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Throughout my entire life, and through numerous visits to Schenectady
and Albany, I never had a reason to head for the third dusty gem in the
Capital District: Troy. Sure, it's the
birthplace of Uncle Sam, but it never held the allure the of
downtrodden, but historically rich history of Schenectady nor the
capital city Napoleon complex Albany possessed. So, I always
gave the Collar City a pass.
I admit, I'm an idiot.
I was able to catch Troy at all the hours: my Uncle Dave took me
through a late night run of East Troy, checking out the run down
factories, hopelessly dismal streets and houses that dotted the roads as
we passed the true drinking holes that made my heart beat faster and my
liver wince. Outside the South End Tavern was a neon sign that
heralded the 'Ladies Entrance'. That was my kind of place.
We took a quick tour of similar places before snaking our way out of
town an into Albany. Ironically, after having driven through the
streets of Troy without incident, we found ourselves on the bohemian
posh enclave of Lark Street when the car in front of us stopped
suddenly, and a uniformed cop got out and helped arrest a man in a
hoodie right before our eyes.
My Aunt Nicky made good on her promise to take me to some of the best
hot dog joints in Troy. We hit the road for lunch and she spun me
through downtown Troy, a vital, shockingly clean, progressive bastion of
urban living. Downtown floored me, and in the middle of it all was
a little run down hot dog joint - Famous Lunch. You can read all
about that in:
TROY'S HOT DOG BATTLE
So, after chowing down on more hot dogs than one should consume in a
day, we both managed to head around Troy and back to Schenectady.
Along the way we stopped off at a thrift store where that elusive
firecracker of a shirt that has some mention of Schenectady on it
managed to elude my grasp one more time. I did pick up a few nice
shirts, a dapper outfit my mom described as 'Kramer's', and a mug that
carried the I LOVE NY logo on it.
I begged for the rest of family to head to Troy to look around and
try to the hot dogs, to no avail. But the next time I'm in the
area, I know which city I'm heading to first.
Continue on to Schenectady, New York |
