A Short Jaunt to Buffalo

This was our fourth visit to the city of Buffalo, NY.  However, our last visit was in 1983.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We only live about five hours away, but we have not visited the city in over 30 years!  Back then we were drawn to Buffalo by the Albright Knox Gallery, one of the nation's distinguished art museums.  This time it was art again that took us back, but to a newer gallery across the street from the main one.

Our visit was a short one, consisting of Friday evening and Saturday up to just beyond the noon hour. There wasn't much time for anything except a brewpub and the art exhibit we came to see.  We crossed the river from Fort Erie on the Peace Bridge, and not only was it toll-free, but we got right up to a customs booth.  The custom inspector was very friendly and we were soon downtown and at our hotel.  We stayed at one of those big, anonymous hotels that are usually too expensive.  Adams Mark Hotel is right downtown, and we snagged a good internet rate. Our room was lovely, very comfortable, had great views eastward from our sixth floor room, and it turned out to be very quiet, too.  Full marks for this place!

Five minutes walk from the front door is Pearl Street Grill and Brewery.  Located in a beautifully restored old canal-era building, this place was hopping on a Friday night at 6:30 pm.  However, we got in and were seated immediately.  There were good veg selections on the menu, and the beer list was very appetizing.  I ended up having three 10 oz glasses of their beer.  I began with this one:

Scotch Ale  6.5% ABV                      

20 SRM  10 IBU's  FG 1.024

A staff favorite, this big, sweet, chewy scotch ale goes perfect with turkey dinners and the first snow fall.  It's not a strong beer, it's just a Wee Heavy...

It was rich and tasty, just what I wanted!  My second glass contained this one:

Street Brawler 
Our Oatmeal Stout, Street Brawler is dark and roasted with flavors of chocolate and black coffee. It is hopped with traditional English hops that together with the oats serve to round out the edges and give this beer a smooth finish.

Again, it was full-bodied and filled with flavour.  It is worth brawling for.  After dinner (I had a ten-pound bean burger; Deb had a huge salad) I enjoyed this minty treat:

Chocolate Stout  Street Brawler's smooth, dark, richness is accented by the sweet fullness of chocolate.

I took a wander around the place.  There were a lot of private parties going on.  The building is old and full of magic, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.  There are four floors of mayhem (at least on a busy night).  Highly recommended for hungry and thirsty visitors!

Beer board at Pearl Street Grill, Buffalo

Next morning, after a breakfast of oatmeal and bagels and tea at a downtown Starbucks, we made our way to the gallery.  We drove up Elmwood, a very fun street filled with shops, parks, good houses, people and cars.  We stopped at a pet store before continuing on to our destination.

2014 Buffalo Skyline shot, from Wikipedia.  Our Adams Mark Hotel can be seen in the right corner, a long, low gray building just above the brown one in the very corner.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center is a place we have been wanting to visit for a long time. Home to the largest collection of paintings by Charles Burchfield, they had a special exhibit on of his landscapes, many of them borrowed from other museums for this show.  He is one of the greatest American painters of the 20th C., though he was nearly drowned out by the likes of Jackson Pollock and other modern artists.  This museum and their exhibits go a long way in restoring his position as one of the foremost artists of his time.  We had recently seen over a dozen of his works exhibited in Detroit (DIA, permanent collection), and were ready for more. It was a great show, small in scale ( 3 rooms, though containing 88 works) and we were the only people there on Saturday morning!  Talk about a private showing.

Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo.  It is right

across the street from the Albright Knox Gallery.

Entrance to the art center, showing the poster for 

the exhibit we would see today.

The exhibit held many breathtaking works, some of them quite large.  I have included a few of my own (flashless) photographs of some of the works that appealed to me, but by no means all of them.  The really interesting thing about Burchfield is that his journals are as interesting as his paintings.  The two, in fact, should be taken together.  We purchased the catalogue, as well as another picture book of some of his greatest works.  I am amazed that the Detroit works are virtually unknown; they are of extreme high quality.  Likely due to their fragile nature (watercolours) and the fact that they were just recently on display explains their absence in this show.

Late Winter Dawn, Burchfield

Spiro Collection, NY

East Wind and Winter Sun, Burchfield

Baltimore Museum of Art

Deserted Miner's Home, Burchfield

Burchfield Penney Art Center

The Glory of Spring, Burchfield

Burchfield Penney Art Center

Night Hawks at Twilight, Burchfield

Flint Institute of Arts, MI

Early Spring, Burchfield

Burchfield Penney Art Center

In spring 2015 there will be another exhibit of Burchfield's works here at the Art Center, and we hope to attend.  That exhibit will focus on his attempts to put sound into his pictures, and the techniques he used to accomplish this effect.

We left the gallery just before noon (it opened at 10 am) and headed to the University Heights district for lunch.  Deb had found out about Amy's Place diner on-line before our departure. Though it serves meat, it is a very vegan-friendly place, the best one in Buffalo.  We had a great lunch, and there was so much to choose from.  It's best described as a little hole-in-the-wall; it's an old-fashioned place, but it was bustling and very popular with locals.

Amy's Place, Buffalo.  We enjoyed a great lunch!

Right after lunch it was time to head back home.  The next day was to be our all-day Winter Solstice event at home, and we wanted to be in early tonight to make final preparations.  It was a sunny and mild day, and the drive was uneventful except for a major sneezing and sinus attack that came upon me halfway home, one that continued until bedtime.  Go figure.

