WhutsHappening

Evans Ale and delicious lunch at the Albany Pump Station

Exterior with plenty of parking.

Coaster with their logo.

Exciting and risky menu.

Bar room looking up to tanks.

Awards

Current beer selection.

Taps discrete and classy.

Their 2 beer engines!

List beers...

 

 

Grandiose dining room action.

 

 

 

Beef Ragout topped with cornbread.

The house smoked pulled pork sandwich with tangy barbecue sauce on a garlic baguette with slaw and crinkly cut sweet potato fries.

The Gobbler: Thanksgiving in a sandwich! House smoked turkey breast on a warm baguette with cranberry sauce, herb-bread stuffing and provolone with some turkey gravy on the side.

<a href="http://www.evansale.com/">www.evansale.com</a>

Baastin '06 --> Beer Works

As much as I hate Massholes, I had to check out Boston before my buddy up there wised up and moved to SoCal. I managed to fit in local beer, exciting food, a Bruins game, and some museums. My buddy was a known local DJ so I got some swanky club action too. I'll start with a brewpub/restaurant properly named Beer Works...

Twelve beers and an adventurous menu is all I can ask for and I got it. I ordered a cup of Boston Clam Chowder and a plate of Mako shark skewers marinated in their Raspbeery Ale. Both were top notch and I wished I could have ordered about five other items on the menu as well. There was all kinds of crazy shit that sounded delicious! I ranked the beer as follows:

Boring: The bland HUB Light, the crisp Canadian style Garden Golden Ale, and the generic Boston Common Pale Ale(perfect name huh?).

Good: "The Mainestream (Maine Blueberries) Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale,

the unfiltered Belgium style Handsome Devil Pale Ale, the copper colored Crimson Red Ale, and the pre-prohibition style Victory Red.

Great: the hoppy American style Fenway Pale Ale, the creamy Bullfinch British Pale Ale, the chocolaty Buckeye Oatmeal Stout, and the silk

y Curley's Irish Stout.

http://www.beerworks.net/

#1= Their Back Bay IPA was stunning! It was very strong without overpowering and had a exceptionally bitter finish.

 

The Food of Texas (Part Two)

http://www.whataburger.com/

       The name says it all and so did I as I ate their unbelievable burger and above average fries. Its the second best fast food burger I've ever had behind the unbeatable In and Out Burger. I love their slogan, "Waiting for your burger is better than your burger waiting for you." It's genius! The fresh burgers make the order take longer, but that was the only thing I could find to complain about. I guess that's why they made the slogan. The interior was very fun to look around with Whataburger history lessons and vintage pictures all over the walls. They were everywhere too! If you are hungry driving down the highways of Texas this is the spot!

 

North by Northwest Brewing Company is one of the most upscale brewpubs I've ever been to. They are located in a beautiful, high-class area in the outskirts of Austin. They have a opulent dining room and classy bar complete with delicious food and drink. I'll review their beers later, now I must expound upon what I ate on their original and daring menu. I got the spicy meatloaf dish with crunchy string beans and fluffy mashed potatoes. It was delicious, tasting just as I described it! The meal and the service were top notch and I recommend this treasure.
http://www.nxnwbrew.com/

Roaring Fork is located right in the foreground of the state capital in Austin. It is a busy block with a theater and other restaurants all around. We got a nice booth and great service from a a funny waiter. Their theme is wood fire grilling so I ordered the pork shoulder served right in the skillet! It was a savory stew of pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and pure deliciousness. To my delight, the veggies had soaked in the juices well while still retaining their own tastes. The interior was fashionable and the music was trendy in this chic martini lounge restaurant. I loved the contrast of the pitch black skillet and the white tablecloth! This is a must if you are going to see a show at the nearby theater. http://www.eddiev.com/

If I had to pick only one of these places it would be Hut's Hamburgers.  I saved the best for last. This hamburger king is a frequent winner of best burger in Austin. They win awards for their fries, onion rings, shakes, as well as veggie burgers. The exterior has that roadside drive-in look and I remember the building being very crooked. Inside this vintage building  are walls jam-packed with nostalgia and memorabilia. The menu has twenty different specialty burgers, daily blue plate specials, plate dinners, sandwiches, salads, snacks, shakes, and more. I went with the Fats Domino Burger with onion rings and fries. My ice cold Coke Classic came in a stadium-sized hard red plastic cup that you would find in a cafeteria for fat people. The fries are hand cut and delicious but I preferred the onion rings. They are HUGE with big specs of pepper and ton of taste without being overpowering. The sides were great but the burger was best in show. You get a choice between their Texas beef, buffalo meat, chicken breast, or a fat free veggie burger. I love having the choice and I went with the leaner buffalo meat. My Fats Domino burger was covered with spicy New Orleans seasonings, jalapenos, onions, lettuce, pickles, mustard, mayo, chopped toms and grated cheddar. This explosion of fiery flavor was my burger of the year 2007! I give Hut's a 9.5 out of ten on the burger joint scale but I don't recommend it to anyone with a small appetite!

