Miles is a senior now at LeMoyne in Syracuse and we’ve gotten used to being a family of four not five most of the time, but on the Tuesday night ahead of Thanksgiving he emerged safely in his Nissan Quest (ye olde TINDOG we call it– a story for another day) from a nasty hundred mile stretch of snowy weather… and all five of us were able to enjoy a home-cooked meal together for the first time in a long while. Those of you with college kids in the family, spending more and more time apart, understand the poignant nature of such mini-reunions. At this point we as parents appreciate, as does he, the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday– the beginning of winter weather, usually, and a break in the long autumn routine before the solstice and Christmas festivities.
Wednesday, though I’d planned to work, I decided instead to stay home and enjoy the fact that we were all together on a midweek day, had no need to travel or shop for groceries. Whatever work I had could be done from laptop and cell phone. So the whole gang slept in, and we had a great extended brunch together, like a Dim Sum in a Korean restaurant on a Sunday. Washing dishes and being a short order cook is occasionally a refugefor me from the real estate world, and gives my wife a break from that role. Bella and Daryn were getting along better than normal, and the day seemed magical in its ordinariness as I watched all the birds out back feed on the pre-Thanksgiving seed feast I had scattered for them that morning. Later four deer would casually join the proceedings, looking for the corn meal I’d been dispensing, but also grazing to steal the precious sunflower seeds before the squirrels could get their share.
We mutually decided to do something unusual, and all attend a movie together at the still-new Bowtie Cinema in the heart of Saratoga that evening. The long-awaited
in-town movie theater complex is something that has been talked about since I ever started coming to this town in mid-70’s as a college kid myself. The old Community Theater on Broadway, next to the Stewarts/Sunoco A-Plus store, was the last vestige of a centrally-located movie house, and had closed down before I showed up here, back in ’73 I’m told. So the old-timers and newcomers had waited 40 years for this–
and the gorgeous 11-screen Criterion Bowtie Cinema was worth it. This impressive improvement to the downtown scene had been under construction during most of 2013, famously replacing the site’s previous structure, the affectionately dubbed “Ghetto Chopper”– an old-school not-so-super market, made out of concrete block and aluminum-framed plate glass windows. What used to be that store’s “butt-end”of dumpsters and faded red blank walls facing Church Street traffic, as urban architecture critic Jim Kunstler had railed against in recent decades, was now a shimmering, enlivened source of culture, a slice of NYC as it were, in our midst. The upgrade in the Westside’s streetscape has been incredible. And in the lobby, I saw my hoop buddy Joe Leone, a longtime local native who’d grown up a few blocks away from where we were standing, with a group of friends. He shook hands quickly with me and Miles as we hustled our way into Theater #3, running a bit late, and might’ve thought it odd that we were all hanging out together as a clan, and I wanted to ask him, “Did you think you’d ever see this kind of place in Saratoga in your lifetime, much less on the Westside??” But the answer was obvious, “Nah…never!” Joe woulda said, “But here it is!”
The trick had been to find a movie all 5 of us could agree on– not an easy task. Melinda and I had tested the place out once before already, checking out the late James Gandolfino’s final flick, “Enough Said.” While it had a mixture of laughs and sentimental sadness– a true dramedy– we needed something more escapist and visual, whimsical and light-hearted… a Disney film, for instance. Bella had been watching Chelsea Lately the other night and I’d seen the actor Josh Gad for the first time– the clip from the animated movie, in which he voiced the Snowman, Olaf, had gotten me hooked, so I suggested a tame middle-ground entertainment like “FROZEN”, instead of Gravity or 12 Years A Slave, both which we still want to see. Miles was game for anything to distract him from finance courses at college, as long as we’d get home in time to see the Knicks game on the westcoast, and/or Syracuse U. playing in the Maui finals. Bella was in a rare conciliatory mood for a feisty 15-year old, and went along with the idea of an early movie. Daryn was on break from SUNY/ACC as well,and has always been a fan of almost ANY Disney or PIXAR movie, many of which he can recite from memory. This movie was right up his alley, historically speaking– a rare 20 year old male who disdains video-game violence and gratuitous sex scenes.
In that “Frozen” was a PG-movie, the previews were pretty tame by our normal R-rated standards, but the visuals of something like “Walking With Dinosaurs” were stunning and compelling– fifty times better than the dinosaur movies which captivated my younger son so much as pre-schooler in the mid-late ’90’s. In fact, the trailers did their job, as I felt I wanted to see every movie they teased us with. It seemed so much more likely that I’d now become an avid movie-goer again now, downtown, given my prior aversion to not just the Exit 15 Mall, but all Malls in general. Frankly, the seats, the proximity to the screens, and the intimacy of the theaters all improved upon any mall cinema I’d ever visited.
