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ExBuffalonian's Journal

ExBuffalonian
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07/12/2014 12:30 #59190

A few of my favorite (Buffalo) things
These are a few of my favorite things that I miss and/or appreciate about Buffalo.

The pink/orange (pinkorange?) Lake Erie sunrise and sunset
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The rooftop patio at Tappo was really nice. If I still lived in Buffalo, I'd spend all my time and money here. Love the view and surroundings.
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My husband celebrated his birthday while we were in Buffalo, and our friends treated us to dinner in his honor. I've lived in lots of places, but my favorite people and best friends come from Buffalo. And check out this exquisite menu! Really decadent.
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We have a friend in our new town, Baltimore, who visited Buffalo once. The only thing she really remembers about her visit is this place. I took this picture for her to show her the new and improved Bada Bing. Sad they demolished its former home in the Delaware Court Building.
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I have always admired the detail in this building's facade, the lovely Market Arcade.
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My first apartment in Buffalo, in 2001, was in this building. I had just relocated from NYC and couldn't believe I got to live in this building, with this kind of grand entrance, while I paid less than $500/month for rent. The apartment was pretty swanky, and was nicknamed Cosmopolitan. We also had a ghost, who we believe was the ghost of Charlotte Sidway Spaulding. Pretty cool to include that in the low cost.
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M&T Plaza was designed by the same architect as NYC's World Trade Center's twin towers, Minoru Yamasaki. That makes me love this building even more today. It seems a little like an echo.
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St. Paul's Episcopal Church was designed by Richard Upjohn, the same guy who did NYC's Trinity Church on Broadway and Wall Street.
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The Prudential (Guaranty) Building is by Louis Sullivan, widely known as the "Father of Skyscrapers" and mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. Awesome.
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The Ellicott Square Building was the largest office building in the world when it opened in 1896. True story. It played a hotel in Robert Redford's film, The Natural.
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And the lovely and grand interior of the Ellicott Square Building. Just wow.
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Vroom...shhh! I've always loved this sculpture downtown, and the name of it as well.
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Buffalo Savings Bank, aka The Gold Dome Bank, was built as a replica of the Hall of Music, a temporary building that was part of the 1901 Pan Am Exposition, which was held in Buffalo.
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So was the Electric Tower built as a replica of a Pan Em Expo building.
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The inside of the gold dome. Hello, gorgeous!
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I love this view of Niagara Square from hallway near the elevator bank at the Dulski Embassy Suites. I would highly recommend this hotel. It's beautiful, though I have heard the new glass panels are falling off into the street...and that's not good.
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The retro '70s vibe of the Buffalo Metro, reminiscent of a vintage Burger King.
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One of the things I absolutely love about Buffalo. I got to live in this adorable and charming little house in Allentown in the '90s, when I was completely poor and drifting. I wonder how many cities offer such gracious housing to their poor youth. Probably not many.
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Hope you enjoyed my tour of Buffalo memories!
tinypliny - 07/19/14 00:03
How did you get to live in that last house? Pray tell! I love stories!! :)
tinypliny - 07/19/14 00:02
Ah, the sky comment was meant for this post! :-) The other one is pretty awesome too... but the skies in this one are SO extraordinarily cool. Look at the Gold dome floating amongst the wild nebulous clouds!
ExBuffalonian - 07/12/14 18:59
Thanks. Actually, I think I might have confused you by posting a pic of the Market Arcade next to one of the Spaulding Building (on the 700 block of Main Street) where I lived.
And, yes, Vroom...Shhh! is the name of that sculpture. I was a Security Officer in that building back in the '90s, and I can tell you it is (was) jammed pack full of awesome contemporary art. I think the Knox family (of the Albright-Know fame) had something to do with it.
paul - 07/12/14 16:51
Great Post. I had no idea that there were apartments in the Market Arcade. That must have been awesome. I also haven't been to tappo. Got to check it out.
tinypliny - 07/12/14 12:57
Wow - I have so many memories of Buffalo. Loved yours!

Is that sculpture's name really
Vroom...shhh!??

I didn't know!!!

07/12/2014 11:55 #59189

Dulski Embassy Suites
I was visiting my hometown a couple weeks ago, and we decided to stay at the Embassy Suites because I used to work in that building when it was the Dulski Federal Building. It was surreal to be in the same physical space, with the same view from the windows, but in completely new surroundings. It was like being on a parallel plane or the Twilight Zone.
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My husband (then boyfriend) and I bought our house in the West Village, near the Federal Building because it was important to me to be able to walk to work. Within a year of living there, they closed the Federal Building and relocated my office across town. That made me sad, and it was the first in a series of events that got us thinking about fleeing Buffalo. You can see our old house in this photo, taken from the window of our hotel room. Another surreal experience.
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These next two photos show what the view looked like from my office in 2001, and what it looked like from the same place (4 floors down) in my hotel in 2014. Trippy.
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Another view from the Dulski Embassy Suites, circa 2001.
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tinypliny - 07/19/14 00:00
I love the skies you captured. Buffalo is so pretty in the summer.
joe - 07/13/14 12:13
Congrats on your first post!
I've always wanted to go up there. Maybe I can pretend I'm in the market for a million dollar condo.
tinypliny - 07/12/14 12:27
That is incredibly cool! Thanks for sharing. :)