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~russell/students/spr06/huts2/menu.html

The Food of Texas (Part One)

Fish Tales is right on the coastal highway looking over the seawall in Galveston TX. It has the most popular beach front balcony and is very spacious on the inside. Unfortunately, it is littered with tons of tacky shit hanging all over the walls. Stupid sayings and alcohol-related anecdotes adorn their walls giving it a lower class feel. Their menu is large with a great selection of everything land and sea. I went for the bacon wrapped shrimp and the country fried steak. I ordered the shrimp because it came with two exciting sauces. If I remember correctly it was a blue cheese type sauce and a cocktail sauce variation and both were excellent with the crispy bacon and tender shrimp. The country fried steak was served with mouth-watering mashed potatoes and over-buttered but delicious mixed veggies. The steak itself was too tough for my taste but that's the nature of that cut of beef. The crispy breading wasn't too heavy and was doused in delicious gravy. I recommend Fish Tales if you are in a beach party mood but I personally would not bring a lady or gentleman there.
http://www.landrysrestaurants.com/pages/restaurants/pg_rest_fishtales.htm

"This ain't no drive-thru," Goode Co. Texas Bar-B-Q" was unbelievable! It is a lunch line style cafeteria/restaurant off the highway outside of Houston on the way to San Antonio. My girlfriend and I were starving because I would not settle for anything but real Texas BBQ that afternoon so when we got there we were ready Texas sized portions. I got the spicy pork dinner with cole slaw and jambalaya texana (rice mix). which came with their famous homemade jalapeno bread. The pork was spicy and tender but there was too much chewy skin for my taste. The slaw was well chopped and juicy but could have used some more flavor. The jambalaya rice mix was spicy and interesting but a touch too dry. I had no complaints with their deliciously spicy and fluffy jalapeno bread but couldn't eat it all with all the other stuff in front of me. The big problem was that I needed a week to try everything at this place! All the different meats, sauces veggies, and breads all looked great on paper and would have been better on a plate in front of me. 

       The whole place has an old-time Texas feel to it that really enhances the experience. The outside has a very southern full front porch with saloon-style feel to it and when you walk in you get in a cafeteria line that has buckets of beer and sodas to choose from on the side. There are multiple chandeliers hanging with horns mounted everywhere and there was even cow hide stretched under the glass of our table! The architecture of the inside is interesting as well. There are nooks and balconies throughout the two floor building that add flair to the interior. The floor was multi-leveled which naturally made sections for tables and the ceiling was very high making the first floor very wide open and spacious.
http://www.goodecompany.com/

Shilo's Delicatessen is a German deli right above the Riverwalk in San Antonio. The original Shilo's opened in 1917 and the German family that owns it today still stands by the traditions and good food of the deli's past. The inside looks like it hasn't changed since they opened the location in 1942. There is a large seating area in the middle with old- fashioned bars in the back to sit and and eat if you were alone. I got Mama Schilo's Split Pea Soup and a Reuben to-go because my girl was not into the German deli food mood. I enjoyed the meal on the riverwalk while she shopped for some gifts. The split pea soup had a perfect consistency and was definitely the best I've ever had. The Reuben's tender corned beef, crispy sauerkraut, gooey swiss cheese, and grilled rye bread was an explosion of taste I recommend to all as well (to be continued . . .).
424 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Tracing a Triangle in the Lone Star State

       I've always been a big fan of Texas. I never really knew anything concrete about the state but I always imagined clear blue open skies, succulent steaks, big burgers, bad ass barbecue, bone-breaking bull riding, and the "Don't Mess with Texas" cowboy mentality. I had to see this wild west wonderland with my own eyes so I went the week of Cinco de Mayo last year. Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Galveston were all relatively close to each other so I hatched a plan to survey those four cities in seven days. I used Google Maps to trace a triangle in Texas that took more time to develop than any trip I've ever taken. There were a lot of "ins, outs, and what-have-yous" as his dudeness said in the Cohen brothers masterpiece. Despite the logistical and geographic challenges and my complete lack of any personal knowledge of Texas, I orchestrated a vacation for the ages. All of my pre-conceived notions were true in general and I found the state to be as exciting as I had expected. I absorbed decades of Lone Star State history and endulged myself hedonistically in their finest food and drink.

