What would a trip to Buffalo be without a shout out to some popular restaurants?
I’ve already given props to Bocce’s Pizza.
Let us not forget to acknowledge Anderson’s. Those look like some mighty adventurous flavors!
If that wasn’t enough sweetness for you, just a block away and across the train tracks, there’s Paula’s donuts. 
If you need a little savory after all that sweet, Ted’s Hot Dogs is right across the street from Paula’s.
I don’t think I partook of any of Anderson’s, Paula’s or Ted’s offerings on this trip. I did visit a new-to-me restaurant in the waterfront area.
I met Susan, a high school chum, and her wife, Kay, for lunch. We got a table overlooking the Buffalo River.
I tell you, this is not the Buffalo I grew up with! (And that’s a good thing.)
When I lived in the area, the Buffalo River was essentially dead. It was so polluted that nothing lived in it. In fact, in 1968, it caught on fire. According to a report from the United States Department of the Interior:
“The Buffalo River is a repulsive holding basin for industrial and municipal wastes,” said the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. “It is devoid of oxygen and almost sterile. Oil, phenols, color, oxygen-demanding materials, iron, acid, sewage, and exotic organic compounds are present in large amounts. Residents who live along its backwaters have vociferously complained of the odors emanating from the river and of the heavy oil films. In places the river’s surface is a boundless mosaic of color and patterns resulting from the mixture of organic dyes, steel mill and oil refinery wastes, raw sewage, and garbage.”
It sure isn’t that anymore!
I mean, can you imagine how much the river has improved to make a party boat business a viable investment? It looked like those people were having fun!
What a great advertising use of the old grain silos! I know Buffalo drove the demise of the grain business in Minneapolis. I wonder what city took over for Buffalo?
Some structures are coming down. I imagine other things will take their places.
In the meantime, a few baskets of flowers here and there make the area festive.
Some things are gone and some remain.
It’s almost like an archeological dig. You get to wander through the bits and pieces of the past.
After lunch, we wandered over to Canalside, past the ever-present herds of Buffalo.
This is another part of town that has really expanded since I was young. In the photo, you can see the USS Little Rock, which is part of the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park. There is a lot more here than the only other time I visited the park. The USS Little Rock was commissioned too late to see action during WW II, although it does have an interesting history you can read in the link.
When I taught at Calasanctius Preparatory School, we took the kids on a field trip to see USS The Sullivans. That Fletcher-class destroyer has a more active history during WW II, as it was launched in April of 1943. This was the first United States Navy ship named in honor of more than one person. The five Sullivan brothers, aged 20 to 27, lost their lives when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942. This was the greatest military loss by any one American family during WW II.
Excuse the trip down memory lane with no photo to back it up.
The area is abuzz with people enjoying themselves. I think they call this part “the inner harbor.”
Susan, Kay and I were visiting Canalside. According to my Preferred Source, it is “a master-planned neighborhood and festival marketplace within the inner harbor.” It is located at the western terminus of the Erie Canal.
And you know what products they carried…
“We hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal and hay.”
Ah, yes! Buffalo, the Queen City of the Lakes
At least for a while.
Hey! There’s a photo, so it happened!
After this, we bid each other “hasta la vista” and went our separate ways.
I did a little architectural photography while stuck in traffic. I thought the nautical motifs of the ships’ bows was an interesting touch after visiting the harbor – a reminder of Buffalo’s history as an important part of transportation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In my notes, I titled this photo “Architectural Detail with Hipster.”
I turned on Chippewa and got to Main Street just at the Light Rail was pulling up to a stop. I’m of an age where Chippewa Street was a red light district – a seedy neighborhood that people of repute didn’t visit. It’s certainly doesn’t appear to be that any more.
The train left the stop and I went back to the campground to get Flo ready to leave Buffalo for one last time.
