee ball to the fishing-themed wheels to the giant Centipede and Space Invaders games. Got Yoshi on Mario Kart; came in second. Did better on Cruisin' Blast, coming in first on the Death Valley round with a really sweet vintage red Chrysler.
I don't have room for another big Care Bear (in my luggage or my bedroom), so I picked up a smaller stuffed panda. Though she came with the name Purdy, I re-named her Tea Blossom. Lauren grabbed one soft blanket with goofy sayings on it for her and another for her guy friend Rico.
There's an indoor mini-golf course directly across from Dave and Buster's. It was a black-lit neon maze with a really nifty space theme. The walls were painted with scenes of alien landscapes, and the obstacles were giant neon alien flowers, Venus Fly Traps, circular and triangular bumper moon "rocks," and astronauts in neon purple. As I said to Lauren, there's some advantages to a golf course being indoors. We didn't have to worry about our balls ending up in a water or sand trap or up a tree. I even got a hole in one at one point on a smaller course with no major obstacles just by making it hug the vinyl edges. (Lauren still won by two strokes over me.)
We walked around for the next few hours after that. Lauren bought cute lounge shirts and shorts at Charlotte Russe. I didn't see anything I really needed or could fit into. She didn't see anything she wanted at FYE; I picked up a 4-disc Thelonius Monk CD set and a better copy of Jetsons: The Movie. She peeked at The Lego Store, but said she has tons of Legos she's barely used. We checked out Newbury Comics, Lollipop Toy Shop, Miniso, QLZ, and the anime-themed Otaku House, but saw nothing of interest at any of them other than some records at Newbury I might pick up somewhere along the line.
Since it was open by 2:30-3 PM, we tried Apex Entertainment on the other side of the mall from Dave and Buster's. Their focus is on bowling, go-karting, "adventure rooms," and nightly shows, which is likely why their arcade is much smaller than Dave and Buster's or Round 1. I was able to play Yoshi on Mario Kart again - and won this time, and didn't do too badly with skee ball and ring toss. Got really far on Centipede before I finally ran out of credits. I still only amassed a little over 500; Lauren didn't do much better. We decided to save our points for next time.
Had dinner at Maggie McFly's, an aviatrix-themed sports bar and grill. They have the tastiest bar pizza I've ever eaten. My Hawaiian slices came with tons of mozzarella, ham, red onion, and pineapple and had wonderfully soft crust. Lauren had the potato and rosemary, potatoes and herbs on mozzarella. She had a Caesar salad. I went with basic greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and balsamic vinaigrette.
We finished out the day at the Primark and JC Penney anchors. I didn't see anything else I wanted. I'm really not in desperate need of clothes right now, and Primark doesn't really carry much in my size anyway. Lauren picked up a few good shirts at JC Penney and a Winner the Pooh sleep shirt for her mom from Primark.
By the time we finished at JC Penney, it was past 6:30. If the soaked parking lot and dripping trees were any indication, it had been raining for the better part of the day. It was misting again when we jumped in Lauren's van. We got there just in time. Just as she turned back on the highway, it started raining hard again. Thankfully, the rain slowed down to mist as we arrived at Lauren's house.
When we got in, Lauren showed her parents everything she found and I jumped in the shower. After I got out, we played the US and Canada in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe again. I don't think Lauren ever came in better than ninth. My best showing was 4th on Rainbow Road, thanks to two bullets and two invincibility stars.
I finished the night with Spenser for Hire at the Roku Channel. It seems like an open-and-shut case when the wife of an oil tycoon hires Spenser to deliver one million in "Blood Money" and rescue her husband. Her husband's company has been indulging in some unsavory practices, including damaging a small country to get their resources...and the oil tycoon's been indulging in some unsavory practices of his own, cheating on his wife with one of his female CEOs. Spenser has to figure out who wanted him dead badly enough to dump him in the river.
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