Buffalo, NY. 0 miles.
By Judd & Victoria Curran
With our bicycles boxed up and Fedex shipping labels applied, we were ready to deliver them to a nearby drop-off location. But, first things first. Breakfast was in order. The Hostel Buffalo-Niagara staff were very helpful in recommending their favorite local eateries. They told us of Betty's for breakfast. It sounded familiar, and upon arriving at the restaurant, I realized that I had eaten here before, and it was great.
We took extra time in making a decision about what to eat as a myriad of delicious options was a catalyst for indecisiveness. Victoria was eyeing the grilled grapefruit, but the cheddar-topped grits were pulling her in a different direction.
She ended up choosing the breakfast sandwich with the grits. A bonus for me, it was more than she could eat.
I opted for the vegetable scramble with potatoes, eggs, and grilled cornbread on the side.
After loading up on calories, we headed back to the hostel. On the way, we walked through a residential neighborhood of mostly old homes. One of them had a plaque in the front yard next to the sidewalk that caught our attention. The top read, "From Buffalo... to the White House".
Before us stood the house of Frances Clara Folsom. Frances would eventually, at age 21, become the First Lady of the United States, marrying U.S. President Grover Cleveland, then 49 years old, while Cleveland was in Office. This would become the only presidential marriage in U.S. history. The house was built in 1863 by Frances' father.
Back at the hostel, we pulled the first bicycle box out on the sidewalk. The hostel staff graciously allowed us to use their two-wheeled cart to move the heavy boxes a few blocks away to the closest FedEx drop off location.
Originally, we arranged for a FedEx pickup at the hostel, scheduled for the following Monday. But, the hostel does not staff the front desk midday while the cleaning staff is around. Our concern that the pickup attempt may fall within the window of time when no one is available at the hostel prompted us to drop off the boxes instead.
Off with the second box.
As simple as walking a dog.
The "Copy Store" on Court street doubled as a FedEx shipping center. A friendly employee from the store spotted my cargo and was holding the door for me as I arrived.
The bikes have been shipped. With almost a full day in front of us, we decided to take in a few of the sights around buffalo. The famous city hall building sat just a few blocks from the Copy Store, coaxing us on a slightly different route back to the hostel to return the cart.
We passed by the City of Buffalo Department of Coffee and Donuts, also known for the Buffalo Ice Cream museum. Unfortunately, all of it was "coming soon".
With the cart returned, we took another recommendation from John at the hostel to check out the "Farm Shop" on our way to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Buffalo. Just like in San Diego, $5 will buy an all-day city bus and light rail pass. Victoria and I bought the pass and hopped on the #3 headed for the Lexington neighborhood.
Finding the Farm Shop wasn't hard. The cow out front was the tip-off that we were in the right place. This shop offers wonderful homemade dairy creations fresh from a local and small family-owned dairy. Victoria wasn't about to stand around and wait for me to take a photo.
My eyes were first drawn to the apple croissant loaf, and unexpected addition to the specialness of this place.
Then, the huge pile of cookies on the counter won over my gaze. That's sea salt on top of those chocolate chip cookies, I confirmed to myself.
But then, the real reason we publicly transported to this place -- the dairy menu. The list was extensive, with a huge variety of flavors of yogurt, custard, pudding, and cream.
Victoria already had her head in the cooler, looking at the flavors and ingredients labeled on the tops of the jars.
Once again, we were faced with too many delicious choices that exceeded anyone's dairy consumption limit. We just had to pick one. I tried the banana coffee yogurt, and Victoria chose the peach cilantro yogurt.
They were both very tangy, creamy, and subtly flavored to respect the goodness of the base ingredients. Yumm!
Now on a different bus, we were headed through a large park and Buffalo zoo to the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Martin House, considered to be one of his earlier best residential works.
The brick house had recessed mortar, a classic element of Wright design.
The house was built for a wealthy business man at a price tag of around $165,000 in the early 1900's -- a time when other new homes in the area were selling for $2,000 to $3,000.
The glasswork in the house was very extensive, intricate, and beautiful.
The property included several buildings in addition to the main house.
We took a 90 minute tour that was jam-packed with detailed information provided by a volunteer docent.