Mapman

Detroit--What's There?

With a title like that, this could be a very long blog entry.  Instead, I will start to describe some of the things we do here.  We have been coming to Detroit since early 1977.  They were half finished building the Ren Cen.  Hudson's was still bustling.  Etc.  The 80s and 90s tore the heart out of Detroit, but we kept on coming over, mainly for the Detroit Symphony Concerts and the galleries at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  In the last 10 years Detroit has begun coming back, and lately with a vengeance.  While parts of the city still look worse than Dresden after the bombing, other parts rival anything that London, New York, Chicago or any other great city can offer.

Detroit is more than a big city, as it is made up of dozens of smaller cities, villages and townships, many with a character all their own.  Further afield is Ann Arbor, though still statistically part of the Metro area.  It is our favourite short term getaway after Detroit.  Home to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is also home to some of the best culture anywhere in the world, with music, theatre, cinema and dance events going on seven days a week.  In addition it is still loaded with bookstores (remember them?), cafes, brewpubs, and just pubs, most serving high quality craft beer.  We visit at least four times a year, sometimes for a few days and nights.

On a recent visit to Ann Arbor, I only went to one brewpub!  Usually I visit three or four, but this was just a day trip.  Four downtown places have cask ale on all the time, so it doesn't much matter to me which one I'm at.  This time it was Grizzly Peak Brewing Co.  They usually have an IPA on cask, as well as something experimental.  I had the experimental one.  It was an American Mild FHDA, with Centennial and Cascade hops.  Me like.  Very much.  It reminded me (despite the name) of many fine ales I have enjoyed in merrie olde englande.

 

Beer board at Grizzly Peak, Ann Arbor

Earthen Jar in downtown Ann Arbor is one of 

very best veg restaurants to ever exist.  WE LOVE IT!

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Being on the Detroit River, some of the suburbs are "downriver" from Detroit.  One of these is called Lincoln Park.  It is home to Fort Street Brewery, and they are a wonderful bunch of people in there.  Thursday nights are cask ale nights, with a different cask opened each week at 8 pm.  Last week they had a really fabulous sounding one, but we couldn't get there.  We went Friday for lunch instead.  They almost always have lots left over for next day.  Not this time--the Thursday night crowd drank every last drop!  No matter, there is always something good on.  And they always have great food, even for us vegans!  I drank Scottish Ale and had a veg pastry pie and their famous perogies!

Fort Street Brewery, on a very quiet Friday lunchtime.

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Earlier in the autumn we paid a visit to Detroit Brewing Co., right downtown and across the street from the Detroit Opera House (where they perform operas!).  The brewery has been here for many years, and when the Tigers or Lions are playing downtown, it's hard to get in the door.  They do well before and after the opera, too.  It can be quiet inside some days, though to me this is a great bonus.

Detroit Brewing Co. hides behind the October

foliage.  The People Mover structure passes in front. 

 A welcome place in downtown Detroit.

Late October beer menu. 

I enjoyed a glass of Crooked Grill, an ESB.

It was hoppy and bitter, just like it says.

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I will likely do a blog or two eventually on different downtown districts, including Mid-town, where this blog is now headed.  It's always exciting when a new pub opens in a favourite area of the city.  I attended Wayne State University in Detroit for 6 years (part time) to earn an M. Mus. degree, so I got to know the area pretty well.  However, it has changed so much since back then that if I hadn't kept coming back here I would barely recognize the place now.  Nearly every vacant building has been rehabbed or is undergoing rehab.  New buildings are popping up in lots that have stood empty since I first started coming over here.  A streetcar line is being built on Woodward Ave.  People are not only flocking here for the bars, cafes, shops, concerts, museums etc., but are actually living here in some of the funkiest lofts and apartments this side of Paris.

Anyway, the new pub is called Hopcat, and it is part of a small chain that began in Grand Rapids, MI.  The Detroit pub is their fourth and largest, and features 130 craft taps.  Yup.  130.  That includes a few ciders and meads.  Try walking in and choosing a pint.  They opened last Saturday at 11 am (11 12/13-14 was their opening two-day party).  We took a swing by on Saturday just after 11, and this is what we saw.

Hopcat, Detroit.  Front of the line.

Hopcat, Detroit.  Rest of the line.  The line was the

same at 6 pm.  Needless to say we went elsewhere.

However, we did get in today (Monday) around 1:30 pm!  Huzzah!!  We had an enjoyable visit, and I will certainly be back again (next Monday--watch for it here).

Sitting at the bar, looking at Heaven. 

From the bar, looking towards Woodward Ave.

The joint was hopping.  I think it's going to be

another Slow's (different blog, later).

I began my visit with #46.  OMG!!!  5 *s!!

I followed up with #41.  Not as deep and rich, but

still a lovely beer.

Just up the street from Hopcat are two fine brewpubs:  Traffic Jam, and Motor City.  Opening here in the spring will be Jolly Pumpkin, a justly famous MI microbrewery!  Detroit rocks!

It's nice to be able to park the car and walk to so many pubs, cafes, and stores.  And it just keeps on getting better and better.  We even saw bicycle cops!  In Detroit!  We walked over to Avalon Bakery for coffee and cookies (vegan choices available), looking forward to next Monday's pub crawl here with friends.  And this weekend we are off to Buffalo for a brief visit, to see an art exhibit and hopefully visit at least one downtown brewpub.  Keep watching here for all the exciting details!

Mapman

Back alley door, Detroit.

Mapman Mike