A short cartoon started the evening’s proceedings– the original MICKEY MOUSE, in black and white, circa 1932, or so it seemed to begin with… what seemed to be a throwback bit of vintage nostalgia quickly spun into a multi-dimensional tale of the 80+ year old progenitor-of-the-genre being thrust into conflict/interaction with the highly colorful 3-D world of the present tense. Cartoon characters emerged from the burst screen of the old 2-D world as if sitting on the edge of the vaudeville stage before us. Startling effects in a simple short, to exhibit the span of Disney’s domain.
The movie “Frozen” wasn’t what I thought it would be, with a lot more musical interludes (a la Sleeping Beauty, Snow White or Beauty & The Beast) than Miles or I were prepared for, but the tale was a compelling fable of sisterly intrigue and conflict in the aftermath of perished parents. Drastic weather changes, as implied by the title, were part of the plot, and gave renewed insights to the origin of the phrase “Ice Queen.” Names like Swen and Olaf and the recurring word “fjord” warmed the cockles of my (1/4) Scandinavian heart.
More than halfway through the epic, Josh Gad’s character finally shows up, and proceeds to steal the show from then on– a welcome bit of comic relief, both visual and verbal. What struck me was that the youngest members of the audience and the oldest (me among them), were laughing at his lines and antics at the same time. It was genius stuff– the writing, the timing, the graphics. Rarely has a carrot, as a prop, been so funny.
Not knowing much about it going in, the credits at the end revealed what I should’ve
been aware of at the start– the movie’s plot was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s book, “The Snow Queen.” Not having read the original story (as far as I can recall!), I tended to think that Gad’s Olaf was a clever addition to the re-write, which saved the movie, from my point of view, and those of the 2-4 year olds in the audience as well. My wife said it was good to see all five of us laughing at the same time, and that alone was worth the price of admission.
A Bit of Nostalgia, Mixed in With The New
Upon departing the Bowtie, we desired and conspired to stroll a bit downtown, despite the 19 degree chill in the air. Daryn sped off on his own perambulation, while the four of us took our time. Miles and Melinda both seemed impressed with the huge outer improvements made to 15 Church Street— a three story brick place that had been derelict for most of the past 20 years, on the corner of Long Alley, behind the downtown Post Office. When I first moved to town, it was still active as The Third Base Pub…so dubbed because it alleged to be “Your last stop on the way Home!” That may have been true for railroad workers on the westside in the first fifty years of the prior century, but it had been a long time since anyone else used the building that way. Like The HUB Pub, a similar building long since demolished half a block west, it had been a boarding house/bar relic of Saratoga’s past, but in this case #15 had been saved with a heavy infusion of cash and effort, evidenced by the “Muse Architect” and “Bast Hatfield Contractors” signs in the new bay windows above street level. Along with the famed Country Corner Cafe to its left and the historic RR shack next to the similated RR tracks on the corner of Woodlawn, and the half-decade old Adirondack Trust building on the site of the old HUB and its broken-glass and puddle parking lot of many years past, that side of Church Street coming off Broadway forms a much better complement to the Bowtie Cinema/Golub Building as described above.
We turned the fabled intersection at the core of town– “the corner of WALK & DON’T WALK” as the crazy bag lady in Daryn’s most recent play production had called it– and headed for the brilliant beauty of the G. Willikers Toy Store on Broadway, just past the columned ATC bank. The theme of the windows perfectly complemented the movie we’d just seen– an elfen Santa-with-realistic furry animal theme– lit up with white branches and snow and shimmering lights, an unabashed Christmas scene. Again, an improvement from what was there when I came to town– Glickman’s Dry Goods– one of the old school shoe and durable clothing stores of yore. It always smelled incredibly good in there, but the front windows were never anything like G. Willikers, nor the contents as interesting to young children. If that toy store ever closes it will be a huge aesthetic loss to Broadway, so please go support it, and you’ll see what I mean about the shopfront displays.
Next, past the venerable Compton’s Diner, one of the few remnant businesses (along with Soave Faire–also one of the perennially best windows on Broadway) on that side of the main drag in Toga town, we peeked into the Brueggher’s Bagels place, which had been closed for renovations for, it seems, a year or more. They missed the whole summer season in 2013, as it was gutted on the inside at that point. Now the interior is opened up and new walls and floor tile are in place, so the Grand Re-Opening is imminent. I figured the old building, which I had briefly worked and hung out in, circa 78-79, when it was called The Triple Crown… had likely experienced some code violations, but apparently it was worse than that. Miles chimed in that he’d heard the roof had partially collapsed or seriously leaked before this branch of Bruegger’s abruptly closed. I thought back to certain stellar moon-gazing sessions on the topside of that building and was glad it was still solid back then. I mumbled: “I’ll tell you a good story about one time I was on that roof…” but then figured that tale should be saved for another day, or a chapter in my eventual, long-delayed novel.
