The Day After Christmas

Lesser Barrington

Dave arrived Friday night right on schedule. Actually, United's web site had told us that his flight would be getting in late, so we took our time in getting to the airport. But when we arrived, the flight was already at the gate although they hadn't unloaded passengers yet.

We had a nice day on Saturday - lunch at Whistling Kettle, then to church followed by dinner at home. Jeff had made a pot of cioppino that we had with some lasagna. Linda and I did a full turkey dinner on Christmas - so now we are truly stuffed! Talked to Laney last night.

The plan was to take Dave to the bank today to have him sign the signature card for our safe deposit box. We are going to try, but I think this is formally a federal holiday, so the bank may be closed. Also plan to go to FYE - Jeff gave Dave a gift certificate there, and since he doesn't have a store in California, he wants to use it before leaving tomorrow. Then, Jeff and Dave want to have dinner tonight at the Sunset Grill in Ballston Spa - Jeff used to work with the guy who owns the place, and apparently the menu is interesting.

So we went to FYE at Clifton Park (a mall that is trying to die - really depressing place), and then walked around in downtown Saratoga for a while. Stopped in Saratoga Yarn, Soave Faire, Borders, Starbucks (to say Hi to Bill and Brenda Hamm), Eddie Bauer, and Saratoga Hot. It was cold and damp, and Dave didn't have a warm jacket - but the real reason we kept the trek short was that Linda was cold.

This picture is from our last visit to Great Barrington. This is a window on the building that houses a restaurant and photo gallery that we like. It's in an alley, so the space is very limited - I was glad to have the 90mm lens.

Years ago, when Mario Cuomo was governor of New York, he had a weekly radio conversation with Alan Chartok. I recall hearing it one evening while waiting for Jeff at Pai's Tae Kwan Do - Chartok lives in Great Barrington, and Cuomo was busing on him for choosing to live in a place with a name that implies superiority - and asked him if there were also a "Lesser Barrington" for people who didn't qualify for Great Barrington. The name stuck.