Category Archives: local business

Pre-Christmas Breakfast Out

Yes, I’m still thinking about Christmas.

In the midst of our pre-Christmas gyrations, Steven and I found time for breakfast at The Knight Spot in Frankfort, NY.  We had a tasty meal, and I took a couple of pictures of their Christmas decorations.

Here’s Steven, all happy and no longer hungry.

I had a breakfast sandwich on a hard roll with bacon, egg and cheese.  Steven had eggs over medium with bacon and rye toast.  He gave me a piece of his bacon.  We both enjoyed coffee.

The highlight of the visit for me was the decoration in the bathroom, a figurine of Santa Claus in an outhouse.  I made sure to get a picture.

Who doesn’t love Santa on the potty?

We do not go out to breakfast as often as we used to when we both worked retail hours.  I miss that but not enough to go back into retail.  I will enjoy the day off breakfasts out that I get, though!

The Knight Spot is located at 264 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-4054.  They are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday,  7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  They are great for lunch and dinner as well.

 

Red Shed Brewery at Beer Belly Bob’s

On a recent Friday evening, Steven and I ventured out to Beer Belly Bob’s in Ilion, NY.  They don’t have tastings every week, so we were happy we saw this one on Facebook.  When we realized it was for an area brewery,  we were delighted. I am happy to recommend Red Shed Brewery of Cherry Valley and Cooperstown.

As we walked in, one of the other people tasting said, “She’ll write an article about you!”  I felt famous.

Red Shed would definitely be a good thing for me to write about for Mohawk Valley Living magazine, but I want to visit one of their tap rooms first.  For now I will content myself with a blog post.  David Olson, the man pouring gave me a card, and I have already visited their Facebook page.  I hope to make a trip to Cooperstown soon!

David Olson, one of the folks responsible for some yummy beer.

The first brew we tried was Jessica’s Red.  It won my ultimate accolade of “yummy.”  We went on to Cloudy Girl, which was very fruity.  I did not like it as much as Jessica’s Red, but thought it would be a good summer drink.  The Smoked Porter was heavy, smoky (of course), and very dark  It was tasty, but I could not drink a lot of it.

Steven, enjoying a taste.

 

Red Shed is only available on draft right now, but we were able to purchase a growler for a very good price.

Jessica’s Red in Beer Belly Bob’s growler.

For more information about Red Shed Brewery, you can go to redshedbrewing.com. or visit their Facebook page.

Route 51 Beer Belly Bob’s Discount Beverage Center is located at 70 Otsego St., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-895-0936.  You can find them on Facebook, too!

 

Run, Shop, Drink, It’s Scattered Saturday!

I have had a WONDERFUL day, and I will now attempt to make a Scattered Saturday post about it.  I have a number of pictures to share, so if my words are less than wonderful, I am certain my readers will forgive me.

This picture courtesy of Steve.

This is me finishing the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls, about a step behind Santa Claus. I think I may have been able to pour it on a little more and beaten the kid, but I did not try.  Perhaps if I had tried I would have failed.  But it was a fun run.

Love those alpacas!

The Reindeer Run was part of Christmas in Little Falls.  After I had showered at the YMCA and had a good breakfast at Il Caffe, we did some shopping.  My favorite stop was at Paca Gardens.

My photos here came out a little blurry.

After shopping, we were fortunate enough to catch a performance of a puppet play of “A Christmas Carol.”  It was awesome! We loved it!

A zombie nutcracker?

Later on we went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer,  NY.  I took a few pictures of their holiday decorations,  which I hope to share in a later post.

Steven was the only one who deigned to smile.

After the tasting, we went for a couple of drinks at Heelpath Brewing Company at the Frankfort Marina.  It was fun!

I have not gone onto depth on any of our activities today, but perhaps future blog posts can fill in the gaps.  In the meantime,  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

Great Music, Great Food!

Yesterday at work, I noticed a co-worker’s t-shirt read, “Support local music.”  I thought that was definitely something Mohawk Valley Girl should do.  What I didn’t know was that opportunity awaited me that very night!

I had suggested another shop and dine evening, with the dinner part at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort,  NY.  When I got home from work, Steven told me Phil Arcuri was playing there from 6 to 8 p.m. Perfect!