Virtually every store front we walked by carried some vestigial memories. The downtown core had been my own version of Greenwich Village in those years between ’77 and ’87, until I became serious about family and career. Even though I hadn’t truly been a native, I now felt like one of Saratoga’s old timers, when in fact I too had been called a carpetbagger upon my first arrival here.
I was trying to remember whether The Our Place Pub had been located where Sloppy Kisses Dog Boutique or the new clothing boutique was now–? And I remembered when Mr. Ed’s Hot Dogs was there on the base level of the old YMCA Building, across the walkway from The Putnam Street Market. Not too long ago Last Vestige Records was there, recently relocated to the DownStreet Market Place, across the street. What had been in the spot where Saratoga Coffee Traders was now? We continued to saunter down the block. IMAGE Photography was a landmark destination for years in this stretch. The Grey Gelding had been a hotspot for a few years, and now is long gone, with the only vacant restaurant space on Broadway begging for an occupant these last few years, the result of a landlord who wants about 25% more per square foot than the rest of the street. Before the Grey Gelding’s good but brief run, a place simply called The Broadway did well there, and they had the wisdom to hire my longtime friend Carl Landa as the house bandleader– those were great days. He also played with various versions of his band down on the corner of Washington Street where Starbucks is now– it was called Jacksland’s back then; o yeah, a lot of raucous fun was had there.
It was good to see The Wine Bar still thriving– Carl used to play the Steinway on the lower level in there as well. That elegant building, next to The Downtowner Motel (also still there, despite years of rumors they might sell), used to be a doctor’s office when I first came to town.
Cross Division Street and on the archival site of the former United States Hotel, the current brick and glass structure that used to be home to Border’s Books & Music is now the home of FINGERPAINT Marketing, a thriving PR firm, which I’d written about on this blog earlier this summer. Those who have been visiting or living here more than 20 years will remember the chintzy 60’s structure that used to be a Red Barn fast food place, and then Pope’s Pizza through the 1980’s into the early 90’s. My kids’ eyes just glaze over when I hit them with all this change-of-scene history, but I like to let them know it’s an evolving streetscape, and has altered greatly even in my 3 and a half decades here.
What used to be The Shoe Depot for decades had morphed into 3 smaller but equally stylish retail spaces, once Frank Panza reluctantly surrendered his prime spot on Broadway. Next to that, the last grassy gated courtyard on the main stretch of Broadway had been transformed into DRUTHERS Brewing Co., a bustling new pub that seems to have prospered amazingly well in its first full year or two. The somber building alongside it on the south, owned for half a century by Al Braim’s family, had not changed radically since selling for $800K a few years back. In retrospect, that number will look like a steal, or rather, does already.
Like Bruegger’s vacant storefront this year, The Adelphi Hotel had remained dormant all summer too…with very little visible sign of activity within. Given the news-rumor that the new owner was putting 6 or 7 million dollars worth of renovation into it, you’d think the work would be ongoing and vigorous in order for the business to be open next year, but on this particular evening in November, the massive symbol of former grandeur on the westside of Broadway seemed to be in deep, dark hibernation.
Next to the shuttered Adelphi (which had always been seasonal anyway under its prior owners, Greg and Sheila Seifkert), the Van Dam Hotel now featured the flaming porch torches of Maestro’s Restaurant, still drawing people inside after 9 pm on a Wednesday evening in November. Personally, I liked it better when it was located alongside The Adelphi when Joe Devivo ran the place, but that’s just my stubborn memory at work, combined with the fact that the current owner hadn’t treated Miles too well during a brief stint of working there two summers ago. My son wasn’t feeling nostalgic about that part of Broadway, that’s for sure.
We weren’t in the mood for late evening coffee as we strolled past Starbucks, but it was good to see it was there for those who did. We went another block to scope out the window displays at The Gap, Banana Republic, and the smaller shops before Chico’s and Lord & Taylor… there were even customers, despite the 20 degree temps, going in and out of the Cold Stone Creamery — nothing you’d see in any other upstate NY towns this time of year.
We cross the street and the memory flow continues– how many times had I circumnavigated Congress Park in my early days in Saratoga, with little else to do back then? Daryn still carries on my tradition in that regard. The Arts Center Building on the corner of Spring Street still seems like the Library to me, as I just about lived in there for my first year or two in town.