The trip went down like this:

1. Touch down at Hobby Airport in Houston late at night >
2. The entire next day in the nearby beach town of Galveston >
3. Astros Game at Minute Maid Park that evening in Houston >
4. Great barbecue place on way to San Antonio the next day >
5. The Riverwalk, The Tower of Americas, The Alamo, and more in San Antonio for 2 1/2 days >
6. Two top-notch burgers, a Cinco de Mayo street festival, a brewpub, the two most unique beer bars I've been to and more over 2 1/2 in Austin >
7. Depart from Hobby Airport in Houston completing the triangle I traced through Texas.

       We ate, drank, did, and saw so much more than that so I have to selectively abbreviate this tale and keep it out of chronological order. Getting into details and time frames would get too tedious so I split it up into these four posts for your reading enjoyment:

1. THE FOOD
2. HOUSTON/GALVESTON
3. SAN ANTONIO
4. AUSTIN

We would like to wish a happy birthday to our founder Unkal Ryno. Thanks for giving us a way to share our travels with others.

LOTS TO LOVE IN LAKE PLACID (Upstate NY Part 3)

Continued from Brews and Clues

Lake Placid is paradise. If you can handle long periods of extremely cold weather you can live there and be in heaven all year round. It is a mini Lake Tahoe with no gambling for all you wild westerners. I went there for delicious craft beer, legendary sports history and some great live music. Two of my favorite brewery-restaurant combos, the 1932-1980 Olympic Museum, and the Snoe.down music festival were all on the books on that sunny day late in the thick of March Madness.

12:27 After a beautiful drive I found myself entering the quaint town and headed straight to Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for a beer sampler and some eats. It was a heady place full of interesting locals and the diverse festival crowd. I had six excellent beers placed in a unique wooden tray and a delicious meal. The standouts were the Ubu Ale, their deep garnet red, English Strong Ale named after a a trusty hound, and the Frostbite Ale, a tribute to West Coast-style American Pale Ales with a great scent and aftertaste. Their offerings were all fresh, quality brews with pronounced scents and top tier taste. The rest I ranked in this order: the deep copper 46'er Pale Ale, the smooth Sunrise Stout, the crispy golden Moose Island Ale and the roasty Imperial Stout. Check the website for info on their regionally popular beers.

01:39 I asked for a tour and one of the brewing assistants was glad to show me around. In a small brewing space they manage to make magic. I checked out some live yeast and got some great shots of their equipment. The guy was so good I tried to tip him but he wouldn't take it so I thanked him sincerely and headed to the Olympic Complex.

03:11 The main hockey complex, called the Lake Placid Field House, was my next stop. I got a thorough look at the two rinks 195 196 and ventured back into the showers and locker rooms to get the Olympic athlete's full insider experience. Then I was off to the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum where I would learn all about the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. I left full of knowledge and appreciation considering I'm the opposite of a winter guy and know very little about anything that involves heavy clothing.

04:02 Great Adirondack Brewing Company was on my way back to the lodge and I could not wait until the next day (when I planned to tour the facility) to sample their suds. So I popped in and scheduled a tour for the morning on the way to the bar. There I found myself extremely under-dressed. It was a rarity, a fine-dining restaurant that had their own beer brewed on premises! I immediately noticed and enjoyed the classy Adirondack motif and the attentive professionalism of the staff. I was served well by a guy who had probably been bar tending for twenty years. I started with the sampler, lavishly presented in a hand carved wood carrier that trumped the one from Lake Placid Brewing. Check-plus honors went to the smooth-drinking Haystack Blonde Ale (5%), the perfectly-hopped John Brown Pale Ale (6.4%), the mildly-sweet Skyward Stout (5%), and aromatic 2006 Cloudsplitter Barley wine (9.5%). The check ranking went to the overly-sweet Adirondack Abbey Ale (7.1%) and over-hopped Adirondack Gold Cream Ale (5.5%). My least favorite was the Ausable Wulff Red Ale (5.6%) because I found it too malty and too sweet. I ate a delicious burger served on an English muffin with crisp, savory fries and headed back to the lodge for some rest and March Madness analysis on the tube. 