We sat at the bar, right across from where Phil was going to play, and ordered wine and food.  I got angel hair pasta with a meatball.  Steven got the shrimp basket with fries. Yum! We both brought leftovers home, and I am really looking forward to eating mine!

He is a great musician!

Arcuri plays great tunes from the ’60’s and ’70’s.  I chair danced to most of them and sang along with the ones I knew the words to.  I was not the only one singing along.

Another angle.

I took a few pictures of Arcuri, but I did not manage to catch his smile.  It is a pleasure to watch such a talented musician who is so obviously enjoying himself.  I’m sure everyone there was having fun.

My delightful date for the evening.

I took a picture of Steven.  He tried to take one of me, but the Tablet would not cooperate.  I finally managed to take an ussie (I’m better at ussies than selfies, but not really good at either).

I guess we don’t look too bad.

We had a wonderful time.  I look forward to the next time we hear Phil Arcuri, and to our next great meal at Fratello’s.

Fratello’s Pizzeria is located at 158 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-8484.  They are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday.  You can follow them on Facebook to find out when Phil Arcuri is going to be there again!

 

It’s Not a Crime to Wine Instead of Whine

I did not go running today, so anybody can feel free to judge me, if they are so inclined.  I don’t know if I can manage much more than a Tired Tuesday post.  But maybe I could share a few photos of a previous Mohawk Valley Adventure I did not write about.

I stupidly cannot remember her name!

We often go to wine tastings at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer,  as I believe I have mentioned.  We took a number of pictures at a recent tasting of 19 Crimes wine, one of my all time favorites (what a surprise).  Above is the lovely lady who poured.

Kim, me and Steve, looking criminal.

They had a few props for even more photo opportunities.

And one with more criminal expressions.

19 Crimes wines have a different crime printed on each cork.  Naturally I am trying to collect all nineteen.  Full disclosure: I don’t have any idea how close I am.

An employee of the store also got in on the fun.

We had a fun time tasting the wine and taking pictures. And now I have managed to make a post NOT whining about how I can’t make a decent post today.

Valley Wine and Liquor is located at 326 S. Caroline St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-867-5800. They are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday,  12 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

 

Waterfront Lunch

On Saturday after I got home from the RCIL Character Brunch,  I told Steven it was too nice a day to sit home.  I suggested we go somewhere for a drink where we could look outside at the beautiful fall weather.

“And get something to eat,” he said.  Who am I to object to that?

We ended up at the Waterfront Grille in Herkimer, where we like to sit at the bar and order appetizers.  Saturday, however, we got lunch.  I had the Wrap of the Day, which was crab salad, with cole slaw. Steve had Soup and a Half Sandwich, split pea and egg salad respectively.  I tried his egg salad.  Yum!  My sandwich was yummy too.

I forgot to ask her name, but she was a great bartender.

I asked the bartender to pose for a picture with Steven, for my blog post.  Then Steven took one of me.

I don’t remember what was in my hand that got cut off.

As we sat enjoying our wine, the bartender put upside down shot glasses by us, to show somebody had bought us another round.  It was Rocky, the owner, who was sitting at the other end of the bar.  How nice was that!  Steven wanted to purchase one of the shot glasses for his collection.  Rocky agreed to let us have it for a very attractive price.

Steven’s new shot glass.

I guess I didn’t do such a good job getting an uncluttered picture.  Oh well, that’s my life.  It was a nice souvenir from great lunch. I can’t wait till we go there again!

The Waterfront Grille is located at 800 Mohawk St., Herkimer NY, phone number 315-717-0700.

 

Return to Pumpkin Junction!

Today will be another blog with more pictures than words.  This may not be a bad thing, considering how foolish most of my words have been lately.  Then again, I typed in those two sentences before checking how my pictures turned out.  Oh dear.

It’s all about the pumpkins.

Earlier, Steve and I were at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit with my niece and her family.  Pumpkins, Halloween decorations,  and my adorable great nephew and niece, what’s not to like?

Sheppie with his first choice of pumpkin.

Sheppie really wanted a BIG pumpkin.  We took a picture of him with it instead.

