NY Day 6- Wings, Weddings, and Walkin' Around Buffalo

The wedding wasn't until 4 in the afternoon today, so I got to go walking around downtown Buffalo with my parents and cousins. I'm sorry to say that I did not do the big tourist-y things you're supposed to do in Buffalo, namely visit Niagra Falls and get Buffalo Wings at the Anchor Bar where they were supposedly invented. I didn't do these, because I've done them before at different family outings over the years, and since I didn't know how much time I'd have to explore the city in between wedding things, I wanted to make sure I saw new things. That being said, I do highly recommend getting to see Niagra if given the chance because it truly is stunning, and the wings at the Anchor bar are pretty darn good as well though maybe less awe-inspiring.

The first thing I saw while walking around was the site where Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated as president. It was done in Buffalo, because that was where William McKinley was assassinated. My dad was very excited about this, because he's a big history buff, and he also thought he might be able to get a deal to the museum aspect of the inaugural site which is always something to get excited about. Unfortunately the museum wasn't open yet, but we did get to see the big man.

I've got pretty mixed feelings on the old rough rider (imperialism - bad; trust busting - good) but he does cut a nice statue however you feel about him.

Exhausted from all the history (and not at all still hungover from the mimosas), we got coffee at a little shop across the street from the hotel called the Spot. I thought the coffee was really good, but I was much more enamored by the weird surrealist painting of Seattle that took up most of one wall. I don't know if there's a sister store in Seattle, or they just feel like Seattle and coffee kinda go together but I was into it.

Slightly more clear-headed, we continued to walk around Buffalo. We saw the McKinley memorial, which just looked like a smaller Washington Monument. I don't get what it is about dead presidents and obelisks.

While we were walking around some guy just came up to us on the street, and asked me to google a loose pill he had in his pocket to make sure he wasn't messing up his meds. It was kinda strange, but I guess it's nice that he's trying to be safe. To me though, not carrying around loose pills might be the safest bet if you're worried about dosing. I'm no doctor though, but my cousins who are physician's assistants backed that one up.

The people watching in Buffalo continued to be excellent as I was finally able to find that darn Waldo:

We went back to the hotel for a bit while we waited for some of my female cousins to finish with hair and make up appointments. I got to chat with my aunts and uncles about what it was like for them growing up which was fun. I asked them about Halloween because it's topical and my aunt said that for Halloween each year because they didn't have much money they'd always use their mom's cigarette ashes to make themselves look like hobos. I love that. It's funny how many great stories you might miss out on if you never think to ask.

At one point, my dad did the most Kramer thing he has ever done, and came barreling into our hotel room to tell us about a hot dog place he had gone too. "Joe, you've gotta go, it's Hot dog heaven!" The only thing that was missing was some finger snapping and jittering. But we decided we'd have to check this hot dog place out for ourselves.

My brother had already had his heart set on getting wings while we were on Buffalo so we met hims at a bar called Gabriel's Gate. The bar was really cool, they had a nice house brown ale, and they put witch hats on all the taxidermied animals (there was not a small number). We started by splitting some poutine. I'm sure real Canadians would object to the fact that they used provolone instead of cheese curds, but it was still pretty tasty. We decided for the wings to get a medium buffalo sauce. It was the perfect balance of heat to flavor. I'm no connoisseur, but I really enjoyed them.

We didn't eat too many though, because we wanted to save room for Hot Dog Heaven AKA Ted's Hot Dogs. Ted's is apparently well known beyond my dad for having really good hot dogs, including some specialty ones. My cousin, Johnny, got the chili dog, I got a mac and cheese and bacon hot dog, and the rest of my cousins were still feeling content from the wings. I think because the dog was so layered in cheese and meat it was hard to tell how good the actual weiner was. I think the New York System hot dogs in RI were probably a little bit better, but hot dog heaven still disappoint.

After all that it was wedding time! Somehow we all still managed to fit into our suits, which was a relief. The ceremony was really lovely. Andrew and Mari clearly love each other, and their vows were very sweet, funny, and heartfelt. There were four very young flower girls who did threaten to steal the show at points though, as they started fighting with bouquets and playing with the train of Mari's dress. It was very cute.

The post-wedding party was held at the Buffalo Historical Museum. The main landing was cleared out and turned into a dance floor, but most of the exhibits were still available to peruse. The big draw was the Apostolic Clock, a giant mechanized clock where every half hour all the apostles come out and bow to Jesus, except for Peter who turns his back, and then the devil would pop up whenever Judas passed by. It was legitimately cool, but it became a running joke that every half hour we'd try to talk as many people as we could into seeing the Apostles. We only talked one non-cousin into checking out the clock, but I think she was glad she did.

Somehow I managed to top the number of mimosas from the night before so most of the rest of the night is a happy blur of messing around with cousins, eating some salmon, and hitting up the photobooth. This whole mimosa thing also started as a running joke years ago that whenever the nephews get together we have to drink mimosas. It's hard to explain but in comedy you've got to commit to the bit so commit we all did. It was a wonderful night.

Favorite Random Sightings: Absurd Corp., Friskee's; Jim's Steak Out

Regional Observations: Buffalo shaped logos are everywhere in buffalo, and there were even buffalo shaped candies on the wedding cupcakes.

Albums Listened To: None today, which is a real first!

People's favorite Jokes:

How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? Their mouth is moving

An old Irish woman has this big headache, so she decides she has to go to confession to absolve her sins. She goes into the confessional and after a while she comes out, and says "Oh my headache is gone!" The priest comes out holding his head, and says, "I think you gave it to me"

Song of the Day:

Since there wasn't any albums listened to, here's my personal favorite romantic song of all time because of the wedding spirit.