www.adirondackbrewing.com   

07:00  I arrived at the venue, the setting of the USA ice hockey team's stunning miracle victory over the Russians in the 1980 Olympics, and was just in time for the Brazilian Girls. They are an original and interesting band worth checking out live at any festival that they play. They played well but their sets always sound the same to me. The lead singer was very captivating as always but I eagerly awaited the Disco Biscuits. The Bisco set was top-notch and full of energy but one set wasn't enough. I needed more of the electronic untz that they effortlessly lace into the bass-heavy boots and bits. If you are near somebody say "boots and bits and" over and over while they repeat "untz" and you will know what I'm talking about. They frequently play rave-party music that they create as a live jam band which blows me away every time and leaves me wanting more. Thats what's so frustrating about seeing your band at a festival. Unless they headline you are left unfulfilled after the lone set. Lucky for me, the headliner of this fest was moe., a band who has played enough festivals to know this. To the surprise of everyone, they brought Bisco back out in the middle of one of their jams. The Biscuits came on stage one by one and each slowly took over their respected instrument. Once they were all up there on un-familiar instruments they dropped into Cyclone and instantly rocked the arena! I stayed until the end and was rewarded with the epic song called Plane Crash at the end of the encore to send me home happy.

                        

?? ??  The walk back to the lodge in the snow was refreshing but all i could think about was eating the deli meats waiting patiently on my open windowsill.  I was in an increadibly comfortable and well furnished room but it lacked a fridge so I had to leave my munchies in mother nature's hands. Once my sandwich was devoured I slid into my welcoming Tempur pedic bed, turned off ESPN News, and passed out

God Bless Upstate New York - stay tuned for the next voyage through the great upstate in The Adriondacks are Gorgeous

BREWS AND CLUES (Upstate NY Part 2)

(Continued from Who Knew there was so Much to do in Upstate New York)

The F.X. Matt Brewing Company has stood the test of time. It opened way back in 1888 and is still going strong. Through all these years they have produced almost every variety of beer and even produced sodas during prohibition to stay open. I had to see the place so I got there in the afternoon for an organized tour. As I went through the gate I noticed the Saranac summer stage and imagined that a concert at a brewery was the coolest possible thing that there ever is to do in Utica NY.

 

The brewery facility was top notch in every way. It was very clean and organized everywhere we were taken and the tour brought us to most corners of the cavernous building. Elevators here, stairs there, and memorabilia everywhere else. It was a very well scripted tour but the problem was the guide. She was a very nice, intellegent girl but my problem was that she was in still in college and knew less about beer than me. I want an expert that can teach me something I didn't know already that wasn't read off a piece of paper. It's just not the same as having a brewer or someone who has worked there for decades. Thankfully, was over a century of history on the script and it was all interesting and/or funny. I was a big fan of the "confidence" chair as I believed it was called. This chair, shown below, was for people to speak to each other in confidence so nobody else could hear them. The legions of steins were all from Germany, the home of the Matt family. There were dozens of different themed steins spanning the decades. Shultz and Dooley are the main characters and have been very popular in this chilly city for ages. I got to see a jam on the assembly

line fixed in front of my eyes and I suggest you check out this video.MOV99 The tasting room was the gold at the end of the rainbow. I had some great brews but they didn't have any that I hadn't had before so I have no notes for you folks. I just did some casual drinking before a night at the theatre.

 

The Stanley theater is a premiere showplace and movie palace designed in 1928 by a famous theater architect named Thomas Lamb. It was built with 2,945 seats and was designed with a stunning Mexican Baroque mix of styles throughout. The lavish gold leaves accompanied by lions, Indian faces and cherubs were all in excellent condition and exuded opulence. I had to see this landmark of Utica so there I was at a murder mystery. For twenty-five bucks I got a ticket, succulent hors d'oeuvres and my first drink free. The mystery put us in groups and we got to walk through every room of the theater as each character told their stories. Through the labyrinths of hallways under the theatre were posters of all the big shows that came through there over the years. Those walls had seen it all and I was sure had interesting stories to tell. The interactive show I was witnessing was chock full of thirty-six characters all equipped with back stories. It was great stuff and seemed to really bring the local theatre community together.

I found these chilling paintings in a room upstairs...

(Next stop to be continued in Lots to Love in Lake Placid, New York

Who knew there was this much to do in Upstate NY (Part 1)

     Before I get started on another insane tour de force I want you to know that this journey really stuck with me. I'll never forget this one because I did the most different things I've ever done in one trip and I squeezed it into a long weekend. It was too densely packed full of fun for me to tell it all at once. I'll be writing about four and a half days of non-stop in-your-face action twice a week for about a month.

