State Street

Well, it's not That Great Street, but it's Albany's main route up from the river to the capitol. It's mostly lined with office buildings and banks. Shopping has long since moved out to the suburbs. There are a couple of hotels, a church, and some eating establishments, too.

Looking west up State Street from the plaza of the old D&H Building, now the SUNY Administration building. The gray building on the right is Albany's old post office and federal building, now part of the SUNY complex.

This is the street where, every spring during the Tulip Festival, young women in colonial Dutch attire ceremonially sweep the dirt and grime from the pavement. The local news programs eat it up, of course. Um, the ceremony, that is, not the dirt and grime.

A closer look up State Street toward the capitol.

The street is very steep as it climbs up toward the capitol. Back in the day, electric streetcars climbed up. The tracks are long gone, as are the streetcars, replaced by conventional buses. I would love to have known downtown back then, with streetcars, department stores (W. M. Whitney and Myers' were the two big ones), and the hotels, night clubs, and bars of the day.

The Hudson at Albany

It's hard to remember now, but back when I was a kid, the Hudson River was sick with pollution. It was a muddy brown color. River fish and other wildlife began to die out. What fish survived were contaminated and fishing was banned. Nobody wanted anything to do with the waterfront. The city that once relied on the river for commerce and transportation turned away from it. A wide interstate highway was built over the old wharves and railroad tracks, cutting the city off from its maritime heritage.

Looking north (upriver) from the park end of the bridge with part of the amphitheater below and to the right.

Environmental movements in the sixties and seventies prompted the state and federal governments to begin reversing the damage that industry and development had done to the river. There's still a long way to go before the river can be declared "clean," but even now the Hudson is blue again and people are coming back to the water. Unfortunately for Albany, the huge interstate highway remains a nearly impenetrable barrier to the urban waterfront.

Looking south (downriver) to the high-rise bridge that connects to the interstate highway along the river's west bank.

In 2002, the city opened a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the interstate to connect downtown to the relatively new Corning Preserve waterfront park. While certainly not an ideal solution, the bridge helps Albany's citizens access the riverfront. The bridge ends at an 1,000-seat amphitheater built into the riverbank which has become a popular venue for summer concerts and festivals. Trails lead north and south through the 15 acre park along the waterfront.

The pedestrian bridge, called Hudson River Way, looking back toward downtown.

A few street scenes

Here are a few shots of nothing in particular. I was making my way on foot from up near the capitol down to the river and the waterfront park. The first photo is a view of Lodge Street, looking south. The church is called Saint Mary's, a Roman Catholic church completed in 1870.

The second photo is North Pearl Street, again looking southward from its intersection with Sheridon Street. You can see the old (restored) Kenmore Hotel building just left of center. It was built as a hotel in 1878 and renovated as an office building in 1986.

The last photo was taken on Broadway, again looking kind of southward. The trees are in a small triangular park between Maiden Lane and Pine Street. There were very few people on the sidewalks because it wasn't lunch time yet. That made snapping photos a little easier.

The distortion you might have noticed (the buildings leaning at strange angles) in the pictures is an effect of the wide-angle lens. I did some minimal correction in post-processing by rotating and cropping, but nothing fancier.

Assiduity

That's the official motto of the city of Albany. This is a statue representation of the city seal. It's installed in Tricentennial Park on Broadway, across from the city's old downtown train station (which was restored, but converted into an office building). The motto means "the quality of acting with constant and careful attention" or, more succinctly, "diligence."

The city seal as sculpture in Tricentennial Park. With tulips in the flower bed, of course.

The shield includes an image of a beaver in the top half, representing the region's fur trade, and sheaves of wheat in the bottom, representing its agricultural heritage. A native American stands on one side, and a colonist (in the sculpture, the colonist is made to look like a Dutch explorer) on the other. A European sailing ship floats above the coat of arms.

A pretty bad photo (into the sun) of Albany's former Union Station, now an office building.

Another statue, created by the same artist (who was also a political cartoonist for one of the local newspapers), depicts former Mayor Thomas Whalen sitting on a park bench with his dog, a golden retriever named Finn McCool. Whalen was mayor from 1983 to 1993. I had already left Albany by then.

For all your horseshoe needs

At least if you're in Greene County. That's the county just to the south of Albany County where we had lunch one day. The restaurant was next door to this establishment. According to an entry on the county's business page, "Greene County Horseshoe Supply is a blacksmith shop that offers a complete line of farrier supplies. As well as a complete line of horse equipment and tack. Saddles are bought and traded. There is also a gift store for your enjoyment."

These places were probably as common as car dealers back in the 18th and 19th centuries.

We didn't stop in. All of our horses were under the hood of L's SUV. If you look closely, you may see the statue of a cowboy on the porch of the building.
Yee ha!

A garden break

Here's a little break from the trip photos to show you how the vegetable garden is looking now that it's August. We got a slow start because of all the rain we had in May and June. When I finally got a chance to set the plants out in the garden, it was hot and humid and the dirt was heavy and clumpy. And there were biting bugs all around. Yuck. It was not fun.

Three rows of green beans, peppers and eggplant in the middle, and tomatoes behind.

But I got all the seedlings in over a couple of days, and even planted a row of green bean seeds. Two weeks later, I planted a second row of beans, and another two weeks after that, a third row. We started harvesting from the first row just last week. We should have a lot of beans over the next few weeks.

Winter squash, zucchini, and kale.

We've also harvested some zucchini. This year I was restrained and only planted two zucchini plants. Normally we're drowning in the stuff, but not this time. Still, there should be plenty for the two of us. And there are winter squash and pumpkins, too, but they won't be ready for harvest for a while yet.

Swiss chard.

The cucumbers have been disappointing so far. With two exceptions, most of the fruit is very bitter. I read that this can happen if the cukes are watered unevenly. I've been watering daily through most of July, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm thinking I won't do cukes again next year. The summer cucumbers in the supermarket are always good and they're not expensive.

Peppers and eggplant on the left, rows of green beans on the right. And lots of weeds in between.

The eggplant and bell peppers are healthy and covered in blossoms. There are some small peppers forming now, but they still have some growing to do. We've been harvesting Swiss chard and kale for a while now, and that should continue through the end of summer and maybe into the fall.

Rensselaerville Falls

These are my friends L&L on the bridge below Rensselaerville Falls in the Huyck Preserve. We had a nice walk along the creek to the falls. And then we got hungry. Onward!

L&L with falls behind.

Here's a picture of me and L that L took with her smartphone. I had forgotten about it until I found it again on Facebook.

Walt and L at Rensselaerville Falls.

We had lunch at the Mountain View Brasserie in Greenville. There was a nice looking Rolls (I think) parked out front. My friends L&L took some photos outside. Lunch was great. I had grilled chicken breast with roasted peppers and a basil mayonnaise on ciabatta bread. And some wine, of course. It was all delicious!

What a nice car!

Later that evening, L grilled salmon and corn on the barbecue and served it with some fried haddock, sweet potatoes, and a mixed salad. Yum! We followed that up with a fruit tarte. And more wine, of course.

L taking a picture of L outside the Mountain View Brasserie.