Described as one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Buffalo, we could understand.
A few blocks away, we caught the #8 bus back to the core of the city. Hungry for dinner, Victoria found a restaurant she was interested in called Buffalo Proper, but the entree prices were really high. We decided to stop for a drink and appetizers.
Victoria ordered one of their signature cocktails, the "Killer Bees", with gin, honey, lavender, and lemon. I ordered a Left Hand Brewing stout on nitro.
We made a toast to the success of our bicycle trip, having ridden 741 miles over 14 days of riding, averaging around 51 miles per day.
First up was freshly-baked, hot sourdough bread with whipped butter sprinkled with sea salt. It was so good we almost ordered another one.
Second appetizer course -- a beet and marinated onion salad with fennel.
Third appetizer course -- a chickpea panisse with gorgonzola cream and parsley.
Fourth appetizer course, not originally part of our selection, but an insisted addition by a local patron -- the red wine poached egg with grilled potatoes in a balsamic pesto reduction.
Dinner had been served. If you ever find yourself in Buffalo, don't miss the Buffalo Proper restaurant.
We walked the rest of the way back to our hostel on Main Street, a well-utilized avenue of wide sidewalks, full bike lanes, and light rail, the car de-emphasized, only allowed to pass through in a shared lane with transit. This Main Street continues out of the city in both directions, and under various names extends northeastward to Albany, NY and south to the southern border of Western New York.
We were at the heart of the historic theater district of Buffalo, a city once America's 8th largest. After a great economic decline familiar to big rust-belt cities around the Great Lakes, downtown Buffalo is experiencing a welcomed revitalization. The theater district is filled with art venues, performances, and music events.
The old character and architecture of Buffalo has not been entirely lost. A few blocks from the hostel, we came upon the old Buffalo Savings Bank, built in 1899, capped with a golden dome gilded in 23.75 carat gold leaf. A plaque on the sidewalk told of it's highly-decorative Neoclassical Beaux Arts style:
Designed by the Buffalo architectural firm of Green and Wicks, the building was built in 1899 at a cost of $300,000. This style came to Buffalo through the influence of Daniel Burnham, lead architect of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, which featured the Beaux Arts style throughout. The building's elegant classical interior honors four acknowledged pillars of Buffalo's strength -- Commerce, characterized by the Buffalo Harbor; Industry, by the Buffalo River; Power, by Niagara Falls; and the arts, by Ellicott's radials and the Olmstead-designed park system.
Pivoting to the East, on a "challenging" triangular block, the white terra-cotta clad Electrical Tower -- a design reminiscent of the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt (in the background of the photo below). Built in 1912, it was modeled after the 1901 Pan-American Exposition's electrical tower, lit up at the time by newly-delivered hydro-power from nearby Niagara Falls.
In the foreground before us (photo above), the hiker:
Erected in May of 1920, the monument memorializes those Americans who volunteered for service in the popularly-supported Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars between 1898-1902. Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary to the Navy, resigned his post to organize the first US Volunteer Calvary who became known as Roosevelt's "Rough Riders". These volunteer infantry men casually referred to themselves as "hikers". Identical statues like this one can be found in twenty locations, including Niagara Falls, New York City, and the Arlington National Cemetery.
The plaza at our feet is named after Teddy Roosevelt in honor of his service in the Spanish-American war, and to commemorate his swearing in to office of the President during the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 at a nearby house in Buffalo.
Standing in the plaza, we reflected on the significance of our surroundings and the historical artifacts before us, and how it all relates in some way to the power of water. This bicycle tour followed the same path of water, sometimes borrowing from the same force of gravity as we meandered towards Niagara Falls, as the water that powered the lights of the Electric Tower at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901. The light from those bulbs may very well have aided the executioner of President McKinley as he was assassinated at the event, launching Theodore Roosevelt into office.
Bicycle travel gives time -- not only time to see, hear, feel, and experience. But, even more powerful, time to think. The combination enables us to make connections between the places we travel, places we spend time within, allowing us to begin to understand not only those places, but the connections between them.
Along the narrow thread we weaved through towns, cities, countryside, and farms, a greater understanding of the Great Lakes region and its people evolved.
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