Living up in the Adirondack State Park is nice, but it can get lonely. That's why we're moving to Glens Falls, the closest big town, which is about an hour south of where we are now. My daughter Ellie (who I've written about at length before) was getting tired of hanging around a mostly-empty house piled high with boxes, so we took a day off from moving and spent the afternoon in downtown Glens Falls today.

Downtown Glens Falls, courtesy 518fever.com

Glens Falls is a wonderful place to live. Around 45 minutes north of Albany on I-87 and sitting right on the Hudson River, it was nicknamed "Hometown USA" by Look magazine in 1944. In fact, just after the war, my grandfather passed through Glens Falls and remembers it to this day - he was delighted when we told him we were moving to the city, even though it had been close to 70 years since he'd been there!

Downtown Glens Falls is especially nice. City Park is right in the center, and it's almost always hopping with festivals and events during the summer and fall. Today, though, we had the place to ourselves.

We had prepared for such an occasion. Bringing a beautiful handmade blanket with us and stopping off at Jacob and Toney's Meat Store of the North on the way down to pick up some deli sandwiches, we settled in for a nice picnic under the shade of a beautiful poplar tree.

The Whole Foods bag comes from our first and only trip to that particular supermarket. We're still paying off the second mortgage we had to take out in order to afford the four items we bought there that day.

The sandwiches we brought with us need some explanation. The Meat Store of the North - yes, that's what it's really called - is one of the few full-service butcher shops still around. Their stuff is so fresh that it was still alive and kicking just a few days ago. Silly name, but amazing food. You can get a giant sandwich that can feed a family of four, both lunch and dinner, for around $14. We had bought two of those monsters yesterday and they lasted us well through to today. There's still a quarter of a sandwich left in our fridge even now.

That's just half of one of the sandwiches there. Yes, they come in massive trays when you buy them. The bread is baked fresh on-site every day as well. It's goddamn delicious.

Do you notice the open, half-eaten sandwich on the right, with a little hand in the frame? That's Ellie's. She likes to eat her sandwiches one piece at a time, instead of picking it up and taking a bite out of it like a normal person.

Turkey, salami, and provolone, eaten one handful at a time.

Going...

... going...

... gone!

After devouring her sandwich - and getting her face and hands wiped off, Ellie was one content kid.

Lying in the grass, happy as a clam.

She also enjoyed showing off her new shoes, a present from her grandparents. Now that her cast is off and she's begun walking again, she's all about the shoes.

My wife @alladesria was also happy with lunch, and with getting to spend some family time in our new home.

With full bellies, we turned and walked to the Crandall Public Library, one of the nicest libraries I've been in and one of the centerpieces of Glens Falls. It abuts right up against City Park, and it's lovely brick building that's been kept up very nicely over the decades.

It's got a great ramp entrance that Ellie loves to race up and down. Since she's still not doing stairs too well just yet, she was eager to use the handrails and toddle up the incline.

The library is a great mix of new and old architecture and design elements. Check out the details on the old wooden shutters!

Sadly we didn't stay long. The library has a wonderful children's section, but someone decided to poop their pants. So we had to go back to the car for a change.

Slung over my shoulder, shit-eating grin (and shit in her pants).

After Ellie got a full wardrobe change (which she sorely needed, trust me) we went for a walk down Glen Street, the main drag through Glens Falls. Today happened to be the last day of Take a Bite, an annual local food festival where all the restaurants in town set up tables and offer samples for a couple of bucks a plate.

Because we just simply hadn't eaten enough - and because we spotted some joker in one of those orange rubber t-rex costumes, we went on a walk in search of more calories.

The t-rex proved elusive. He was a crafty devil, disappearing into the crowd. However, where was plenty to see - and to eat - on Glen Street. Our first stop was the Stewart's Shops stand, where we got Ellie some ice cream.

Stewart's is a chain of convenience stores in upstate New York, and it has some of the best old-fashioned ice cream around. They do food too, but it doesn't hold a candle to other places like Wawa - when @alladesria and I were living in southeastern Pennsylvania back before Ellie was born, we were addicted to Wawa sandwiches. We miss them, but the ice cream more than makes up for it. At least Ellie seems to think so!

We had a seat across the street from the Charles R. Wood Theater, a classic venue that hosts some pretty interesting shows. In fact, Marc Summers - yes, the guy from Double Dare - is in town, putting on his autobiographical stage play. We couldn't get tickets, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.

Our friend Sara caught up with us at this point, and she joined us in our quest to eat our way down Glen Street. Here she is in the foreground, chowing down on some buffalo wings while a Glens Falls trolley passed by us. They run several times a day from town up to Lake George, which is only about ten miles north of us.

Hmm, that's funny - did you notice the license plate of the car behind Sara?

ZOOM. ENHANCE.

syb·a·rite
ˈsibəˌrīt/
noun
a person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury.
synonyms: hedonist, sensualist, voluptuary, libertine, pleasure-seeker, epicure, bon vivant, bon viveur
"an exclusive resort that caters to wealthy sybarites"

Someone's naughty. I made a mental note to keep this in mind the next time I was in town.

After our close encounter with the seedy underbelly of Glens Falls, we continued down the street, looking for more things to stuff in our faces. The sidewalk was getting pretty packed at this point.

Finally we stopped in front of The 190 Grille, a "dinner-and-a-movie" type restaurant with their own built-in movie theater. Tickets are just six bucks for first-run movies, but there's a catch: you have to spend a minimum of $15 per person.

Ten bucks for lobster mac and cheese? Too rich for my blood. Be gone with you, bored-looking lunchlady!

We crossed the street, ignoring the even more bored-looking gelato guy:

Seriously, the ennui is just oozing off this poor slob.

Then, we spied something curious. Two people dressed as Doc McStuffins characters.

Ellie was suspicious at first.

Who are these people, and what are they doing out from behind my television screen?

Soon, curiosity won out, and she was high-fiving Doc and Hallie the Hippo, though I think she was still a little confused about the whole situation.

Finally, we decided it was time to go. I took one last look at Glen Street...

I really love the early 20th century architecture of downtown Glens Falls.

We walked back past the library towards the car. I took a picture of the Civil War memorial, framed by the goofy handmade sign that a local animal-rights group had put up on the corner.

Took a long walk down the sidewalk, the library on our right and City Park on our left...

... stopped one more time under that poplar where we had our picnic for a parting shot...

... and packed up a now very tired and sleepy Ellie. She passed out about five minutes into the car ride home, sleeping the sleep of the just. Another great afternoon of happy memories!