The opposite corner’s 4-story monolith also used to belong to Frank Panza, with a long-abandoned upstairs theater reputedly hidden inside. I regret not checking out that eminent structure while it was on the market. Now there is a magnificent curio shop on the first floor full of huge sculptural Buddhas-in-meditative poses, and trumpeting Hindu elephants. My memory of the storefronts there goes back to Landmark Realty (early 90’s), O’Dwyer’s Pub on the Spruing Street side, and then the wonderful Posie Peddler floral shop, now successfully transplanted to an old schoolhouse at 92 West Avenue.
The Eddie Bauer building (338 Broadway) that now anchors the center of the block between Spring and Phila Streets always features fascinating window displays, a great improvement over the gravelly parking lot that was there in the early days of my arrival here. Said parking lot, which L-shaped over toward Phila where the parking lot building access is now, alongside the Irish Times, figures into a long story I wrote 30 years about The Tin Shoppe— when Carl Landa ran the place as a music club, before it became The Trattoria, The Brew Pub, and now The Irish Times, at 14 Phila. I called it The Brass Shack in the fourth edition of The High Rock Review, but I bet only a handful of people remember either that story or the phenomenal acts he used to bring in– McCoy Tyner, the Brecker Brothers, Betty Carter, Black Sheep, James Blood Ulmer…. oh yeah, 1982 was a cool year around here.
But here’s one thing I had NOT looked closely at, nor known much about, before this Wednesday nite walk– there is a plaque affixed to the brick wall of the Eddie Bauer Building, aka The Granite Palace. It shows the block as it existed from the late 1880’s until 1966, when a monstrously destructive fire took down the building on that site– which had housed Berkowitz Jewelers and the Colonial Hotel, among other famous establishments. The Atheneum, or first official library of Saratoga, was on the second floor, long before I was here. The black-and-white photo behind plexiglass looked eerily archival, and rightfully celebrated the fact that in 1997, Jeff and Deanna Pfeil had the foresight and wherewithal to finance construction on that site, which was one of the first successful in-fill projects of the current era, setting the tone for the Robert Israel condos on Railroad Place a couple years later, and the Sonny Bonacio explosion of subsequent years.
My family had scooted ahead of me while I read the plaque, headed for the new Northshire Bookstore, which proudly occupies The Washington, a prominent brand new building Mr. Bonacio had also just recently completed, also the site of a former decrepit parking lot, on the site of a long-ago burned down Saratoga ediface–
My memory machine sped up as I walked to catch up– Gary Zack’s Symmetry glass art shop used to be D’Andrea’s Tavern many moons ago. Dave and Marianne Barker’s Impressions gift shop used to be a bar that served the most potent Long Island Iced Teas north of the Hampton’s, and before that, it was actually a Bank. Miles wondered if The Arcade Building ever really featured game-rooms like a shoreline resort, but I said NO, not that kind of Arcade. The first seven years of my real estate career took place there, however, and before that I’d had a solo office upstairs there during the first wave of mid-’80 solar sales– my primitive business years.
Some places were closed for Thanksgiving eve, others never seem to close– the new Boca Bistro, The Circus Cafe, Uncommon Grounds, Lillian’s, the new Chocolate Shop next to Northshire Books, and then yes, The New Bookstore itself– a feast like no other on the street. The four of us lingered for most of an hour before they closed, browsing and making mental lists of what we’d come back for…I saw a dozen or two amazing choices and the one I wanted the most was a Saratoga History of the 1800’s by the venerable Minnie Bolster, longtime local historical society matron, and widow of George Bolster– prolific collector of archives from this town’s glory days.
My daughter was not enthused about anything involving books, which was sad to me, but Miles said he was re-inspired to read more, while my wife and I could spend a lifetime catching up on books we missed or never even knew about. For those who’ve not been within its brand new walls yet, it should be your primary destination…whenever you can make it to Broadway next. I grabbed a book about Music by David Byrne and a paperback Miles needed for school, and then it was time to head home and catch some hoop on TV together, a different kind of nostalgia for us. We met up with the wandering Daryn and began to head back.
On one last shot at window shopping, Melinda was knocked out by my friend Heidi Owen-West’s Life Styles Boutique’s front display, which featured female mannequins with skirts fashioned from evergreen branches. Her amazing shop is on the corner of Caroline at 436 Broadway, and was established by her brilliant mom, Kay Owens, years ago, and still thrives in the new millenium under her daughter’s guidance.
There was much more to note that night which you can see for yourself on Shop Small Saturday, or the upcoming Victorian Streetwalk in early December, or whenever you get here to visit. There is ample reason why this town’s famous thoroughfare has become one of the Top Ten Main Streets in America, and I am glad to feel as if I know the fabric that underlays today’s glitter and gloss.
Someday my long-procrastinated novels will be populated with some of the spots I’v mentioned herein, and more– the lore is everywhere in this movie-set town!
That’s it for now– making up for lost time– your most sporadic local blogger, Wayne!
Copyright Wayne Perras 2013