Day 1 = Brown's Brewing (Troy NY) > F.X. Matt Brewery (Utica NY) > The Historic Stanley Theatre (Utica NY)

Day 2 = Lake Placid Brewery > 1932+1980 Olympic Complex and Museum > Great Adirondack Brewing Co. > Brazilian Girls>The Disco Biscuits>Moe. at the Snoe.Down Music Fest (All in Lake Placid NY)

Day 3 = Tour of Great Adirondack Brewing (Lake Placid NY) > High Falls Gorge (Wilmington NY) > Sightseeing and supper in Saratoga Springs NY

Day 4 = International Boxing Hall of Fame (Canastota NY) > Syracuse Suds Factory (Syracuse NY) > Middle Ages Brewing (Syracuse NY) 

PART 1

    I started fresh off my dirt-cheap Southwest flight in Albany NY with the clock quickly approaching March 23rd. Mere minutes before midnight I made it to Brown's Brewing, a brewpub-restaurant in nearby Troy NY.

I saddled up to the bar and sipped on a sampler of their house brewed beers and fraternized with some local RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) students. As I looked around the cavernous interior I noticed many paintings scattered on the walls and decided to give myself a brief tour of the restaurant area.

     Unfortunately, I couldn't get a behind-the scenes tour from one of the brewers due to the late nature of the evening but I got a glimpse of the facilities through glass. My taste tests concluded that all nine of their brews were up to par on my scorecard, six of them we above-average and the other three just barely made the grade. Best in show went to their Oatmeal Stout, a modern masterpiece of malting. It was a perfect blend of Willamette hops and a mellow mix of malts, two row pale, black chocolate, caramel, and flake-rolled oats, that was neither too sweet nor too milky. I'm sure many of you out there are in love with Samuel Smith's and/or Anderson Valley's Oatty Stouts because they are about as good as it gets. Right?... Wrong. Brown's version left the 2004 World Beer Cup in San Diego with the gold metal for best Oatmeal Stout. This prestigious world victory brought visions of David slaying gigantic Goliath or Cinderella Man Jimmy Braddock beating the mighty Max Baer.

I'm was so proud of them but I wished they gave it an original and exciting name. After spending all the time it takes to birth their beers they only found the time to give one out of their nine carbonated children a name that wasn't its variety of beer.  The Bat-Shea Red Ale was not very impressive so I concluded that they shit the bed on naming in general. Overall, it was a fun, friendly and fashionable place with delicious beers and a menu that appeared to be top notch so I was very impressed. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so at 2am I left for my hotel room nearby.

The next morning I jumped into the rental car and noticed the most unique bridge I have ever seen. Its giant metal archways shared the panoramic view with brown's brewing but I captured them in two different shots.

The Next stop is Utica NY, home of the Italian side of my family, an enormous brewery, and a gorgeous theater... (Continued in Brews and Clues)

A Taste of Chicago

My Two Favorite Hot Dogs in Chicago

     Every time I go out to the Windy City I do the same shit. Sports, beers, and hot dogs are the constants. I'll tell tales of their beers, stadium, and ballparks some other time, today it's all about encased meats. There is no question that it is the hot dog mecca of the country. I should know, I've taken many of wieners in the mouth in many of places. 

     When I get off my dirt-cheap Southwest non-stop at Midway I hit the L right to  my buddy Gairock's stop near his place in Lincoln Park. On the walk from the stop I hit up my favorite grocer in the country, the Lincoln Park Market. Their selection of delicious beer is unprecedented for a neighborhood market. I always show up with beers that I've never seen before from west of the Mississippi. Everything else in there is great but I don't shop for groceries on vacation as a rule. I believe you have to eat what the natives eat, I can cook when I'm home.

     Not far from his place lies The Weiner's Circle, an orchestra of sights, sounds, and smells. ) All of this excitement fits in a simple shack of a building. As you get in line you see the delicious logo painted on the wall inside. You can hear the flippant staff bitching about something or yelling at someone for not ordering correctly. Then the smells hit you. Cheddar char-broiled hot dogs, burgers and hand cut cheddar-smothered fries have a strong effect on people. Every kind of person you can think of can be found in line, the hot dogs don't discriminate. . I have taken the tomato slices off so you can see all the colors involved in this masterpiece. The red tomato, orange cheese, yellow mustard, green pickle, bright green relish, black poppy seeds, and white onions are an orgy of flavors on this blackish-red locally encased Vienna beef log.

