Gourmet Utica: Chuck E Cheese

We finally caught up with our grandaughter, Amelia, who has been away for awhile, and her first request was to go to our house. Her priorities are right on. But her second request was to go to Chuck E Cheese, the mouse that roared for little children everywhere!

I had never been to Chuck E Cheese but Amelia knew the place like the back of her hand: all the rides, what to eat, the prizes, the looked-forward-to appearance of Chuck E himself, the little stage where kids can sing or dance or just plain show off. In short, a kid's paradise. Constant noise. Bright lights and colors. Pizza and candy galore. Rides in cars, on horses. Lots of other kids running around.

And that will be $35. please. For a cardboard pizza and tokens for the rides. I'll spare you a photo of the (so-called) pizza.

Not to mention the Flaming Finger and Extreme (has to be EXTREME) Hunting! Where if you look closely you can see the words "life like violence mild." An oxymoron if ever there was one.

Upstate Fashion Dept.: Party Pants

Forever Leather, New Hartford Shopping Center

For those of you who were wondering what to wear clubbing around here--or to make a big statement at back yard picnics--Forever Leather has put forth--literally (like on the sidewalk)--these form-fitting, metallic gold pants! Hurry. They may sell out before you get there.

With thanks to my fellow broken-down Uticans, Caitlin and her mother, Kathy.

Catch Up, Plus Good News for Utica via NPR

Little Italy

No, this is not East Utica! But the flavor is similar. It's Little Italy in Manhattan.

Warm greetings and apologies to my many followers, fellow bloggers, and cool people of Utica. My last post was May 17th, and one of the cardinal rules I have learned in the fleeting world of blogging is keep those posts coming or your blog will drop dead from lack of upkeep and interest.

I have been sick as a dog for most of this past winter, culminating in a horrible flu I acquired en route to Brooklyn, NY to visit my daughter. It began as a cough, then a sore throat, until it filled my chest and created a hacking cough and fever. I made it through two great dinners, an Israeli breakfast, a Circle Line cruise (my daughter, a true citizen of NYC, had never gone), and a visit to Little Italy, not to mention several climbs up and down her three-story building, before I collapsed on the way home a week ago Monday. Just got on my feet last weekend and I am more or less up and about today.

Which is when I came upon my neglected blog!!!

So let me begin to pick up the pieces with a piece that appeared in the Observer-Dispatch a few weeks ago regarding a program on National Public Radio (NPR) entitled "State of the Re:Union." Al Letson, the host, is doing a whole series of shows about forgotten and neglected cities and towns in the USA, and he gave Utica a pretty good review.

What really seemed to impress his producers was the acceptance here of the new mosque on Court Street. While the citizens of Manhattan were battling over the creation of a new mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero, the citizens of Utica were welcoming the Bosnian-Muslim community and its mosque.

If you haven't seen it, it's an old church transformed into something new and beautiful, a white mosque with gray accents.

The O-D article notes that people who listen to the NPR report on Utica (http://stateofthereunion.com/) will hear about the mosque as well as Rev. Maria Scates on her work to rehabilitate a drug-infested Cornhill neighborhood. "People outside of the area are noticing things here, and if we are smart enough to capitalize on this they can be trigger points for a much more prosperous future," said Gary Grates, executive with the independent PR firm, Edelman.

The "Re;Union" producers visited last January and spent a lot of time sampling the ethnic food on Bleecker Street in such restaurants as Thuy and the Florentine Bakery.

Gourmet Utica: She Delivers!

Check out "The Dish" this week, fresh, healthy meals delivered to your home or place of work. Including lemon bars! The menu and prices are on the website: http://www.dishesbytrish.com/

Upstate Architecture: A Genesee Street Gem

If you have seen any pictures of old Utica, particularly looking north or south on Genesee Street, you are aware of what a grand avenue it used to be, lined with tall arching elm trees and residential buildings in a variety of architectural styles. Almost all of those homes are now small businesses or doctors' offices. And the elms were lost to elm disease years ago. Still, I love to imagine how it used to be. If I squint a little, I can see the crowded downtown, trollies, even the carriages, and the families on their porches in the summer. 

Here's a classic I passed on a walk a few days ago; one I had never really noticed. It's been home to various businesses and is currently for sale, if anyone's interested.

Gourmet Utica: Joeys

This will not be news to anyone who has lived here for any length of time, because Joeys has been around for roughly 20 years and has changed hands at least once, but it's a great restaurant, one of my favorites. It provides the simplest and most basic of Italian dishes--manicotti, lasagne, ziti, meatballs, eggplant parm, chicken parm, etc--as well as creative, delicious specials every night. The pasta is fresh homemade and the dining rooms remind me of Little Italy and Italy Italy and "The Godfather."  You almost forget you are in East Utica on the corner of Mohawk and Lansing Streets.

Little Italy, Italy Italy and "The Godfather"

I have been to Joeys with almost everyone I know over the years--with my family, people I worked with, for parties, and on Saturday nights with Ray.

And of course, I have to mention that a portrait of my former brother in law, Sal Amico, a jazz musician, holds an honored place on the wall near the bar.

Upstate Architecture: Two Whitesboro Beauties

I'm happy to post photos of two houses taken by my friend, Jeff Boehlert, who knows a lot about construction and renovation, having taught himself how to do just that.

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of a house I noticed as I was leaving the Dunham Public Library in Whitesboro and launched what I hope will be another thread  (Architecture) in this blog about life in Utica and/or Upstate New York. In its heyday, Utica and many other Upstate cities and towns created beautiful buildings, both residential and public. I know enough about architecture to see that some are elegant and/or unusual. Some are odd. Some imitative of 

Europeon styles. Many have been renovated and adapted for various uses today.

Jeff expressed an interest in this particular aspect of life here and sent me these photos a few days ago. I asked him to tell me what he liked about these two houses. Here's what he said:

"As for the houses they are both from upper Main Street in Whitesboro. I liked the first one because of the capped turret style slate roof over the porch. I love all things turret. 

I like the white house because it looks so classic and inviting...timeless. It's actually a very old home, maybe 90-100 years, and it has so many unique features. Large (25 small paned) front windows, great cornice details, a really nice roof line and to top it off the house is a 6 sided design. If I was ever to build a house, I would imitate that exterior."