I was fascinated by the zombie horse.

I did not get as many pictures as I suppose I could have.  We spent a lot of time looking around inside the barn, where the light was not so good.  Sheppie and Evie found that if they jumped out at me and yelled, “Raah!”  I would respond, “Eeee!”  and tell them to stop scaring their old Aunt Cindy.  That game went on for a while.  Yes, it was fun for me too.

Sheppie and I ventured into the corn maze.  We didn’t get too lost. Phew!  I sometimes have problems with my sense of direction.  We picked our pumpkins, and Steve found a shot glass for his collection.

Steve and I had not been to Pumpkin Junction in a couple of years.  That was a mistake!  We were glad we finally got back there.  Pumpkin Junction is located at 2188 Graffenburg Rd., Sauquoit  NY, phone number 315-794-4604. They are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.  through Oct. 31.

 

Planning Ahead After Not Planning Supper

How about a fast shout-out to one of our favorite local businesses instead of my usual Wuss-out Wednesday.  It has not been the best of Wednesdays for me, largely because my body kept thinking it was Thursday. I hate these time warps, especially when I have to keep reminding myself that I am NOT one day closer to Friday (those of you who work weekends,  don’t hate on me, just substitute “next day off” for Friday).

When I came home, my husband Steve told me he had not gotten anything out of the freezer for supper.  I suggested a few meals, but I pretty much knew where he was headed.  I only felt bad for making a delivery person come out in the rain.  Then again, these are the hazards of the job.

We called our beloved Salvatore’s, getting chicken wings Siciliano and a small antipasto salad.  The good thing about these choices is (1) I can take leftover salad for my lunch tomorrow and (2) I can grab a leftover chicken wing tomorrow after work before we hustle off to rehearsal.  You see how I think ahead.  You might almost suspect I have my act together.  Nah!

Salvatore’s is located at 650 1/2 German St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-2600.

 

Fun Thursday at the End Zone

I see that last Thursday I did not blog about going out to eat.  Was it last Thursday?  Perhaps it was another day, and I am looking at the wrong blog posts.  My point is that one day recently,  I came home from work and Steven said, “I want to send out or go out for dinner,  and I said, “GO out!”

The same thing happened today.  We ended up at the End Zone Pub and Grub in Herkimer and had a very nice time.

We arrived about twenty till five, ordered wine and asked if the kitchen was open.  The owner told us it would be at five, when his son arrived.  We sipped our wine and bided our time.

Eventually I got a cheeseburger and Steven got chicken tenders with fries.  I helped him eat his fries.  While we sipped and ate, we talked about plays, movies, the Oscars, and playing darts.  Two other patrons were playing darts at the time.

As we left, I told the owner I wanted to get a picture of him and his son for a blog post some time.

“Do you want to do it now?” he asked, and called his son out.

The men responsible for our good time.

After I got that shot, I took a couple more.

My date for the evening.

 

The dart board.

I thought it made for a fun Thursday night.  One more work day to get through before the weekend!

 

Good Thursday Dinner

Today I post a brief shout-out to a local business, one of our favorite go-to spots:  Salvatore’s in Herkimer, NY.  When I got home from work today, my husband, Steve, said he wanted to go out or send out for dinner.

“I want to GO out,” I said.

I took my shower and got on the computer to check my email and other notifications.  It was still early for dinner, but we were both hungry.  Soon enough I was ready to go.  Salvatore’s is not that far from our house, but I drove.

I love autumn decor.

I had noticed the fall decorations last weekend when I ran this way.  I made sure I brought the Tablet so I could get a picture.

We both had a glass of Chardonnay with dinner.  I got a Chicken Greek Wrap with pasta salad while Steven enjoyed Chicken Tenders with ranch dip.  I had a couple of bites of Steve’s chicken.  Deep fried!   Yum!  It was with difficulty that I limited myself to just two bites.  This is why I have rarely meet my weight loss goals.

We both took home leftovers.  That is one of my favorite things about eating out.  On the way out, I took a couple of pictures of the decor.

I need some pumpkins and corn stalks for my front porch.

It was a lovely supper.  And now only one more day till the weekend!