     The simplicity of the Weiner's Circle is what makes it great. Variety is what makes Hot Doug's legendary. I demand that you listen to their song on this website. Click on the hybrid mix and thank me afterwords. It is a solid drive from downtown but well worth it. The inside is wall to wall fun with pictures and mementos everywhere. I found a hint of Charm City in there as I came across this hilarious picture of an old Baltimore Colt. . I ordered one of their permanent specialty dogs, the game of the week, and their hand-cut cheese-soaked fries. . Yes, they serve different game animals each week blanketed in whatever savory condiments them desire. Mine was the merlot and blueberry venison sausage with prickly pear cactus mayo and goat cheese. . They even serve duck fat fries on the weekends for all of you french fry aficionados. . These are the best encased meats in town and their fries come second to The Weiner Circle's Cheddar delights.

     Next time I'm in the Chicago state of mind we will examine Superdawg and deep dish pizza but until then get off your ass and go somewhere you haven't traveled before.

Fear and Loathing in The Deep North

     Last week I told the tale of Ravens on the Road '06 so I figured I why not Ravens on the Road '07 this week. Fifty-one wonderful weeks later I found myself getting off a sixteen hour shift of Terps homecoming bar tending. It was five in the morning and I had all six of our deadest presidents buried in my wallet. Most importantly, I was right on schedule to see the black birds of Baltimore swarm the blue Bills of Buffalo in the deepest of north in eight short hours.

     My dad and a great mix of our friends had been in and around Buffalo for two days of Niagara Falls, gambling, and a stop at the Anchor Bar. I would have been all over that shit but I couldn't pass up the best shift of the year at the saloon. The money was too good to turn down so I had to miss some fun, lose some sleep and take an extra plane.

     I left work heading to BWI and hopped on the 7:30 to Philly with nothing but my ravens gear, camera and money. I sleep the whole hour flight and woke up hung-over but undeterred from catching my flight to Buffalo. I found myself sitting with a Ravens fan and a guy that had taken interest in us. The guy asked us about the Ravens and the conversation that ensued got us a ride in his car to Ralph Wilson Stadium. This was perfect because getting all the way from the airport to the stadium in time for the game was going to be the hardest part of the trip.

     As we approached our drop zone a rabid Bills fan verbally assaulted us in his underwear, proving that these were of a different species. I immediately envisioned droves of desperate, downtrodden and derailed Bills fans jaded from four straight years of choking and bad luck. Isn't that what us big game hunters want deep down inside? It's the rare breeds, the ones that only exist in certain climates with particular temperaments that are so interesting.

I was tossed a Labatt Blue when I arrived to the tailgate around noon and from then on I enjoyed that icy Canadian water coursing through my veins. I needed it with jackasses jawing about Ray Lewis being a murderer. Maybe it would be funny if he wasn't simply guilty of having bad friends. So I tossed it back at them saying that I would take General Lewis any day over their beloved OJ "I actually killed two people with a knife" Simpson. There was also an air around the departure of Willis McGahee and his biting comments about Buffalo that was as thick as their Canadian accents. Angry fans were defacing and burning his jerseys and carrying signs with choice words about him. I had to push on through all that nonsense on my way into the large 34 year old; under ground bowl they call Ralph Wilson Stadium.

     The fearless confidence that I had at the beginning of the game quickly turned to rage as I found myself walking around the stadium to avoid the game for the entire second quarter. That's when I found the New Robb. It was a double portion of soaked roast beef on weck (short for a kummelweck roll) which was so salty my tongue rolled up like a slap bracelet. It went so well with my ice cold refreshing brew that I forgot how angry I was at the game. But the Bills were still trampling all over us. It was a slow painful death, even though the score was close, be assured that we had been stampeded.

     On the way out all I could think of was devouring one of Ted's famous hot dogs. I knew about them from the Hot Dog Heavens show on Food Network and knew I would be getting an out-of-this-world wiener. That grilled frank with their signature hot sauce was the only thing in Buffalo that could have consoled me after the abomination that I had witnessed. People fly to Buffalo from all over the country for those dogs and that tangy hot sauce and then I knew why.

     The only thing getting between me and my bed that I hadn't seen in 32 hours was about 277 miles of nothing. Thankfully the trip went fast as I reclined in the third row of a six-seater SUV that was running on black and milds and going 90mph through the dark mountains. I thanked the driver for my passage and thanked God I was alive.